JULIE RRAP recently spoke with Kerrie O’Brien from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald about her photographic series ‘Blow Back’, currently on view at the Centre for Contemporary Photography. This series continues her observations on the representation of women in art and society ——“In advertising, women often have their eyes closed and their mouths slightly open, it’s like this vacant entry point.”
“I always argue that the portrait is always more about the person looking at it than the person being photographed,” Rrap shared in the interview, “When you photograph somebody, it’s like this awkward moment when you have this existential crisis about who you are...while a portrait carries all this weight, it’s just a moment in time. Photography captures a fraction of a second of you but fixes you in time… They could be thinking about what they had for breakfast."
Read the full interview here. ‘Blow Back' is on display Centre for Contemporary Photography as part of the exhibition ‘We, Us, Them: CCP x Belfast Exposed’ until 17 April.
New interview with MURRAY FREDERICKS
Murray Fredericks, Mirror 16, 2017, digital pigment print on cotton rag, edition of 7/7, 120 x 155 cm.
MURRAY FREDERICKS was recently interviewed by 71 Magazine with two of his significant bodies of work: 'Array’ and ‘Vanity’.
In the article, Fredericks talked about his new creative direction: “Australia’s landscape is at the forefront of our changing world. Our droughts and floods are becoming extreme and more frequent. From having the worst fires on record in 2020-21, to this year seeing usually dry, ephemeral rivers throughout the inland flowing at capacity. I’m searching for a way to make imagery out of this that moves from pure documentation to something more long-lasting.”
Access the e-magazine
& read the full interview here
JULIE RRAP at the ADELAIDE BIENNIAL OF AUSTRALIAN ART
JULIE RRAP’s newly commissioned and major installation, Write me, 2021, is currently on display in the 2022 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Free/State at the Art Gallery of South Australia.
“For Julie Rrap, technology, albeit still fraught, may ultimately provide us with a space for shared experience and accountability. Write Me (2021) examines the social contract of the public sphere. In a career that has often returned to the body as a site of action and politics, recent times have reduced Rrap to a constrained and warped vision of their familiar face. 26 times over, across a keyboard shaped grid, with its familiar, specific alignments, play out 26 versions of the artists face, each representing a letter of the alphabet.”
— Bradley Vincent, AGSA.
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Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: ‘Free/State’ is on view until 5 June.
Learn more via @agsa.adelaide bio or visit
CYRUS TANG at Linden New Art for PHOTO 2022
IMAGE: Cyrus Tang, 'Tree Study 2’ [detail], 2020-21, pigment print on cotton rag, Edition 5+2AP, 80 x 80cm.
CYRUS TANG's exhibition,'Time Fell Asleep in the Evening Rain’, opened on Friday 11 March at Linden New Art as part of PHOTO 2022.
Presenting a new series of photographic works and light boxes, Tang continues her exploration of time and memory in the context of the pandemic in this exhibition.
‘Time Fell Asleep in the Evening Rain’ continues until 5 June.
Art Guide interviews JULIE RRAP
JULIE RRAP, Drawn Out [installation view at ARC ONE], 2022, video, 12 minutes.
Art Guide writer Briony Downes sat down with JULIE RRAP to have a conversation on women’s liberation, feminist representations and the inspiration of her new video work ‘Drawn Out', which was a highlight of her recent solo exhibition at ARC ONE.
“I imagined it as a playful gesture where the traditional nude female life model draws herself. Now, seeing Secret Strategies, Ideal Spaces together with Drawn Out, I think there is a fantastic conversation across time; not only because my body is 35 years older but because it has liberated me from having to perform historical works. Now I am simply drawing for myself. The active quality of the video also animates the stillness of the early photographs.”
READ MORE in Julie Rrap on women’s liberation, performance and being a trickster
Congratulations to IMANTS TILLERS and the late KUMANTYE (M.N) JAGAMARA
Imants Tillers and Kumantye (M.N.) Jagamara, The Call from Papunya, 2018, 202.2 × 283.5 cm. Tate, London
We are thrilled to announce that ‘The Call from Papunya’ (2018) has been acquired by Tate, London. The painting is one of 16 collaborative works completed by Kumantye (M.N.) Jagamara and IMANTS TILLERS over the past two decades. This is the second work by Imants to be acquired, following the acquisition of ‘Kangaroo Blank’ (1988) in 2018, and the first work by Jagamara to be acquired by Tate.
The central element in ‘The Call from Papunya’ is Possum Love Story – a tale of forbidden love which has been told for thousands of years in Jagamara’s Warlpiri tradition. It is one of the five stories depicted in his iconic painting ‘Five Dreamings’ (1984).
Imants has expanded the central image with line-work referencing both the Papunya artist Kenny Williams and the Italian Metaphysical painter Giorgio de Chirico. Fragments of philosophy and poetry have also been incorporated.
The painting’s title refers to Jagamara’s habit of calling Brisbane daily (and occasionally Cooma) on the public telephone at Papunya general store, to chat about his work, enquire about projects, update his needs for shopping or simply to give a weather report.
Dani Marti's solo exhibition 'Oh Canola!' at Maitland Regional Art Gallery
Dani Marti, Oh Canola!, (detail) 2022, customised reflectors, aluminium, 280 × 1150 × 6cm.
