The Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre is set to open a significant new exhibition this month, honouring an artist many believe deserves far greater recognition. Objet d’Art — Theo Koning and his Creative Self will be the first comprehensive retrospective of the late artist's prolific career.
Opening on November 15 and running until February 8, the exhibition will be open daily from 10am to 5pm. It promises an expansive look at one of Western Australia's most instinctive and inventive creators, whose work spanned five decades.
A Legacy Forged from the Discarded
Theo Koning, who passed away in 2022, had a remarkable career that traversed sculpture, painting, poetry, performance, and even gardening. He was renowned for finding profound creative potential in items others overlooked. His materials were often sourced from street junk, skip bins, op shops, and tips, transforming the mundane into art.
Andre Lipscombe, the art collection curator for the City of Fremantle who produced the exhibition, strongly believes Koning should be a household name in WA. He described Koning as a wry narrator of the human condition who treated his artistic life as a playground for creative experimentation.
An Expansive Collection and Playful Spirit
The exhibition brings together works borrowed from a vast network of sources, including the artist’s estate, his family, and 65 institutional, corporate, and private art collections from across the state and as far as Sydney. Key lenders include the Bunbury and New Norcia Museum collections, the Janet Holmes a Court Collection, Bankwest, and the Royal Perth Hospital Collection.
Visitors will get to see Koning's large-scale assemblages, installations, sculptures, paintings, drawings, and print editions. The show also features his artist books, narrated poetry, collage, and examples of his mail art.
Koning's playful and humorous side is well represented. The exhibition traces his local and interstate projects, collaborations, and art activism, including his popular Instagram posts from 2018 to 2020 where he engaged in dress-ups with homemade masks and even a prosthetic ear found on a local beach. It also features his homemade horror film, Amputation (1980).
Deep Roots in the Fremantle Community
Theo Koning maintained a strong relationship with the Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre for nearly five decades. Curator and collections lead Abigail Moncrieff expressed her excitement at welcoming his work back, noting that this will be the 15th time the centre has exhibited his work in its 52-year history.
Moncrieff highlighted that Koning's creative legacy is deeply rooted in Fremantle, not only through his artworks but also through his private and laneway garden projects. His influence also extended through his teaching, which helped shape the practices of a younger generation of local artists.
To complement the exhibition, a limited-edition illustrated monograph about the artist and his work will be launched. Historical video interviews with Koning, produced by Fremantle creative Colin Story, and an oral history from 2007 will also be on display, offering deeper insight into the mind of this inventive maker.
