taste on opening
yousuf art gallery, kochi, india
16.12.2018 – 29.03.2019
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directed by jake sun
written by rubbish and sun
produced by thaj backer, nicole beaumont, and jake sun
assisted by cyril jacobs and sreekanth nettoor
paintings by anju acharya, m b appukuttan, saju ayyampilly, jordan azcune, thaj backer, nicole beaumont, biji bhasker, yannick
blattner, annie boman, raju c n, sarah clark, bridie gillman, daniel ginsberg, celin jacob, ellie-lea jansson, joseph joyson, kripa lalu,
genine marie larin, sreekanth nettoor, jamesmon p c ofm, sajith panackan, mark du pontiers, wilson pookai, gopika s nair, kat nancy,
nicola scott, raju shivaraman, sandra soniya, jake sun, ellie sweatman, r venu, akhil vijayakumar, and kate woodcroft
canvases by carl dempster and anil kumar
flute performance by m b appukuttan
additional assistance and support by jenna baldock, yannick blattner, aaron butt, and lu fosberg
taste on opening is the first iteration of an ongoing project that aims to foster community support and creative exchange between kerala and brisbane. this initial exhibition acts to reclaim language and food from the service of capital and return them to the service of communities. produced in concert with over 33 artists, the showcased body of work contextualises art as an interdependent cultural-process that is implicitly collaborative, dialogic, and relational.
initiated in 2017 at pallette people residency space in the tea farming hill station of uluppuni, kerala, and further developed during a 2018 residency at house conspiracy in brisbane, australia, the influence of place and community have played a fundamental role in the evolution of this project.
dismayed to find the remote uluppuni streets lined with the remains of food packing, written near-exclusively in english, sun began producing assemblages of the found text, recycling the words as a way of critiquing the ecological impact and homogenising effects of capitalist globalisation, and questioning his own responsibility as a visitor to the area and it’s communites, keeping australia and india’s parallel histories of british-colonisation in mind.
moved to open a creative dialogue and bridge his conceptual approaches with the more traditional painting practices of the malayalee peers sharing the space, sun invited these artists and others from the communities of kerala and brisbane to take part in the inaugural phase of the project. the result is a body of work that draws its vibrancy from the colour and character of the people and places involved.
in light of the unprecedented floods recently affecting kerala, 100% off all sales from the exhibition will be donated to the chief minister’s distress relief fund. for interest in purchasing a painting or artist book (edition of 33) please contact the artist via email jake.sun333@gmail.com
Jake Sun 