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CHRISTMAS PARTIES SYDNEY i. NAVA (National Association for the Visual Arts ) - Taking a well deserved break after the final meeting for 2007 NAVA staff and board members met at the appropriately named Miro restaurant where a significant amount of sangria went down to celebrate another successful year. Currently working on issues such as: freedom of expression, rights and conditions for Indigenous artists, resale royalties, artists' fees and access to technology while running awards and grant programs for artists (and MUCH MUCH more) NAVA has a busy schedule planned for 2008. For more information and membership details check http://www.visualarts.net.au/
ii. Australian Centre for Photography - T'was a veritable hootenanny as ACP camp followers attired themselves in traditional gypsy garb for a memorable evening on merry old Oxford Street. With a brand new gallery, an adventurous program and Photofile magazine continuing to gather strength the ACP might well celebrate 2007 and look forward to 2008. For more information on the ACP's activities go to http://www.acp.org.au/
GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST
Former CCAS Gallery Administrator and now Gallery Coordinator at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Amita Kirpalani looking very comfortable with Fayen d'Evie outside one of many glamorous cafes on Gertrude Street in Fitzroy, Melbourne. WINNER ! CCAS Studio Resident Timo Nest won the Canberra Critic's Circle visual arts award for his solo show Synaesthesia at ANCA (Australian National Capital Artists) earlier this year. It has been a busy and successful year for Timo who exhibited at the JK Gallery in Thredbo and is currently showing in Blaze, the annual CCAS residents exhibition. In 2008 Timo has four exhibitions planned including two during VIVID the National Photography Festival at Mount Majura Vineyard and the Foyer Gallery ANU. Keep an eye out for Tmo's solo exhibition at Manuka (29 February - 9 March) which will be exclusively paintings with natural pigments such as ochre and charcoal. Different .... Congratulations Timo!
ABLAZE Another triumph for the CCAS Studio Residents Blaze 2007 showcases some of the best emerging talent Canberra has to offer. For Blaze #2 three out of seven artists (Sarina Noordhuis, Eril Krebs-Schade and Beatrice Thompson) have worked straight onto the wall - providing the overall exhibition with an atmosphere of freshness. Timo Nest's minimal photographic landscapes and Sarina Noorhuis' Return generate an ambience of harmony in the Middlespace with exquisite minimal environmental references. Meanwhile in the Main Space two very different takes on cakes from Tiffany Cole and Kitiya Palaskas along with Erik Krebs-Schade's FLOCKED! and Beatrice Thompson's Enigma provide an uplifting rococo feel to the slightly off white cube. In the actual Cube is an installation of sombre photographic works by Justin Clune. Mounted in perspex with lighting bounced off the walls behind the images to create a subtle light box effect, one of Justin's teachers described this work as "how he would have wanted it". An extraordinarily cohesive exhibition given the diverse range of artists, reflects pehaps, a selection process that now has Blaze in mind. Again ... an exhibition not to be missed. Note special Christmas/New Year date1 December - 20 December 22 January - 2 February 2008.
AND ITS GOODBYE FROM HER The CCAS intern for 2007, Cheree Mack, left for Ireland last Sunday 2/12/07. Completing an Internship as part of her Honours year in Art History at ANU Cheree gets a perfect 10, the highest possible mark from CCAS. Throughout the year she has been responsible for the running of the Manuka Gallery along with CCAS staff, overseeing what has been an enormously succesful year. Cheree has curated exhibitions (Bennett Miller's Golf War #9), written catalogue essays, editorial for BMA magazine and is soon to be published in Real Time magazine. She has been an enormous asset to CCAS assisting with installs, gallery minding, working the bar at openings and just keeping the staff and visiting artists entertained with her bright personality. Finally Cheree was employed to hold the fort in the absence of Yolande Norris and David Broker throughout November. In addition to all of this she wrote a brilliant thesis on the last Biennale of Sydney and overall - received First Class Honours! Cheree is the very model of a modern intern and and has left everyone wondering "what will we do without her!" .... but watch this space.
SPINNING A YARN While she might be an out o' towner Jenny Banks knows how to pull a crowd with her irrestibly titled exhibition Penelope's Problem. Ikat (similar process to the familiar tie dye) yarns wound around the frames created a dazzling variegated moire effect (a wavy, rippled or watered appearance on a woven rib fabric).Through the action of winding and unwinding and with reference to Homeric mythology, Penelope’s Problem explores the possibility of organising for chance. A fitting end to a year of excellence at the Manuka Gallery.
