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LINDY
LEE
SULLIVAN+STRUMPF
SINGAPORE
25 JANUARY — 24 FEBRUARY
RICHARD
LEWER
SULLIVAN+STRUMPF
SYDNEY
23 FEBRUARY – 16 MARCH
Ben Quilty Jan Murphy Gallery
The Accident
19 February – 16 March 2019
Justine Varga | Areola
7 February to 16 March
hugomichellgallery.com
DAVID GRIGGS | MEDITATION SEX MUSIC | 12 APR - 12 MAY 2019
WWW.GAGPROJECTS.COM
Peter Peryer {Suite}
241 Cuba St, Wellington, NZ
20 Feb - 16 Mar 2019 suite.co.nz | +64 4 976 7663
ART BASEL
HONG KONG 2019
Victoria Reichelt, Take Away Horror, 2018, oil on linen, 102 x 102cm
CON T EN TS
50 THINGS
C OL L E C T OR S S HO U L D K NOW
U PF RON T
28
CU LTURAL CAPITAL
In the final part of this series, Carrie Miller
and Andrew Frost discuss some of the
reasons people collect art.
37
MONEY SULLIES ART
Carrie Miller navigates the wild world of
commissioning artworks.
43
ART FAIRS
The forthcoming art fairs on our calendars.
9
50 THINGS ART COLLECTOR
C OL L E C T OR S S HO U L D K NOW # 8 7 JA N – M A R 2 0 1 9
Editor-In-Chief
56 176
Susan Borham
COOL HUNTER AGENDA SET TERS
PREDICTIONS The artists, curators and directors set Publisher
The artists on the brink of something big. to influence the Australian and New Beatrice Spence
Zealand art worlds in 2019.
Editor
78
NEW DIR ECTIONS 186 Camilla Wagstaff
The established practices that have taken TASTEMAKERS
Assistant Editor
an unexpected turn. Young curators and directors to put on
Kirsty Sier
your watchlist.
92 Art Director
Associate Editors
106 Dr Alan Cholodenko
DEBUTANTES Dr Edward Colless
Gallerists are getting behind these R E G U L A R F E AT U R E Michael Hutak
artists via an inaugural commercial solo John Young
exhibition. Dr Rex Butler
208 Professor James Choo
118 ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS Editorial Inquiries
COLLECTOR S LOVE Recent exhibitions wrapped up in 35 Camilla Wagstaff
The sell-out shows of 2018. words or less.
Subscription Inquiries
128 + 61 2 9363 4324
NOTABLE AWARDS artcollector.net.au/subscribe
The grants, prizes and residencies
boosting artistic practice across the Advertising Inquiries
region. + 61 2 9363 4324
10
Brian Eno
New works now available
CHROMA/ΧΡΩΜΑ
YIORYIOS
6/3/19 - 30/3/19
As part of Art Month Sydney 2019
WA NOW
Andrew Nicholls – Hyperkulturemia
15 December 2018 – 15 April 2019 | FREE ANNUAL SPONSORS – Principal Partner
303 MullenLowe, Singapore Airlines, Alex Hotel, Kennedy,
Juniper Estate, Gage Roads Brewing Co.
Art Gallery of WA, Perth Cultural Centre
artgallery.wa.gov.au |
@ArtGalleryWA #WANow
Andrew Nicholls Mangia Gelato (Piazza del Popolo) 2015-2018 (detail). Large format photograph, 150 x 120 cm. © the artist.
CONTRIBUTORS
Lucinda Bennett is the 2017 curatorial intern at the stuff we surround ourselves with, and what Joanna Mendelssohn is an art historian special-
Dunedin Public Art Gallery prior to which she we will leave behind. She is also an arts writer. ising in Australian art.
was a curator at The University of Auckland’s
Window project space. She is based in Aotearoa. Sebastian Goldspink is a Sydney-based inde- Carrie Miller is a freelance writer based in
pendent Curator specialising in emerging art, Wollongong.
Kate Britton’s current curatorial concerns cen- and the director of ALASKA Projects.
tre around queer theory and practice, and the di- Tai Mitsuji holds a masters in art history from
alogue between writing, text and contemporary Professor Sasha Grishin has published 17 books the University of Oxford. He has contributed
art. She is a Sydney-based writer and curator. and more than 1,000 articles. He is an emer- to publications including Art and Australia, Art
itus professor of the school of literature, lan- Monthly Australasia, Art Guide Australia and The
Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar woman who guages and linguistics at the Australian National Sydney Morning Herald. Based in Sydney, he also
writes fiction, essays and poetry while (most- University. works as a curator.
ly) travelling around the continent now called
Australia in a ragged caravan towed by an an- Jo Higgins consults on peer-led gallery educa- Jane O’Sullivan has written for publications in-
cient troopy. tion practices and arts partnership projects. She cluding the Australian Financial Review, Artnet,
is also a writer, editor, researcher and project Art Guide and Ocula. She is a former editor of Art
Dr Thea Costantino is an artist and writer who manager. Collector.
works in the School of Media, Creative Arts and
Social Inquiry at Curtin University. John Hurrell is the editor of EyeContact and is Stephen Oxenbury is a Sydney-based portrait
a New Zealand-based writer, artist and curator. photographer specialising in art and artists.
Laura Couttie is an independent writer, ed-
itor, curator and arts administrator based in Victoria Hynes has been a columnist for the Naomi Riddle holds a PhD in Australian
Melbourne. Sydney Morning Herald and written for numer- Literature from the University of New South
ous Australian and international art magazines. Wales and is the founding editor of Running Dog.
Ineke Dane is interested in overlaps between Based in Sydney, she is currently contributing
architecture, politics, society and the envi- editor at Asian Art News magazine. Zan Wimberley is a photographer who works in
ronment. She is a curator currently based in the arts, photographing art documentation, por-
Brisbane where she works with the international Jane Llewellyn, a former editor of Art Collector, traits, performance and more across Melbourne
studio Urban Art Projects. is based in Adelaide. and Sydney.
Micheal Do recently curated Soft Core, a trav- Jacquie Manning is a photographer based in Chloé Wolifson writes about contemporary art
elling exhibition for Casula Powerhouse Arts Sydney. and ideas for publications including Art + Australia,
Centre and Not Niwe, Not Nieuw, Not Neu for 4A Art Monthly Australasia, ArtAsiaPacific and Frieze.
Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Sydney. Louise Martin-Chew is a freelance arts writer.
Coen Young is a Sydney-based artist.
Briony Downes has worked in the arts for more Helen McKenzie conducts international art
than 20 years as a writer, actor and art theory tours for Art Collector subscribers and readers
tutor, among other things. and works out of Sydney as an art adviser and
freelance writer.
Dr Andrew Frost is an art critic, broadcaster and Corrections:
In issue 86 of Art Collector, we stated that
lecturer. Hayley Megan French’s practice encompass- Possible Dream Theory #2 staged at Galerie
es painting, writing, curating and collaborating pompom was co-curated by George Adams
Robert Fyfe is a photographer based in Perth. and is underpinned by the difficult exploration and Helen Shelley. In fact, the show was
curated by George Adams exclusively.
of the idea of landscape; how this constructs,
The same issue, the second last quote on p73
Rebecca Gallo’s practice is an exploration of ma- informs and redefines an understanding of was attributed to Rachel Kent. In fact, this
terial culture, driven by a curiosity about both ourselves. should have been attributed to Natalie King.
14
MICHAEL CUSACK
20 FEBRUARY 2019 —
17 MARCH 2019
OLSENGALLERY.COM
LINDE IVIMEY
Women to Winter
7 February - 3 March 2019
Dana Bergstrom, 2018, steel armature, acrylic resin, dyed cotton, natural turkey bones, leather,
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Rohan Hartley Mills | Jazz Plastic
1 February – 2 March 2019
Two Rooms 16 Putiki St Newton, Auckland, New Zealand | 64(9) 360 5900 | info@tworooms.co.nz | tworooms.co.nz
Rohan Hartley Mills, Untitled, 2018
GARY HEERY
COLLABORATIVE PORTRAITS:
EXHIBITION AND BOOK LAUNCH
20 FEBRUARY – 17 MARCH 2019
OLSENGALLERY.COM
Chris Heaphy Bloom
20 February - 16 March 2019
Opening Preview: Tuesday 19 February, 5-7pm
MATTHEW COUPER
GISBORNE • AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND • 2019
#matthewcouper @paulnache paulnache.com/matthewcouper
Matthew Couper’s ‘The Chief Mourner and The Last Drops’ lithograph – photo courtesy of the artist & Idem Paris
Guy Maestri, The maze, 2018, oil on linen, 77 x 81cm.
GUY MAESTRI
AFTER AUGUST
27.03.19 - 13.04.19
SOPHIEGANNONGALLERY.COM.AU
JASON PHU AT NEW GALLERY LOCATION
CHALK HORSE
167 WILLIAM STREET, DARLINGHURST SYDNEY
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ALICIA FRANKOVICH
Star kwhite 6 Febr uar y - 6 March 2019
Image: Alicia Frankovich, Microchimerism, 2018, gold and pink adhesive vinyl, dimensions variable.
Courtesy of the artist and Starkwhite. Photo: John Lake.
gallery9.com.au
9 Darley St, Darlinghurst
Sydney +61 2 9380 9909
GALLERY 9
info@gallery9.com.au
LUCAS GROGAN
GROUNDBREAK NGFLORALS
7- 31 March 2019
WH Y DO
PEOPLE COLLECT ?
A gift to the nation? Or a gift to yourself? In the final of this
three-part series, Andrew Frost and Carrie Miller explore some
more reasons why people collect art.
INVESTMENT
ART COLLECTING for the sake of invest- 1993 will finally have matured in the market.
ment is much like putting your money into It’s time to bring out those cibachromes and
any other financial product: there’s risk, canvases you put up in the kids’ rooms as the
and reward. There are the boring, low-yield, auction house beckons. But of course, that’s
long-term art investments that – while far not always the case – it might take another
from sexy or exciting – are the equivalent of 25 years for that de-skilled, postmodernist
respectable blue chip stocks. Then there’s the “painting” to really appreciate in value. But
super-exciting world of collecting new and by that time, we could all be dead, so who’s
emerging art that’s like getting into high-risk going to wait for the sea levels to rise before
investments, some with huge downsides, but we on-sell our works by [previously fashion-
also with massive upside potential. able early 1990s artist]?
