In Spite of Meaning

March 28 - April 19, 2025

Group show

Curated by Eugene Huston

“It makes me uncomfortable to talk about meanings and things. It’s better not to know so much about what things mean. 
I don’t think that people accept the fact that life doesn’t make sense. I think it makes people terribly uncomfortable. Absurdity is what I like most in life. I learned that just beneath the surface there’s another world, and still different worlds as you dig deeper. 
I discovered that if one looks a little closer at this beautiful world, there are always red ants underneath.”
David Lynch



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front gallery



Installation view - front through to back gallery



Installation view - back gallery



Installation view - back gallery



Installation view - back gallery



Installation view - back gallery



Installation view - back gallery



Installation view - back gallery



Installation view - back gallery



Installation view - back gallery


Jonathan Smart Gallery is delighted to present In Spite of Meaning, a group exhibition curated by Eugene Huston. The works selected showcase a diverse range of media, including video, 3D animation, photography, sculpture and painting. Featured artists include guests Hye Rim Lee and Jae Hoon Lee, alongside Rob Hood, Sanjay Theodore, Marie Le Lievre, Richard Reddaway, Steve Carr and Mark Braunias.
The 'Selected works' (below the curator's statement) includes images of video stills, photography, digital prints, sculptural works and painting. Titles and details of all the exhibited works can be found in the 'Details of works' section at the bottom of the web page.


Curator’s Statement
The notion of the "impossible meaningless of nature" invites a profound contemplation of the natural world and our attempts to ascribe meaning to it. At first glance, nature appears to be a tapestry of intricate ecosystems, vibrant life forms, and breathtaking landscapes, each teeming with complexity and beauty. Yet, beneath this surface lies an inherent indifference; nature operates according to its own laws, unencumbered by human notions of purpose or significance. The cyclical patterns of life and death, growth and decay, unfold with an almost engineered precision, suggesting a realm where meaning is not a guiding principle, but rather a human construct imposed on the chaotic reality of existence.

This paradox presents a unique philosophical dilemma. While humans strive to find meaning in natural phenomena—be it through spirituality, science, or art—nature itself remains devoid of intention. The serene beauty of a sunset or the violent ferocity of a lightning storm at sea occurs without regard for human interpretation. This realization can evoke a sense of existential angst, as individuals grapple with the understanding that their search for meaning may be inherently futile. Yet, this very futility can also be liberating. It allows for a perspective that embraces the wonder of existence without the weight of imposed significance. In recognizing the "impossible meaningless" of nature, we may find ourselves more attuned to the raw beauty of the world around us, appreciating it for what it is rather than what we wish it to signify.

At its core, "the impossible meaninglessness of nature" encapsulates a profound and often uncomfortable exploration of existence. It challenges us to confront the tension between our desire for meaning and the reality of nature's indifference, ultimately inviting a deeper reflection on our place within the universe.

Eugene Huston


Selected works

Hye Rim Lee

 
















 

Marie Le Lievre




Steve Carr

 

 

 

 

 

Jae Hoon Lee




 

 

 



 

 

Richard Reddaway

 


Rob Hood



 Sanjay Theodore

 


 



Mark Braunias

 

Review by Ben Curnow
Ben Curnow is an independent writer, art critic and curator, currently residing in Timaru, NZ. A former curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, and lecturer in Art Theory at AUT, Curnow has published extensively on contemporary art and art history.

IN SPITE OF MEANING 

In a rather obliquely titled exhibition that asks us to “confront the tension between our desire for meaning and the reality of nature’s indifference”, Eugene Huston brings together a disparate selection of key contemporary artists’ works in his latest curatorial project at Jonathan Smart Gallery.

With its intellectual framing and slick presentation, ‘In Spite of Meaning’ is the sort of exhibition that you might as easily encounter in a public space. This reflects the important and perhaps growing role that dealer galleries play in presenting artists’ work to the public (sometimes extending to projects that may not be primarily commercial). At the very least, a curated exhibition such as this allows art to be seen in a context other than that of the stock room, and through a different lens than simply the dealer’s ‘eye’, while making a change from the familiar ‘roster’ of one-person shows. 

Huston brings his own aesthetic to the gallery — perhaps most obviously in the prominence given to the digital ‘new media’ works of Hye Rim Lee, on one hand, and Jae Hoon Lee, on the other, together with Steve Carr’s more low-key “burnout” video piece. His flair for bringing together quite contrasting types of work — from Marie Le Lievre’s aleatory abstract painting to the inane phrases of Rob Hood’s woodcuts, and from the quietly obscure conceptualism of Sanjay Theodore to the Pop surrealism of the late Mark Braunias — is also essential to what makes the exhibition tick. 

There is a profoundly intuitive aspect to the curatorial approach here, even while the language of the curator’s statement is overtly intellectual. Like some of the best independent curators, who are fundamentally enthusiasts in the field and ‘fellow travellers’ of the artists, Huston knows better than to subordinate the art to an over-worked rationale. The task is to create junctions and activate a field of ideas which, it is hoped, might lead to deeper levels of thought. 

When Gertrude Stein penned the line, a “rose is a rose is a rose”, in 1913, it was shocking for many people, because in the tradition of the Romantic era a rose was always seen as a symbolic archetype. Suddenly, a rose was an actual rose. A similar twist seems to take place here, for example, in the sublime incomprehensibility of Jae Hoon Lee’s altered landscape images. “In recognising the ‘impossible meaninglessness’ of nature”, Huston suggests, “we may find ourselves more attuned to the raw beauty of the world around us, appreciating it for what it is rather than what we wish it to signify”. Meaning, in other words, gets in the way of seeing. 

BC

 

 

Details of works