REVIEWS
BOUNDLESS, 2002
Of the works which deal with the issue of “objectness”, Geoff Overheu’s ‘Gypsum Tracks’ makes the strongest impact.
Austr-aliens, 2003
In ‘Black Tracks’ Geoff Overheu’s intimidating tank tracks also create an emotional resonance in the context of border protection
policies by evoking the ways in which authority is used to intimidate and exert power over vulnerable individuals. Overheu’s ominous
tank treads cast a large shadow that turns the word ‘order’ into ‘border’ warning those who do get through to behave.
GO.MA.@T.RZ.JS.SL, 2004
Overheu’s life size fibreglass and enamel castings of dead and ‘blown’ cattle are a sharp reminder of mortality. His two pieces,
White Goods (Cow) and White Goods (Bull), dominate the doorway to the current show at IASKA.
Sculpture by the Sea, 2006
Geoff Overheu is a farmer turned sculptor whose cows are turning heads at Cottesloe in the annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition
that has strangers talking to each other on the beach. His work is seemingly funny at first but consists of quite dire bloated
resin cows washed up on the beach – possibly from some live transport tragedy. Geoff, a farmer for 25 years, calls his work
B(l)eached Cows and tagged it “Beached or bleached - bad rural feng shui or a sign of the times?”
Bunbury Biennale, 2007
The gallery is dominated by Geoff Overheu’s Fourth Generation, the closes thing to an installation in the whole show. Overheu is
perhaps best known for his weird and bloated white cows which wallowed in the sand at the 2006 Sculpture by the Sea at Cottesloe.
One of those hangs here on the wall behind a farmer, resplendent in a Driza-bone and hat. The works as a whole talks much about
the trials, tribulations and expectations of agricultural land owners.
Review of ‘Fourth Generation’ (2007) by Kirsten Rann, Director/Curator of Counterpoint, Melbourne
Overheu attempts to retain a sense of objectivity in the objects he makes, keeping his subjects as close in appearance to
‘the real thing’ as possible. However, there is something uncanny about them; besides their often being out context, we realise
on closer inspection that they are made out of completely incongruous materials. A classic example of this is his The limitation
of Kryptonite and Other Things 2006 – a lead-crystal (i.e. delicate) sculpture of a suit of armour that closely resembles Ned
Kelly’s metal one (i.e. tough).
Deploying a strategy used in Pop-art – of which the series of 32 Campbell’s soup cans first exhibited by Andy Warhol in 1962 is
probably the most well-known example – this incongruously realistic rendition is not just of any object, it is a very popular
one – it could even be called ‘everyday’ because of its strong presence in the Australian psyche.
However, Overheu’s selection of objects varies in terms of their being popular or ‘everyday’, and may even be considered a tad
unusual by some: grader tracks, vices, chicken wings, bloated cow carcasses... In fact, these things generally go unnoticed
– unless you have worked in agriculture or on the land.
But that’s just it!
Overheu’s work explores relationships between ‘urban romantic’ and ‘rural’ Australia by playing with images/objects associated
with landscape; while the former may have images of vast landscapes with kangaroos, cockatoos and huge open skies, our rural
iconography presents quite a contrast: the mournful cry of crows, creaking windmills, endless hot winds, dry creek beds,
barren paddocks, animal carcasses, and so on.
By combining a rural iconography with references to art history/theory, Overheu attempts to synthesize new ideas regarding our
attitudes towards the Australian landscape. An example – developed in previous works – is his notion of ‘Pop ecology’; while
a humorous homage to Warhol’s parody of consumer desire, his works are underpinned by an irony that emphasizes our continued
over-use/production/consumption of the land and our absurd idea that things will eventually work out – because it will be by
destruction and devastation if we don’t do something about it soon.
In the ‘Fourth Generation’ series, Overheu (a fourth generation farmer) took casts o several cattle carcasses found on his
family’s property in Western Australia. Although in a state of decay, the simple forms of the resulting sculptures are coated
in a matte-white paint so they also resemble abstract landscapes. In the distance, looking away from the dead cattle/landscapes,
a Drizabone-clad, Akubra-waring man stands with head down and fists clenched.
Tragic and humorous, this combination of unusual objects, materials and cont3xts is an exploration of specific themes that entices
a response from the viewer. Presenting such subjects/objects in a popular culture format will encourage new meaning(s) and, as
mentioned perhaps a new perspective on the Australian landscape.
Geoff Overheu
I am interested in objects that are as absurd as they are uncomfortable. I take an iconic image and manipulate it in such a way
that it both embraces and repulses the viewer at the same time. This then questions the viewer’s rationality and gives them the
opportunity to break open the grip of their imagination.