No one these days is going to celebrate the Like the pro-Brexit UK politician who
collector who has bought in at the top end of said people are sick of experts and their
the market for a Brett Whiteley or a Sidney so-called facts, we can ignore art world
Nolan painting, nor any of the other dozen market pundits and make some real money
or so Australian modernists that could’ve in a much quicker fashion. All it takes is an
been had for a relatively modest buy-in 30 uncanny eye for emerging talent, an under-
years ago. But more to the point, you’d have standing of what the fickle art market thinks
to be crazy to imagine there’d be much ROI is “hot”, and the brass balls required to pump
for top-shelf product. Like selling a Sydney and dump primary market art even before
harbour-side mansion you’ve had for just 10 the gloss has worn off. These investors cruise
years, buying at the top of the market might the art school graduate shows, the annual
return a measly 33 per cent. But on the other museum exhibitions of new talent, and the
hand, parking your money in material objects pages of Australian art magazines to find out
keeps the liquidity low but stashes away the what’s breaking. While the financial spread
investment for a rainy day. Investment might required to finance this kind of buy-sell strat-
not be the only angle, and while returns could egy might seem prohibitive, with an invest-
be low, it’s probably saner than buying your ment consortium it becomes no riskier that
own zoo and stuffing it full of hippos, sabes lo chucking a few hundred thou into Lehmann
que estoy diciendo, eh Carlos? Bros. CDOs. Sure, the whole market might go
Most experts say that art investment for a tits-up, but there’s always the possibility of a
meaningful return requires at least a 25-year nice payday.
turnaround, meaning what you bought in Andrew Frost
28
U P F RO N T | C U LT U R A L C A P I TA L
29
U P F RO N T | C U LT U R A L C A P I TA L
TAX
DEDUC TION
ART COLLECTING for the sake of tax deduc-
tion is a well-known but little-understood
aspect of utilising your capital in smart and
clever ways – so God bless Tony Abbott and
his hair-brained scheme to get tradies to
spend up big at Bunnings on new tools and
sausage sandwiches.
While Bunnings ultimately defeated Masters
Warehouse in the mega-hardware retail wars, After you go ahead and donate
and the trade deficit aspect of buying Chinese- the collection to the major
made power tools defeated the economic
advantages of an end-of-financial-year-spend-
museum, and as the trucks drive
a-thon, this genius piece of retail politics has away, fix yourself a drink, sit
bequeathed Australia the tax loophole known down and decide what you’re
as Tony’s Tradies, which basically means any
business with an annual turnover no greater
going to do next, because this is
than $2 million can claim a 100 per cent tax the really sweet part...
write off on purchases of up to $20,000. And
what’s even sweeter is that the deduction can
apply to multiple purchases. All you need is an
ABN and you’re set. Say you have a major collection of art and
For most people, $20k is a substantial you’ve got your eye on donating it to a major
outlay, and while you won’t be able to afford museum (or even to a not-so-major gallery).
a Ben Quilty ($50 to $75k), there are tons of Once you have the attention of a curator there
emerging to established artists whose work who thinks it’s all good idea, the next step is to
not only costs way less, they’ll probably also get the collection valued by an art consultant
gift wrap your purchase if you ask nicely. or auction house. Then you get it valued again
Businesses not only have the advantage of by a different art consultant or auction house
investing in some nice decoration for the to prove that the value of your collection
office – and write off their tax while they do is generally agreed upon by the art world’s
it – they can also use their collection to build professionally disinterested observers.
their corporate culture, be they a business After you go ahead and donate the collec-
run out of a third bedroom or from a giant tion to the major museum, and as the trucks
building in a business park. drive away, fix yourself a drink, sit down
For those who have a non-business-re- and decide what you’re going to do next,
lated art collection in their homes [or care- because this is the really sweet part: under
fully stored away] one needs to remember the Australian Government Cultural Gifts
that donating the collection to a suitable Program you can write off the value of the
museum is what’s known as a “good idea” work against your tax over five years, which
[see Immortality]. Not only will it help you means you can write it off in one big chunk,
write your name in Australia’s august cultural or divide it into fifths. It’s entirely up to you,
history of art benefaction, it can also help you or your accountant. Not only is it a gift to the
get out of a tight tax spot – or indeed, it can nation, it’s a gift to yourself. Nice.
help you with multiple tight spots. Andrew Frost
30
U P F RO N T | C U LT U R A L C A P I TA L
31
U P F RO N T | C U LT U R A L C A P I TA L
CULTURAL CAPITAL
THE 20TH CENTURY sociologist Pierre accumulated isn’t going to leave the type
Bourdieu was one of those important French of personal legacy they, well, deserve. And
thinkers who did a lot of thinking for the rest because this special class of collector doesn’t
of us, particularly about the complex power need to buy art to build wealth, nor do they
dynamics that constitute modern societies. have to hang around the art world to attain
He was concerned with the various ways the social status, they have the luxury to be more
intergenerational transmission of cultural than mere dilettantes.
power maintains the social order and tradi-
tional class relations.
This gives us a clue that cultural capital
might have something to do with economic These collectors have recognised
and social privilege. But cultural capital that the nagging emptiness they
isn’t reducible to societal status, nor is it the
singular domain of the wealthy. The harsh feel late at night ... is actually the
reality these days is that the rich and socially realisation that all the economic
connected are often less likely to have real
cultural capital than a guy with an old timey
and social capital they’ve
moustache and a TAFE Certificate in making accumulated isn’t going to leave
patterns in milk foam. And fancy people will the type of personal legacy they,
never have the cultural capital of the street –
even if they exercise at an old school boxing
well, deserve.
gym with trainers who would beat the hell
out of them in any other context.
Luckily, because cultural capital is reflex- Unfortunately, in order to obtain power
ively bound up with economic and social and influence in contemporary art, collectors
capital, it can be achieved top down as well will first need to be humbled through the
as bottom up. There are opportunities in the always polite exploitation of their economic
contemporary art world for the privileged – and social resources. The art world increas-
who get access to high culture through their ingly relies on big name philanthropists who
societal prestige – to convert some of their can drop some serious cash on museum
economic and social currency into cold hard acquisitions and public art projects and get
cultural cash. their cashed-up mates to do the same.
Sometimes these people become serious art This could make these collector-philan-
collectors. For a select few, however, acquir- thropists feel like they are just being used
ing art is not enough. These people might be by the ungrateful, huddled masses they are
rich elites who live in privileged bubbles, but supporting. Not to worry. Everyone in the
they are sensitive souls. They can appreciate contemporary art world is using everyone
art’s intrinsic value; that it’s not just another else. It’s important for these cultural capital-
commodity to be bought and sold. ists to keep their eye on the ultimate prize;
Also, these collectors have recognised that to remember that the coldblooded wheeling
the nagging emptiness they feel late at night, and dealing that sustains the contemporary
awake and alone in the cool blue light of their art world is a small price to pay to get to
expensive life, is actually the realisation that shape history.
all the economic and social capital they’ve Carrie Miller
32
U P F RO N T | C U LT U R A L C A P I TA L
33
MICHAEL VALE | T IM E T R AV EL L ER
6 - 31 MARCH 2019
SOV E REIGNT Y
GUARA NT E E D
Is it possible for artists to undertake public or private
commissions and keep their integrity intact?
THE IDEA that artists make the work they residually defined by romantic, modernist their professional integrity (and sometimes
want to make and sell it in an open market- ideas about original authorship and indi- personal dignity) intact?
place is a very recent one. Some of the most vidual genius, the reality is that artists have New Zealand artist Mike Hewson, who has
iconic work of the Western canon isn’t the never stopped accepting sometimes very gained critical attention for his large-scale
product of the singular inspiration of an indi- lucrative commissions from governments, public interventions, recently completed a
vidual creator; it’s the result of a commercial corporations, and individual collectors. public commission for Wollongong, a major
transaction where artists are in the employ of The question that preoccupies the purists regional Australian city. The resulting work
public institutions and private citizens. among us continues to be: is it ever possible – that includes a live, uprooted tree up a pole
While contemporary art continues to be for artists to undertake commissions with – is installed in the city’s central mall.
37
UPFRONT | MONEY SULLIES ART
It’s highly successful by any critical stan- And it’s generally obvious at the outset when and said: “I assume you’re going to remove
dard, disrupting and transforming a previ- an artist is going to be pressed into the service that.” Enraged, the artist – who is celebrated
ously banal public space in an unexpected of private interests, whether it be a wealthy for precisely these types of painterly marks
and original way. businessman wanting their ego stroked with – offered to expunge the offending drip. He
So, how did he manage to navigate the a flattering portrait, or a multinational engag- told the banker he had a “chainsaw out the
potential pitfalls of entering into a commer- ing in a cynical band promotion exercise by back” and was more than happy to cut it out.
cial relationship with a government organ- associating themselves with high culture. Hewson is very upfront about the fact that, in
isation? According to Hewson, it can be an But this isn’t always the case. To cite one order for an artist to achieve their vision, they
“exhausting process refining a design to be example, a well-known Australian painter must face the commercial realities of undertak-
elegant, durable and faithful to the origi- was asked to create a large-scale installation ing a commission. This includes “a good insur-
nal concept”, one that requires the artist for the foyer of the corporate headquarters of ance broker, a good lawyer, a good knowledge
to “constantly innovate and fight to ensure an international bank. The artist accepted the of how much things realistically cost”.
concepts are not diluted or butchered during commission on the basis of guaranteed sover- These are precisely the aspects of commis-
the design and installation process”. eignty over work within the context of the sions that make art world purists squeamish.
While Hewson is describing his experi- broad brief to create a visual interpretation of But without pragmatists like Hewson, the
ence of creating a public work – a process the company’s history. public spaces and corporate buildings that
necessarily constrained by complicated stat- He found out too late that this was wishful benefit most from being creatively and
utory considerations imposed by faceless thinking on his part. During a studio visit conceptually animated by commissioned
bureaucrats – private commissions present to view the final product, a senior corpo- artwork would remain soulless, concrete
their own set of challenges. Potentially, they rate representative pointed to a purposeful voids that do nothing to lift the banality and
provide a greater scope for artistic freedom. paint drip near the bottom of the canvas drudgery of everyday life.
MODERN LE X ICON
Decoding contemporary artspeak for the discerning reader.
Neo Post
The oft-used prefix neo – meaning a new or revived form – is Like much art world verbiage, the prefix post is confus-
usually applied to a previously established style or theme, or ing. Literally meaning after in time, or order, that is its most
in historical terms, a reference to a new variation on an old common usage. When we say Post-Impressionism, we usually
art movement. For example, styles of architecture or painting mean the art that came after Impressionism, however art
such as Neo Classicism or Neo Georgian, or relatively recent movements are highly contentious, are usually retrospective
styles, such as Neo-Pop, NeoGeo, and Neo-Conceptual Art. in their naming, and they often run contemporaneously with
As to how much these new variations are genuinely new, the art movements that they allegedly superseded.
or indeed, how much they relate in any meaningful way to Thus, the contemporary use of post, such as Post Minimalism
their predecessors, are contentious points of debate. However, or Post Photography, might suggest art forms that have
for the average punter, the prefix is useful for locating the come after the end of photography or minimalism. But they
reference points of much contemporary art practice. But simply mean art that is made after the advent of these things.
reader beware: much fake “neo” art exists, including Neoism, Therefore, art post facto cannot escape the thing that came
a self-proclaimed parodic mail art movement that set out to before and while this might seem depressing, it’s not nearly as
wilfully complicate what is considered new, derivative, or bad as the term late, which most people would assume suggests
just passé. Thankfully, Neoism was largely Canadian and can something that is soon to end, but in fact it is something that’ll
therefore be successfully ignored. probably go on forever [c.f. late capitalism].
