jeff moorfoot
scan

Jeff Moorfoot’s Scan is a collection of images made over the past decade, and includes a selection of images from each of seven bodies of work. The unifying factor is that all of these works are made not with a camera, but instead via a flatbed scanner. The process somewhat contemporises and pays respect to one of the earliest photographic processes, the photogram. Moorfoot’s subject matter is drawn mostly from the natural world, and in the main from his garden, and he uses it to seek out beauty in decay by use of line, shape, form and colour. The work also has an underlying subtext of humour and a rejection of the pompous seriousness that surrounds most art. Moorfoot’s arts practice is informed by a drug induced youth, my previous career as an advertising photographer working for clients with an unhealthy obsession with perfection and as a lecturer in the Dept of Graphic Design at RMIT which reinforced in him the importance of design aspects in successful visual communication. The works featured in the exhibition come, in chronological order, from ‘Codomonium’ 2007, ‘The Elephant Stamp’ 2012. ‘Parsimony’ 2012, ‘Twenty Carat Love’ 2014, ‘Bountiful Harvest’ 2015, ‘Rodents Mort’ 2016 and ‘Bountiful Harvest Redux’ 2018.

Jeff Moorfoot is an artist who mainly works with photography. By focusing on techniques and materials, he approaches a wide scale of subjects in a multi-layered way and likes to involve the viewer in a way that is sometimes physical and he believe in the idea of function following form in a work.

His photographs are saturated with obviousness, mental inertia, clichés and bad jokes. They question the coerciveness that is derived from the more profound meaning and the superficial aesthetic appearance of an image. By parodying mass media by exaggerating certain formal aspects inherent to our contemporary society, Moorfoot considers making art a craft which is executed using clear formal rules and which should always refer to social reality.

His works are notable for their imperfect finish and tactile nature. With a conceptual approach, he makes works that can be read as self-portraits. Sometimes they appear idiosyncratic and quirky, while at other times, they seem typical by-products of superabundance and marketing. They directly respond to the surrounding environment and use everyday experiences as a starting point. Often these are framed instances that would go unnoticed in their original context. He currently lives and works in Lyonville in the Central Victorian Highlands.