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CANBERRA: NON STOP PARTY PEOPLE (17/7/08) Having scarcely recovered from Saturday night's apres opening martini dinner at The Parlour, the poor folk at CCAS are up for another rigorous round of openings and parties ... and its only Thursday! 1. HEART MURMUR The Front was also going off with Murmur, a lively event organised by Faculty of Design and Creative Practice students from Canberra University. There was lots of new talent on display with work that blurred the boundaries between art, craft and design at this packed opening that was quickly heading into the realm of wild partay. Excellent professional development and great fun - is what education should be about. Go UC!
2. FEELIN' GROOVY The National Archive turned on a fabulous party for the opening of Strike a Pose which looks at Australian Fashion photography on the 1960s and 70s. With fashion icon, cultural commentator and broadcaster Lee Lin Chin as guest curator, the exhibition celebrates the emerging local fashion industry of the time, along with its personalities, trends and influences. As part of the event the very lovely Lee Lin (pictured below) selected an orginal dress by a local designer to wear while reading the news and the honoured winner was Natalie Turtle (also pictured below). This is a fascinating, fun and comprehensive historical exhibition that shows beyond the shadow of a doubt that - in the fickle world of fashion - Australia was far from behind the eight ball even 40 years ago. Exhibition continues until 12 October.
3. BED KNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS AT MANUKA Well... it could easily have been a dogs breakfast but Skylen Dall's exhibition Cluttered, which focuses on the cluttered and frenetic pace of life in the 21st century, maintains a paradoxical if somewhat fragile, sense of order. Her painted panels with images of everyday objects seem to float in the gallery enveloping but never overwhelming the audience. The pictures below say it all. This is another in a long line of triumphs at CCAS Manuka and runs until July 27.
As the temperature plummeted and Canberra did its very best to make Hobart and Melbourne look balmy - so opened VIVID the National Photography Festival. The fake fur and vinyl were out of the closet for openings at The ANU Art School Gallery, The National Museum and the Helen Maxwell Gallery on Friday night while Saturday saw openings at Megalo, M16 and CCAS. Whoever says nothing happens in Canberra is wrong and there are some serious hangovers to prove it!. (14/7/08) PARADE AND UNDER THE LAND AT ANU ART SCHOOL GALLERY
VIVID: GRAND OPENING AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
THE SILVER LIGHT AT MEGALO
HEAD ON ALTERNATIVE PORTRAITS AT M16
CHRIS FORTESCUE AND STARLIE GEIKIE AT CCAS
RECORD BREAKERS Exhibitions by Erica Seccombe, Ellis Hutch and Carla Cescon have attracted the highest audience numbers in the last two and half years and have beaten the previous record achieved by Bernie Slater and Tess Stewart Moore in May-June this year. This is a trend we have come to appreciate very much. If Carla Cescon wanted audience participation for her WE THREE A participatory story board, then she certainly got it in terms of numbers and levels of intervention. Maybe it was the papier mache animal heads rather than the lyrics to Patti Smith's famous song that made audiences feel comfortable but from the very beginning it was heads down in the Cube as everyone and their dogs had their two cents worth. At the end of the show the gallery resembled a primary school art room and it was difficult at times to tell what Carla had provided and what the audience added. The participations were variously profound, amusing, tragic, childish or just plain insane. And while the contributions were particularly good after the Writers Festival Zine Fair sometimes one has to wonder about the real value of knowing one's audience ... .
