Think dark, think brooding, think mysterious - think Mona Ryder.

Props for Barcelona Two Step is an intriguing new installation exhibition by Mona Ryder, opening at KickArts at 6pm on Friday, June 13.

The exhibition will be officially opened by Ingrid Hoffman, regional manager of Arts Queensland Cairns, and will continue until August 23 in the lower gallery.

Ryder’s installations are highly original and personal, not from the conscious mind, with everyday materials and domestic objects transformed to create the unfamiliar and the bizarre.

Shoes, synthetic hair, fake fur, keys, crutches and bulging blood-red stockings are a few of Ryder’s favourite objects. Iconography is prominent, with frequent references to religion through the use of crucifixes.

Her work alludes to fetish and fantasy. Critics have linked her with surrealism, where artists question what is real, what objects mean, and how objects interact with each other out of their familiar context. Props for Barcelona Two Step will challenge and engage.

"We are fortunate to be able to represent this high calibre Australian artist at the KickArts galleries and believe patrons to the gallery will find her work fascinating and curious," KickArts director Rae O’Connell says.

Ryder has exhibited in major exhibitions in Australia, including the National Sculpture Prize at the National Gallery of Australia, Australian Perspecta and the Biennale of Sydney, as well as overseas.

Share this article