Neon Parc | Parasite

Maria Kozic
‘Parasite’

South Yarra
25 Oct.–16 Nov.
2024

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Neon Parc is pleased to announce ‘Parasite’, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Maria Kozic. For the artist’s third project with the gallery, Kozic explores the parasite as an analogy for humankind and examines how a parasite can be characterised in a post-pandemic world.

‘Parasite’ consists of eight paintings and one diptych, each portraying a different coloured parasitic creature. Two glowing almond-shaped eyes sit in the centre of each parasite, Kozic rendering the eyes as decidedly human, reflecting the audience’s gaze with feminine poise. Fuzzy and spiky like a spore, the corporeal outlines of their bodies tap into the iconic visual language of Pop Art. The creatures’ skins are viscerally fleshy and laboured over, often darkest around the edges and brighter in the middle, glowing with anticipation.

Ranging from the fluorescent “Peril Pink” (2024) to the dark and brooding “Hysterical Brown” (2024) each parasite has its own distinct personality. The glint of the whites in their eyes delineates the germ more as a voyeuristic seductress lurking close by, rather than a monster to be feared. Kozic understands that parasites or viruses are an integrated part of our biological ecology, and constantly pose the threat of contagion. Kozic says, “Parasites, pathogens, viruses, germs and humans all live together and wreak havoc, but humans are the most evil parasite of all.”

‘Parasite’ connects to other serial bodies of work which Kozic has made throughout her career, such as ‘This.Is.The.Show (T.I.T.S)’, in 1991 which presented a salon hang of over 70 paintings of breasts of different shapes and sizes and was a comment on the rise of breast enlargement surgeries, becoming a seminal touch-stone for a new wave of feminism. Similarly, ‘Calendar Girls’ (1999), featured a suite of female pin-ups whose expressions of carefree confidence were undermined by darker scars. Kozic’s serial works have often sought to respond to the cultural climate, and ‘Parasite’ revives this tendency in its attempt to reflect a post-covid world. Kozic’s practice has also focused on the underbelly or the dark side, verging on the paranormal. Her 2000 series ‘VISIONARYALS’ defined strange and colourful cartoonlike creatures as “someone or thing that sees beyond the abnormal realm.”

Hung in the gallery, the large scale of the ‘Parasite’ paintings cowers over the viewer and together the series read like a fluorescent army of dust particles or a multi-coloured virus heading towards you. The paintings seemingly depict the moment in horror films when the audience understands that the protagonists are ominously being watched, a predator slinking in the shadows and watching on from afar. Kozic has long been obsessed with horror films and admits that “Since I was a kid I always sided with the monster.” Seeing the monster as outcast or other, allows the creature to feel relatable or akin. The luminous nature of these creatures, appear almost as if the contrast has been dialled up to 100%, beyond the ridiculous and into the absurd. Their artificial colouring amplifies the fantastical nature of their forms, and fights against the idea that a parasite is invisible to the eye.

Maria Kozic has always infused complex narratives into the characters of her works and constructs them to navigate a labyrinth of nuance and emotion. Protagonists can be simultaneously scary and scared. Characters can be villainous and yet be bright pink or purple. It is this tension and the murky area which emerges in-between, that reveals how all characters are flawed and yet forgivable. Kozic’s obsessive return to the metaphysical monster throughout the decades can only be taken as a reflection, not only of society - but of the self.

Artworks

(9)