NEW FRONTIERS At the Dorkbot meeting last night Erica Seccombe told us everything we need to know about Nanoplastica ... and more. There have been many fascinating twists and turns in this amazing project which began two years ago and has seen Erica work with mathematicians, computer programming experts and scientists at the Australian National University. She has used some of the most sophisticated technologies currently available (but not to everyone). Erica talked about the highs and lows, the laughter, the tears, she experienced during the production and how she had to continually re-adapt to changes in the technologies required - even as the work was being produced. It wouldn't be exaggerating too much to say that everyone seemed a bit in awe of her efforts and the incredible results she has achieved. (25/06/08)
LARTER ROCKS AT THE NGA One of the many striking features of Richard Larter: a retrospective which opened last night at the National Gallery of Australia is that he had included performative elements in his work many years before it was fashionble. Often working with his late partner Pat Larter, there is performance aplenty in painting, film and photography. Richard and Pat it seems didn't care much for society's rules and regulations and Deborah Hart (Senior Curator of Australian Paintings and Sculpture after 1920) has put together an exhibition that reflects their propensity for innovation as well as their enduring contribution to the art we call contemporary today. This is an exhibition that evokes an era when sex was still fun and breaking the rules desirable, if not essential. Since the early 1960s Larter's work has challenged the status quo both formally and conceptually and as result the work is as fresh today as it was at the time of production. With themes such as the human body, sexuality, popular culture, politics and opposition to censorship, his work is hip, provocative, humorous, flamboyant, outrageous and (god forbid) entertaining. This is a very groovy exhibition .... and should not be missed under any circumstances. Exhibition continues until 14 September. (25/06/08) Hot on the heels of the exhibition opening was Richard Larter: the forum which was a great way to spend a Saturday arvo and, as it turned out, signifcantly more entertaining than the footy. Dr Deborah Hart, exhibition curator, chaired a forum of Australian art experts: Daniel Thomas, Emeritus Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia, Kelly Gellatly, Senior Curator, Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Victoria, and Deborah Clark, Curator of Visual Arts, ACT Museums & Galleries. Looking at this event as a collective effort I have to say that this was one of the most interesting forums on an artists work I have ever attended. Guess it helps to have speakers who actually care as well as being knowledgeable. The real treat, however, was hearing Larter himself talk about some of his experiences over the years. What many people will not know, although its kind of obvious when you think about it, is that he is really amusing and , for instance, able to talk about technique in a way that is side splittingly funny. Ten bucks very well spent I'd say. (David Broker 30/6/08)
IF HELL WERE AN ART GALLERY - THE BIENNALE OF SYDNEY It may not be exactly unusual but its certainly a bit different. "A constellation of historical and contemporary works of art", the 16th Biennale of Sydney includes many INFLUENTIAL dead people including Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Beuys, Tina Modotti, Yves Klein and Len Lye, to name but a few. In a biennale titled Revolutions - Forms that Turn artistic director Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev has eloquently integrated the contemporary with the not so contemporary - not that without the knowledge one would be able to tell which was which. Based in Turin Ms Christov-Bakargiev has included a fair swag of Italian artists and that's not all bad, beacuse it's rare that we see the work of contemporary Italian artists down under. She also appears to have a keen eye for legend as the Aussie contingent includes the likes of Richard Larter, Tracey Moffatt, Mike Parr, Richard Bell, Shaun Gladwell, Raquel Ormella, Virginia Fraser and Destiny Deacon, again, to name but a few. Its no Sunday afternoon walk in the park and you will need sensible shoes and bottled water for this gargantuan exhibition that takes place over a number of large spaces. Most difficult is Cockatoo Island where there are pitfalls aplenty for the unwary art lover. The viewing of some works requires extreme caution but there are friendly people around to catch the fallen or save the about to fall. Hence our title, if hell were an art gallery! Overall though, its an early thumbs up for Biennale #16. (23/06/08)
MCA LOVE IN
DANTE'S INFERNO
BLASTING INTO ARTSPACE
GONE TO THE DOGS The dogs of Mongrel Country, the new exhibition by Amanda Stuart, were definitely on the prowl on Thursday night as was the art going public. The installation of threatening sculptures, made from steel and covered by various organic and inorganic materials, is quite confronting as they firmly mark their territory within the space. The exhibition explores the tensions that arise when a terrain is co-inhabited by human and domestic and wild animal communities. Exhibition continues until 29 June.
