Kansas Smeaton

COMA is pleased to present a solo exhibition, titled ‘Desire’, by Sydney-based artist Kansas Smeaton, on view 25 November – 17 December 2022. This is the artist’s first solo presentation with COMA.

Addressing themes of power, seduction, allurement and eroticism through the visual and theoretical rhetoric of 18th-century French portraiture, Kansas Smeaton’s Desire takes a known visual language and twists.

Recontextualising and appropriating Rococo portraiture to reclaim who can be the subjects of these portraits, and in turn the subjects of desire, Smeaton frames her subjects within the opulence, frivolity and the decorations of high society. Voluptuous fabrics, bows and drapery visually celebrate a sense of freedom and a life of unrestrained enjoyment, something Desire acknowledges its subjects already embody and proclaim their own.

Often operating on the fringes or periphery of conventional society, in this case sex workers, members of the queer community and non-conformists, the sitters depicted are unwavering in their command of the scene, depicted as symbols of power and status. An exposed breast, a sultry stare, a tentative touch – each subject is unapologetic, liberated. Depicted in states of dress and undress the subjects tantalise and tease, charting processes of courtship and allurement that are quintessentially Rococo – the art of seduction. Art fuelled by desire, excitement and romance, and a process that acknowledges foreplay is just as exciting as the main event.

Rather than rejecting the gaze entirely, Desire reclaims the gaze to include those who have previously been excluded, extending the parameters of the gaze and thus extending the parameters of desire. “The subjects in my work are aware that the gaze exists, and they are proud in this knowledge. Some even gaze back.” Unfiltered and unflinching, the gaze holds a mirror up to our own desires and attractions, a shared intimacy and excitement between the sitter and the viewer. 

Through Ley-lines of a conveyed familiarity these subjects share a story that weaves and turns. Something wildly different with the same burning core. Power through confidence, power through authenticity. There is no posturing here, no need to put on airs.

This scene directly references Rococo pastoral scenes, with dark hues of dusk and the impending evening offsetting pale pastels the figures are wearing. A tangle of limbs in a tentative embrace. Are they lovers, friends, relatives? Acquaintances old or new? Implied but never completely disclosed, these subtleties are suggestive of the erotic undertones prominent in Rococo love scenes.

Some subjects in my paintings are sex workers. I want to paint them in this elevated way. I wanna give them a royal style portrait. And elevate them from the fringes of society into this arena where they have all the power. And their sexuality and eroticism is celebrated and not denied.

Kansas smeaton