TRANS-TRAINS+OTHER WORKS
30 August - 17 September 2003
Paintings and photographs by Gareth Sansom 2002-2003

curriculum vitae

GARETH SANSOM by Philippe Mora 2003

I’ve known Gareth Sansom as an artist and friend for over thirty years. On occasion he is a dangerous friend.

Once in the 60’s he suggested I film some graffiti in a public toilet in Toorak known to be a pick-up joint for those so inclined. When we arrived Gary said that I should go in and start filming. He mentioned that there were gangs of what were then called “poofter bashers” who sometimes attacked people in this facility. He said if he honked three times I should run to the car immediately. Not long after I started filming with my 16mm camera, I heard 3 honks. I ran out to the car and was pursued by a gang of thugs yelling, “Get the poofter!” I jumped into the car. Gary drove off and they threw stones at us. We lived to tell the tale.

Gary as an artist is really no less dangerous. He has never tried to be a pretty artist. He’s never tried to make nice paintings for nice people in their nice homes. Like other artists who are still in shock and fascination with the world, or perhaps fascinated with the shocking, or shocked with fascination, Gary believes that if it is in good taste, then it is not necessarily art. This attack on taste started with Picasso who expressed these sentiments exactly – “…good taste is the enemy of art.”

So it is no coincidence that Gary was influenced by for example Francis Bacon, who among other things satirized interior decorating by painting rotten human flesh in colour co-ordinated locations.

Along with his open attack on conventional taste Gary also brings humour to his work. He has always been fascinated with the funny aspects of the macabre. One way to deal with horror is to laugh at it. But Gary also laughs at human foibles, at us, and at himself.

If you can laugh at yourself I think you are deeply unpretentious. Even now, Gary laughs at men who dress as women – even if that means laughing at himself.

I admire Gary’s lack of interest in a conventional career. In fact, he comes from a time when the concept of career and art were mutually exclusive. Art was not a career. Art was an obsession, a mission, an unstoppable force unrelated to business plans or proper career moves. I think we lack a bit of that spirit now. We could do with more of it.

Finally Gary loves Melbourne. I’ve been in Los Angeles and London, great cities where Gary easily could have made an impact.

Melbourne is lucky to have him! Thank you…