Soft Core presents artistic practices that explore the many facets of ‘softness’ - from large-scale inflatables to forms made from soft materials to materials that simply look soft. These artists are making works that demand attention - forms that are not simply bumped into while looking at paintings.

In the 20th century, artists began to disassemble the notion of traditional sculpture by adding and subtracting constructions, incorporating found objects and designating everyday items as art. These adaptive and divergent methods of form making continue today in a generation of artists who define sculpture in the negative condition: not bronze, not stone, not the macho force of the blast furnace.

The materials in this exhibition encompass air, inflatable nylon, unfired clay and plastics bags – materials that have been co-opted for their versatility and their mutability between function and emotion. Some of the works in this exhibition require activation – such as electricity or inflation to become whole while others inhabit their softness quietly.

Soft Core investigates these practices by presenting existing works and newly commissioned works by a diversity of artists who question the fluctuating meaning of what it means to be soft.

Artist
Tully Arnot, Brook Andrew, Mikala Dwyer, Tully Moore, Tony Oursler, Michael Parekowhai, Patricia Piccinini, Todd Robinson, Koji Ryui, Kathy Temin, Louise Weaver, Simon Yates and Paul Yore.

Catalogue contributors
Vanessa Berry, Georgina Cole, Anna Davis, Annika Kristensen, Victoria Lynn, Justin Paton, Francis E Parker, Lisa Slade, Jason Smith and Russell Storer.
The Soft Core catalogue has been generously supported by the Gordon Darling Foundation       

Curated by Micheal Do.

Banner image: Todd Robinson, Oooh #3, 2013, Hydrocal, polyester filler, paint, SLS print, 30 x 30 x 34 cm. Image courtesy the artist and Galerie Pompom, Sydney.

Gallery image credits:
Louise Weaver, no small wonder, 2005, Hand crocheted lambswool and embroidered cotton thread over high density foam, walnut tree, Japanese rice wine vessels (gourds), ceramic, chromed abs plastic, ('Tangle' designed by Richard X. Zawitz 1981), lurex thread, nylon thread, cotton thread, Japanese silk, felt, Swarovski crystals, mirrored perspex, steel, plastic, fibreglass, granite, starfish. 'Fruit Light', designed by Geoffrey Mance. Nylon carpet, light, sound, 230 x 500 x 366 cm. Image courtesy the artist and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney. 

Michael Parekowhai, Jim McMurtry, 2004, woven nylon substrate pigment, 450 × 450 × 1200cm. Image courtesy the artist and Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland.

Todd Robinson, Oooh #3, 2013, Hydrocal, polyester filler, paint, SLS print, 30 x 30 x 34 cm. Image courtesy the artist and Galerie Pompom, Sydney.

Tully Arnot, Daydream, 2008, Doonas, fans, air, dimensions variable. Image courtesy the artist.

Kathy Temin, Round Ball Tree (medium), 2009, synthetic fur, filling and wood, 205 x 90 x 90cm. Image courtesy the artist, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney.

Koji Ryui, HAVE A NICE DAY, 2014, unfired clay, polyethylene bag, dimensions variable. Image courtesy the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney.

Mikala Dwyer, The Hollows, 2014, plastic and air, dimensions variable. Installation view of the 19th Biennale of Sydney (2014) at Cockatoo Island. Image courtesy the artist, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne. Created for the 19th Biennale of Sydney.