Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
The Gene & Brian Sherman Collection, Sydney

EXHIBITED
Middle of Now | Here, Inaugural Honolulu Biennale, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2017
Sydney Contemporary, Alcaston Gallery, 10 September - 13 September 2015
Personal Structures / Crossing Borders, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy, 9 May – 22 November 2015 (another example)
Collection+: Greg Semu, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation (SCAF), Sydney, 7 October – 10 December 2016

Greg Semu's 2016 SCAF Collection+ exhibition was a personal
highlight and a much-needed extension, knowledge-wise, of my
earlier encounters with contemporary art from the Pacific, specifically
Samoa, via my interest in Yuki Kihara's practice. Whilst Greg was born
in New Zealand, his spiritual and cultural links remain firmly anchored
in his Samoan heritage.
The Tatau-covered headless figures in these important images mesh
with Brian and my longstanding interest in portraiture. Mike Parr's
self-portrait project dissects his selfhood in compelling ways, Ah
Xian's 1999 China China bust explores portraiture via porcelain,
Shaun Gladwell's performative work often focuses on his moving
body in urban or natural landscapes. Stelarc's pierced-by-hooks
skin references his attempt to amplify corporeal potential, whilst
Greg Semu uses body scarification to signal his people's rich cultural
heritage, significantly impacted by colonial intervention.
At once a nod to body adornment, (coinciding with my own deep
interest in artist-created jewellery), fashion (an interest which Greg
and I share), and most importantly, a Samoan coming- of-age cultural
practice, these decorated-by-painful incision sophisticated nude male
self portraits clearly speak to viewers at multiple levels. Global interest
in his work is, I believe, bound to rise and rise as diverse community
creative practices continue to be uncovered, explored and globally
foregrounded.
The Pe'a is Semu's most serious piece of self-invention, but his
entire persona is wilfully exotic, from his wedge-shaped haircut to
his upturned moustache. He embraces theatricality as both artist
and model, often making himself the focus of his ambitious photo-compositions. Far from playing the savage, he might be better
described as a dandy.
John McDonald, Sydney Morning Herald, November 23, 2016
Dr Gene Sherman