Historical information

ony Garifalakis' practice over the past two decades has constituted an examination of social relations and the semiotics of power. Garifalakis completed a Master of Fine Art at RMIT University, and has exhibited extensively in Australia and internationally. His works are represented in major public collections, including the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

These three works are from Garifalakis’ series of denim works titled, Mutually Assured Destruction. The artist says of these works: “This series of works are denim collages that juxtapose political and corporate iconography with cute and benign clip art imagery. The aim being to confuse, collapse or diffuse any power these symbols might contain. The use of this particular iconography is undermined by the material it is made with. The denim becomes a tool that correlates global and political organizations with outlaw groups, gangs and

criminality.

I am interested in denim’s association to outlaw groups and gangs. Denim is currently a billion dollar global industry; I am aware that any cultural identification it has to a counterculture or outlaw status is obsolete and outdated. I am interested in exploring this idea – how a globally commonplace material once contained a completely different set of signifiers. The focus of these works is the material – denim. They are monochromatic works that aim to highlight the material that they are made with. In addition to the collage technique I have ‘drawn’ on some of these works by employing elements associated with biker and gang jackets such as – stitching, studs, chains, safety pins, etc.”