TOWNS LIKE ALICE CCAS Program Manager and Curator Toni Bailey joined Kate Podger - Curator, Araluen Galleries and Iain Campbell– Artist in Alice Springs to select work for the prestigious 35th Alice Prize. The judge is Susan McCulloch of McCulloch’s Encyclopedia of Australian Art and the winner will be announced in May. Over the years there have been several winners who have close connections with the ACT including Bob Boynes (1977), Mandy Martin (1990), Pam Lofts (1995) and Wendy Teakel (1995). The exhibition will run from 2 May to 15 June, 2008 at the Araluen Art Centre in Alice Springs. Below are a couple of phone photographs that represent some of Toni's many indelible memories of the Alice.
DOMAIN ACT Canberra's annual ephemeral public art project Domain opened last night (1/11) outside the popular Wig&Pen watering hole in Alinga Street. For two years now Domain has given the gift of life to Alinga Street which is arguably one of Canberra's more miserable zones in terms of its brutal architecture and monumental sterility. Domain 2007 is a cracker ... with 10 artists and one collective producing a series of site specific works that are as ambitious as they are classy. The show was opened by Gordon Bull Head of the ANU Art School, David Broker CCAS Director and the Manager of Smiths Bookshop read an amusing Les Murray poem about Canberra. In his opening speech David Broker said, "Domain is an important project for Canberra as over the years it has created a culture of public art production that exists outside the blandness of Civic Art. Domain gets better every year - as if the collective experience is cumulative." Artists: Clem Baker-Finch, BEAM, Rachel Bowak, Sara Freeman, Michal Glikson, Jay Kochel, Janet Meaney, Julie Ryder, Samantha Small, Sharnie Shield and Peter Vandermark. Coordinator Cathy Laudenbach Domain continues until 17 November Alinga Street Civic. NOT TO BE MISSED.
STRETCHING THE POINT The irony escaped no one. As Overstretched, an exhibition concerning the many colours of the environment, opened at Manuka we also has the first decent rains in what seems like living memory. Notwithstanding the wet start ... the audience trickled in for an exhibition that focuses, with innovation and imagination, on the numerous environmental issues currently facing us. This is a very interesting and topical exhibition by four artists each expressing their personal concerns in the current environment of climate, change. Overstretched runs until 4 November.
ABSTRACT IMPRESSIONS Famous for a population that is transient - to say the least - Canberra's art scene is as progressive as it is mobile. The current exhibitions in Gorman House are by 3 artists who have who have only just left to further their careers in other parts of the country. But as with many others on the move they maintain strong connections, and Scott Morrison, Doug Hendry and Emma White are all back in the CAN showing work at CCAS. Although there is nothing remotely similar about any of their works there are some interesting connections. Scott and Doug produce work that is sometimes abstract in appearance but much more aligned with documentation. Scott's detailed video installations take an adventurous aural and visual approach to landscape while Doug's photographs of the underside of skateboards picture the closest of encounters with the urban environment. Emma on the other hand presents some seemingly abstract ideas about the slippery realities of looking and thinking for the image overloaded i.e everyone. If it sounds like serious art, thats because it is, but don't let that put you off these three spectacular shows. Continuing until 24 November.
OPEN YOUR ART With work produced by visual arts and writing students from Open Art's courses at the Belconnen Community Centre Anni Doyle has curated a comprehensive exhibition under the title Mask. Over 40 people have participated in an exhibition that has provided them with the opportunity to communicate with a broad audience in ways they may not have previously imagined. For many of the participants this is the first time they have shown work in a gallery. While the openng was at an unusual time (11am) there were excellent sandwiches and entertainments. More importantly though, there's lots of art that will be in the Manuka Gallery until 21 October. Another triumph at CCAS Manuka!
BEST PRACTICE Opening last night 27 September at the Manuka Gallery the CCAS members Best in Show has inspired the production of some truly extraordinary works. While members' exhibitions can be a bit patchy (no point in trying to deny it) this one is far from it. The pet theme seems to have literally brought out the BEST in everyone with 37 works that are variously innovative, quirky, passionate, sad, abject and amusing. Judge, Michael Desmond Curator at the National Portrait Gallery had the difficult task of selecting a winner and spoke enthusiastically about many of the works in the exhibition. Interestingly, while judges always say it was a difficult decision this time it really was and Michael confessed that all all boils down to a matter of personal taste. If ever there was a show where everyone's a winner this is it. Continues at CCAS Manuka until 7 October DON'T MISS IT ... ITS A HOOT ! AND THE WINNER IS MARINA NEILSON for her "sculptural" work A Domestic. Marina presented two couch arms (pictured below) that have been shredded by her cat. A very deserving winner Marina will now be able to put her prize money towards a new couch ... for the moggie to destroy. Runner up: Bottersnike (Self Portrait as a Childs Toy) by Dan Maginnity
DON'T ASK Asked at the last minute, an evening of sound art in which visual artists where invited to participate, is third of a series of experimental "aural" events at the Manuka Gallery. A smoke machine created atmosphere as Tim Dwyer pushed the boundaries audience endurance and the outer limits of the guitar's capabilities with an intensity rarely seen on the streets of Manuka.
