CreatorRonnie GrammaticaTitleRoadside Memorial #1Date2017MediumPigment print on cotton rag paperDimensionsH. 84cm x W. 64cmArtist StatementA roadside memorial, a commemorative gesture widely revered by society. Created and lovingly maintained by grieving family and friends. Roadside workers will carefully tend around it. Government bureaucracies will tolerate it.
Perhaps there's more to it. A place and an opportunity to grieve the loss of a loved one outside of the institutions. A celebration of masculinity. A sobering reminder of the failure of society to prevent another senseless death. A potent public safety message.Accession NumberG2020.24.1Credit LineDonated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program in memory of Ben BignellAccess AdviceFor research purposes only. No reproduction without permission of Yarrila Arts and Museum.
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Significance Statement
The work Roadside Memorial was a finalist in the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery's signature program, Still: National Still Life Award. In 2017, this award was expanded from having a focus solely on still life painting to include artworks in all mediums. As a high quality photograph, this work signals an imaginative, contemporary interpretation of the still life genre and a new direction for the gallery's collection. The still life genre is the specialist focus of the Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery’s collection, with still life artworks identified as the first priority in the gallery’s collection policy, Section 2.4.2 (1): “Works in this section reflect the still life genre, as per artworks acquired through the National Still Life Award (Still) as well as through donation, purchase, transfer and bequest.”
Ronnie Grammatica is an Italian born and trained photographer now based on the mid north coast of NSW. He trained at cfp Bauer in Milan and specialises in what he terms “visual storytelling”, a practice located between photojournalism and art photography. Roadside Memorial is a meditation on contemporary and distinctively Australian, forms of grieving and commemoration. As such, it sits firmly within the still life tradition and its preoccupation with the transience of life. While also commenting on Australian masculinity, the cult of private motor vehicles and the death toll from road accidents, the work invites contemplation of these ubiquitous elements of regional landscapes across Australia, making it a worthy addition to the gallery’s collection.
[Written by Jo Besley, 25 March 2019]
Description
Still-life digital photograph, pigment print on cotton rag paper. Edition 2/3.
