Connecting with AGNSW

I was fortunate enough to go to the preview of Level 2 Contemporary Projects exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW last week, hosted by CCB the Contemporary Collection Benefactors of the Gallery. www.ag.nsw.gov.au

Level 2 Projects is a small room in the midst of the contemporary exhibitions space on, obviously, level 2 of the Gallery - head down 2 sets of escalators - in which artists (mostly Australian) have an opportunity to exhibit their work. Artists are invited to submit ideas and concepts which the curatorial staff assess closely. The resulting exhibited work is not necessarily acquired by the Gallery - that is not the intention - rather the projects space affords an opportunity for the Gallery to engage more closely with the very broad and vibrant community of practising artists and provides the artists, an opportunity to place themselves and their work in the major cultural institution of the State. It can bring accolades and credibility for the artist and extends the Gallery's reputation for being open, groovy and committed to contemporary practices.

More often than not the artist thinks big and ambitions soar. The Gallery is a grandiose place, in structure and concept and we should expect great things to come from it. We should expect grandiose gestures from the artists who are fortunate enough to create whatever they wish (with a few strings attached) in it. Invariably the resulting work becomes a major piece in the artist's body of work.  

The 2012 programme was launched with an installation by Eugenia Raskopoulos, titled Footnotes. The preview was a really pleasant evening - welcoming, informal and informative, the artist in attendance and in public conversation with the Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art Anneke Jaspers, the much needed 6pm glass of wine & an olive and a catch up with fellow CCBer's. So civilised.
Raskopoulos is interested in language, as words, as culture and as meaning; how it is formed, where it comes from, what it alludes to and how it is expressed. Footnotes is 3 interrelated photographic and video pieces and has obvious language in it - that is, words are spelt out - but it is also the language of the body, its sexuality and gender, which is played with. 
She draws and writes in red: the polish on the tidy toenails of what I presume are her feet; the lipstick which spells out in video staccato onanism (I have to admit I had to looked it up - 'seeking one's own sexual pleasure') which confirms another dimension to the work and then, so female, the dripping, pooling 'blood' at the feet of the same woman's feet. Colour, language and the body speak loudly and boldly of female sexuality: the colour red; the clean, elegant feet and toes, a highly erogenous zone; and words, 'moist', 'onanism'. 

Eugenia Raskopoulos footnotes 2011 (detail from still), 3-channel digital video, sound, installation, 4.18 min, courtesy the artist and William Wright // Artists Projects

This is not the work of a Gen Y chick, but of a woman who has lived and breathed women's sexual politics in all its intellectual and physical intensity over the past decades and has explored aesthetic means to determine a personal expression and understanding. It is a piece of steadfast revolution. It's not an easy piece, and possibly difficult for above the couch. But stay with it, it seduces slowly and gradually takes a commanding hold over you. 

So back to my host at the Gallery last week, the CCB. It is a benefactor group at the Art Gallery of NSW, managed by the Curator and a committee of dedicated boisterous volunteers, which raises funds for the acquisition of contemporary Australian art by the Gallery. The Gallery receives no government funding to build its collections & relies solely on patronage. CCB has been going strong for about 15 years now and has become a solid group of passionate, lively, interested & interesting people, who come together to learn more about & enjoy contemporary art. The annual programme of events is usually made up of exhibition previews, private curator-led tours, a look into a private or corporate collection, trips to a major interstate/ international art event or a hoot of a party, CCB makes contemporary art an essential part of working, social and thinking life.
You pay to join - an affordable (though not cheap) annual fee which is wholly tax deductible, always an incentive - and your membership fee goes towards these acquisitions. Some of you may perceive CCB as exclusive, but I don't believe it operates that way. The Gallery is remarkably welcoming and egalitarian and CCB follows that lead. It's not about who you know or even who you are, but about your own personal interest and desire to know more about contemporary art. It is about giving too, at a level at which you are comfortable. 
Some people are well versed in benefaction and are incredibly generous. Andrew and Cathy Cameron is one couple which regularly steps forward to contribute to a prospective acquisition, exhibition or publication. They maintain ongoing support of the Contemporary Projects on level 2.
Now, I am off to Adelaide to catch up with a group of fellow CCB'ers, for the opening of the Adelaide Biennial and other things arty. It is my idea of fun - great company, a well organised, packed programme of art, speakers, colleagues & dinners (always delicious in Adelaide). It is a welcome indulgence being able to immerse myself completely in this world for a few days.
But today is also the beginning of Art Month Sydney. Hang onto your hats! It is art at every turn. Check out their website www.artmonthsydney.com.au for what's on in March. Pinch and a punch for the first of the month!
News from Adelaide next week.

