Internationally acclaimed Newport artist Robert Hague has been sculpting skulls from solid marble for his latest exhibition.
Crush features three identical skulls which share the same name – Mona Lisa’s Curse.
“It’s [based on] a particular skull, the now-infamous piece by the famous British artist Damien Hirst,’’ Hague says.
“He did a diamond-encrusted skull that he put on the market for 100 million euro [$A144 million]. To me, it’s a good example of how money is corrupting art. It sold, but then it was revealed that [Hirst] was one of the buyers. So it was all about inflating the price of the work.”
Hague says there’s life after commercial art. “There’s true art still being made, real art that deals with real subjects and has real meaning.”
Hague’s multimedia exhibition includes a video of fine porcelain hammers with blue tissue patterning – reminiscent of domestic blue and white china – crashing down on marble.
“The idea is to invest a lot of time and a lot of pride in to something, create something valuable and then let it go.
‘‘The assumption is that whatever you hit with a hammer will break, but actually it’s the hammer that breaks.
‘‘It’s the idea of letting things go. It’s gone in an instant.”
Crush is at Fehily Contemporary, 3a Glasshouse Road, Collingwood, until October 4.