38
Jackson Farley And then Kev looked at Kev and said 2018 Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Satin 150cm x 128cm
Jackson Farley
Self-conscious Kev and other friends
27th February – 23rd March 2019
In conjunction with
Buku-Larrnggay
Mulka Centre
UNISON
GÄṈGÄN PAINTINGS
FROM DJIRRIRRA
WUNUŊMURRA AND
NAYPIRRI GUMANA
9 February 2019 to
23 March 2019
Djirrirra Wunuŋmurra ‘Yukuwa’ 2016 90cm x 120cm Earth pigment on board
FAIREST OF
THEM ALL
The 2019 art fair calendar kicks off with a lively
mix of well-established names and a few fresh faces.
Here are the fairs we’ll be watching.
Michael Cook, Broken Dreams #2, 2010. Inkjet print on archival Hahnemuhle cotton rag, 124 x 100cm.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND THIS IS NO FANTASY, MELBOURNE.
44
U P F R O N T | A R T FA I R S
45
U P F R O N T | A R T FA I R S
Installation view of Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery at Art Cologne, 2012. COURTESY: ROSLYN OXLEY9 GALLERY, SYDNEY. PHOTO: ULRIK EICHENTOPF.
TOAF is a bit like live Instagram. Visitors Founded in 1967, Art Cologne is known prestigious on the art world calendar,
to the fair can see, in quick succession, a as the first modern art fair. It was estab- with 200 galleries participating and more
snapshot of offerings from a host of unrepre- lished by gallerists Hein Stünke and than 55,000 annual visitors.
sented artists all under one roof. This year’s Rudolf Zwirner to promote new art by “Cologne is the original Art Fair,” says
event in Sydney will see 120 artists populate young German artists in the post-WWII Oxley, who will present Daniel Boyd,
their stalls and engage in conversation with era; an era that saw New York take over Fiona Hall, Nyapanyapa Yunupingu,
collectors. Part of the fair’s purpose is to from Paris as the epicentre for contempo- Hany Armanious and Dale Frank at the
create a supportive community for artists rary art. 2019 Cologne fair. “The Rhineland is full
that lasts beyond the fair. TOAF is also staged From its modest initial intention, the of well-to-do Germans, big collectors,
in Melbourne, London and the USA. fair has grown to be possibly the most people who are really involved in the arts.”
46
U P F R O N T | A R T FA I R S
Lisa Anne Auerbach, Psychic Center of Los Angeles, 2014. 24 pages, each 152.4 x 96.5cm. COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND GAVLAK, LOS ANGELES AND PALM BEACH.
FRIEZE LA
From the presenters of Frieze New York and organisers are taking a confident approach for
Frieze London comes the brand-new art fair the inaugural LA fair, handpicking the galleries
Frieze Los Angeles. And what could be more to get exactly the mix they want. No Australian
LA than holding the event at Paramount or New Zealand galleries have been invited to
Pictures Studios? For the inaugural fair, a list this first fair, but they will be keeping a close
of 70 top USA (and a handful of international) eye on how Frieze Los Angeles fares.
galleries have been invited to participate. Art Collector is participating in Frieze Los
Customarily, galleries wanting a booth in an Angeles as a media partner, allowing fairgo-
art fair of the calibre of a Frieze event would ers to pick up a copy of the magazine in the
spend weeks polishing their applications. But reading room.
47
1- 20 March
Nigel Sense
Dickheads + Demons
We put the hole in the wrong spot. Acrylic on canvas 120 x 140cm
FANG LIJUN
First solo exhibition in Australia
Vermilion Art
5/16 Hickson Rd,
Walsh Bay, NSW, 2000
Wed – Sat 11-7pm
Contact
info@vermilionart.com.au
+61 (02) 9241 3323
Open 7 days
Osborne Lane, 2 Kent Street
Newmarket, Auckland
sanderson.co.nz
FEB 2019 GEORGE HAJIAN
MAR 2019 JOHL DWYER
APR 2019 CHRISTINA PATAIALII
DALE HICKEY
PAUL BOSTON
5 FEBRUARY -
2 MARCH, 2019
CO OL
HUNTER
PREDICTIONS
The artists to watch in the year ahead.
56
50 THINGS | COOL HUNTER PREDICTIONS
57
1
EMILY PARSONS-LORD
58
50 THINGS | COOL HUNTER PREDICTIONS
59
50 THINGS | COOL HUNTER PREDICTIONS
Emily Parsons-Lord, Things Fall Apart, 2017. Commissioned by Performance Space for Liveworks.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST. PHOTO: LUCY PARAKHINA.
Parsons-Lord finished off the year in temperatures. One side effect of this is the the LungA School in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland,
Adelaide, exhibiting as part of Vitalstatistix’s permanent removal of blue from the sky. obtain her pyrotechnic licence, and exhibit at
Climate Century – a three-week festival of In creating an immersive environment that the Cementa19 festival in Kandos. Given that
climate change art for the 21st century. Then mimics this altered sky-space, Parsons-Lord climate change is rapidly becoming the great-
Let Us Run (The Sky is Falling) considers the presents a visceral installation that brings est challenge of our time, it seems certain
process of stratospheric aerosol injection: a together climate science, speculative fiction, that Parsons-Lord’s planetary empathy will
scientific proposal for combatting climate tragi-humour and the atmosphere itself. continue to be an essential salve when reckon-
change where substances are released into 2019 sees Parsons-Lord undertake a three- ing with our impending environmental crisis.
the upper atmosphere in order to lower month development as artist-in-residence at Naomi Riddle
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50 THINGS | COOL HUNTER PREDICTIONS
Emily Parsons-Lord, A raging event of continual noise (the Sun), 2018. Commissioned by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST. PHOTO: DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY.
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2
CHRISTINA PATAIALII
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3
RYAN PRESLEY
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4
KAI WASIKOWSKI
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His message and its delivery are timely, LEFT: Kai Wasikowski, Realtree
#4, 2018. Inkjet print, 90 x
complex and nuanced, befitting of our 115cm.
even more complex world. It’s with no ABOVE: Kai Wasikowski,
surprise that over the past year, his work Moments of love and apathy #1,
has been recognised and celebrated by 2017. Inkjet print on cotton rag,
96 x 143cm.
local and international art communities.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST.
Following his 2017 win at the Perth Institute
of Contemporary Art’s Schenberg Art
Fellowship (worth $40,000), Wasikowski has
been featured in a number of high-profile
exhibitions, including The Australian Centre
for Photography’s Oceans from here (2018)
and Sullivan+Strumpf Singapore’s Tromp
L’oeil (2018).
At the end of 2018, Wasikowski was one of These images depict a
the featured artists in the NSW Visual Arts danger zone and Wasikowski
Emerging Fellowship. In the year to come,
Wasikowski tells me that his eyes are set places us on high alert.
on expanding his profile overseas. He will
undertake a residency in China at the Three
Shadows Photography Art Centre, a contem-
porary art space dedicated solely to photog-
raphy and new media. He is also currently
negotiating the details of exhibiting in China.
If 2018 is any indication of his professional
trajectory, one gets the sense that 2019 will
be epic.
Micheal Do
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5 a symbol of colonialism here in Australia. between kohl – used for spiritual, medicinal
From this invasive species, through a gentle and cosmetic purposes – and the uses of ash
JUSTINE YOUSSEF and meditative process, Youssef extracts both from smoking ceremonies in local Indigenous
tangible and symbolic value. The tangible culture, (discovered through an elder where
outcome is glass bottles of the warmly tinted, the work was filmed in Sydney’s west). For
On a recent visit to Justine Youssef’s studio, scented liquid. Symbolically, the perfor- an iteration of an other’s Wurud, Youssef
her floor was strewn with drying rose petals mance connects Youssef’s ancestral home- distilled waste flowers on-site at the Sydney
in preparation for an other’s Wurud (2017- land with her adopted home, acknowledging Flower Market, as stallholders cleared up
ongoing). This iterative performance sees the complexities of its colonial history. around her. These men offered their discards
Youssef distil rosewater from a family recipe, Through performance, video and installa- as Youssef crouched and worked, troubled by
filling a gallery with her quiet, purposeful tion, Youssef uncovers links between family the wastage of these imported, cut blooms.
energy and the heady scent of roses. Rather ritual, ecology, Indigenous culture and colo- Several workers asked where she got her
than Damask, used by her family in Lebanon, nial history. Kohl (2018), in collaboration enormous aluminium bowls – brought
Youssef distils with a species of British rose, with Duha Ali, brought out unexpected links from Lebanon – as their mothers and wives
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6
HAYLEY MILLAR-BAKER
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ABOVE: Hayley Millar-Baker, Untitled (The best means, BELOW LEFT: Hayley Millar-Baker, Untitled (When the mother leaves snatch the eggs). Part 1 & 2, 55 x 55cm.
of caring for, and dealing with them in the future), 2018. BELOW RIGHT: Hayley Millar-Baker, Untitled (Pull him out by the tail and hit him on the head). Part 1 & 2, 55 x 55cm.
Inkjet on cotton rag, 80 x 100cm.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND VIVIEN ANDERSON GALLERY, MELBOURNE.
75
10 January–9 March 2019
A Bundanon Trust Touring Exhibition National Art School Gallery
Forbes St & Burton Street
Darlinghurst, NSW
Open daily 11am–5pm
(02) 9339 8686
nas.edu.au/nas-gallery
Arthur Boyd, Shoalhaven as the River Styx, c1996 (detail), oil on canvas. Boyd Family Collection.
Delicate Gouldian Finch 2018 oil on canvas 30 x 30 cm
jodie wells
wild and wonderful Marina Mirage, Seaworld Drive
Main Beach, Q 4217 Ph: 07 5561 1166
March 23 to April 6 2019 www.antheapolsonart.com.au
50 THINGS | NEW DIRECTIONS
NEW
DIRECTIONS
Our writers discuss those artists who have
taken their practice somewhere a little
different in recent times.
7
ILDIKO KOVACS
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Ildiko Kovacs, No 9, 2018. Oil and graphite on card on plywood, 45.7 x 23cm. Ildiko Kovacs, Cat’s Eye, 2018. Oil and graphite on card on plywood, 90 x 64cm.
“I bought a huge amount of pattern-mak- eventually came to cover the paper with oil
er’s paper which is natural in colour,” says paint. I was actually on the phone, continuing “I think it is that intense
Kovacs. “I surrounded myself with materials to draw and then, when I hung up, I realised
and worked with whatever came to hand. the first of these works.” focus that allows you to get
Drawing is great in that it frees you up. While the new works are a dramatic depar- lost – and found.”