PARASKEVIDEKATRIAPHOBIA Just when you thought you knew about (or even suffered from) every irrational phobia known to humanity - another one pops up. Sarah Firth has brought the mordid fear of Fridays the 13th to her audience's attention as part of her exhibition Drawn which opened at The Gallery, Canberra Grammar Shool, on, you guessed it, Friday 13th June. Winner of the Canberra Grammar Exhibition Prize in the Emerging Artists Support Scheme for Graduating Students from the ANU Sarah has put together an edgy show that is both amusing and provocative on a number of levels. While the exhibition itself might be right "out there" the boys at Canberra Grammar did a fantstic job looking after everyone at one of the more civilised openings we have attended in a while. For artists who want to be properly looked after The Grammar School Gallery is clearly the place to be. Exhibition continues until 28 June. (16/8/08)
PHALLIC GYMNASTIC Helen Maxwell Gallery is awash with Melbourne talent at the moment. There's ... All I know about her, an exhibition of paintings by Jonathan Nichols that seem to extol the ordinary (like real life in a brown paper wrapper) and at the opposite end of the spectrum some very strange aberrant floor sculptures (like acrobatic phalluses) in Sweet by Heather B. Swann. Exhibitions continue util 5 July. (10/06/08)
SEEING THE LIGHT Every now and then an artist takes over the Manuka Gallery completely and makes it their own. Denise Higgins is one of those artists and she has spent the week 'changing rooms' as it were, literally adapting the architecture of the space for her remarkable exhibition Luminazoa. An appropriately placed wall took everyone by surprise as Denise created a gallery within a gallery ... but lets not get bogged down by the setting, incredible though it may be. Inside is an amazing atmospheric environment made from slow rotating LED light arms travelling over curved glass and refracting light onto the ceiling, walls and floor. Denise's luminazoas metamorphosing in the darkness are chiarascuro at its most modern and effective. Exhibition continues until 15 June. (6/6/08)
GUDBY T'JANE Canberra Contemporary Art Space is currently lamenting the loss of its extremely popular chair Jane Harrison, who has resigned from the board to take up a position in arts ACT. Jane will be Program Manager Arts Policy and Planning assisting with advice to Government on a range of arts policy and facility planning issues. Jane has been a fantastic chair for CCAS at a time of significant change both in terms of staff and policy. Her accessibility and energy has been felt throughout the community and she can leave with the feeling that CCAS is rockin' and her’s is a job well done. CCAS staff and the board sincerely thank Jane for her efforts over the last two years and feel secure in the knowledge that she has gone to a better place ... well just down the road really. In the immortal words of 70s Britisher pop idol Noddy Holder "Gudby t'jane ... she's a queen, do you know what I mean, she's alright .... she's alright ... yeah!" (4/6/08)
THE GIRLS ARE BACK IN TOWN Antoinette Bailey currently of the GRANTPIRRIE Gallery in Sydney - known as Toni in Canberra - and Karena Keys ACT winner of the first QANTAS Encouragement of Contemporary Art Award dropped in for a surprise birthday drink. Doesn't look like they need too much encouragement .... (2/6/08)
PURSE POWER Well ... we have been accused of going to the opening of a handbag and now we've actually done it! The latest episode in The Canberra Museum and Gallery's Cabinets of Curiosities series is a dazzling collection of Lucite (acrylic) hand bags from the collection of Rae Harvey who is well known in the ACT for her love of fine vintage clothes , fabrics and accessories.
RINGING IN THE NEW After what seems like an inordinate amount of time CCAS is delighted to announce that Sergej Bodulovic has been offered the position of Gallery Administrator. Sergej has a Bachelor of Commerce (majoring in marketing) from the Australian National University and is in the final stages of completing a Bachelor of Arts, Art History. A classical Renaissance man (or polymath) and a snappy dresser, he spent four months of 07 at Milan's Istitutto di Moda di Burgo doing a course in fashion and brushing up on his Italian. Sergej (pictured below) follows in the magnificent tradition of Stuart Bailey, Amita Kirpilani and Yolande Norris and since these are big shoes to fill, the fashion course and quality time in Italy (shoe capital of the world) will have been very useful indeed. (29/5/08)
POP GOES THE YOWIE Yet another record was broken at the opening of exhibitions by Erica Seccombe, Ellis Hutch and Carla Cescon. The punters managed to drink CCAS dry well before 7.30 - although to be fair, this was only slightly earlier than Bernie Slater and Tess Stewart Moore's launch in April. Luckily, however, it was Erica's birthday and there was stacks more fun to be had after the opening when CCAS moved into immediate lock down or private party mode. No private dancers but lots of public spectacle and free expression once dj Rangatang cranked up the turn table. In yet another stroke of extremely good luck there was nothing on the (dance) floors of both the main and middle spaces as both Erica and Ellis presented amazing screen based works which really need to be seen to be believed. With projections as big as Ellis's are small, Erica has spent the last 2 or 3 years grappling with the most sophisticated X ray gear ANU has to offer, producing 3D volume rendering animations of plastic toys for Nanoplastica. The results are simply sensational. Although Ellis Hutch's tiny screens look modest by comparison Touching Space makes a big impression, exploring gesture in a way that raises similar spatial mysteries to the ultra sound images. On the night, however, some people didn't seem to make it out of the Cube where the audience is invited to make suggestions re or amendments to Carla Cescon's WE THREE a participatory story board. Referencing the lyrics of Patti Smith's classic this is a great installation of theatrical looking props (including the heads of a dog, a horse, an ox, plus an entire rat) that took on the ambience of a kindergarten when everyone had their heads down busily and enthusiastically ... participating. (24/5/08)