It takes a keen eye

In the art world a keen eye is a bit like the fine palate in the wine world. It is not necessarily an innate attribute - though they are always impressive - but something which, if worked on, can be nurtured and refined. I think the driving force behind the eye or palate (or ear for that matter) is passion. If the passion exists then so too does the discernment.

Ray Hughes has both, the passion & the eye. Many memorable Australian artists have begun his/ her commercial career with him. Bill Robinson, Robert Macpherson and others. I remember seeing Del Kathryn Barton's first solo exhibition at Ray Hughes Gallery and being jolted into another world. The relationships may not last (no speculation here) but the respect remains.

Ray was at the forefront of bringing contemporary Chinese art to Australia. It takes a really keen eye and serious commitment to find your way through the back streets of China some 20-25 years ago, visit clandestine studios to meet with artists, select some choice pieces, then ship them out to Australia under the not-so-discerning but ever-watchful eye of diligent beaurocrats. No passion in that camp. Given a lot of the (mostly) paintings were biting commentaries on the state of Chinese politics and officialdom, these works were not the sort of thing the Chinese Government wanted the rest of the world to see. There are some hilarious stories about dodging officials in China to bring the works, some particularly big, here; perhaps though, only hilarious in hindsight.
Ray's first show for 2012 was 10 Years of Contemporary Chinese Art. Who else could have done that? Paintings and works on paper, some dating to 1992 (call that 20 years) were on show. Even with my scant knowledge of this genre (sorry to admit) the works were fresh and sharp; their underlying message still acute. 

This current show is another group show of represented artists with new works, fresh out of the studio. 

Lucy Culliton Poppies 2012 oil on canvas

It gives a great overview of the range of the Gallery. The ever popular and really delightful works by Lucy Culliton were there. Just lovely. Flowers, which are no doubt fresh out of her garden, are plonked into random jars and bottles and then studied and painted. She has a great eye and a gentle touch: palette, composition & feel. They are a bit dowdy but welcoming, just like grandma - complete with that heartwarming nostalgia. Simple observations of everyday life - her everyday life - are precious in her revelations of things personal & things private. 

Jun Chen Nude & still life 2012 oil on canvas

Jun Chen's nudes and still lifes offer something else. We are on the outside peering in, almost voyeuristically, as a languid naked female drapes herself over a table or chair aside a bunch of flowers. The paint is indulgent: thick, lush and delicious. Generously scraped on with a palette knife in confident swipes, detail is lost to the swathe of colour and texture of paint. 

I'm not so drawn to Joe Furlonger's work as previously. I have always responded well to his swirling lines and figures. This series of self portraits, not so. They are edgy and tense; not so much introspective but a declaration of anguish and dark times. Turns out he was recently involved in a car accident - a terrible experience for him. It seems these portraits reflect this moment in time for him. 

Look closely at the pairings of Michael Bell's night and day landscapes of the same scene and Leigh Rigozzi's cartoons. The lovelorn character, lost in his beer in pubs of the inner west of Sydney, with few adventures and no hope on the horizon. You have to laugh!
I really like Cameron Haas' work. He held his first major show with Ray late last year. Another artist new on the scene who will make good. In this group show there are 2 new works, based on a mural he completed for a large foyer in the Sydney cbd recently. A great commission for a young artist which shows confident belief in his trajectory. 