BLOODY GOOD THING TOO ! In the art spaces it sometimes seems that art on walls is a bit of a novelty. Good Thing which consists of work from the collection of Karina Harris and Neil Hobbs will be a relief for many visitors, as the gallery is literally filled with art - not only on the walls but also covering the floor on "good" old fashioned plinths. While Karina and Neil's collection provides a comprehensive view of contemporary Australian art it cannot be said that Good Thing is representative of their collection in its entirety. Toni Bailey and David Broker have selected works that might be described as folksy or perhaps "outsider". In other words they are quirky works that will surprise and delight many visitors to the gallery. If the rave reviews from the opening night audience are anything to go by Good Thing will be a very popular show as it consists on innovative and revelatory works that are also highly entertaining. Also showing are works by Viv Miller (Cube) and John Harris (Middlespace) from Melbourne. Exhibition continues until 6 October.
BE ALARMED No where better than Manuka for a good night out and thanks to Dan Bell's Sound No Alarm there was an opportunity last Friday and there will be another... Sound No Alarm included a number of scintillating performances by individuals and bands exploring that area between sound, noise and music. There is also related art work and ephemera a plenty for anyone who would like to visit the gallery during the day and don't forget the closing performance night on SUNDAY 9 SEPTEMBER at 6pm.
NUDES IN SPACE There is only one word to describe Clare Thakway's exhibition In Your Space ... BRILLIANT. Over the years her work has explored the 'dynamics of voyeurism' or the relationship between the viewer and the viewed, There is intimacy about these paintings that comes from Clare's placing herself in the position of the subject - in other words considering how it feels to be looked at. She has also abandoned many of the conventions of the nude (such as format and frames) producing works that are like cut outs - economical in the information they provide while also leaving the viewer with the feeling that they are no longer passive observers but participants in the biggger picture. In Your Space continues at CCAS Manuka until 16 August.
SOFT LANDING Don't forget to check out Malcolm Utley's exhibition of excellent and varied new works Soft Skin - Travelling at CCAS Manuka this weekend. Malcolm has transported a substantial body of new work up from his far off South Coast studio that has a sometimes difficult sensuality about it as he explores some of the more provocative aspects of the 'body'. Exhibition continues until 28 July.
FOCA SCORES A DIRECT HIT Well at least for Bennett Miller who copped a golf club across the head from one of the hyperactive kiddies playing on his mini-golf course - which incidentally was pretty trashed by the end of the night and required some speedy repairs. Apparently this happens as each new work in the golf war series emerges - the trashing that is. Its all part of the art and the game but worrying nonetheless. There were a number of unpleasant incidents where adults (unsuccessfully) attempted to wrestle golf clubs from children and it wasn't until one punter actually confiscated the golf balls that peace prevailed. (There is a message in there somewhere) Around 400 people attended the excellent FOCA opening party crawl that peaked at CCAS and also launched works by once local art stars Contextual Villains who have recently moved to Melbourne and Adelaide's incredible Sarah CrowEST. Perhaps the highlight of the evening was the spectacular return to Canberra of much loved performance artists extraordinaire Cristy Gilbert and Anna Simic. Advertised (by us) as "unforgettable", Spread certainly turned out to be that way as our two impeccably dressed "hostesses" did a sort of demolition cooking demonstration (for want of a better description). Unforgettable .... especially for those people who accidently received a generous serving of mayonaise during the performance. For the full FOCA program
SPREADING IT
FEASIBLE FORMS A significant number of colleagues from the National Gallery of Australia braved freezing conditions for the opening of Scott Franks exhibition of drawings and paintings at CCAS Manuka on Thursday 5 July. Scott has become a master in the invention of new forms that make no real sense and yet appear to be completely feasible objects - even after the first glance and a couple of glasses of wine. While his works can not really be called Escheresque they do hold a similar fascination to the work of the famous Dutch graphic artist. In his drawings Scott concentrates on one form at a time that seems to fold in on itself or open like a geometrical flower. Unfortunately there are no pics of this opening as the resident photographer was gravely ill, however, scroll down to THE PRINT THE DRAWING AND CIRCULAR SAW .... and you will see an artist who rarely misses an opening at Manuka. Exhibition continues until 15 July. HARD WATER Rigid Amorphous which opened at CCAS Manuka Thursday 21/6 is another triumph for Canberra based artist Erin Duffield. Her semi-abstract 3-D organic structures seem to defy any sense of form even though they are (clearly) painstakingly put together. Erin's effective use of light and shadow floods the gallery with an atmosphere of liquidity - as if being underwater. Although this is an exhibition of beautiful objects, light and glistening, there is also has a serious side as Duffield attempts to draw attention to the misuse of water resources accross Australia. Exhibition continues until 1 July.
