A sneak peek inside the pages of Issue 23, featuring Jiawei Shen & Simryn Gill. Also, Juan Ford, Giles Alexander, Marlene Dumas, Rew Hanks, Tom Polo, and Agatha Gothe-Snape. Plus: Essays, Opinions, News and Reviews.
The Artist Behind the Art | Artist Profile Issue 23 | Out Now
Tags: Agatha Gothe-Snape, ARTIST PROFILE, Artist Profile Issue 23, Giles Alexander, Jiawei Shen, Juan Ford, Marlene Dumas, Rew Hanks, Simryn Gill, Tom Polo
South of no North is a modest evocation of everyday life, curated by Glenn Barkley, and featuring artists Noel McKenna, Laurence Aberhart and William Eggleston, drawing on themes of place and purpose. The curatorial premise of this ongoing series of exhibitions at the MCA situates an Australian artist within an international context, displaying the work of international artists alongside to draw connections and affinities. Painter Noel McKenna exhibits with photographers Laurence Aberhart from New Zealand, and William Eggleston from the USA, facilitating interesting comparisons. Aberhart works almost exclusively with black and white photography, as opposed to Eggleston, who by contrast, produces colour images.
The work of these three artists together paints a portrait of life; trivialities and the mundane. Together, they portray a common humanity; McKenna’s somewhat naïve works perfectly complementing the stripped back, honest photographs of Aberhart and Eggleston. Commenting on his choice of artists in the two photographers, McKenna recalls a conversation with his longtime friend Aberhart on a road trip in New Zealand.
“We got to talking about colour photography and Laurence said he did not have much time for it at all. I think I said‘what about William Eggleston,’ after a brief pause Laurence replied ‘except for Eggleston’. That brief exchange has stayed in my mind and 14 years later the three of us are in an exhibition together,” he says.
“From the first moment I saw an Eggleston photograph, I knew there was something special about his work. His world is the south in America. I have never been there but through his photographs I feel I have been there. His work has an authenticity about it that draws you in.”
This statement in itself sums up the essence of this exhibition, and of the utility of placing these artists and works alongside each other. One feels, as they walk around the exhibition, as if they are getting a glimpse into another world – one that is unfamiliar, but at the same time familiar. The honesty of these works, the conceptual simplicity of it all, allows the viewer into their world and gives them access to this unfamiliar place in a way that is recognisable.
Curator Glenn Barkley draws attention to the fact that central to all these artists’ work is the snapshot, both in a formal and conceptual sense, explored through centrality. Childhood is a common thread in the exhibition, explored through this idea of the snapshot. Aberhart captures his children in moments of contemplation and wonderment, beautiful isolations of everyday life. Eggleston’s famous photograph Untitled (Memphis) 1970, presents a tricycle from the view of a child, whilst McKenna’s works “tap into this wonder through his series of paintings of ‘big things’ – a very Australian civic obsession,” according to Barkley.
South of no North is a narrative – a disjointed visual tale of the everyday. While the stories are individual, together they reflect universal considerations and experiences. Glenn Barkley comments on the fact that this exhibition is being staged at the same time as Anish Kapoor, highlighting the intimacy of South of no North by contrast. “Holding this exhibition at the same time as Anish Kapoor, who is working on such a large scale, and all of these artists are working on a small scale. The best way to look is one on one,” he says.
Museum of Contemporary Art
Until May 5, 2013
Images:
1. Laurence Aberhart, Reuben, Russell, 14 April 1993, 1993, silver gelatin, gold and selenium toned. Courtesy the artist and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney and the artist
2. William Eggleston, Untitled (Memphis), 1970, dye-transfer print. Courtesy Cheim & Read, New York and Eggleston Artistic Trust
3. Noel McKenna, Boy dressed as Batman, 1991, oil on plywood. Courtesy the artist and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney and the artist. Photograph: Simon Hewson
Tags: Laurence Aberhart, MCA, Noel McKenna, South of no North, William Eggleston
Ben Quilty paints like there’s no tomorrow. In an exclusive interview and photo shoot for the cover feature of Issue 22, we speak with Quilty about his studio and creative life after his Afghanistan tour as Australia’s offical war artist. In a revealing and intimate interview, Quilty talks of his motivations and ambitions as a painter and for the Australian cultural landscape. Also in the issue, Andrew Browne talks to us about his cinematic-like paintings that portray the sometimes invisible edges of society; and Destiny Deacon whose photographic work speaks strongly for contemporary indigenous concerns. Plus many more artist studio visits, essays, opinions and reviews from around the country…
The third edition of Art Stage Singapore took place at the end of last week and featured some 131 galleries from around the world, with 12 of those from Australia. The fair, which ran for 4 days, from 24-27 February, focused strongly on the Asia Pacific region and included an Indonesian Pavilion’s – something of the fair’s flagship feature.
