Manspreading
Pat Hoffie
- Sitter: Pat Hoffie
- Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
- Dimensions: 111 x 130 cm
- Representation: The artist represents themselves
About the artist
Pat Hoffie AM is a Brisbane based artist who exhibits nationally and internationally. Trained as a painter, her practice includes a range of media including installation, assemblage and sculpture. Since her first solo exhibition in Brisbane in 1974, she has exhibited extensively; for several decades her work has focused on the changing nature of work, especially in relation to shifts in understanding about what might constitute a ‘work of art’ or an ‘artwork’. Hoffie has engaged in residencies across the Asia-Pacific region and in Europe, and has worked collaboratively with artist communities, especially in the Philippines. She has also worked on projects and exhibitions that include Australia’s changing role in the Asia-Pacific region; on Art and Human Rights projects; on our changing relationships with land and place; and on the effects of globalisation on local cultural production through exhibitions, projects and publications. She has also worked as an academic and writer. Hoffie left her position at the QCA, in 2016 to work full-time on her own art practice. The University awarded her the title of Professor Emeritus in recognition of her long dedication to research, education and mentorship.
About the sitter
Pat Hoffie’s self portrait is a work designed to confront. She writes: “‘manspreading’ is a colloquialism for ‘taking up too much space’ – a term that’s often used to refer to, say, male passengers taking up too much space on commuting vehicles, or perhaps, in a professional sense, to those who take up too much of the oxygen in a room. The subject is situated on her back verandah in pyjamas and running shoes – a perfect sartorial combo for painting – and the paintings leaning on the railing behind her are works that needed to be treated for mould infestation, a problem common to painters in the sub-tropics who do not have sufficient investment capital for climate controlled storage.”