JUSTIN CLUNE 1977 - 2007 CCAS staff and residents were profoundly saddened by the death of Justin Clune on June 5. Graduating in 2006 from the ANU art School with a Bachelor of Arts (Visual) Honours Justin was a an extremely popular member of the Photomedia Faculty. His prodigious talent and refined sensitivity were immediately recognised when the time arrived to invite a small number of graduates to participate in the 2007 CCAS Studio Residency Program. While we never really had the opportunity to get to know him during the short time he was at CCAS, Justin made a huge effort to engage with the program against what we know now, were insurmountable odds. That's the kind of guy he was. Our most sincere sympathies go to Justin's family and his wide circle of friends.
SUSPENDED SENTENCES They may be out of towners but Emily Portmann and Leyla Stevens attracted an impressive audience to their opening at CCAS Manuka on Thursday evening (7/6/07). Although there is nothing similar about their individual practices the common ground for Suspended Play is a theatrical sensibility. Both have produced and directed psychological landscapes that are highly constructed and exist between the realms of the conscious and unconscious mind. Leyla's subjects appear somewhat unhinged in their ordinary urban or natural settings while Emma's hint at repressed sexual desire. While spontaneity might well be an anathema for these two their work generates an intriguing tension between content and viewer that opens a much broader narrative. Exhibition continues until 17 June.
TERRITORIAL Darwin artists Franck Gohier, Catriona Stanton and Gary Lee were in Canberra on Friday night (1/6/07) to join their ACT counterparts Bernie Slater, Silvia Velez and Raquel Ormella for the opening of Territorial. This is an exhibition that attempts to shed some light on the cultural idiosyncracies of Australia's twoTerritories, and if this exhibition is anything to go by, there are many. While these two notional geopolitical zones may not have a lot of clout compared with the states, the Territories have developed distinctive characters in relation to the country as a whole that would take a thesis to describe effectively. Difference and similarity abounds. It is well known, for instance, that Darwin is noted for crocodiles and Canberra for politicians. Both of course, are extremely dangerous and should only be approached with extreme trepidation. Artists in both areas have a tendency to feel marginalised and somewhat cut off from the rest of the country be it through the physical isolation of Darwin or the psychological isolation of Canberra. Examining aspects of Territorial life, this group of artists has produced provocative works that focus on the current political situation in Australia and the ways that Indigneous people have shaped cultural perspectives in the Far North. Exhibition continues at CCAS until 30 June and will be at 24 HR Art in Darwin from 14 September - 20 October.
THE PRINT THE DRAWING AND CIRCULAR SAW .... Thursday evening the 24th of May saw the opening of an exhibition of new works by 2006 CCAS studio resident Marina Neilson. In ‘the dot, the hole and the puncture’ a series of etchings is shown alongside innovative drawings that push the boundaries of the term. In these works Neilson has forgone traditional modes of drawing and reaches instead for more unusual tools and materials. Lines have been formed by the knotting together of strands of horse hair, or the injection of charcoal into the surface of paper by the teeth of a circular saw. Throughout the works the focus is on objects - their absence and presence, the hard juxtaposed with the soft. The result is tense and ominous, with an exquisite sense of the melancholy. ‘the dot, the hole and the puncture’ is on show until June 3.
TRACES OF GOYA As suicide bombings become part of everyday life in certain parts of the world and repetitive news in others, it is easy to forget just how much horror is generated and how much devastation lies in their wake. Australian news media tastefully edits the ghastly aftermath of bombings ensuring that the public is kept in a state if semi-awareness and as a result there is not too much public opposition to political adventures like the Iraq war. Leah Bullen uses some of the images we don’t see in the evening news as the basis for her Manuka exhibition. Nothing Goes Away is a challenging exhibition that depicts the injured body in a way that is both sensuous and disturbing. Adept in this difficult balancing act - Bullen’s profoundly humanist paintings ensure that her audience cannot loose sight of the fact that these incidents impact on real people like ourselves, in ways that often defy description. With traces of Carravaggio and Goya, this painful exhibition is a triumph for Bullen and in the light of what’s been happening in the Lebanon, Gaza and Iraq (etc, etc) should be compulsory viewing. Continues until 20 May CCAS Manuka.