Any preciousness falls away and you don’t ture from the colour and organic shapes of
ILDIKO KOVACS
overthink it. There is a kind of automatic the roller paintings, they remain recognisably
flow which comes from working quickly Kovacs. Their angularity and muted colours,
in a rather obsessive manner. From using the compulsion in their scratched quality, has
pencils, crayons, ink, and acrylics, drawing been well-received since they were exhibited
and scratching, rubbing out and repainting, I in Alice Springs and then at the Melbourne
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50 THINGS | NEW DIRECTIONS
Ildiko Kovacs, No 1, 2018. Oil and graphite on card on plywood, Ildiko Kovacs, 6 Diamonds, 2018. Oil and graphite on card on plywood, 102 x 76cm.
45.7 x 23cm. COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND MARTIN BROWNE CONTEMPORARY, SYDNEY.
Art Fair with Martin Browne Contemporary. The method in these new works becomes
They were also seen at Martin Browne’s meditative, as she scores into the oil paint
Sydney space in September at Kovacs’ exhi- with a soft graphite. For Kovacs, their success
bition New Ground. lies “in this breakthrough into something that
For Kovacs, these works return to a method I haven’t uncovered in myself before. I think
she remembers from her beginnings. “As it is that intense focus that allows you to get
artists, we tend to do a full circle,” she muses. lost – and found.”
“At art school, when I was 17, I didn’t really Kovacs will show with Hugo Michell
know how to make a painting, but I enjoyed Gallery, Adelaide, from 21 March to 27 April
the sensuality of oil paint. Drawing into it 2019.
was the start of my relationship with paint.” Louise Martin-Chew
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8
GARRY TRINH
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Sean Meilak, Study for metaphysical garden, 2017. Plaster, mdf, wire, pva and acrylic paint, 210 x 160 x 150cm. Sean Meilak, Interior habitat #1, 2018. Plaster and oxide pigment,
200 x 120 x 30cm.
9
SEAN MEILAK
Melbourne-based artist Sean Meilak has in how these forms changed as I moved around The same year, Anthony Bautovich included
worked across the disciplines of painting, them. This led to the decision to develop them Meilak’s work in the Home@735 exhi-
video, sculpture and installation since the into sculptural pieces in their own right.” bition Colour and Form and throughout
late 1990s. Most recently, he has been gaining Meilak’s inspirations for his sculptures are November, TDF Collect Gallery in Melbourne
traction with his suites of stacked geometric diverse. Sarah Murray of Niagara Galleries says hosted Parade, Meilak’s latest collection of
forms in plaster. Meilak’s work is informed by “the architecture free-standing and wall-mounted sculptures.
Recalling the angular abstraction of a of ancient Rome, theatre and film set design, as Enjoying the possibilities of working within
labyrinth with upside down staircases and well as modern and postmodern art, architec- the three-dimensional realm, Meilak is keen
columns holding up carefully balanced cylin- ture and design movements.” Murray continues: to keep the momentum going. “It has been
ders, Meilak’s arrangement of shapes and licks “There has been an overwhelmingly positive like learning or developing a new language,”
of crisp pastel hues are playfully elegant with a response to Sean’s sculptures and installations he says. “These new ways of making and
classical edge. “My focus on sculpture evolved from collectors in Australia, as well as interna- seeing are very exciting to me as I have always
from time spent in Italy a few years ago, where tional interest from the USA and Italy.” had a sculptural approach to the way I work.
I began to make small sets and assemblages for In 2018, Meilak’s sculpture Park Life Making three-dimensional forms seems like a
a series of still life paintings,” Meilak explains. was acquired by Artbank from the Niagara natural progression for my practice.”
“Over time, I became increasingly interested Galleries booth at Sydney Contemporary. Briony Downes
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Sean Meilak, Fall, 2018. Plaster, oxide pigment, bondcrete, wooden dowel, epoxy resin, mdf, acrylic paint, pva, 150 x 110 x 36cm.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND NIAGARA GALLERIES, MELBOURNE.PHOTO: PETER ROSETZKY.
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10
CLINTON NAIN
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11
LIONEL BAWDEN
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C O LV I L L E G A L L E R Y
Garden in the Mountains, Somewhere Near Deloraine, 2018. Oil and fine scraffito on linen, 135 x 200cm.
Richard Dunlop
Garden in the Mountains, Somewhere near Deloraine.
18 Jan – 5 Feb 2019
Also Representing
Robert Brown, Julia Castiglioni-Bradshaw, Jason Cordero, Chris Edwards, Kylie Elkington, Sebastian Galloway, Paul
Gundry, David Hawley, Jane James, Eloise Kirk, Zsuzsa Kollo, Colin Langridge, Stephen Lees, Steve Lopez, Anne
Mestitz, Jerzy Michalski, Milan Milojevic, Ian Parry, Chen Ping, Eie Pryer, Anna Sabadini, Paul Snell, Luke Wagner.
91A Salamanca Place, Hobart 7000 Tasmania P +61 362 244 088 M 0419 292 626
E info@colvillegallery.com.au W www.colvillegallery.com.au OPENING HOURS 10am to 5pm daily
C O LV I L L E G A L L E R Y
Lloyd Rees, The Little Boat, 1982-3. Oil on linen, 35 x 45cm. Private Collection.
91A Salamanca Place, Hobart 7000 Tasmania P +61 362 244 088 M 0419 292 626
E info@colvillegallery.com.au W www.colvillegallery.com.au OPENING HOURS 10am to 5pm daily
5 0 T H I N G S | C U R AT O R ’ S R A DA R
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CURATOR’S
RADAR
A round up of artists who have achieved
significant curatorial attention in 2018/2019
by way of major public exhibitions,
commissions and acquisitions.
12
JOHN MAWURNDJUL
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13
JESS JOHNSON AND
SIMON WARD
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14
DARREN SYLVESTER
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Darren Sylvester, Fillet-O-Fish, 2017. Screenprinted upholstered wool and tubular steel, 202 x 102 x 50cm.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST, SULLIVAN+STRUMPF, SYDNEY AND NEON PARC, MELBOURNE.
(2017) which first appeared at Bus Projects drawn directly from the visual vernacular of
in Melbourne. For those aware of dramas the exhibition (think luxurious). The book
surrounding the brand’s decision to drop the contains a flex-disc vinyl that contains the
acute accent above the é, Sylvester assures soundtrack to Time Keeps Running, Never
me that his Céline will purposely retain it. Changing, Never Ageing (2007), an older
Elsewhere, the exhibition will collapse fact video work created following Sylvester’s
with fabulism via existing and commis- pilgrimage to Ashbury Park in New Jersey, From Bruce Springsteen to Katy
sioned works set to lure audiences down the sacred home to Bruce Springsteen and the Perry, Sylvester assures me that
Sylvester’s curious garden path — one that E-Street Band.
will be decorated with masterful exercises of From Bruce Springsteen to Katy Perry,
there’s something for everyone in
contradictory impulses, suspense, romance, Sylvester assures me that there’s something his upcoming survey.
desire and necessity. for everyone in his upcoming survey. And
The icing of the exhibition lies in the much like his works at MAF, I get the sense
360-page monograph that will accompany it. that Carve a Future, Devour Everything, Become
Developed over one year with Megan Patty, Something may be just the right setting for the
NGV’s publications manager, the book will next spectacle.
come furnished in an aluminium pillbox Micheal Do
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15 of the universe, at the same time eliminating and forms beyond what we know,” says
(or equalising) time and things. MUMA’s senior curator Hannah Matthews.
ALICIA FRANKOVICH These themes underpin Frankovich’s recent “Often what we think we recognise turns out
solo exhibition Exoplanets at MUMA | Monash to be something else; what looks inter-plan-
University Museum of Art in Melbourne; etary is actually micro-imaging of the body.
By naming our current epoch the “Age of an extension of work exhibited in 2017 at In this way, Frankovich creates a space of
the Anthropocene”, scientists have marked the Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und relationality where everything is connected
a point in time where humans have so Westfalen in Düsseldorf. Here, Frankovich and equal; where the seemingly unknown is
profoundly dominated the environmental flexes the boundaries of sculpture and form, somehow already known.”
course of the earth that it has become irre- using imagery that shifts between abstraction Frankovich has been championed by
versible. More than this, our intervention is and representation, highlighting the omni- the world’s leading institutions – Stedelijk
equivalent in gravitas to the many Ice Ages presence of evolution as it relates both to the Museum Amsterdam, ISCP New York, ACCA
before us. extant and the extinct. Melbourne, Palais de Tokyo Paris – indica-
The practice of preeminent New Zealand Isolated, the term “exoplanets” refers to tive of the pressing nature of her work and
artist Alicia Frankovich seeks a better under- planets that orbit stars other than the sun (and the necessity of her expanding practice and
standing of the post-human position within hence are beyond our solar system). They are realms of enquiry. In 2019, she will exhibit
this current Age. Hers is an equalisation mostly unknown, because the glare of their with Auckland’s Starkwhite Gallery in addi-
attempt; where finding nexuses between the stars makes visibility difficult even with tion to featuring in the major exhibition
macro and the micro, the unfathomable and telescopes. “In the context of the exhibition, Between Us at Kunsthalle Mainz, Germany.
the fathomable, may better our understanding Exoplanets refers to the existence of imagery Ineke Dane
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16
ABOVE AND BELOW: Installation views of David Grigg’s
BETWEEN NATURE AND SIN, Campbelltown Arts Centre,
Campbelltown, 2017. PHOTO: DOCUMENT PHOTOGRAPHY.
DAVID GRIGGS
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David Griggs, The Bleeding Hearts Club No.2, 2008. Acrylic on canvas.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND GAGPROJECTS | GREENAWAY ART GALLERY, ADELAIDE.
103
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DEBUTANTES
We look at those artists who gallerists have
thrown their weight behind in 2018/2019 with an
inaugural premiere commercial exhibition.
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“I create spaces for meditation,
contemplation and conversation.”
KATIE WEST
Katie West, one square metre, 2018. Plants indigenous to Naarm, 100 x
LEFT:
100cm tarp, wood, dimensions variable. Installation view, Kings Artist Run,
Melbourne, 2018. COURTESY: THE ARTIST. PHOTO: CHRIS BOWES.
BELOW: Katie West, Decolonist, 2016. Naturally dyed silk and thread, eucalypt
leaves, digital video, dimensions variable. Installation view, Next Wave Festival,
West Space, 2016. COURTESY: THE ARTIST. PHOTO: CHRISTO CROCKER.
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18
ROHAN HARTLEY MILLS
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Marlee McMahon, Inflight Magazine, 2017. Oil and acrylic on Marlee McMahon, Hot Wheels Highway, 2017. Oil, acrylic, enamel
canvas, 72 x 54cm. COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND BOWERBANK and resin on canvas, 70 x 61cm. COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND
NINOW, AUCKLAND. PHOTO: RUBEN BULL-MILE. BOWERBANK NINOW, AUCKLAND. PHOTO: RUBEN BULL-MILE.
