These two exhibitions are very different yet each is a response to the 'idea of woman' in the patriarchal world.  I imagine they will spark many a lively discussion.

In his artist statement, Hardman reveals that the aesthetic of the 1970's fashion photographs overwhelmed him and admits to being seduced by the "piercing eyes and shiny, glossy lips" of these images of ideal women. The artist's fascination for this genre led him to replicate, in superb photo-realist style of acrylic on board, these dream girls in a much larger than folio size magazine format.  He is so successful, that the upper gallery of Artplace could pass for a teenage boy's ultimate bedroom..

Hardman's perfectly painted ladies lounge in luxury, their large cool eyes reflect, but do not return, our gaze.  However, these vacant stares, the open body language, luscious lips and well manufactured 'casual' poses are more than inviting and like their inspirational photographs, they produce the stuff of dreams and wish fulfilment. So one lady gently caresses her cheek, another playfully tilts her head and holds a whipped cream topped ice-cream soda, a third curls up on a divan in a crowed jungle-like setting, and for those who like the challenge, a Grace Kelly type sits with a straight back while she looks off to the side.

What differentiates these images from their predecessors is that the artist, in an effort to purge himself of his obsession, has defaced his shrines with graffiti.  But it seems the therapeutic effort was all in vain as the graffiti is carefully placed so as not to obscure any of the 'important bits'.  Indeed the random X's, O's and arrows only serve to highlight the perfection of the ideal image. One has to admit Hardman's painting technique is flawless but his message is a bit scary.

Linda Banazis too offers a scary message, only hers is more relevant to a wider audience. She reminds us that the history of Western Australia is written by, about and for men with little mention of the contributions made to our society by women.  This conspicuous absence of any recorded female effort is symbolized by an empty frock or a length of floral cloth set against a photo-collage of men doing hard yakka.

I would have preferred her paintings to be larger and stronger in colour.  As they are, the small scale and mostly pale hues seem like timid whispers, but that may have been the artist's intention.  Like secrets shared behind curtains, they seem harmless until you recognize the truth of the message.  For example, in the almost dainty photo-collage Reaping Curtain we see a harvester cleaving through a flimsy wall that could be a field of grain or faded fabric.  Whatever productive symbol is intended (wheat or woman) it is being torn apart.  It is a striking metaphor of rape - of the land and of women's history.

Both exhibitions are thought provoking as viewers will respond to different levels in the imagery.