HEADS FIRST Wendy Teakle, Head of Sculpture Workshop at the ANU Art School opened Head First, an exhibition of new work by recent graduates last night (22/5/08) and spoke about the positives of being an artist. (Yes! .... it seems there are some after all.) One of the very obvious positives for the workshop must be having students like Melanie Fitzmaurice, Rosalind Lemoh and Jacqueline Bradley who, if this show is anything to go by, have a dazzling future. Working with very different materials all three show what creativity is all about in an impressive exhibition that transforms common objects in a way that invigorates our undertsanding of things familiar. At CCAS Manuka until 1 June. (24/5/08)
RIDING THE NEXT WAVE
It was a short but memorable sample of Melbourne’s Next Wave Festival for CCAS director David Broker who spent two days checking out some of Australia’s hottest emerging talent. Next Wave kicked of last week and looks like its about to hit maximum speed with openings, performances and more openings. It’s a high energy festival for the young that can also offer the elixir of youth to the more mature who allow themselves to be swept away on the incoming tide of new ideas, new people and unbridled enthusiasm. This years artistic director the fabulous Jeff Khan is in full flight and watching him work a room night after night is downright inspiring, perhaps even a little scary. For the full program catch the next wave
NEXT WAVE - DON'T SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY It was a little too early for what will be a plethora of exciting visual art but there is already some great work in public places including Hiromi Tango's Absence at the Platform, Flinders Street Station. In "a collaboration with the people of Melboure" Hiromi is collecting the thoughts and feelings from the zillions of commuters who pass through the Degraves Street subway every day and she has transformed a miserable thoroughfare into an oasis of colour where people can gather, chat and write stuff to be stuck to the window of an abandoned shop. Ever wonder whats on the minds of the waves of humanity that pass through the station - well some of the answers are here. This is a fascinating project with many surprises in store for an audience who seem very happy to become the work. Also at the Platform are some great works, and even a whiff of scandal, by Trevor Flinn and Cecilia Fogelberg (The Puma, The Stranger & The Mountain)
NEXT WAVE - NIGHT CLUB 1 PURE PLEASURE AT THE MENS GALLERY Now the Mens Gallery isn’t exactly a gallery if you catch my drift. It’s a classy establishment for gentlemen and the perfect venue for some very sexy work by artists including Alex Martinis Roe and Kate Just, to name but two of many. Some superlative performance and a lot of booze led to a very good night indeed (you can even smell the cigarette smoke and feel the hangovers of a bygone era). Although too hard to call, top of the list among many great performance works was Luke George's Lifesize, a witty non pornographic live expose that focus’s on skinful pleasures and brings new meaning to the term art wank. Also fun and tres sexy were Lee Serle and Kyle Kremerskotten in Im in love, a dance piece in which the boys turned the strip club tables and didn’t take off their clothes ... although they didn’t actually need to! ( I feel I should also mention that part of this work was accompanied by the music of Captain and Tenille, oh yeah!) And last but certainly not least the incredible poet Zoe Coombs Marr who did take her clothes off leaving an unruly audience in shock with her biting satire and painfully clever Tales of the unrequited and extinct. A work that juggled many levels of hysteria and seemed to sum up the whole event somehow. All in all one would have to say this complex and provocative event was a triumph for curators Ulanda Blair, Jeff Khan, Phip Murray, Bec Reid, Kelly Ryall and all of the artists and performers involved. Also 10 out of 10 for an enormous audience who deteriorated with stylish and even speed.
SAY FROMAGE A former ballet dancer, over the last 20 years Judith Wright has established herself as a highly regarded and influential artist. Conversations, which opened at the Drill Hall Gallery on Thursday evening (15/5) explores "the fraught and fluid space of intimate human communication" and includes work from 1987 to the present day. Curated by Rhana Devenport, Director of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand, Conversations is an important exhibition that emanates a raw, slightly ominous beauty. Its difficult to put in words so the only way to really experience it - is to see it! Meanwhile at the Alliance Française de Canberra, strange trajectories showcases some excellent new work by two of the ANU art school's most talented graduates, video maker, Anna Raupach (2008 CCAS Studio Resident) and painter, Michal Glickson. Strange trajetories is an ANU School of Art Emerging Artist Support Theme (EASS) award exhibition. And for the record - the Alliance has equalled, if not bettered, the Drill Hall's reputation for serving the finest of cheeses at openings.