19
MARLEE MCMAHON
Not quite a year since graduating with “Marlee is tapping into an aesthetic that
an Honours Degree from the Victorian deals with the virtual or with late 20th-cen-
College of the Arts, Marlee McMahon has tury graphic design,” says gallery co-director
already achieved an early career milestone. Simon Bowerbank. “She’s also dealing with
Following on from a string of notable shows abstraction and so there’s an engagement with
in Melbourne’s artist-run galleries, and with that history. It feels like very fresh work, but
standout work in her graduate exhibitions, it’s also quite nuanced and grounded in an
McMahon has been picked up by leading understanding of what’s come before it.”
Auckland gallery Bowerbank Ninow for her With a strong engagement with Melbourne
debut commercial gallery outing in May 2019. painting, and with an eye to developing collec-
McMahon’s paintings present a kind of visual tor interest in Auckland, Bowerbank sees
conundrum – what at first appear to be formal McMahon as a natural fit with the gallery and
abstract compositions soon reveal themselves its existing stable. “We’re interested in being
to be largely built from graphic elements in involved in the careers of young artists who
classic video games. McMahon’s interests are have the potential to develop a long-term prac-
in “the concept of artist as brand, painting tice. The level of maturity that Marlee’s work
positioned as product and where painting is already displays makes it likely that she is one
situated today”, but for the viewer, the effect of these artists.”
of the work is tantalisingly ambiguous. Andrew Frost
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PETA MINNICI
Peta Minnici has been a stand out student build up evocative images that shift between
whist completing her Master of Fine Arts at abstraction and realism. In a parallel series Minnici’s tonal still life and
the National Art School over the past several of watercolour and oil paintings, she slowly
years. In 2015, she won The John Olsen Award builds up her images with layers of translucent figurative compositions evoke
for Figure Drawing, as well as the Parkers Fine paint. Often drawn from private photographs, a pensive nostalgia akin to a
Art Award for Painting, both held at NAS. In her works become a subjective recording of
2017 she was also a finalist for the Brett personal memories and past events.
faded photo album.
Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship and has Describing her current practice, the artist
participated in group shows with Sydney’s remarks: “I aim to undo the photographic
Dominik Mersch Gallery, Manly Art Gallery representation of each subject into small
and GAFFA Gallery. With a forthcoming solo brush strokes of tone and colour, imbuing
exhibition at Sydney’s May Space in 2019, her each image with a sensation associated with
subtle yet emotive artworks are sure to garner memory. It’s also symbolic in that each mark
even more attention. creates a recording of what I have seen, heard
Minnici’s tonal still life and figurative and felt. I like to think that my paintings
compositions evoke a pensive nostalgia capture nostalgia with wistful affection and
akin to a faded photo album. Embracing the sometimes cynical humor – without being
traditional medium of drawing, she employs too melancholy.”
the painstaking method of cross hatching to Victoria Hynes
Peta Minnici, Night Lamp, 2018. Oil on linen, 60 x 60cm. Peta Minnici, The Good Glasses, 2018. Oil on linen, 55 x 65cm.
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Peta Minnici, Abbott Lane, 2018. Oil on linen, 120 x 96cm.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND MAY SPACE, SYDNEY.
115
“Angus is a particularly
thoughtful and engaged young
artist. His intellectual rigour
and commitment to his practice
maintain a deep level of
complexity in the work.”
ALLAN COOLEY
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ANGUS GARDNER
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COLLECTORS
LOVE
Our writers look at the artists
who have caught the attention of
collectors in the past year
and achieved sell-out shows.
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22
CLARA ADOLPHS
Clara Adolphs often bases her paintings works sold. In late 2017, Adolphs spent
on old photographs and images from time in Central Queensland as Artspace
the newspaper but in Too Early to Sleep, Mackay’s artist in residence. The result-
her solo exhibition at Chalk Horse in ing exhibition of 14 works, mostly land-
Sydney last year, it was holiday snaps. scapes, found homes with “receptive
The centrepiece was a large painting of locals, as well as interstate and interna-
the same name. A line dragged through tional collectors who had been following
wet paint marked the crags of a moun- her practice since the August show”, says
tain ridge. Below it, patches without any gallery director Edwina Corlette.
paint at all told of the bright snow on its It was the same story again at the
slopes – making Too Early to Sleep feel Sydney Contemporary art fair in 2018,
like an over-exposed photograph; an where both Edwina Corlette and her
artefact from someone else’s life. Sydney gallery Chalk Horse took multi-
There was a strange, conflicted nostal- ple pieces as part of group exhibitions.
gia to this Sydney exhibition. When Chalk Horse co-director James Kerr
there were figures, Adolphs’ painterly says the advance interest in these works
style rendered them in terms of gesture: fuelled the response to Too Early to
an impatient man turning to the camera, Sleep, with all 10 works selling before
women wading gingerly into a cold lake. the exhibition opened. (One of these
Again, there was a conscious lack of was snapped up by Artbank for its
detail; we might wonder about the lives collection.)
of these strangers, but the limitations Kerr believes one reason for the
of such thinking turns us towards the broad interest in her paintings might
impermanence of our own. be the variety of projects and exhibi-
Adolphs has been exhibiting for just tion contexts for Adolphs’ work over
over 10 years and many of her past recent years, including an exhibition
series also deal with this need to think at the Sydney offices of Clayton Utz,
about the past while acknowledging the winning the Eva Breuer Travelling
fraught nature of the task. Her confident Art Scholarship in 2017 and the Brett
handling of both medium and subject Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in
matter has earned her a strong follow- 2015. Her work has also appeared in
Clara Adolphs, Clouds, Blue, 2018. Oil on poly cotton,
ing, both at home in New South Wales award exhibitions around the country,
71 x 92cm. and further afield. Her first Queensland including the Archibald, Portia Geach,
COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND CHALK HORSE, SYDNEY. solo exhibition was presented by Edwina Mosman and Paddington art prizes.
Corlette Gallery in 2017 and all 24 Jane O’Sullivan
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Installation view of Clara Aldophs’ Too Early To Sleep, Chalk
Horse, Sydney, 2018; Clara Adolphs, Mountains, Pines, Swimmers, 2018. Oil on poly
cotton, 137 x 102cm; Clara Adolphs, Slider, 2018. Oil on linen, 102 x 92cm.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND CHALK HORSE, SYDNEY.
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23 and dance ceremonies to celebrate the coming intense blue, a technique lending her surfaces
of seasonal rains and the abundant population a vibrancy pulsating with life.
BETTY KUNTIWA PUMANI of Maku (witchetty grubs) found there. Betty comes from a family of celebrated
Winding their way throughout Antara are a women artists known for their ability to
collection of Maku tjukurpa, which Betty was depict cultural knowledge through painting.
Betty Kuntiwa Pumani paints the landscape taught how to paint by her mother, Milatjari Beverly Knight, director of Melbourne’s
and tjukurpa (Dreaming) of Antara. Located in Pumani. Along with her sister, Ngupulya Alcaston Gallery, describes the captivating
Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Pumani, Betty is a custodian of Antara’s nature of the artist’s work and says: “Betty
lands, north-west of the Mimili community in desert Country. Its red boulders feature loves to paint. The paint and the brush are
South Australia, Antara is a sacred site for the heavily in her striking compositions. In her tools to converse and her bold, often very
Anangu people. It is the location of two rock Betty’s paintings, the boulders appear against large canvases command the viewer to look
holes where women perform important song pale backgrounds marked with splashes of and be absorbed into her world.”
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24
WILLIAM MACKINNON
125
William Mackinnon, The gap, 2017. Acrylic, oil and automotive
enamel on linen, 160 x 130cm.
ABOVE LEFT: William Mackinnon, The return, 2017. Acrylic, oil and enamel on linen, 120 x 150cm. RIGHT: William Mackinnon, Landscape as self-portrait, 2017. Acrylic, oil and
automotive enamel on linen, 198 x 168cm. COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND JAN MURPHY GALLERY, BRISBANE. PHOTO: MUCHIGRAPHY.
126
Photograph taken at Cattle Depot
Participating Galleries
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NOTABLE
AWARDS
There’s no shortage of prizes,
grants and residencies in Australia and
New Zealand. Our writers round up a few
of the notable winners from 2018.
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25
LINDA MARRINON
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COURTESY THE ARTIST AND IWANTJA ARTS, SA AND ALCASTON GALLERY, MELBOURNE.
(APY) Lands, his Ngura (Country) (2017) of his Country that come from his mind and
was the second Indigenous award winner memory, [allow the artist to develop] his own
since the establishment of the prize in 1958 unique visual language, taking his art from
ALEC BAKER (the first was Margaret Loy Pula in 2013). not only storytelling – but into the realm of
The prize purse also offers significant assis- a truly creative and innovative contemporary
tance to his life and family. He thanked the Indigenous art practice”.
For Alec Baker, the $50,000 Muswellbrook Muswellbrook Regional Gallery “for seeing Past winners of the Muswellbrook Art Prize
Art Prize was “a prize for all the artworks my painting with open eyes for the Country include Fred Williams, David Rankin, Mike
I have ever made in my career as an artist”. where I come from”. Parr, Sydney Ball, Marion Borgelt, Noel
An Aboriginal man aged 86 from Indulkana Baker’s work stood out for judge Tracey McKenna and Rosemary Valadon.
on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Cooper-Lavery, who noted, “the patterns Louise Martin-Chew
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NATASHA WALSH
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Anoushka Akel, The skin is faster than the word. Oil and pastel on canvas, 60 x 80cm.
28 Akel, it meant she could move from her multiple works at once, the gift of time
leaky garage into a functional studio space and space is everything. “It’s important for
ANOUSHKA AKEL and could spend four or five days there a me to have a large amount of substrates to
week. be able to work on at the same time… I’ll
“Contiguous days have allowed me to re-work one painting, add a ground colour to
New Zealand artist Anoushka Akel speaks of experiment but also pursue more complex another, take a layer off one work, draw onto
the $50,000 C Art Trust Award as though it lines of enquiry, something that’s harder another… it’s very active. I’m frequently
were a gift from the gods – and in some ways, to achieve in normal practice conditions, moving and often forget to eat!”
it is. As an award that cannot be applied for, balancing art-making with work/life respon- The results of this dynamic work environ-
only bestowed upon an outstanding mid-ca- sibilities,” she tells me. ment are remarkably tender. Akel’s paint-
reer artist, it is something of a unicorn. For For a painter who likes to work across ings are singular, intimate works that feel as
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Anoushka Akel, Head, 2018. Acrylic, oil and pastel on canvas, 90 x 60cm. Anoushka Akel, Group, 2018. Acrylic, oil and pastel on canvas, 90 x 60cm.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND HOPKINSON MOSSMAN, AUCKLAND.
though they’ve developed their silky patina She explains, “One painting acts like a explains how she is “interested in pressures
over years of gentle rubbing and caress- printing plate, while the other receives the on and within the body, and with the brain’s
ing, their tactile quality further expressed information.” ability to respond in a plastic manner. The
through a distinct colour palette “informed In September 2018, Akel exhibited a selec- fact that I’m using print (pressure) and paint
by the body (colours found under or on the tion of these new paintings at Hopkinson (plasticity) perhaps gives them similar char-
skin), or the light associated with examining Mossman, Wellington, as part of Tilt with acteristics to the human form; they behave
a body in the broader sense.” Ruth Buchanan and Meg Porteous. She and respond in the same way.”