OLD FACES It was a mix of old and new faces for the Gorman House opening on Friday 27 April with shows by former board member Rozalind Drummond, former Director Jane Barney and visiting Canadian artist Adad Hannah. Opened by Dr. Martyn Jolly, Head of Photomedia at ANU it was arguably one of the best openings ever with no small thanks to Jane Barney who required her audience to personally construct two of the works in the Cube. Calling upon art enthusiasts and public servants to participate - a significant proportion of the huge Friday night audience was there to place fridge magnets in the spaces provided. Miscellaneous Correspondence transforms art into sport as Jane generates a mock competition between the two camps – all in the name of good record keeping. Another reason for the excellent turnout was the presence of Adad Hannah who is artist in residence at the Monash Uni Faculty of Art and Design and visiting artist at ANU. He was clearly a big hit with students and as a result many attended the opening. Based in Montreal, Adad’s still videos have gained considerable international attention and following his residency at Monash he’s heading straight LOOP’04, Barcelona's international fair and festival of video art. Currently a Ph.D candidate at Rozalind Drummond has presented a significant body of often haunting works, many taken in Iceland. But where the images are from is kind of irrelevant because each picture is but a small part of an epic poetic personal journey that delicately balances the ordinary with the sublime. Exhibitions continue until 26 May.
GONE FISHING Every now and then the camera captures a moment that becomes instant legend. Below is one of those moments frozen in time on the 26 April 2007 at 6.22pm precisely.
SURREAL CERAMICS Neither entirely sculpture nor painting or drawing Lia Tajcnar's Mimesis demonstrates ceramic form at its most innovative. Her taught juxtaposition of two and three dimensional form challenges the viewer's perception creating a very physical as well as cerebral response to the work. More an than slightly surreal Lia's works exude a dream like quality that is delicately balanced beween the beautiful and the abject. There might even be a hint of Max Ernst or James Gleeson here. "I began using broken fragments and pre-fired work as a way to build complex assembled forms while undertaking my M. Phil. at the School of Art, Australian National University. By working from a storehouse of small ceramic pieces and fragments, elements of chance and uncertainty can be explored," says Lia. The laws of probabiliity are very much alive in this CCAS Manuka exhibition that continues until 6 May.
PUSHING ALL THE RIGHT BUTTONS While an exhibition of badges might sound a tad daggy or a bit 80s, Push Your Buttons is far from either. With a line up that reads like a who’s who of Canberra artists - Al Munro, Barbara McConchie, Bernie Slater, Charlie Sofo, David Wills, Ivo Lovric, Lucy Quinn, Silvia Vélez, Stephanie Jones and Waratah Lahy - this is a sophisticated exhibition that also packs a punch. All of the works have an element of potent political and social commentary that is presented in innovative, often amusing ways. On opening night the audience seemed to be astonished by what artists can do with the humble badge, which, if Push Your Buttons is anything to go by, has no limits. Exhibition continues until May 5 in the Foyer Gallery ANU School of Art Tues-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat-Sun 12-5pm, 02 6125 5841 badge making workshops 12-4pm Sat 28 & Sun 29 April email pushyourbuttons@hotmail.com for more info. Supported by the ACT Government through the ACT Arts Fund. NO SHOCK POWERBOARD ELECTED FOR CCAS Yes it was an electrifying gathering. There was an excellent turnout for the CCAS Annual General Meeting on Monday 16 April. No small thanks perhaps to Helen Musa, Arts Editor of the Canberra Times who defied convention by mentioning the AGM in her Capital Life column (16/4/07). "We don't usually note annual general meetings in this column", says Helen, " but the Canberra Contemporary Art Space staff have actually introduced a note of humour to their announcement." Organising an entertaining AGM is indeed a challenge but CCAS almost made it in what turned out to be a very pleasant evening that stopped just short of a party. After the business of course. A new board was elected by the members and includes a six new faces, Claire Tracey - Gallery Director The Front (Secretary), Ian White - Accountant (Treasurer), Elizabeth Howell - Assistant Manager of Arts Policy DCITA, Chantelle Woods - Assistant Curator Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art NGA, Paul Hay - Artist and Lecturer Sculpture ANU, Fiona Dace-Lynn - Artist and Lecturer Art Theory, Drawing and Sculpture CIT. Jane Harrison - Litigation and Legislation lawyer continues in the Chair while Russell Smith - Lecturer Literary Studies ANU, Ann Cleary - Architect and Lecturer Canberra University and Christine Clark - Exhibitions Officer National Portrait Gallery, will stay on for another year. Its not that we don’t take it seriously of course but thanks to everyone who took the trouble to attend and make it the best AGM ever! OPENING CONTAINERS
CCAS GETS ASSISTANCE IN GALLERY ! While it may have appeared that Amita Kirpalani was irreplaceable it has certainly not been impossible. From a field of excellent applicants Yolande Norris has been offered the position of Gallery Administrator and will start work at CCAS on Monday 16 April. Just in time for the AGM and the next installation period. Phew! Yolande has a B.A. Visual Arts from the Australian National University and was an intern at the Beaver Gallery in 2004. Most recently she has been working in the part time position of Marketing and Communications Coordinator at the National Gallery of Australia. CCAS is delighted to have Yolande as part of the team and can't wait for her to start.