NEVER RAINS It hardly ever rains in Canberra but in accordance with the old addage it does pour - and this is one of those weeks when there are a number of quality exhibitions opening. At Megalo Geoff Farquhar-Still's red hot conformist, consisting of prints based on images from junk mail catalogues, is a ripper! Also breathtaking is Dennis Nona's survey exhibition Sesserae at the ANU Art School Gallery. Both shows should be compulsory veiwing and you can check the dates and locations on the CCAS Noticeboard Index page. Also ... check this space tomorrow for MORE.
STILL CALL CANBERRA HOME KARENA KEYS is the ACT winner of the first Qantas Encouragement of Australian Contemporary Art Award announced at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney last Thursday morning May 8 2008. Qantas chief Geoff Dixon noted in his speech that the name of the award is a bit of a mouthful and may change any time soon to something more manageable like Qantas Award or Prize. What really matters, however, is that this is a visionary and unique annual award that provides one artist from every state and territory with $10,000 in travel expenses and $20,000 spending money to explore and research the wide world of art. Last year Qantas sold 22 works from its major collection, yielding $3.4 million for the Qantas Foundation to put towards the new prize. Dixon also said that creating an award that invested in young artists was the best possible use for the company's valuable collection. "There are a lot of other prizes like the Archibald which tend to reward more established people," he said. "We wanted to find a niche that was a bit different." The award is judged by a distinguished panel including Elizabeth Ann MacGregor (Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art), Edmund Capon ( Director Art Gallery of New South Wales), Pat Corrigan (High profile arts patron and collector) and Anna Waldmann (Director of Visual Arts Australia Council). David Broker Director of Canberra Contemporary Art Space said that he thought Karena was a most deserving winner and feels that her travels to Germany and the USA will have a long lasting effect on her already successful and adventurous artistic practice. CCAS congratulates Qantas and Karena on this great inaugural event! WINNERS: STATE AND TERRITORY ROUND UP: Karena Keys (ACT), Neridah Stockley (NT), Yhonnie Scarce (SA), Katherine Huang (VIC), Tom Mùller (WA), Alex Davies (NSW) and Vernon Ah Kee (QLD)
MATTER OF FACT The last of the 2007 CCAS studio residents solo exhibitions is another triumph for Beatrice Thompson who wowed audiences with her photographic weave for Blaze07. The Manuka Gallery seems to suit Beatrice's work and what has developed as an interest in work that completely dominates the viewers field of vision. In Matter she uses five colours that create a lively sense of energy, movement and importantly, evolving transformations or change. As a matter of fact ... she brings together weaving and photography in an exhbition that is actually quite painterly. Exhibition continues until 18 May.
HEAVENLY Opening drinks for Helen Shelley's atmospheric exhibition Understandng Death Without the Assistance of God were held at the Front Gallery and Cafe last Friday night although the exhibition itself has been up since Wednesday 30 April. While it all sounds a little on the dark side this is actually an uplifting exhibition that showcases Helen's formidable expressive painting skills. As the title suggests Helen is looking at notions death from points of view other than those that we have become so familiar with through christianity. Show closes Tuesday 13 May so there's no time to lose ... The Front, Lyneham shopping centre, Wattle Street.
DORKY PARK Its taken a while to report on this but following its fifth monthly meeting Dorkbot Canberra might consider itself well and truly established. The initiative of dynamic duo Alexandra Gillespie and Tracey Meziane Benson, Dorkbot is one chapter of an increasing number of loose international affiliates consisting of " people doing strange things with electricity". Yes Dorks are everywhere and far from the 'dull, stupid and fatuous people' that the dictionary definition would suggest. (... although they are everywhere too) Meetings are generally held during the last week of every month in the Fireside Room or CCAS Gallery at Gorman House Arts Centre and provide a platform for open discussion on new media issues, both conceptual and technical. Speakers so far have included Ben Lippmeier, Benjamin Forster, David Broker and Mitchell Whitelaw each looking at different areas of practice and at times there is even some quite lively debate. Last Wednesday 30/5/08 Ben Lippmeier a final year PhD student and occasional lecturer in Computer Science at the Australian National University talked about one of his favorite pastimes ... "writing programs to draw animations, and then passing them off as useful work." Ben is very good at this and by the end of his talk everyone seemed thoroughly convinced. For up to date information about speakers and session times go to http://dorkbotcbr.wordpress.com/category/meetings/ or check the ccas index page.
