In their joint exhibition Holding, Ally McKay and Emily McGuire present new works that grapple with concepts of potential and fulfilment. Through their considered use of materials, light and space they each explore the relationships between balance and tension in order to unpack power dynamics within organisational systems. Reflecting on the incessant social, domestic and personal pressures people face in their daily lives through a poetics of form and action, McGuire and McKay’s works are grounded in structure and subtlety. Employing a deep sensitivity to materiality and presence, their complementary approaches to sculptural practice are informed by dialogues between minimalism, formalism and feminism.

Text by Liam Bryan-Brown

19 - 29 July 2023
Webb Gallery, 226 Grey Street,
South Bank, 4101

Photography by Louis Lim.

Failure is not an option, 2023
Digital video (with sound)
3:26 minutes
Filmed and Edited by Thomas Oliver

McKay’s ‘Failure is not an option’, made in collaboration with Thomas Oliver, inhabits the space between documentation and performance. A cinematic articulation of perseverance and frustration, in ‘Failure is not an option’, we observe the artist repeatedly create short-lived peaks by leaning two sheets of paper against one another. Oliver’s sweeping lens captures McKay’s focus and persistence as her tenuous structures inevitably collapse, their mutual support unable to withstand the slightest disruption.

Text by Liam Bryan-Brown

Read Liam Bryan-Brown’s Exhibition Catalogue Here