Anastasia Klose (born 1978) is an Australian contemporary artist."Pains in the Artists" The Age. 3 May 2007. Accessed 23 April 2008 Her work has received much attention in the art world due to the personal nature of her subject matter, often putting herself in humiliating situations. She is a graduate of both the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and the University of Melbourne. She is also the daughter of artist and academic, Elizabeth Presa."Dr Elizabeth Presa" University of Melbourne. Accessed 23 June 2009
Works Klose's work largely comprises elements of video, performance and installation art. She is known for her lo-fi aesthetics with her use of iMovie editing software, generic fonts for text-based work and found objects such as cardboard or handwritten signage."Video art: a short guide to now" Art & Australia. Volume 45, No. 2, 2007. Accessed 29 June 2009 The artist has also professed to drawing on the concepts of humiliation and embarrassment"A festival of indi art in downtown Melbourne" Art Right Now. 13 May 2007. Accessed 23 June 2009 and has such her work has been likened to the antics of comedians such as Sacha Baron Cohen and the cast of Jackass."Nothing to hide" The Age. 18 March 2007. Accessed 23 April 2008
In 2005, Klose filmed a video of herself engaging in sexual intercourse with a fellow art student in a disabled toilet at the VCA entitled In the toilets with Ben, and later the same year filmed Mum and I watch in the toilets with Ben, where Klose and her mother viewed the former video together sitting on a couch."Pains in the Artists: Endurance and Suffering" Blindside. 2007. Accessed 21 June 2009 The same year Klose filmed a video of herself being slapped hard in the face by a male friend.
In 2007, Klose was awarded the Prometheus Visual Arts Award by Brisbane's Institute of Modern Art Director, Robert Leonard for her Film for My Nanna. In the video the artist walks around the streets of Melbourne wearing a white wedding dress, with a cardboard sign around her neck which reads "Nanna I Am Still Alone!"."Nanna Art" Institute of Modern Art. 25 May 2007. Accessed 23 June 2009
Responses The term "aesthetic of the pathetic" has been attributed to Klose's work."Anastasia Klose: The aesthetic of the pathetic" University of Queensland. 2008. Accessed 23 June 2009 Conservative pundit and Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt said of Klose's work: "Only an artist could make sex films and still not find an audience", while referring to VCA art graduates in general as "unmistakable symptoms of culture sliding into vacuity, if not outright barbarity." In response, Klose made a film about Bolt."Melburnin'" Trouble. March 2006. Accessed 23 June 2009 Australian Centre for Contemporary Art Director, Juliana Engberg however describes Klose as "an exceptional artist with a highly developed and sophisticated practice"."The trend is nigh" The Age. 14 March 2009. Accessed 21 June 2009 Art critic, Natalie King of Australian Art Collector says Klose's works are "refreshingly candid, funny and earnest - leaving us smiling wryly.""Anastasia Klose: The Happy Artist" Art iT. 2009. Accessed 23 June 2009 Robert Leonard and others have acquainted Klose's work with feminism. The Art Life described Klose as "Humorous, self-deprecating and self-aware","Artscape: The Art Life - Starry Starry Night" ABC1. 17 March 2009. Accessed 29 April 2009 while in an interview with the South Australian Contemporary Art Centre publication Broadsheet, the artist was accused of nihilism, but she responded by saying her practice was a way of confronting depression rather than escaping it."NEW07 Interviewed" Broadsheet. Volume 36, 2007. Accessed 26 June 2009 The artist has also described herself as "an awful, ungrateful, spoiled brat of a woman".
Acknowledgments Klose's work has featured at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art"Media Release - New07" Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and the Biennale of Sydney"New works uploaded to the online venue" Biennale of Sydney 2008 She is represented by Tolarno Galleries in Melbourne, who represent other high-profile Australian artists such as Bill Henson and Patricia Piccinini."Anastasia Klose CV" Tolarno Galleries home 2008 In 2008 Klose was listed in Australian Art Collector as one of "50 of Australia's Most Collectable Artists"."50 of Australia's Most Collectable Artists" Australian Art Collector. January - March 2008. Accessed 21 June 2009
See also Tracey Emin Australian Feminist Art Timeline
References
External links Anastasia Klose at Tolarno Galleries Cardboard prop used in "The Silent Protest of Anastasia Klose"