Cameron Haas Untitled 2012 acrylic on canvas

The gallery is in a large warehouse in Surry Hills & downstairs there are a few exhibition spaces, so there is always lots to see. Chickens pecking away in the back room; a large swirling landscape by Jun Chen; lots of small objects and sculpture. 

Ray's been in the art business for over 40 years - which is an incredible achievement in the art world. Making money is only part of the business, but a given reality in order to continue. The business succeeds because of the commitment and the passion. He remains at the helm with his son Evan now increasingly in command. Drop by & start a conversation. You never know, you might get an invite to one of the weekly lunches hosted by Ray. It is such fabulous hospitality with great food, diverse and interesting company, talk & wine is memorable. www.rayhughesgallery.com

The art of the tattoo?

What is it with tattoos and the general population? I sense it is a generational thing which I have missed. I get the rebelliousness attitude, the tribalism, a bit of doodling to overcome boredom, even getting tanked & getting tatt'd. I gather the pain can be addictive. Is it as simple as this? Or is there something more? 


Is it because tattoos add value? Are they art or just arty? A lot of what I have seen at the beach is certainly neither: both in terms of image and flesh/canvas. But raise the bar a notch, refine the imagery and the intention and tattoos seem to offer an altogether different statement.


Hayden Fowler, who shows with Gallery Barry Keldoulis in Waterloo Sydney, sat in a shop window for a week in Auckland in 2007 & was extensively tattooed by an expert. This performance and the resulting documented exhibition Call of the Wild was a personal, political and very direct protest. The choice of image and site were chosen very deliberately: a pair of extinct NZ Huia birds, once a symbol of Maori authority, made extinct by a brief fashion trend. They were painstakingly (no doubt for both tattooist & sitter) etched in Fowler's flesh, and are lush, colourful and expansive. 


His act and inked imagery is a permanent reminder of the permanent loss of these beautiful birds. His belief was that the method and the media could hammer home the message in a far more striking and obvious way than the usual painting, photography, or 'say' printmaking. Jasmin Stephens writes about this work by Fowler as a "...a gesture which embodies politics with an appetite for acts of defiance."  Her essay on this exhibition is a good read and can be found www.gbk.com.au 


In a similar way, it is this "appetite for acts of defiance" which drives Wim Delvoye. Delvoye is an art star. He is internationally well recognised, collected & critiqued and currently has 2 solo exhibitions in Australia - one at MONA in Hobart, the other at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery. 


Tattoos are among the artworks in the Sydney exhibition, though (whilst Delvoye may be tattooed himself, I haven't seen) he does not use his own body to project these artistic acts of defiance: he uses other people's and animal's, at times on living creatures. Weighed up against Hayden Fowler's commitment to the cause, this may seem to be a bit of a cop out. But art does not necessarily require the giving of one's (or others') own blood.


The practice of the artist using living bodies (other than his own) as canvas is somewhat irksome & raises all kinds of questions about the art, its value and how far the artist can take it. The person known as Tattoo Tim is a living, breathing, walking artwork by Delvoye who has agreed to be tattooed and to present himself for and as an exhibition at various times. He is wandering around MONA as I write. Previously Delvoye also used anaethetised live pigs however this practice was shut down in Europe because of its obvious cruelty. 

Wim Delvoye Untitled (Joker/Jesus Inside), 2007

tattooed pigskin, framed between glass 190 × 139cm

Courtesy of the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Wim Delvoye  Concrete Mixer (scale model 1:4), 2011

lasercut stainless steel, nickeled 83 × 35 × 60cm

Courtesy of the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney

Delvoye's tattooed artworks (see an example here) have been rendered on the skin of dead pigs. The skins have not been tanned to that of shoe quality leather: they are pretty rough - hair and all - and neatly covered with images ranging from luxury brand logos to kitsch icons to pop culture cartoons, then mounted and framed. They are fascinating: the shapes of the flayed skin, the hair - how do you tattoo around hair? - even the holes that are so obviously to do with digestive processes. But why? Why use the pig skin and tattoos as your paint and canvas? His is a subversive approach: to redefine the value of the pig and hence that of art.


