Last night, Ant Melder, under his artistic alias @RubbishFantastic, unveiled his collection of provocative, satirical and amusingly inappropriate art, in an exhibition titled ‘That’s not art, it’s just a bunch of cocks and puns’. The show, at the Coma Gallery in Chippendale, featured 74 pieces of painting, poetry and ceramics.
Guests from across the advertising world and beyond heard Melder talk about the importance of uninhibited play in creativity. “Art, and life, can often be really serious,” he said. “But I think there should always be room for the daft, the silly, even the puerile. In fact, that stuff, like the role of the court jester back in the day, can be an obtuse way of saying the unsayable, pointing out hypocrisy, and speaking truth to power. Or maybe I’m just making excuses for all the knob pictures!”
As a celebration of creativity, it was fitting that the event raised funds for the Cocogun Scholarship for Indigenous Creatives, as the purpose of the scholarship is to build pathways into the creative industry and help bring more rich, diverse perspectives into the world.
Final totals are still being totted up, but Melder is excited about the results. “I’m clearly no Rembrandt but, put it this way…Van Gogh sold one painting in his entire lifetime – I’ve sold a lot more than that tonight. Just saying!” he said.
