Art exhibition / “Dean Cross: Sometimes I Miss the Applause,” from Heide Museum of Modern Art. At Canberra Museum and Gallery until October 22. Reviewed by BARRINA SOUTH.

“DEAN Cross: Sometimes I Miss the Applause” is  an autobiographical new work by a Worimi artist that is multidisciplinary, bold and worthy of a standing ovation.

As First Nation creatives, we work across a variety of mediums painters are dancers and writers are photographers. Our art expression operates within the continuum of the oldest living culture on this planet, multidisciplinary. Dean Cross is no exception. Trained as a dancer, choreographer and a visual artist, Cross describes himself as a “paratactical” artist, one who is interested in blending materials and ideas to challenge preconceived ideas and dominate narratives.

Nestled in the corner of the “Sidney Nolan: Search for Paradise” exhibition at the Canberra Museum and Gallery (touring from Heide Museum of Modern Art) is Cross’ installation comprising of a dual channel video installation. You locate the work with your ears before your eyes. The soundtrack to the moving image work includes an ambient soundtrack and the voice of a dance teacher keeping the tempo for the class.

We see Cross is dressed in a black and white tracksuit firstly laying on the floor, then sweeping. An identical image appears on the parallel screen, this time Cross is seated facing the viewer. For me it is confronting and uncomfortable and I ask myself is Cross turning the tables, analysing, assessing even scrutinizing the viewer. Who is looking at who?

We assume it is Cross because throughout the piece he is wearing a paper bag over his head with an image of Nolan’s self-portrait painted 1943, we never see his face.

As the score of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” ballet and orchestral concert strikes up with see Cross perform a series of dance moves that are incongruous, further emphasised by the deliberate editing choices and dual screens. The viewer later learns this choice of dance style is in response to the original jarring choreography of Vaslav Nijinsky in Stravinsky’s ballet.

So why is Cross performing to Stravinsky in the likeness of Nolan? Cross is in dialogue with the 1962 radical version of the modernist ballet by Kenneth MacMillan where Nolan was commissioned to design the sets and costumes.

For me, this is where the power of Cross’ work is best understood. Through the deliberate choice of choreography and dress, Cross is confronting dominant cultural and social histories. He is shining a light on the insensitive and cultural appropriation of First Nation culture.

For the 1962 production, Nolan cherry picked a variety of First Nations iconography and appropriated it, demonstrating an era commonly insensitive towards First Nations culture.

Why does Cross wear an image of Nolan? Wearing Nolan’s likenesses as a mask, adds another layer to Cross’ complex narrative as he identifies autobiographical moments from both his and Nolan’s life. Moments that twist and fold in on another or as described in the exhibition inextricably intertwined, suggesting a series of convergences, cultural collisions and slippages in time.

An example of this is the upcoming first major work “Savage” from the Australian Dance Theatre’s new artistic director and Wiradjuri man Daniel Riley. Riley and Cross started their careers with Quantum Leap Canberra (now QL2 Dance) and Cross, like Nolan for MacMillan, is providing the design and sets for this production.

Cross’ work encourages the audience to ask questions and rethink the dominant narrative. I am looking forward to seeing more from Cross.