On the ground accounts from participating galleries was positive – from strong sales to new collectors, to the overall operations and management of the fair, Coming off the back of a commercial tough 2012, Fair Director, Lorenzo Rudolf, said in a statement that “Art Stage Singapore has made a great start to 2013”. This seems to be the case, given attendance records clocked up some 40,500 visitors attending the fair over the 4 days – a new high for this new fair.
On top of a busy program of public events, lectures and performances, the fair hosted a 32 Project Spaces – a curated platform dedicated to young cutting edge artists and interesting galleries emerging on the Asia Pacific art scene. A good number of Australian galleries were selected for this exciting initiative: Anna Pappas Gallery presented Sue Dodd with Kim Donaldson; Catherine Asquith Gallery featured Melanie Fitzmaurice; Helen Gory Galerie showed Kate Tucker; James Dorahy Project Space installed Sherna Teperson; Sullivan+Strumpf exhibited Sam Jinks; and Utopian Slumps displayed William Mackinnon.
Other Austrlaian Galleries included: Gallery Barry Keldoulis, Chalk Horse, Diane Tanzer Gallery + Projects, Gallery Ecosse, Greenaway Art Gallery, and Mossenson Galleries.
Visit the Artist Profile Instagram feed for image highlight taken at the fair.
Visit the website to see exhibiting galleries and program highlights: artstagesingapore.com
Currently running in the Atrium Gallery of the Australian High Commission in Singapore is Australian artist Julian Meagher’s latest exhibition, Pressure Makes Diamonds. The display features a series of artistic renderings of the Papua New Guinean birds-of-paradise, a very personal collection of works, as suggested by the exhibition’s title which Meagher describes as something of a “personal statement.”
The artist worked previously as a medical doctor, making the career change ten years ago. “Though no one was exactly surprised by my change in careers, it was a tough time because of the pressure to prove myself to justify the switch. I can identify with exhibition title and the Papua New Guinean birds-of paradise– the subject of this collection – in the sense that I was under pressure to put on a brilliant display,” he says.
By placing these spectacular birds on such a stark background, Meagher says the intention was to highlight their natural beauty by contrast. This aesthetic dichotomy is explored further in the work through reference to gender, according to Meagher.
“Another contrast the birds represented to me is the idea of masculinity. Modern day masculinity revolves around things that are consciously un-pretty as beauty is relegated to the realm of the feminine. The birds-of-paradise turn such a notion on its head with their bright pink and blues, as it is the males who have to look great to woo the females. That’s how the tribesmen of Papua New Guinea came to place such emphasis on decorating themselves with feathers in their own mating rituals,” he explains.
Aratong Galleries
Atrium Gallery, Australian High Commission, Singapore
Until December 28, 2012
Images:
Magnificent Bird of Paradise, 50 x 50cm, oil on linen
You’ve Got The Body, Now You Want My Soul, 90 x 90cm, oil on linen.
Tags: Aratong Galleries, Australian High Commission, Julian Meagher, Pressure Makes Diamonds, Singapore
Interested by the fact that the desert covers the majority of the Australian landscape and presents some of the most inhospitable places on earth, curiosity drove Declan O’Doherty to the Simpson Desert in 2003 in hope of discovering more – he was not disappointed.
This journey was the beginning of a long fascination driven by the beauty, colour and natural transitions of the desert landscape and Terrestrial is a culmination of O’Doherty’s exploration into the desert environment using memory as the primary tool to capture a strikingly dynamic, emotive response to the Australian landscape.
Whilst focusing on stark, inhospitable desert expanses O’Doherty’s extreme pallet works in direct opposition to the relationship between colour and the natural world. His tonal vocabulary uses colour to evoke feelings of isolation and alienation within the vastness whilst line directs the compositions, deconstructing hills, canyons and monolithic land masses into motifs paralleling a sense of sanctuary within the void.
Terrestrial officially opened last Saturday December 1 and is Declan O’Doherty’s first exhibition with Aeon Arts. An emerging artist O’Doherty left National Art School in 2009 majoring in painting and drawing and has exhibited at Mils Gallery in 2010 and 2011.
Syndicate Gallery
2 Danks Street, Waterloo
Until December 16, 2012
Presented by Aeon Arts
Oliver Stokes Hughes will present his first exhibition Dark Matter with Sheffer Gallery, to open on Tuesday December 11. The show will feature fourteen etchings and one bronze sculpture, an exciting first display for the artist whose work surveys the phenomena of natural landscapes, skyscapes and the psychological imagery of illusions and empty rooms. Director of Sheffer Gallery says that Stokes Hughes’ art has a “fascinating psychological resonance, using images familiar to all of us with amazing technical skill.”Oliver Stokes Hughes
Working from an etching studio he set up in his family home, Dark Matter is the artist’s first body of completed etchings. “I heated the plates in the oven, sprayed the aquatint in the garage and etched the plates in acid baths set up underneath the veranda wedged between the uprights and the hot water boiler,” he says.