Expanding upon her usual methods of picked up representation with the gallery – Building on this group of works, Akel is
building and removing layers, degrading which also has a space in Auckland – soon currently working towards a solo exhibition
and restoring, many of Akel’s recent works after. with Hopkinson Mossman in April 2019.
have incorporated the monotype method. Speaking about the works in this show, she Lucinda Bennett
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UNDER THE
RADAR
Our critics and writers present a selection
of artists with solid practices who are not
getting the attention they deserve.
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1337
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29 Hickey, Michael Johnson and Sydney Ball as an artist were when he lived in Melbourne
– were brilliant in this early manifestation, between 1959 and 1972 and settled in
TREVOR VICKERS all moving on to develop very different styles Drummond Street in the inner Melbourne
in their subsequent work. A number of suburb of Carlton. Here, he lived and worked
others are best passed over in silence. Trevor with a group of emerging artists including
The Field Revisited, held at the National Vickers belongs to a very small number of Robert Hunter, Paul Partos, Guy Stuart and
Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in 2018, marked artists in The Field who embraced non-figura- Mike Brown. These artists formed the core
the 50th anniversary of its original iteration. tion and the minimal aesthetics of the colour exhibiting at Bruce Pollard’s Pinacotheca
The landmark 1968 exhibition was the first field movement and developed it in their Gallery, which became a focus for conceptual
comprehensive display of colour field paint- practice over the next five decades. and post-object art.
ing and abstract sculpture in Australia, and Although Vickers was born in Adelaide Vickers thrived in this milieu and made
the resuscitated show brought to the fore in 1943, by the age of one his family had decisions as an artist that were to define his
many curious parallels and evaluations. shifted to Perth and this is where he spent the work for the rest of his life. His art was to be
Some now very well-established artists – majority of his life (and continues to live and hard-edge geometric abstraction within the
including Peter Booth, Janet Dawson, Dale work). The critical years for his emergence general gambit of minimalism, but possessing
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Trevor Vickers, Unititled, 2018. Acrylic on canvas, 96 x 106cm. COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND ART COLLECTIVE WA, PERTH.
a lyrical and spiritual dimension. An Australia east coast as well as in Western Australia. He As Kate Nodrum, manager of Vickers’
Council Creative Fellowship awarded in 1978 is represented in most of the major state and Melbourne representing gallery Charles
took him to England, where he settled in national art collections. Vickers is a unique Nordrum Gallery puts it: “At 75, he’s a
Brighton and remained until 1995. Here, he talent who demonstrates a very refined sensi- master of his craft, and shamefully underval-
produced his Catalan series of shaped paint- bility, a rich and subtle command of colour ued. It’s one of those situations where, if he’s
ings and the much-celebrated Farm Road and work with a considerable spiritual ambi- not given more of the sort of attention that
series of screen-prints. ence. Despite the exhibitions, his location in he merits, we’re going to be celebrating his
On returning to Australia, Vickers settled Perth has meant that his art has been gener- achievements far too long after he’s gone.”
in Perth and has been widely exhibited on the ally neglected outside the west of the country. Sasha Grishin
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Marie Shannon, Pussy, 2016. Archival inkjet print, edition of 5, 80.3 x 96.7cm.
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Over the course of a practice spanning more
than 35 years, audiences have been privy
to love notes written in the wavering hand
of her small son and the similarly childlike
script of her partner (photographed with as
much solemnity as any museum collection
MARIE SHANNON item); personal faxes from her partner, the
late artist Julian Dashper, while on residency
in Germany; and her own thought processes
Spend enough time in a Marie Shannon exhi- as she catalogues the contents of Dashper’s
bition and I guarantee you will either laugh studio following his death.
or cry. One of my favourite art encounters Her recent survey exhibition, Rooms found
in recent memory had me letting out a loud, only in the home, developed by Dunedin
involuntary cackle in an otherwise silent Public Art Gallery in 2017 and currently
gallery upon encountering one of Shannon’s touring New Zealand, held as much sadness
1990s text works – the one which describes as it did humour. But it was also an exhibition
a dream she had about eating a hotdog and that showcased Shannon’s dexterity across
getting mustard on the white bits of her part- photography, text, drawing and moving
ner’s Christian Dior polo. I often find myself image, and her ability to blur the edges of
referring to her works in this way, describing these forms: a photograph is also a text, a
them as though they are episodes of Friends text is a scrolling video. It was an exhibition
– The One With The Cat Fur, The One With that caused many to wonder how on earth it
The Sculpture Made Out Of Margarine, The hadn’t been done before, and why it wasn’t
One Where Marie Dresses Up As A Rat. There bigger – such is the significance of Shannon
is always a whiff of narrative about her works, in the national photography canon.
a single photograph spooling out to suggest a Since opening Rooms found only in the
story, to somehow convey the tone of a whole home (which will tour to Auckland in 2019),
life lived up until and after that frame. Shannon has mounted a solo exhibition with
Shannon has the delightful ability to recog- Trish Clark Gallery, where she showed a body
nise those ordinary objects and moments that of moving image works developed over the last Marie Shannon, Across the Water, 1988.
Silver gelatin print, selenium and gold
make up a life, and to capture them in a way eight years, including three new video works. toned, edition of 20, 20 x 25cm.
that feels neither too offhand or too senti- In 2019, Shannon will travel to Whanganui as COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND
mental. However, in using her everyday life the Tylee Cottage Artist-In-Residence. TRISH CLARK GALLERY, AUCKLAND.
as material, her work is often heart-rending. Lucinda Bennett
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DEBRA DAWES
Debra Dawes describes her public career as an is a delightful meditative splendour to these with variations on shades of grey as blacks
artist as “ebbs and flows”. Which gives an indi- paintings from the last years of the old century are covered in veils of white. There is a sense
cation of the difference between the way an and the first years of the new. In more recent of both mystery and urgency, an end result
artist works, and the way her work is known. years, changes in life and circumstance have of her technique. At the edge of all these
Dawes has always been aware that the act triggered a reconsideration of the marks that recent paintings, there is a hint of what has
of painting is the making of a mark; placing measure life. The most significant of these gone before – an intense under painting
presence on what was once a blank canvas. It was a move to the country. She now works of magenta or orange. Over this pristine
reminds me of Tony Tuckson’s comment on in an environment governed by the moods of intensely coloured canvas, Dawes paints a
his drawing being “up and down, across and the changing light of the day, instead of being series of rapid, energetic strokes in black.
back”. Everything comes back to basics. Her constrained by academic timetables and Then, while the paint is still wet, she layers
recent survey exhibitions at Wollongong Art committee meetings. The view from her bush over this, veils of translucent white paint.
Gallery and Tamworth Regional Gallery show studio reveals the ever-changing hills of the The intensity of the process gives this series,
the underlying human scale of all her work, distant New England ranges. The dominant rightly called Unspoken, a sense of immedi-
and the marks she makes. mood is transience. acy. Yet they also convey a yearning, a desire
Dawes’ early paintings were precise gridded She is still very much a maker of marks, to see what may lie behind the veil.
abstracts, works of exquisite beauty. There but most recently they are more painterly, Joanna Mendelssohn
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Christopher Hodges, Under the Radar, 2017. Synthetic polymer on polyester, 183 x 183cm. Christopher Hodges, Milk and Honey, 2018. Synthetic polymer on polyester, 183 x 183cm.
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CHRISTOPHER HODGES
For close to 30 years, Christopher Hodges of it, Hodges’ own career as an artist has often Given everything he knows now, what
has been the director of Utopia Art Sydney, been overlooked. Hodges work, a dazzling, would he advise other artists to do if they
exhibiting the work of Indigenous artists painterly minimalism of bold, interlocking started a gallery? “It’s a very hard gig; it’s
including Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Gloria shapes, curvaceous lines, and flowing, wave- tough emotionally and financially. When we
Petyarre and Turkey Tolson, alongside form sculptures, isn’t nearly as well-known started our first principle was when you sell
non-Indigenous artists such as John R. publicly as many of Utopia’s other artists. something, pay the artist straight away. That’s
Walker, Marea Gazzard and Simryn Gill. Would he prefer to only be an artist? “I am an certainly still good advice. And you need to
Under Hodges’ careful watch, the gallery artist,” he says. “I only started representing participate in the art community, be active,
and its artists have prospered, their work other artists out of their need. That I manage and play a part. Don’t take on artists you don’t
collected into just about every major collec- to run a successful gallery is probably because believe in and stick by the ones you do. Do this
tion in the country. I have always approached it from an artist’s and you will soon find out if you’re an artist!”
Yet despite this success, or perhaps because perspective.” Andrew Frost
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Christopher Hodges, Iris, 2018. Synthetic polymer on polyester, 183 x 183cm. Christopher Hodges, HIT, 2018. Synthetic polymer on polyester, 196 x 196cm.
Christopher Hodges, Nothing Nothing, 2018. Synthetic polymer on polyester, 183 x 366cm.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND UTOPIA ART SYDNEY, SYDNEY.
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33 the collective, conscious and unconscious, squishy, sparkly, hairy monsters. It’s as if the
contemporary and ancient, high and low. Elgin Marbles were reimagined by Jim Henson in
TARRYN GILL Psychoanalytic themes play an important collaboration with a Vegas show girl. As Freud
role. Having already worked in response to noted, and Gill is all too aware, jokes are a serious
Sigmund Freud’s collection of antiquities, business, allowing the expression of impulses
Tarryn Gill is a creative shape-shifter who cut she now draws from Carl Jung’s mysticism, otherwise repressed in the unconscious.
her teeth working across photography, video, finding an apt motif in the archetype of The With achievements including the 2007 Basil
dance and theatre. While these modes are still Trickster, that ambivalent figure whose play- Sellers Art Prize (with Pilar Mata Dupont),
part of her oeuvre, since 2014 she has devel- fulness slides into mischief and malice. 2016 Bankwest Art Prize, numerous interna-
oped a sculptural focus that invests handcrafted This is the perfect reference point for tional residencies and exhibitions, and recent
objects with the pageantry of her earlier practice. Gill’s theatricality and dark humour. While shows with Sophie Gannon Gallery, Hugo
Gill is building an immersive dream her painstakingly crafted sculptures cite the Michell Gallery and the Adelaide Biennial
world populated by enigmatic beings who sacred canon of ancient and funerary art, she of Australian Art, Gill is poised to seize the
lure and menace. This space functions as undermines the enduring solemnity of stone spotlight.
an intermediary between the personal and and bronze by reimagining these forms as Thea Costantino
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COMING SOON…
ON THE COVER: Marjory Accoom, Puunya: Hand Woven Baskets, 2017. Acrylic on canvas.
COURTESY: THE ARTIST AND LOCKHART RIVER ART CENTRE. PHOTO: MICHAEL MARZIC.
