Julian Meagher makes inquiries about the human body and spirit by addressing the relationship between the internal and external workings of the body. He draws on the field of medical imaging, namely anatomical studies, to explore the ways in which the body is depicted by artists.
In his latest series the artist renders perfectly described body parts in isolation which bear intricate tattoos. The physical and the creative are a powerful duality in Meagher's work and the results are unexpected and engaging. The tattooed limbs combine an ornate beauty with a great strength. What is at stake in these works is the surface of the skin as the mediator between the inside and the outside, the abject and the symbolic, the face onto the world and the bones beneath.
The word 'tattoo' comes originally from the Samoan for 'open wound'; similarly the Japanese term for tattoo means insertion of ink. Both terms suggest the probing of the bodies surface, on the threshold. There is an ambiguity in the tattoo over whether it is part of the body or an extra supplement to that person. The permanence and graphic qualities of the tattoo have of course made it a symbol of community, love and religion through the ages; the way the tattoo scars the body, forever, is what gives it its powerful aura. The tattoo becomes part of the person who wears it.
In terms of painting then, the tattoo is a perfect metaphor; painting too is about mediating between the surface and the body. Is painting merely a surface and mask or does it somehow represent the body and soul of the sitter? In tattooing there is a reversal too where the body becomes the canvas for another representation, so there is a doubling of meaning between the person and the image.
Meagher is a classically trained contemporary Australian artist based in Sydney has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows both in Australia and overseas.