Dark Matter by Oliver Stokes Hughes will open on Tuesday December 11 from 6-8pm, running until December 22. Don’t miss this display of mature work by a talented up-and-comer on the Australian art scene.
Sheffer Gallery
December 11 to 22, 2012
Opening Tuesday December 11 (6-8pm)
Images: 1) The Merchant, 2012, etching and aquatint on Velin Arches 300gsm, edition of 20, 300 x 450mm, paper: 440 x 610mm
2) The Spiritualist, 2012, etching and aquatint on Velin Arches 300gsm, edition of 20, 450 x 300mm, paper: 590 x 460mm
Tags: dark matter, etchings, oliver stokes hughes, sheffer gallery
The Chippendale Creative Precinct has announced a new award, designed to encourage entrants to present a vision of the future; urban renewal and new technologies. The $100 000 award will be delivered over a period of ten years, with a new theme to be announced each year.
The 2013 theme is ‘Revitalisation,’ asking artists, students and other creatives to utilise new art technologies and reflect on art’s capacity for urban renewal in any number of mediums. The winner will receive a $10,000 residency grant, hosted by the internationally recognised Red Gate Residency in Beijing, from July to September, 2013, an opportunity for the winner to absorb Chinese culture and work with other international artists.
The NG Art Gallery in Chippendale will present a display of the winner’s works, as well as an exhibition of finalists in conjunction with 4 other Chippendale creative centres in April 2013. Works will be judged by Professor Anita Taylor, Director of the National Arts School, Dean of the Sydney College of Arts Professor Colin Rhodes and Beams Festival Director Nicky Ginsberg.
Entries close 16 April, 2013 – contact the Chippendale Creative Precinct, or visit their website for full details.
Stop, Repair, Prepare: Variations on ‘Ode to Joy’ for Prepared Piano is a performance work, devised by Puerto Rican-based artist collaborative duo Allora & Calzadilla, exhibiting in the State Library of Victoria’s Cowan Gallery for Kaldor Art Projects.
Allora & Calzadilla’s interdisciplinary practice often combines performance, sculpture, video and sound. Stop, Repair, Prepare integrates sound, performance and sculpture; the artists have cut a large hole from the centre of a Bechstein Grand Piano and made adjustments to the pedals, to allow the pianist to enter the piano, play it from within and wheel it across the floor as they walk. The piece is then performed hourly with pianists stepping under and into the piano and reaching over the top to play. The performance becomes contorted, unwieldy and tentative as the pianist tries to play the piece, effectively upside-down. This burden is furthered as they manoeuvre the piano through the exhibition space forcing the audience to move either along with it or at least out of its way.
Jillian Grant spoke with the artists in the lead-up to their Australian visit about the work and wrote a feature essay for Artists Profile, which is currently published in Issue 21 (pp. 1108-110). See the work being performed, and hear from the artists, at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
MOMA ‘On Line’ Series: Allora & Calzadilla from Ben Coccio on Vimeo.
Kaldor Public Art Projects #26
Until 6 Dec, 2012
Cowen Gallery, State Library of Victoria
Andy Quilty will be presenting his 3rd solo show, entitled FIFO, with Linton and Kay Galleries, featuring more than 40 works.
FIFO seeks to challenge what Quilty considers the misrepresentation of ‘Fly-in Fly-out’ workers as lazy, frivolous, ‘cashed up bogans’. After undertaking the inaugural Cossack Art Award’s 6 week residency in Pilbara, Quilty became interested in the FIFO mining workforce, finding the people he met to be hardworking and humble in opposition to their negative characterisation as ‘cashed up bogans’.
In an interview with the ABC, he said that the changing fabric of the Western Australian workforce intrigued him.
“The FIFO thing up there is just incredible, I stayed with a friend of mine who’s lived in Karratha his whole life and the change up there’s just phenomenal, 90 per cent of the population now appears to be FIFO up there,” he says. “It’s just such a significant change in the WA working landscape and I’m very interested in the shift of money, now all these working class kind of people are pretty cashed up.”
Quilty’s work interrogates perceptions and representations of the suburban Australian male. He spent 10 years as a surfboard artist in Western Australia and the United States, before pursuing a career in fine art in 2009. Working with ballpoint pen, aerosol and auto enamel paint, Quilty’s art is striking, bold and physically rigorous, with aggressive yet detailed strokes. FIFO displays the impressive depth of Quilty’s practice, featuring highly detailed ballpoint pen drawings, monumental aerosol and enamel paintings and smaller mixed media works.
Linton and Kay Galleries
November 9 to 22, 2012
(Opening Friday November 9, 6-8pm - RSVP essential, by Nov 7)
IMAGES: Cashed up bogan, ballpoint pen, enamel and aerosol on Arches paper, 102 x 66.5cm
Fight night, oil, enamel and aerosol on Arches paper, 35 x 35cm
Tags: Andy Quilty, Cossack Art Award, FIFO, Linton and Kay Galleries