Pei Pei He, Streetscape #12, 2012, trams, tram stop, Melbourne, CBD
Summary
Chinese-Australian artist Pei Pei He has a resolute interest in the city: city streets, city scenes, city scapes and city rhythms of life. The city is her muse. In large part this is due to her personal life story, having been forced from the city to rural China for re-education during the Cultural Revolution. For He, who arrived in Australia in 1987 after becoming a photojournalist, the metropolis is a symbol of freedom and opportunity.
He's paintings and drawings reference her Chinese heritage, many being physically broad depictions that resemble unfurling scrolls, resisting any single fixed viewpoint and executed with the precision of calligraphy. Equally, they hint at a Western tradition of panoramic photography, the origin of which is 19th century. From a distance appearing almost pointillist in technique, the meticulously worked 'Streetscape #12' is reminiscent of a staged panorama of a historical streetscape. A line of probably commuters poses casually in front of two distinctly Melbourne trams. All face the artist, their gazes forward, no-one jostling, and with individuals seemingly equidistant from the viewing point. Their quiet uniformity seems deeply egalitarian and offers momentary stillness to a surely thriving rush-hour scene on a Melbourne city street. This meditation on Melbourne street life came into the Art and Heritage Collection in 2012.