FLIGHT OF FANCY Sarina Noordhuis had the audience at her opening imagining ways they might be able to live with (i.e own) her work - probably because its work drawn straight onto the gallery’s four walls. Circled by amazing images of the migration/flight patterns of birds Sarina creates an atmosphere of lightness and freedom that one just wants to take home. Uncontrollable desire aside, here + there is a great atmospheric exhibition and its effects are lasting. Continues until 4 May
GOLD LEAF LINING When Tiffany Cole graduated from the ANU art school in 2006 she received the coveted Spanish Embassy Young Australian Artist's Travelling Scholarship which sends one person off to Spain each year to experience something of that country's incredible cultural heritage. Her Family Altar and other new works by Tiffany Cole is a direct response to recent travels in Spain and exposure to its rich collection of religious altar pieces from around the 13th to the 15th centuries. This exhibition is Tiff at her very best with figurative paintings in a highly conceptual installation that references notions of family, "the artists treasures" set in gold. In three words - poignant, radiant and brilliant! Exhibition continues until 20 April.
MODERNITY = CRIMES OF CAPITALISM + PSYCHOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES + ALL THAT IS (NOT) SOLID
Much anticipated exhibitions by Bernie Slater, Tess Stewart-Moore and AKIRA AKIRA drew a HUGE crowd that drunk CCAS out of house and home in a record 90 minutes. And that means not one drop left anywhere in the building ... Not even a rose. This is despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that Bernie and Tess's shows could l be described as ... a bit of a downer. Slater takes on consumerism and hypocrisy in such a way that it is impossible to distance oneself from the collective "crimes of capitalism". At least its not personal - or is it? While Bernie's uncompromising criticisms seem to be aimed elsewhere at first it doesn't take long to realise that he is out to implicate us all in issues such as environmental degradation, abject poverty and the futility of war. Then ... like an anthropologist in her own environment Tess Stewart Moore's photographs of Canberra's more desolate architectural spots (yes there are many!) juxtaposed with testosterone busting images of youth on the town, takes a paradoxically alienating, yet exhilarating, psychological view of Canberra's bleakest environments, inside and out, by day and night. And while they are astonishingly beautiful AKIRA AKIRA's shiny black minimal sculptures/paintings in the Cube scarcely provide any relief as they characterise the 'experience of modernity' through the ephemeral nature of "paint that never dries". But a very good time was had by all - exhibition continues until 17 May.
LOUNGE ACT CCAS Manuka has never seen the likes of Erik Krebs-Schade’s CHAiSE LONGue (porn star), the third of six 2007 Studio Residents solo exhibitions. For the ultimate lounge act Erik completely transformed the gallery to contain a number of works that give sensuous form to notions of sexuality, luxury and decadence. Furnished with puns like Otto-men and many yards of the finest fabrics the salon emits a "no expense has been spared atmosphere" providing audiences with an immersive experience as much as an exhibition. We might well be running out of OTT descriptive clichés but if you see only one exhibition this year make it CHAiSE LONGue (porn star) ! Two weeks only until April 6.
CANBERRA GETS NEW PM Er ... that's Program Manager. From a highly competitive field of applicants, we are delighted to announce that Yolande Norris has been offered the position of Program Manager at Contemporary Art Space. Yolande has been Gallery Administrator at CCAS for one year and Acting Program Manger since the beginning of 08. She has a B.A. Visual Arts from the Australian National University and was an intern at the Beaver Gallery in 2004. Just prior to CCAS Yolande was working in the part time position of Marketing and Communications Coordinator at the National Gallery of Australia. So now the search for a Gallery Administrator with a serious interest in things administrative begins anew. Stay tuned.
3 DEE-LICIOUS No amount of eating metaphors or dubious puns can detract from Kitiya Palaskas’ lip-smacking exhibition that opened (with $1 Smirmoff Blacks!!!) at CCAS Manuka on Thursday evening 13 March. The table is literally set for a visual feast that attempts to define delicious in the 3rd dimension. Palaskas' interest in cake decoration or design that enhances the notion of what is merely edible is an interesting conceptual side dish to ponder on while you are drooling over Caketown. Exhibition continues until 23 March
MIRROR MIRROR Friday 7 and Saturday 8 March Anne Zahalka gave floor talks at her wonderful exhibition Hall of Mirrors: Anne Zahalka Portraits 1987-2007 at the National Portrait Gallery. While all the works involve people one of the many interesting issues to arise from these works is the degree to which they can be defined as portraits. There is a thesis in there for someone! Curator Kara Reees (pictured below) has done a brilliant and thorough job on this exhibition which given Anne's status and contribution to contemporary photomedia reads like a history of Aussie photography from 1987. i.e You will see some very famous works ... The exhibition continues at NPG Commonwealth Place until 31 March 2008 and should not be missed under any circumstances.