THE RIGOURS OF ENTERTAINMENT A veritable plethora of openings in Canberra on Friday evening 30 March stretched audiences thinly across the city. Fortunately, however, the National Gallery’s 6th Australian Print Symposium brought in reinforcements from all over the country. In the circumstances there was an excellent turn out for excellent exhibitions at Gorman House by Samantha Small, Elvis Richardson and Mark Hilton. These exhibitions, while conceptually rigorous and jammed with fascinating ideas, are also highly entertaining. Yes it can be done! Canberra based Sam Small looks at the phenomenon of something familiar to us all - the waiting room. Using objects that are common in the archetypal waiting room she has produced an evocative environment that positions the room - in which we wait - into a bigger picture that touches on the literary and philosophical implications of waiting. Small sees the gallery itself as something of a waiting room or perhaps a room waiting - for objects to bring it life. Elvis Richardson's Slide Show Land re-presents an extraordinary series of slides taken by the late “Dorothy” a woman from Sacremento. While we can never know Dorothy or her husband Jack, audiences are provided with an intimate encounter via a comprehensive record of their lives during 1950, 60s and 70s. And a strangely glamorous life it was, appearing to be inspired by a magazine style aesthetic and absolute Americana. In the Cube, Mark Hilton’s light boxes have been a hit with everyone who has seen them. Using the aesthetic traditions of medieval, Chinese coffin lid carving and Persian court painting, he focuses on some of the difficult issues of recent times including murder, rape and the abuse of woman by well known members of football teams. Exhibition continues until Saturday 21 April.
PRACTICE MAKES PERECT Kate Smith is an artist who wears her heart on her sleeve. Her works contain an inbuilt critique that explores issues around the value of making art. Smith reveals herself as unsure or suspicious and this is manifest in works that sometimes seem disposable ... like throw away lines. Each piece in It’s a practice is a tiny cog in a valiant and subversive battle against the pretension of Art’s big machine. Terms like "post modernism" and "contemporary" are called to question and rendered worthless by Smith’s determined modesty. And yet paradoxically, it is these small, seemingly naïve, works that seem to have the greatest capacity to ask the big questions. Ostensibly way off the mark - Smith hits the target every time. Media are almost irrelevant and nothing is scared as she deliberately produces art that goes against the grain. It’s a practice offers considerable rewards for anyone prepared to make that tiresome trip to the other side of the lake! Exhibition continues until 8 April at CCAS Manuka 19 Furneaux Street Forrest. Hours - wed - sun 11am - 5pm
3 DAYS PRIOR TO 10 DAYS ON THE ISLAND - CAOs IN HOBART In the lead up to Tasmania’s Arts Festival the Visual Arts Craft Strategy (VACS) provided assistance to CAOs members (Contemporary Arts Organizations Australia) for a meeting in Hobart. Killing two birds with the one stone all VACS recipients met to discuss strategic planning requirements for the next triennium. While this will be the last such meeting to be funded, CAOs, an Aussie battler for coming on 15 years now, is ever more resolved to forge ahead. The continuing existence of funded contemporary art spaces can never be taken for granted. With many new directors in art spaces across the country this meeting was a bonding exercise par excellence. But it wasn’t all bonding and toil - there were also number of events that members attended as part of the festival. Firstly at CAST (Contemporary Art Services Tasmania) the opening of Maintenance of Social Solidarity by New Zealand’s representatives at the 2005 Venice Biennale, the mysterious and controversial et al. There are elements of satire in the results of their research into human behaviour and yet they are able to generate a potent ambience of conspiratorial subversion. Curated by Briony Nainby who was one of the participants in The Australia Council’s Emerging Curator’s program in Venice 2005, this is a brilliant exhibition that leaves its audience in a state of paranoid ecstasy. Photos below. Exhibition continues until 8 April CAST 27 Tasma Street North Hobart On the night before Ten Days many of the CAOs group attended two openings. Firstly Too the Wall, a one person show by Canadian Andy Jones who reviewed the life of an Irish Catholic growing up in New Foundland where things are done differently – as they are in Hobart. There was lots of corny Irish humour in a show that was not, entirely unengaging. Secondly, Tasdance explored the universal themes of imprisonment and death, in Mercy: A dance for the forgotten. Prisons have a similar role in Tasmania to crocodiles in the Northern Territory. Tasdance battled with an overblown soundtrack (Pergolesi's Marian Vespers) and some stodgy choreography, never quite rising to their impossible occasion. The final event of the night took place in the Crystal Palace, a bit like the Spiegel Tent, where a sophisticated band played to a semi-sophisticated crowd (not that I’m criticising). Most CAOs reps ended up in a more humble tent outside where lots of excellent Tasmanian cab sav was consumed and after an unusually hot day in Hobart revellers scarcely noticed the incoming rain – and the onset of winter.
