This year

The painting titled "This Year" 1989 by Peter Ellis was selected by curator Dr.Peter Hill, for inclusion in the "Superfictions 1," A Novel an Installation, a Website exhibition at Kings Gallery. This exhibition is one in a series of exhibitions, novels, and performances curated by Dr. Hill that explore the concepts of Superfictions. This concept created by Peter Hill in the 1980's looks at self-created fictions that are brought to life and placed in the public domain. There has been much international attention and research into "superfictions" The concept has been developed into a course at Deakin University and has been the theme of critical writing and exhibitions. Superfictions has its own website devised by Dr.Hill. superfictions.com Peter Hill is the Sydney correspondent of ARTnews, Artpress in Paris and Times Higher Education in UK and a Scottish Australian artist, writer, and independent curator. Research contribution The exhibition is a Superfiction replicating an exhibition at an international Art Fair in Cologne in the year 1989. This exhibition includes actual works from international artists such as Rosemarie Trockel, Joseph Beuys and Ian Hamilton Finlay. The curator selected a painting by Ellis because it was painted in 1989 and has the title of " This Year". The work depicts a bear in a trance like state wearing human clothes, observing a swirling swastika like motif composed of smoking pipes. A disembodied hand is about to slap the bear into a state of consciousness, as if to make him aware of the evils and disasters of the contemporary world. This is reinforced by the appearance of a blue silhouette of a "grim reaper" figure replete with horns and scythe. There is also an abstracted diagram of a disease made of sand paper in this disturbing work. Ellis is researching the use of historic and contemporary images of destruction and foreboding for the year 1989. (continued on Coversheet - attached in Documents)