‘Strange Magic’ by Gerwyn Davies seduces with its surreal costume-play

Jan Murphy Gallery’s latest exhibition ‘Strange Magic’ is a contemporary reinterpretation of the extravagant world of stage magic. Comprising quirky photo-adaptations by photographer Gerwyn Davies, the exhibition at the Australian art gallery is dotted with visuals that can enchant the viewers with their gaudy display, while also keeping them intrigued and curious. “In Strange Magic, I conjure a set of vivid and varnished self-representations, strings concealed, I vanish before the camera’s eye into a hall of smoke and mirrors," says Gerwyn Davies.

While the world of stage magic comprises a display of smoke and mirrors to confound and confuse the viewers, Davies’ images elicit the same response through carefully designed costumes. On the one hand, they seduce the viewer and beckon them to come and closely observe the images, and on the other, they use these costumes to conceal the subject, thus maintaining the interest of the spectators.

Gerwyn Davies is an Australian photographer whose body of work is uniquely experimental. Instead of capturing conventional visuals that rely on the observer for its messaging and interpretation, Davies creates flamboyant larger-than-life pictures that aim to summon a sense of wonder, while also keeping the subject concealed from wry glances and criticism. One of his previous works, ‘Iridescent’, comprising 12 images and developed in response to prominent heritage sites in Australia, is equally whimsical and dramatic owing to the visually excessive costumes that dress the subjects.

“It is through this confusion of vision and the juggling of extravagance and evasion that the productions and desires of the magic show resonate with my own queer photographic practice,” explains Davies. Consequently, the artist succeeds in creating a collection of work where the subject, even while being the center of attention, remains hidden from the public eye. Davies calls this illusive effect “photographic disappearance”. Through misdirection, the subject eludes identification and examination while still bouncing in front of the camera.

The exhibition ‘Strange Magic’ by Gerwyn Davies will remain on display till 19 March, 2022, at Jan Murphy Gallery, Fortitude Valley, Australia.