Take a mental step sideways and see that Delvoye's acts of defiance extend to his fine sculptures. High gothic, finely laser-cut metal models of a dump truck, a concrete mixer and a pergola. These are incredible! They sparkle under the lights: a maze of flying buttresses, spires and intricate lacework, and become something altogether other than what they appear to be, that of lowly trucks and a nod to suburban architecture. Here each becomes an object to be rethought, revalued and revered as never before. 

Bring your euros for this show - enough to fill a dump truck. The value of this art is high!


Delvoye is also responsible for Cloaca Professional, aka the 'poo machine' at MONA in Hobart. I've seen it twice, once in action; once constipated. Neither times did it move me (pardon the pun). It doesn't recreate the real number 2's, rather an implication of it and the process: ingestion, digestion and the inevitable, excretion (at 3pm each day). Everyone gets the regularity bit.


It's like a mini laboratory and is as clinical and restrained as one. And again, very basic functions elevated to a status way beyond their station.


You've got to visit MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart. www.mona.net.au It is a blast and it feels so good to be blasted. But enough for this week; more tips on what to see in Hobart another time.


BTW also on at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery is Tony Clark's small exhibition Buehnenbilder. Lovely.
www.roslynoxley9.com.au

covering lots of ground

How to see as many artworks by different artists as possible in a short space of time? Visit a few group exhibitions. I've done just that in the past few days & covered a lot of ground. But so little time left ... These shows heralded in the year for these galleries & are due to close soon.

First up - drawing, which I have always loved as invariably it reveals the immediate mark of the artist's hand; the intimacy of touch. Admittedly the exhibition The Drawing Room at Breenspace takes this notion & shakes it around, but essentially it comprises drawings which are pared back and sophisticated.

Although it's not solely ink or pencil on paper that features the exhibition includes digital, electronic, collage and wool 'drawings'. Agatha Gothe-Snape, a young artist who seems to be everywhere at the moment (solo show in Melb as I write), has a sunny yellow line which is constantly drawn & redrawn on 2 small digital screens, both nicely contained within a modest wooden frame. Hang it on the wall, plug it in & enjoy. 

Hossein Valamanesh Swiss landscape, Tues 27 Nov 2001, 2002
watercolour on newspaper on rice paper, no 9 from set of 12

Hossein Valamanesh's tiny watercolours - image here - in the middle of the stock market part of the newspaper really test my multi-focals! These works form part of a suite made a decade ago & are as fresh & pertinent today as then. They originate from a residency he began in Switzerland just weeks following 9/11. The daily papers were full of the unfolding GFC. After a while, he felt the graphs marking the ups & downs of the stock market in the finance section had an obvious and direct correlation to the shape of the surrounding landscape. So he sought to play with it. I think a far better (& possibly more enduring) interpretation of financial analysis than the one usually presented! Alan Kohler could take note.

If you know Hossein's work generally, you'll appreciate that these tiny gems hint at his extraordinary aesthetic & technical ability, not to mention his lovely way of seeing the world.
And Simryn Gill features with 2 large collages. Her work is always beautiful and intriguing  - meaning hovers around the edges which quietly and gradually emerges. She is to represent Australia at the next Venice Biennale (2013). Book your trip now!

Breenspace is worth a visit - they represent some seriously good artists who are doing really interesting work. Have a bite to eat downstairs at Berta while you're in the neighbourhood. www.breenspace.com

Next I went to Damien Minton Gallery in Redfern. www.damienmintongallery.com.au

A completely different place & space, with many represented artists from regional NSW. This current exhibition is founded on Slessor's poem Five Bells &, as such, much of the work has become a homage to Sydney. Damien was reminded of the poem by Delia Falconer in her new book Sydney & wondered how a group of artists would respond now to this poem first written btw 1935/38. The poem speaks of Slessor's grief at the drowning of a friend in Sydney Harbour. Not many of the younger generation knew the poem, but it is one which resonates deeply for many older artists. The best well known artwork inspired by the poem is John Olsen's Salute to Five Bells commissioned for the Sydney Opera House (& another work, Five Bells 1963 in AGNSW). Here is the poem online to stir your emotions http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/five-bells/