WHITE LIGHT WHITE HEAT - FEAR AND LOATHING AT THE ADELAIDE FESTIVAL OF ARTS 2008 The theme was light, and things got hot in the glare of Adelaide’s 2008 Festival of Arts opening week … and I am not only talking about the scorching temperatures . (Adelaide turned on its most excruciating heat wave ever) CCAS Director David Broker convened the Play it Loud panel at Artists’ Week and it turned out to be a little more controversial than expected. Low on content and high on entertainment/bad behaviour Play it Loud had something for everyone; drama, insults, action, impertinence, confusion and generous helpings of spontaneous performance. Broker was joined by Philip Brophy, Danius Kesminas and Chicks on Speed, ostensibly, to discuss current issues pertaining to the “marriage” of art and music. A speedy divorce was on the cards from the outset, however, when Brophy described the liaison as “like a cat fucking a dog”, walking out after scarcely 30 minutes for reasons that have never been fully established. Kesminas showed a Foreign Correspondent story about his Indonesian band Punkasila, a Histrionics clip and burst into song frequently. He also left the stage at one point for an impromptu piano recital from behind the curtains only to return and physically drag the convenor from the “podium”. Meanwhile CoS piled all the available furniture into a heap in the middle of the stage to the accompaniment of a strange live incantation. Of the experience Broker said it was the most exciting and unpredictable panel he had ever convened but later lamented, “I wanted to be Michael Parkinson but they turned me into Jerry Springer … ”. If you can’t stand the heat …. All up the festival was off to a great start with the buildings of Adelaide’s cultural precinct being lit by Electric Canvas from 9am to 2am in a spectacular show called Northern Lights. Although the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art curated by Felicity Fenner opened to a luke-warm response, there are many great exhibitions and Artists’ Week continued provide a mix of useful information, dialogue and controversy. There was also some great performance with The South African State Theatre Company’s harrowing Town Ship Stories and the more uplifting all Indian/Sri Lankan A Midsummer Nights Dream taking a fresh somewhat folkloric approach to Shakespeare’s classic comedy. And its not over yet.
JUST DESERTS Friends and colleagues joined Timo Nest at CCAS Manuka on the evening of February 28 as he unveiled new works completed during his 2007 studio residency.
NORTH OF THE BORDER: SEDITION BUNGENDORE STYLE CCAS Director David Broker called a draw in the 2008 Art Overboard Award, an exhibition of work with social and political themes, at Kiku Arts in Bungendore. The two winners were Adrienne Conway for Last Breath ??, a work that challenges the scientific value of Japan’s whale hunts in the southern ocean, and Michal Glickson for New Constellations above Southern Gethsemane, an allegorical and mythological stream of images that retell the story of Australia’s colonial history. Of Conway’s work, Broker said, “ The use of image and text reference the political poster and like any good propaganda it makes its point with an economy of means that has impressed me greatly. ”Highly commended were works by Vladimir Gottwald and Shintaro Marky. The indomitable Terry Hicks handed out the awards for the second year in a row and gave the large number of people at the opening an update on the progress of his son David who has recently been released from prison on charges of "providing support to terrorism". Seems that some of Bungendore’s citizens may have adopted the unassuming hero who has become the quintessential Aussie Battler. This is an annual award for Kiku Arts who have just moved into a new gallery on the main street of Bungendore, a small but thriving centre near the ACT/NSW border that specialises in arts, crafts, antiques and jolly good times. It was an award night to rival the Oscars as the second part of the evening was taken up by the presentation of prizes for the 2nd Film Networking Industry (Australia) Achievement Awards 2007 by a representative from the film industry.`
PERFECT TIMING
MULTICULTURAL MADNESS It was yet another wild night at CCAS to kick off the 2008 program although thankfully we did not have to call an ambulance on this occasion. Programmed to coincide with the opening Canberra's Multicultural Festival there was something for (almost) everyone with works by Sam Tupou, Tony Albert, Kensuke Todo and Steven Holland. From different ends of Queensland, Tony Albert (SEQ) and Sam Tupou (FNQ) made quite an impression on the locals (see photos below) and have been adopted as honorary Canberrans. About as local as you can get in one night. While Tony's dad lives here and he seems to have at least one show a year in Canberra, this is Sam's first close encounter with the national capital notwithstanding a brief appearance last year for the NGA's 6th Austalian Print Symposium. And although Kensuke and Steven might be part of the Capital's furniture they are none the less appreciated. An excellent turnout considering the opening was competing with performances by the incredible runaway festival hit The Chooky Dancers who do Zorba the Greek Yolngu style. Many hours later ... a Southern Comfort promo at the Transit bar bought the evening to a screeching halt ...