A BRUSH WITH PAINT While paint is often her preferred medium, in Karena Keys 3D world brushes are a thing of the past. She has also left the canvas behind and for STICKIT, her exhibition of new work at CCAS Manuka, the paint is literally stuck to Perspex. Hanging in the middle of the gallery the audience is able to see Keys' work from every possible angle. These are fascinating works because it is ‘painting’ that possibly has more in common with sculpture. Blocks of colour are moulded and stretched into surprising elastic forms that often look nothing like paint. Not entirely estranged from the gallery walls, however, Keys has also presented a suite of drawings that sets up an interesting play between the second and third dimensions. There are also a number of wearable paintings. Wearable paintings? You will have to see those for yourself. Exhibition continues until 25 March at CCAS Manuka 19 Furneaux Street Forrest. Hours - wed - sun 11am - 5pm
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2007 Its that time of year again when incorporated societies must fulfill their constitutional responsibilties and report to the members on the years activies. This can be excruciatingly boring and with this in mind CCAS will take up the challenge of making an AGM if not fun, then at least interesting. Financial members will need to attend on Monday 16 April at 6pm to find out how this is done. CCAS Gallery Gorman House Art Centre. CREEP FACTOR Without doubt Simon Scheuerle is one of Canberra's nicest chaps and in possession of a mind that beggars belief. He is one of the few remaining artists that has the ability to shock his audiences literally witless. In Simon's latest exhibition entitled Untilted , which opened last night, 1 March at CCAS Manuka, the work is perhaps not quite as outrageous as some of his previous outings but he has certainly pumped up the creep factor with some brilliant (minimal) clown/smiley face drawings and a trompe l'oeil "soft sculpture" of a mangy defecating dog. Perhaps the creepiest work, however, contains a beaten up CCTV camera trained on a little girl's shoe. Mocking our misery, Scheuerle continues to turn popular culture on its head. Untilted is highly recommended - particularly for anyone who loves to laugh and squirm at the same time. You will not be disappointed. Exhibition continues until 11 March wed - sun 11am - 5 pm See also THE PROGRAM Triple J
GOOD AND BAD NEWS FLASH Amita Kirpalani is leaving for Melbourne following the success of her application for the position of Gallery Coordinator at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces. Amita has been with CCAS for three years, one year as an intern and two as Gallery Assistant. When asked what they would miss most about Amita David Broker and Toni Bailey said her sunny disposition and her funny little cardies ... and it goes without saying, her astonsishing efficiency ! Seriously though Amita is great to work with and she will be sorely missed. The next opening on Friday March 30 with work by Elvis Richardson, Samantha Small and Mark Hilton will be a big one as it is also an opportunity to farewell Amita and have that one last drink until 2 or 3 am the following morning. oomph LAUNCHES CCAS PROGRAM FOR 2007 In keeping the CCAS objective to provide developmental opportunities for emerging curators based in the ACT oomph is Amita Kirpalani's first major exhibition. A challenging show on many levels, oomph brings together a group of artists whose work can be interpreted in terms of raunch culture or (very simplisticly) the flaunting of flesh to define sexuality. Raunch it seems lends itself to satire and through parody many of the works in the exhibition actually gather extra grit. Louise Paramor's 3 floor to ceiling Classic Shazzy's - spectacular painted collages of scantily clad “cheese cake chicks” and fast cars - anchor the content of an exhibition that leaves any hint of subtlety for dead. oomph introduces to ACT audiences, a number of new artists who have been making a considerable impression around the country in recent times: Tarryn Gill & Pilar Mata Dupont (Perth), Bianca Barling (Adelaide), Sue Dodd and Alex Martinis Roe (Melbourne), and Sydney's wild Wild Boys. Also showing is an interesting series of videos curated by Paul Mumme, a recent graduate of Queensland College of the Arts, Griffith University. Part of Toni Bailey's Cube program, the videos all address and subvert conventional expectations of cinema in ways both perceptive and amusing. Picnic at Wolf Creek by Soda_Jerk with Sam Smith says it all.
