The Fish John West Regrets is one of the first serious exhibitions of Cairns-based contemporary art to be curated in this city. It is a unique event in a community that is little used to critical discourse about local contemporary visual culture . Initiated by the Cairns-based artists' group Kick Arts and billed as its inaugural exhibition, it was not immediately apparent whether this exhibition was open to non-members and if so, whether it is truly representative of the full range of contemporary art practice in this city. Given that one of the original themes/objectives of the exhibition was to demonstrate 'ethnic and cultural' diversity, it is a pity that Zane Saunders was the only Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artist represented.
Curated by Noosa Regional Gallery
Director, Chris Downie, the exhibition was conceived through a thorough curatorial development program that emphasised broadly based consultation and group dialogue. This consultative process gave rise to a number of critical issues that go to the heart of art practice in the region.
How do artists remote from some aspects of critical discourse activate their practice in ~ cultural environment dominated by the tourist/leisure industry? Certainly a number of artists in Cairns adopt particular strategies in dealing with these issues. The desire to work in partnership with others is a significant feature of the exhibition, although some artists who are more familiar with a collaborative way of working have chosen to exhibit individually, reverting to a studio-based practice. Humour, too, is a powerful tool in subverting the cultural orthodoxy thrown up by this community and, in the hands of artists such as Christian KokaiKun, with his computer generated self-portrait, or Eddie Koumans with