WHERE ARE THEY NOW Ex board member and not so long ago Canberra based artist, Elvis Richardson, was discovered under a tree in a shady part of Melbourne with colourful local figure, Natalie Ann Thomas. They were going to see Ronnie van Houts band. Elvis has been shortlisted for the prestigious 100k Sellers art prize and as a result will be showing work at the Ian Potter Gallery mid year. And if you are interested in hilarious social commentarty keep an eye out for screenings of Nat's Chorus Line series with her pARTner (sorry its irrestistable) in Kristen Phillips.
CURATORIAL VISITATION/BEACH BABES Its hard work but someone has to do it. Former curator at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA) and now flying solo, Hannah Mathews is currently on a national tour seeking work for Primavera 2008. Primavera is the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art's (MCA) prestigious annual exhibition for emerging artists that was initiated in 1992 in memory of Belinda Jackson who died in 1990. Since then her wonderful parents Dr Edward and Mrs Cynthia Jackson have provided significant support and inspiration for emerging artists. Every year a guest curator surveys emerging art in Australia for an exhibition that provides artists with considerable national exposure and a great experience of working with other artists and the MCA's professional team under the watchful eye of Ted and Cynthia. Always eagerly awaited Primavera is set to open in September and in the mean time Hannah has her work cut out for her. During her time in Canberra Hannah met with lots of artists while visiting Culture Warriors at the National Gallery of Australia and Hall of Mirrors: Anne Zahalka Portraits 1987-2007 at the National Portrait Gallery.
NEWS HOUNDS Not sure if this is good or bad news but CCAS staff Yolande Norris and David Broker will be writing the ACT art notes for Art Monthly Magazine from March 2008. They are very enthusiastic about their new role as news hounds and are particularly interested in any sordid or embarrassing gossip re ACT arts orgs and personalities. (just joking ... ?) And speaking of Art Monthly and news, Maurice O'Riordan who is a well known contributor to many arts journals and hails from Darwin, is the new Editor. CCAS extends a warm welcome to Maurice and everyone is looking forward to working with him ... immensely. $500 FOR ART OVERBOARD Need to get something off your chest? The closing date for Art Overboard is fast approaching. In fact its 8 February with delivery of entries due at Kiku Arts between Friday 15 and Sunday 17 February. Taking its name from the notorious Children Overboard affair this is the second Art Overboard to be run by Kiku Arts in Bungendore and calls for artworks that make a social or political (but not slanderous) statement. Bernie Slater and Tim Spellman were two of last years outspoken winners and this year it could be you! At present these awards have two categories of entry. There is a A) 2D category for works of all media and B) 3D category for indoor or outdoor sculpture, as well as audio/visual entries in all media. Both categories carry a $500 (Australian) first prize, highly commended and commended awards as the judge sees fit. The single $100 People's Choice Award is open from both categories and is selected by one vote per person from members of the public. CCAS director David Broker will be the judge and he will attend the awards night at Kiku Arts on Saturday 23 February. For more information or an entry form go to - www.kikuarts.com.au/index/theartoverboardawards - without further ado. BOUND FOR BOTANY BAY Just as the Prime Minister finally moves back to Canberra Toni Bailey moves out. It is indeed an unfortunate coincidence. Popular local figure and CCAS Program Manager for three years, Toni, has headed North to take up the position of Gallery Manager at the very groovy GRANTPIRRIE Gallery in Sydney. Over many years Toni has made an ENORMOUS contribution to the visual arts in the ACT as an artist and through her work at the National Film and Sound Archive as well as CCAS. Dedicated to the welfare of artists Toni curated a number of very cool exhibitions in Canberra as well as running the CCAS Manuka Program and selecting excellent artists for The Cube Gallery. Always out and about Toni has been a familiar presence on the Canberra art scene and will be missed by all who came into contact with her (and more besides). Importantly, however, we are not loosing a friend but gaining a new place to stay in Sydney. Famous for her fancy dress parties there will be a parting do - but following the recent unfortunate experiences of a sunglassed teen in Melbourne, it will not be announced on the net.
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