THE ART OF PARTIES What better way to start the year at Manuka than with an exhibition that is also a party. Radge has been photographing Canberra’s social scene over a number a years and his exhibition Walking on Thin Ice consists of some 400 revealing photographs capturing the minutiae of many a night on the town. There’s a kind of 'paparazzi with style' ambience to this exhibition and there were rumours that some people had purchased photographs just to keep them out of circulation. Radge has developed a talent for zooming in of those decisive party moments that will embarrass the subjects while keeping everyone else well thoroughly entertained. But it all balances out in the end. A ready-made audience of “pictured people” and friends ensured a great turnout and ultimately, an evening that shattered Manuka’s usually sleepy atmosphere. Radge minded the snags on the barby, there was a ton of beers and a band (Man Killed) that blasted everyone on to the road. To maintain the atmosphere throughout the duration of the exhibition, party trash has been left in the gallery. You gotta admit … its an all round brilliant idea! Exhibition continues until 25 February - Wed - Sun 11am - 5pm.
ART OVERBOARD 2007Judgement at Bungendore Last week CCAS Director David Broker judged the first Art Overboard award initiated by the Kiku Arts in Bungendore. The brainchild of Wendy Shanley, this competition focuses on work with social and political content. While many of the works entered had tenuous links with the brief - the winners were far from cautious. Bernie Slater received first place in the 2D section for two works, Resurgent Islam (above) and Target. Both used the newspaper format to satirically address the culture of fear that has developed in Australia since the early years of the ‘war on terror’. Adrienne Conway was highly commended for her innovative assemblage based on the plan of the Australian Parliament in Canberra. Tim Spellman took first place in the 3D section for The Welcoming Committee, a bust painted with the Australian flag (below) that reflects the 'less than welcome’ many refugees have received over the past ten or so years. Nice one Tim! Highly commended was Garry Rogers for Senator Amanda Vanstone, a kind of political cartoon in metal that accurately captured the spirit of the politician everyone loves to hate. Terry Hicks, David Hicks super dad who has become a true blue battler Aussie icon over the last few years presented the awards at Bungendore on Saturday evening 17 February. Wendy (and David) hope that over the next few years Art Overboard will develop into a major national competition. It’s a great opportunity for artists to be controversial, contentious and (with some thanks to Phillip Ruddock) even seditious. Keep an eye on this website - same time next year.
pARTies 07Saturday 9 February: Canberra's arts community turned out in force to celebrate the birthday of Barb McConchie Director of Carft ACT. Neither the death of Anna Nicole Smith nor the first rain, in what seems like living memory, could dampen the spirits. Like Anna Nicole, Barb's mates look much better when wet! In particularly good form, Barb told her infamous butterfly story for a few of the priveledged guests. The tale of a "butterfly" who ventured where few butterflies have been before ... Barb's story reached its shattering climax round the same time as the party. If there was an Oscar for "spontaneous interrupted performance" Barb would certainly be in the running. Toni Bailey and Karena Keys experiemented with extra smooth icing (used for wedding cakes) to create a trompe l'oiel dog cake in the spitting image of Barb's own pooch Alby. So realistic in fact that Alby was lucky to survive the night ... as were many of the guests who danced well beyond their capabilities and bedtimes. CCAS PARTNERS WITH ASIALINK FOR STREETWORKS First Stop Bangkok Streetworks inside outside Yokohama was opened by the Australian Ambassador to Thailand, William Patterson, at The Art Centre, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok on Thursday February 1. The Art Centre is one of Bangkok's most prestigious venues for exhibitions of contemporary art and those that specialize in innovative video work. Occupying the 7th floor of the University library, the gallery has excellent facilities and a spectacular 360° view of the city from its generous balcony.Curated by CCAS Director David Broker, Streetworks includes work by Craig Walsh (Brisbane) and Shaun Gladwell (Sydney). Canberra Contemporary Art Space, is the partner organisation in this Asialink project that has been supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, The Australian Embassy Thailand, The Australia Council, The Visual Arts Craft Strategy and in its research phase, the IMA in Brisbane. Asialink's touring projects provide Australian artists with considerable exposure throughout the region and for curators, invaluable professional development opportunities. While in Bangkok David Broker and Craig Walsh had the opportunity to work with staff at The Art Centre and the Australian Embassy while making connections with people from a number of galleries including, Manuporn Luengaram (Queen's Art Gallery) and Chatchadawan Kaewtapaya (Bangkok University Gallery). This is a project that began at Yokohama 2005: International Triennale of Contemporary Art and it has spanned many cities including Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Bangkok. Kuala Lumpur and Singapore will soon be added to the list. Broker joked during his opening speech that there were times when he didn't know which city he was working in! Many people are involved in projects like Streetworks but special mention must be given to Sarah Bond (Asialink), Tania Doropoulos (Sherman Galleries Sydney), Mark Hislop (CCAS & Monash Gallery) and Piyarat Suksiri (Australian Embassy, Bangkok) and Pharawi Poopetch from The Art Centre) who assisted with the installation. International touring shows like Streetworks are never easy, however, if the first stop in Bangkok is anything to go by the remainder of the tour is looking very good indeed. 2007 STUDIO RESIDENTS ANNOUNCED |
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