THE 2019 GUIDE TO
INDIGENOUS ART CENTRES
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STANDOUT
SHOWS
While there was no shortage of strong commercial and public
exhibitions across the region in 2018, our writers present some
of the shows that really got tongues wagging.
34 visitation, sell-out public programs and the no punches, but at the same time, it brings
creation of a number of new and commissioned people together; it’s inclusive for the audi-
TONY ALBERT: VISIBLE works, several of which were acquired by the ence. His work makes people feel like they
Queensland Art Gallery & gallery. But to measure the show’s success in want to participate, and I think it’s an extraor-
Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane metrics alone is to seriously short-change the dinary thing that he’s been able to achieve,
profound impact of Visible for visitors and while not watering down his message.”
collaborators. Visible incorporated all aspects of Albert’s
By anyone’s measure, Tony Albert’s Queensland Tamsin Cull, QAGOMA’s head of public practice, which is, he says, “fundamentally a
Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) engagement who worked with Albert on response to popular culture misrepresenta-
survey Visible was a 2018 standout. Albert’s the coinciding 10th commission for the tions of Australia’s First Peoples”. A central
first solo, major gallery show, and the young- Children’s Art Centre, observes: “The thing part of the exhibition was the display of his
est artist (alongside Fiona Foley) to be given about Tony that makes him such an extraordi- huge collection of kitsch, not-even-thinly-
such a platform by QAGOMA, Visible ticked nary artist is the way that his work is simulta- veiled racist Aboriginalia; some 3,000 objects
all the usual success boxes: enormous repeat neously confronting and hard-hitting. It pulls he started collecting as a child.
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ANNE FERRAN:
WHITE AGAINST RED
Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
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KATE SCARDIFIELD:
SOFT TOPOLOGIES
UTS Galleries, Sydney
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GROUP EXHIBITION:
SHEER FANTASY
Campbelltown Arts Centre,
Campbelltown
The role of fantasy in our lives is inher- a visit to the sites where the film Vertigo
ently contradictory. Daydreaming can be a was shot, to a dance class with an actor who
source of benign pleasure, a disconnection played one of the Munchkins in The Wizard
from reality, or a pathological symptom of of Oz.
a psychotic break. Sheer Fantasy, the knock- Capra also extended himself both through
out show curated by artist David Capra at his iconoclastic choice of artists (including
Campbelltown Arts Centre, considers this ex-Hitchcock ingénue Kim Novak) and his
contradiction with both artistic courage and exceptional generosity in fostering support-
genuine humanity. Fantasy is not just an ive, creative relationships. This allowed the
abstract conceptual theme in Capra’s cura- artists to realise their own sheer fantasies
torial hands; it’s explored as an existential outside the normative limits of a conven-
condition – simultaneously life-sustaining tional exhibition.
and psychologically threatening – that we The result was spectacular: an art show that
need to confront. animated what is simultaneously wonderful
Sheer Fantasy was therefore less a series of and dreadful about the imaginative possi-
artworks and more a complex set of immer- bilities of the human psyche. It stands as a
sive psychological spaces that the audience powerful reminder for contemporary art
was forced to navigate both externally and audiences of the need to constantly challenge
internally. A fiercely ambitious project, it our preconceived ideas of what art and life
took Capra on perhaps one of the strangest can be.
curatorial trips in the name of research: from Carrie Miller
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50 THINGS | REMARKABLE COLLECTORS
R EMARKABLE
COLLECTORS
The local collectors and philanthropists doing significant things for the region.
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G ES M| ARREKMAABRLKE ACBO
L LE LCE O
C LT LOERCST O R S
165 165
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LORRAINE TARABAY
AND NICK LANGLEY
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Tarabay’s professional background in the of the study. A recent work from Fox’s Tilt ABOVE: Lorraine Tarabay and Nick
Langley in front of Marta Minujin’s
male-dominated industry of investment series, the vessel is painted a high-vis orange Payment of the Argentine Foreign Debt
banking has left its mark. The living room is on the inside, like the orange of a life vest. to Andy Warhol with Corn, the Latin
flanked by two John Baldessari works from Tarabay runs a finger around it as she talks American Gold, 1985/2011.
his Movie Stills and Miro series – she laughs about refugees and what she’s learned since RIGHT: Jacob Hashimoto, The Earliest
Memories of the Universe, 2015.
when she recounts how a friend dubbed them becoming involved with the Australian Red
PHOTO: JACQUIE MANNING.
her #MeToo moment. A reading nook nearby Cross’ Society of Women Leaders.
is watched over by a Cindy Sherman, and Tarabay is also on the board of Sydney’s Studio
around the home there are works by Sanné A (read more on page 184) and Museum of
Mestrom, Elizabeth Turk, Kristina Riska Contemporary Art (MCA). Both she and Langley
and Malaluba Gumana. Tarabay worked sit on the council of the MCA Foundation, which
it out recently and says more than half the secures philanthropic support for new works for
collection is by female artists. the museum’s collection. The couple’s commit-
For both Tarabay and Langley (the founder ment to seeing Australian artists in an interna-
of Rare Infrastructure) art has been a way tional context has also led them to support the
of staying connected with the world despite Biennale of Sydney and Australia’s participation
busy careers. Tarabay speaks quietly about a in the Venice Biennale.
Belinda Fox ceramic tucked into the corner Jane O’Sullivan
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SANDRA POWELL
AND ANDREW KING
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27 – 31
March 2019
First Night 26 March
Central Harbourfront
Hong Kong
香港中環海濱
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AGEN DA
SET TERS
We look at the curators, directors and artists set
to influence the region in the year to come.
40
RHANA DEVENPORT
Rhana Devenport has big shoes to fill as forthcoming program. “It’s about the conver-
the new director of the Art Gallery of South sations and connections; about how artists
Australia (AGSA), following on from Nick from abroad can inspire and open our possi-
Mitzevich’s eight-year reign. But with experi- bilities of what practice could be through
ence at New Plymouth’s Govett-Brewster Art fresh eyes and through fresh investigations. I
Gallery and the Auckland Art Gallery in New think it’s healthy for Adelaide to be part of a
Zealand, as well as working on QAGOMA’s national and international art ecology.”
Asia Pacific Triennial for many years, she no While Devenport has worked on many
doubt brings a fresh perspective to the almost group exhibitions, she is interested in more
140-year-old institution. Devenport’s key in-depth investigations into artists’ practices
focus going into her new role? Expanding the – similar to the Ben Quilty exhibition AGSA
international conversation. has scheduled for March 2019 as part of the
“We will see international artists shown Adelaide Festival. Devenport suggests there
here that have not been seen much in will be many more exhibitions like this in the
Australia, particularly artists that have never future and it won’t be overrun with interna-
been seen in Adelaide,” says Devenport of the tional artists.
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Ben Quilty, Omid Masoumali, 2016. Oil on linen, 130 x 110cm. Ben Quilty, Omid Ali Avaz, 2016. Oil on linen, 130 x 110cm.
PHOTO: BRENTON MCGEACHIE. PHOTO: BRENTON MCGEACHIE.
AGSA already holds the Ramsay Art While AGSA already has some impressive
Prize, the Adelaide Biennial of Art and New Zealand artists in its collection such
TARNANTHI, which all feature local and as Francis Hodgkins and Colin McCahon,
national artists. “I will be setting up inter- Devenport suggests that there are others
sections in the program that make the most that locals and visitors to Adelaide need to
sense, that are most useful. I am very big on know about. On the radar are artists Simon
the usefulness of a collection and the useful- Denny, Michael Stevenson and Luke Willis
ness of exhibitions,” says Devenport. Thompson.
If the gallery features international artists, Interestingly, many of these artists don’t
it will be about broadening horizons rather live in New Zealand and it’s this fluidity that
than flying in and flying out. “Exhibitions interests Devenport. “These artists aren’t
have to have resonance and echo effect,” connected and restrained by national bound-
claims Devenport. “I’m already looking at aries. I think now – at a time when artists and
collections in Adelaide – looking at how they the citizens of the world are moving across
have relationships with artists who have come countries and home is something variant and
here – and how that has expanded the think- adapted – they are thinking very differently
ing for collectors here and across the country. about Nationhood.”
It makes for an interesting dynamic.” Jane Llewellyn
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Brook Andrew.
COURTESY: ROSLYN OXLEY9 GALLERY,
SYDNEY. PHOTO: TRENT WALTER.
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BROOK ANDREW
When I first reach out to Brook Andrew next Biennale of Sydney? According to
for an interview he is in Haiti. By the Andrew, this iteration shall attempt to
time that we talk, 24 hours later, he present a different kind of event. “The
has already moved on to New York. By Biennale’s theme is around the idea of
all accounts, this geographical flux is a the edge, and it is looking at the contin-
permanent condition for the artistic ual dilemma of the centre of the art
director of the forthcoming Biennale of world being Europe, or the West,” he
Sydney, who is travelling far and wide in confides. “I’m not looking for famous
his search for art. artists; I’m looking at artists who have a
“It’s been pretty full steam ahead focus that is very strong.”
because we want to announce [the For Andrew, the edge is an elastic
selected artists] in March or April some concept that both encompasses the
time,” he says. Indeed, it soon becomes cultures of the underappreciated Pacific
clear that Andrew’s own artistic practice region, and other cultures and artistic
will inform his administration of the practices that stray from the historical
event – and does, in fact, influence the nuclei of the art world. Indeed, although
fervour of his current activities. “Being Andrew’s position is one that often has
an artist myself, I know how important been used to both respond to and define
that [lead-in time] is,” he explains. “I’ve art in Australia, he sees it as moving
had experiences in the past where bien- beyond these strictures. “I think that
nales or other big important exhibitions ‘art’ is a constructed term and is quite
will contact me, like, five months before- limited within its interpretation of what
hand, and it’s just not enough time.” art is,” he explains. “I think collectors
Andrew’s frenzied activities now pave need to look outside the general lens of
the way for calmer Biennale art-making what is collectable, and start looking at
in the not-so-distant future. other sites around the globe.”
But where will the artist steer the Tai Mitsuji
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ABOVE: Urs Fischer, Francesco, 2017. PHOTO: STEFAN ALTENBURGER.
NICK MITZEVICH
When I speak to Nick Mitzevich, it’s offi- Indigenous art that will open in 2020 before that art has a presence in our general life in
cially his 107th day as the National Gallery touring to Asia. And that’s just for starters. Australia. That it’s not a footnote; that art is
of Australia (NGA)’s newest director. In After eight successful years at the helm of an integrated, accepted part of our day-to-
that time, he’s visited most of the country’s the Art Gallery of South Australia, Mitzevich day living.”
capital cities, the East Arnhem Land commu- is exhilarated by the opportunities this new For Mitzevich, that means energising a
nity of Ramingining, London and Paris. He’s role affords him. “I think having the respon- three-fold strategy – onsite, online and on
also developed a Monet exhibition with sibility for a national collection goes beyond tour – but it also means taking a bold approach
Paris’ Musée Marmottan Monet that will geographical boundaries, moves beyond any to new acquisitions. Works by acclaimed
open in June 2019; started work on a signif- geographical location that you’re servic- international artists Yayoi Kusama and Urs
icant re-hang of the gallery’s Australian and ing,” he says. “It makes you rethink how Fischer are just two recent purchases and
Asian art collections; and begun develop- you can help people have access to art… I for Mitzevich, it was the gallery’s founding
ment towards a major 200-year survey of suppose one of my big goals is to make sure director James Mollison “who set the tone
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Melati Suryodarmo, Transaction of hollows, 2018. Proposed acquisition, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
COURTESY: THE ARTISTS AND NGA, CANBERRA.
