Hibiscus: Angela Tiatia & Philip Juster

Hibiscus: Angela Tiatia & Philip Juster celebrates the work of two artists who, though separated by time and cultural heritage, are connected through their exploration of issues of colonialism, commodification and the depiction of Pacific peoples and places in western history and art. Both artists share an interest too in ideas of montage, collage and related techniques as cannily effective methods of creating wry, strident and celebratory images that reshape familiar myths and materials into bold assertions of agency and pride. 

Acclaimed Sydney-based artist Angela Tiatia draws on her Samoan heritage to examine questions around gender and representation, using photography and film to create a new canon and counter the stereotypes of the Pacific – particularly Pacific women – embedded in historical European art and present-day visual culture. Brisbane-born Philip Juster’s extensive but still relatively unknown and unstudied creative output encompasses collage, painting, sculpture, textiles and wearable art, combining his enduring interest in Asian and Pacific cultures with influences such as Pop Art, Dada, Surrealism and psychedelia.  

A conversation between Tiatia’s ‘hyper-beautiful, hyper-surreal’ The pearl, commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2021, and a selection from the 60 works by Juster held in the Penrith Regional Gallery collection, this exhibition celebrates the power of looking at the world through a post-colonial lens.