Minton has assembled a particularly diverse group of artists. Some stand outs for me are invited artists Tim Johnson's poetic piece inspired by David Moore's aerial photograph of Sydney Harbour , Euan McLeod leading figurative painter, whose work feels the emotional and physical weight the water, & Peter Kingston who would have been in his element, Sydney harbour being his preferred subject. Another (represented by Damien) is Eric Niebuhr - dark and glistening with splashes of lights; gorgeous handling of paint. 

Not quite satiated nor fatigued, I went on to visit James Dorahy Project Space in Potts Point -  cnr of Macleay & Orwell, upstairs above a great shoe shop (sale on at the moment). He opens 2012 with a thematic show of all his artists, loosely based on mountains & valleys. Installations which were possibly inspired by the landscape and hint at peaks and troughs but not your usual landscape pictures, are on show. 
Check out Ali Noble (here on the left) Cmon get happy 2011 whose joyous wall piece of brightly coloured felt sings loud & clear, as if the hills truly are alive. www.jamesdorahy.com.au


Ali Noble C'mon get happy 2011
handcut felt, inetrfacing & glue 198 x 77 cm


Hurry - these shows are due to close soon. For opening hours & exhibition dates visit the galleries' websites.

Repro of the images courtesy of the artist and gallerists. 

Daniel Hollier's new show kicks off my year

This is the week that the year really begins for me: back to work, back to school. It's time to get back out there - looking at, thinking about, talking about, art. 
I got the invite to Daniel Hollier's new body of work at Liverpool St Gallery, with a big geometric bright purple painting on it, & thought ..... this would be a good start for my new blog. I saw some of his work late last year & really liked it & was keeping an eye out for this show.
It is definitely worth checking out. Don't be put off by geometrics or bright purple.
This work is fresh, vibrant, well crafted & thought through. A terrific show for a not-so-much-emerging-anymore-artist. He's about 30, has had a couple of respected residencies, been the finalist in a couple of good prizes & been included in a few interesting exhibitions in the past few years. He is quite new to the Liverpool St Gallery group. 
These are not your regular, rectangular stretched canvases. Hollier treats the painting as an object in itself. Odd geometric shapes are crafted to fit together, like a 2D puzzle, to create a new form; a bit like the extraordinary shapes & creases you get when you flatten an interesting box.
His inspiration starts with a found object -a bit of flotsam & jetsam which captures his eye. I think all good artwork has an element of spontaneity or 'accident' in it - this is his accidental moment. 
The silhouette of this found object becomes the outline of the final artwork which is broken down into several shapes. The shapes become stretched canvases - all constructed by Hollier - the surfaces are taped to define the pattern, the colours are researched, then the painting begins. And at times there are 46 layers of paint. His is a meticulous & methodical physical & creative process. It's not new & refers back to the groove of the 60s/ 70s when the likes of Elsworth Kelly  & Frank Stella were creating works which pushed the boundaries of what defined painting and sculpture. (Both are held in the NGA in Canberra or you can see great Stella's in the foyer of Australia Square in Sydney CBD). But it's not mimicry as Hollier's intention is different.
The result is wonderfully dynamic paintings which are intriguing on lots of levels. He calls them 'narrative' works rather than hard edge non-objective abstracts: I guess they tell the story of his complete creative approach. 
I fall for green everytime so this one pulled me right in - Camus. It's quite big - 160 x 160cm - & looked fabulous across a large white wall.

Prices have gone up since his first show, but when you're in demand....
A great start to my year of exploring.


check out online at http://www.liverpoolstgallery.com.au/ or better still, head on in (right next to dedece). Exhibition runs to 23 Feb. Thanks to the artist & photographer Jenni Carter for use of the image.


Also viewed online & worth a virtual visit (or if in Melbourne, a real visit): www.dainesinger.com