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GABRIELLE MORDY
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Emily Crockford working on a mural for Westpac Concord West, Sydney, 2018. PHOTO: MAMIE CHEN.
Performance documentation of Thom Roberts’ Couple Crowns, Studio A, Sydney, 2018. Mathew Calandra, Chicken Lady (Emily), 2018. Acrylic and ink on canvas, 45.5 x 45.5cm.
COURTESY: THE ARTISTS AND STUDIO A, SYDNEY.
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TASTE
MAKERS
The young curators and directors deserving
of your attention in the year ahead.
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SOPHIA CAI
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LEFT:Installation view of Ursula Christel’s Mother Love: He Oha nā ABOVE: Installation view of Te Pou Wiini Atu: First Past the Post, Mokopōpaki,
Te Whaea, Mokopōpaki, Auckland, 2018. PHOTO: AREKAHĀNARA. Auckland, 2017. PHOTO: AREKAHĀNARA. COURTESY: MOKOPŌPAKI, AUCKLAND.
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LIZ NOWELL
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COURTESY: NGV, MELBOURNE.
MYLES RUSSELL-COOK
Curator of Indigenous Art at National Gallery practice – was at the heart of one of the larger same thing for years,” he tells me. “This was
of Victoria (NGV), Aboriginal man Myles rooms. On a vast plinth was a pile of carved about showing respect to the Elders in my life
Russell-Cook is not afraid to push the bound- objects; artefacts from the gallery’s Aboriginal who have consistently educated me about the
aries. There’s a movement happening at art collection, the usual “Artist Unknown” damage staying silent can have”. Regardless of
galleries and museums; a change in curatorial designations on the labels changed to “Once the intent, “Once Known” makes a powerful
practice to acknowledge the colonial legacy of Known”. These artists were known when socio-political statement.
such places. Russell-Cook, formerly a lecturer the art was collected, but the collecting indi- It can be expected that Russell-Cook will
at Swinburne University, has demonstrated viduals and institutions did not record this continue to make challenging decisions in
during the NGV’s curation of the major exhi- information. his curatorial practice. With his input, the
bition Colony: Frontier Wars that he belongs The curation of this display was a radical NGV is working to strengthen its program so
firmly within that movement. act, but Russell-Cook insists it was not overtly that people can “come and see new things,
A striking experience in the exhibition political. “I do not wish to take ownership be challenged in new ways, and share in the
– encouraging the viewer to stop and think over the idea because the fact is many, many incredible collection”.
about traditional curatorial and collecting Aboriginal people have been saying this exact Claire G. Coleman
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Installation view of Hold still: the photographic performance, AGNSW, Sydney, 2018. PHOTO: MIM STIRLING .
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ISOBEL PARKER PHILIP
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artmonthsydney.com.au
#artmonthsydney
50 THINGS | ZEITGEIST
ZEITGEIST
These people are defining us and determining
how we live with art now.
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49 and Walter de Maria, among others – has In order to build MONA, Walsh reportedly
made it more than just a dot on a map. Cycling originally spent a not-so-small fortune of $75
THE RISE OF THE ÜBER around the island, one is constantly struck by million. Yet this princely sum is dwarfed by the
COLLECTOR IN AUSTRALIA the transformative power of art, and its ability billions of dollars that have been filtered into the
to animate even the most secluded of commu- local economy since the museum’s foundations
nities. Indeed, it reminds me of another island, were laid down. This phenomenon has come to
There is a tiny island off the mainland of Japan, a little bit closer to home, also south of a be known within the common parlance as “the
in the Seto Inland Sea, that draws thousands mainland and also a place of art: Tasmania’s MONA effect”. A 2017 report by economist Saul
of travellers to its remote shores every year. Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). Eslake described the upswing in tourism to
Neither its sleepy fishing community nor David Walsh’s MONA is a thought-experi- Tasmania which saw “[the] total visitor numbers
its stunning vistas prompt this pilgrimage – ment that has found its place in reality. Like rising by more than 48 per cent over the five
rather the international crowds make the long Naoshima, it represents not only the power of years to 2016–17 to more than 1¼ million”.
journey to see an entirely different spectacle: art, but also the determination of its founders. The report suggests what one is already able
art. Under any other circumstances it is doubt- While Australia has always had a list of well- to intuit: namely, that tourism in Hobart has,
ful that I would know the name of the island of known patrons, who consistently buttress the at least in part, been spurred on by MONA. But
Naoshima, yet the presence of other names – art world, über collectors such as Walsh appear Walsh is concerned with more than just filling
Yayoi Kusama, James Turrell, Claude Monet to strain the very seams of this category. local coffers with international money. In his
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Installation view of James Turrell’s Unseen Seen, 2017, MONA, Hobart. PHOTO: JESSE HUNNIFORD.
COURTESY: THE ARTISTS AND MONA, HOBART.
book The Making of MONA, Adrian Franklin suburb of Chippendale. And, by all accounts, perverse to describe art in terms of its ability
recalls broaching the subject of the museum’s her cultural footprint will not be limited to the to stimulate economic growth. But, on the
impact with Walsh, who responded that “he’d gallery of contemporary Chinese art. other, these are the concerns that increasingly
close MONA if it were playing only to the usual It was recently reported that Neilson has surround the production and display of art
crowd”. According to Franklin, what mattered spent somewhere in the vicinity of $100 million today. Given this reality, one is tempted to ask
to the museum’s eccentric founder most was on real estate in the area – even outstripping how you find these über collectors who have
connecting the institution “with people from Walsh’s initial investment in MONA – in an such a profound effect on our cultural ecosys-
places like Glenorchy, where he grew up.” effort to stoke the cultural efflorescence that tems? And how you attract them to your island?
While Walsh is, by all accounts, singular has taken hold of Chippendale. Of course, this No answer immediately springs to mind.
in his vision for MONA, he is not alone in his has not been in one fell swoop but has devel- In fact, one gets the sense that these philan-
broader efforts. Other philanthropists, such as oped over time, as Neilson’s vision has incre- thropists are more akin to a force majeure –
the Zimbabwe-born art collector and billion- mentally found a home in the old warehouses some cyclone that sweeps through a region
aire Judith Neilson, have made their own that are scattered throughout the suburb. rearranging both its cultural and economic
indelible marks on the cultural landscape, in Nonetheless, the scale of such numbers topographies – than a predictable phenome-
other parts of the country. Since the opening of almost makes one forget the very thing non. But where most hurricanes wreak havoc
her White Rabbit Gallery, Neilson has become that these philanthropists are attempting to and take from us, these storms give back.
a permanent fixture of Sydney’s inner-city promote: the art. On the one hand, it feels Tai Mitsuji
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Spence Messih, PRELUDE, 2018. Steel, 220 x 950 x 700cm. COURTESY: ARTIST. PHOTO: CHRISTO CROCKER.
50
contemporary Australian practice, creat- the recipient of the 2018 NSW Emerging
ing work that at its core examines gender Visual Artist Fellowship – an equally signif-
informed by trans, non-binary or non-con- icant accolade with a storied history. Their
forming identity. focus is on the production of moving-im-
Messih works across sculpture, installation, age work and installation that interrogates
photography and text. Their practice speaks gender, class-politics, queer subjecthood and
GENDER DIVERSITY: broadly to sites of pressure, power struc- ways of seeing.
SPENCE MESSIH AND EO GILL tures, materiality and language, and more Like most artists working with identity in
specifically about these things in relation to contemporary practice, Messih and Gill both
their trans experience. The recipient of the grapple with the balance of how much their
In recent times, there has been increased 2017 Freedman Foundation Scholarship, work is informed by their identity, or indeed,
international discussion of gender diversity they have exhibited widely in spaces ranging how focused on identity their work is. There
in the media and visual arts, with a growing from artist-run galleries to large-scale insti- exists an inherent responsibility between
presence of artists working in this area tutions. Their work was recently included representing group identity, but also individ-
represented in Biennales and institutional in the 2018 Primavera at Sydney’s Museum ual artistic expression. Their work is imbued
shows. Spence Messih and EO Gill are two of Contemporary Art, an annual exhibition with the personal but can be read in the larger
Sydney-based artists working in this realm. that has showcased the best Australian artists context of the struggle for gender autonomy
They are part of a dynamic generation of aged under 35 for more than two decades. and self-determination. Messih addresses this
multi-disciplinary artists at the forefront of Gill is also an artist on the rise. They were complexity in stating that “while my identity
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1Oth ANNIVERSARY
12 – 14 July 2O19
Opening night 11 July
ciaf.com.au
Join us to celebrate CIAF’s 1Oth
Anniversary and experience the
vibrant cultures and artistic wealth
of Queensland Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Peoples through an
impressive three day program of art,
dance, music, talks and workshops.
2O19 CIAF Events
• Art Fair • Art Market
• Opening Night (Ticketed)
• Fashion Performance (Ticketed)
• Cultural Heights Choir Performance
(Ticketed)
• Art Symposium
• Daily Music and Cultural Dance
Performances
• Art Workshops and Demonstrations
• Artists Talks • Satellite Exhibitions
• Children’s Activities and Workshops
This project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland’s Backing Indigenous Arts initiative, which aims to build a stronger, more sustainable and ethical Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander arts industry in the State.
Cairns Indigenous Art Fair Limited is assisted by the Australian Government Supported through the Australian Government’s Daisy Hamlot, Gudar Acrylic on canvas
through the Australia Council, It’s arts funding and advisory body. Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support Programme.
6 – 24 February
Rowena Boyd
Waves of Honey and
Other People’s Houses
27 February – 17 March Dorothy GABORI Stone Fishtraps 91.5 x 122cmAcrylic on Canvas
Kira Godoroja-Prieckaerts,
Isabelle Mackay-Sim and
Elise Stanley
Embodied experiences
20 March – 7 April
Michelle Day
What Remains
Phone: 0418224953
Email: miart@morningtonisland.com.au
1 Rosevear Place Dickson ACT Facebook: www.facebook.com/morningtonisland/
www.anca.net.au
Image: Michelle Day Disturbed Air – installation (detail) salt, Perspex, paper, stainless steel, paint and LED
lights, dimensions variable.
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A.A
The Unbearable Weight Of Things That are Lost
31 January – 23 February 2019
Dumber, 2017, concrete, plaster, paint, wax, found objects, 164 x 38 x 25 cm