Namedropping is itself an example of the themes many of the artworks explore. The exhibition is packed with pieces by blockbuster names that on their own are strong enough to draw someone into a gallery or museum, including but not limited to Renoir, Brett Whiteley, Vincent Namatjira, Nan Goldin, Picasso, Ai Weiwei and Francis Bacon.
The value that we put on fame is teased out in different ways. Autographs of celebrities are littered throughout. Walsh’s Order of Australia medal is displayed in a room along with a poker table and a Holden Torana.
Foreground: Painted vases (2006), Ai Weiwei. Background: Mao (1972), Andy Warhol.Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford
Would a certain cartoonish and energetic painting (Tasteful Old Criminal, 2003) be mentioned in this article or displayed had it not been painted by Chopper Read? Would Ai Weiwei’s Painted vases be on display if he had made them from scratch rather than slapping a layer of paint over ceramics that are thousands of years old?
For a price, you can “name this gallery” and have your name appear on an LED display in one of the rooms. It’s temporary, though. The bidding (which resets each day) starts at $5 – and all it takes to bump your name off is the next person paying a little more.
The exhibition isn’t all about leveraging association for increased worth – it also examines how reputational damage or the removal of a previous association can affect how something is valued.
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How do we view a work by Donald Friend now that we know he is a paedophile? What is to be made of Head of a man now that the portrait is only formerly attributed to Vincent van Gogh?
When you step into a gallery, you sometimes beeline for the big-name work – not because it is the most beautiful or striking piece, but because the legacy and reputation of the person who created it amplifies the work itself and blurs out everything around it.
There’s something inside all of us that is programmed to seek out what has been pre-validated by others. Namedropping explores this tendency, by both distorting and leaning into it.
Namedropping opens at Mona on June 14 and runs until April 21, 2025
Elizabeth Flux travelled to Hobart as a guest of Mona.
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