CRITICAL INJURIES
It is curious to note the current ubiquity of Danius Kesminas's latest show at Darren Knight Gallery. What is it about the show that makes it so eminently reviewable? The most obvious answer would be the subject it finds in the robust persona of Australian art critic, Robert Hughes. In fact Kesminas makes Hughes an iconic target for a series of knowing though less than rational ruminations on the nature of art and its labyrinthine critical effects. Hughbris, as the title of this show suggests, revolves around Hughes's recent involvement in a near fatal car crash in a remote region of Western Australia.
More than a simple accident report however, Kesminas's exhibition focuses on the crash's impact on the critic's public reputation. After all, Hughes was charged then acquitted of culpable driving. At present he is again facing court after prosecutors successfully re-opened the case citing defamation. In fact Hughes's response to all these allegations has been a series of tirades and public recriminations. In these the eminent Australian presents himself the focus of right wing conspiracies and blatant legal bias. Of course the irony of the situation does not escape Kesminas. Here the artist pits the seemingly larger than life Hughes, in his known guise as cultural judge, against the potentially more serious judgments of the civil law courts. Kesminas derives a certain glee from Hughes's protestations of wounded innocence given that similar defence generally issues from artists the critic considers minor or unworthy of his attention. Yet Hughbris is a multi-dimensional exploration. lt attains much of its effect from an obvious appreciation of the myriad ambiguities surrounding this particular event. Potential interpretations of the work are liable to