Dani Marti will present a new body of works in his solo exhibition, 'Oh Canola!', at Maitland Regional Art Gallery from 5 March – 29 May 2022.
‘Oh Canola!’ showcases the work of Dani Marti in all its material and textural splendour. Catalan born Marti lives in the Hunter Valley working between Scotland, Spain and the Hunter. Marti surrenders to his materials transforming common industrial fixings (such as rope, nylon, reflectors) into dramatic and monumental forms to transform the gallery into an immersive, sensory experience.
For more info: https://mrag.org.au/exhibition/oh-canola/
Five of ANNE ZAHALKA's works featured in exhibition ‘Carbon Neutral’ at the CCAS
Five of ANNE ZAHALKA’s works from the series ‘Wild Life’ and ‘Lost Landscapes’ are included in the upcoming exhibition, ‘Carbon Neutral’, opening at 6pm on Friday 18 February at the Canberra Contemporary Art Space (CCAS).
Curated by Alexander Boynes, ‘Carbon Neutral’ is an exhibition of works by contemporary Australian artists that addresses the Climate Crisis, and attempts to add to the cultural wealth of our society without adding more carbon emissions. Artists have the capacity to provoke meaningful dialogue around the existential threats of fire, drought and ecocide due to human-induced climate change through their practice. ‘Carbon Neutral’ ultimately aims to pose one question: how does an artist produce work to inspire hope and optimism to face the biggest challenge in our lifetimes, without leaving a carbon footprint?
Find out more at https://www.ccas.com.au/future-1/carbon-neutral
Anne Zahalka, ‘Koala, Yarra River at Woori Yallock on Daung Warrung land, Victoria’, 2019, Archival pigment ink on rag paper, Edition 4/6, 80 x 80 cm.
JULIE RRAP's 'Blow Back' featured in exhibition ‘We, Us, Them: CCP x Belfast Exposed’
Julie Rrap, ‘Blow Back #16’, 2018, digital print and handground glass, edition of 3 + 1 A/P, 1/3, 52 x 64 cm.
JULIE RRAP will be presenting ‘Blow Back’, in the exhibition ‘We, Us, Them: CCP x Belfast Exposed’ opening this Friday 18 February at the Centre for Contemporary Photography.
These portraits represent a collective performance act that uses breath as an action that is both gentle yet provocative. Operating as a localised form of expression for the community of women artists in Sydney that make up the subjects of the work, the performers open mouths mock the endless images of women posed in this way to suggest their receptivity; like a vessel waiting to be filled.
This exhibition is a CCP x Belfast Exchange collaboration conceived as part of the 2021—22 UK/Australia Season.
For more info: https://ccp.org.au/exhibition/we-us-them/
LYNDELL BROWN/CHARLES GREEN shortlisted for the Len Fox Painting Prize 2022
LYNDELL BROWN/CHARLES GREEN, 'Climate for Change', 2021, oil on linen, 100 x 100 cm.
Congratulations to LYNDELL BROWN/CHARLES GREEN on being shortlisted for the Len Fox Painting Prize 2022 with their work 'Climate for Change'.
The official exhibition opening of the shortlisted artists and announcement of winners will be held on Saturday 12 March. The exhibition will be held at Castlemaine Art Museum from Saturday 12 March 2022 to 13 June 2022.
The Len Fox Painting Award is a biennial acquisitive painting prize and is awarded to a living Australian artist to commemorate the life and work of Emanuel Phillips Fox (1865–1915), the uncle of Len Fox, partner of benefactor Mona Fox. The award is funded through a bequest from Mona Fox, with $50,000 awarded to the winner.
More info: https://www.castlemaineartmuseum.org.au/exhibitions/len-fox-painting-prize-2022
LONG & STENT's new exhibition ‘Still Almost Blue’
HONEY LONG & PRUE STENT are presenting some exciting new works collaborated with Hannah Schoetz @hannahschoetz last year. This upcoming exhibition, titled ‘Still Almost Blue’, will run from 7 to 21 February at School House Studios, Coburg.
JANET LAURENCE featured in exhibition ‘Destination Sydney'
Installation view of Janet Laurence’s ‘Entangled Garden for Plant Memory’ series in exhibition ‘Destination Sydney: The natural world’ at Mosman Art Gallery.
A collection of works from the series, ‘Entangled Garden for Plant Memory’, by JANET LAURENCE, are currently on show in the exhibition, ‘Destination Sydney: The natural world’, at Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney until 20 March.
Presented as part of Sydney Festival 2022, Destination Sydney: The natural world is the third exhibition in a series of collaborations planned between three Sydney public galleries, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Mosman Art Gallery and the National Trust’s S. H. Ervin. Over the summer of 2015-2016 they jointly presented the unprecedented collaborative exhibition project, Destination Sydney, which became a hugely successful project for each gallery, soon followed by the equally triumphant Destination Sydney: Reimagined held in the summer 2018-2019.
Like its preceding exhibitions The natural world showcases artworks responding to the theme of Sydney as a place of creative endeavours, with a strong focus on the work of major Australian women artists, all connected by their concern for landscape, the natural world and the environment.
Destination Sydney: The natural world presents the work of a select group of key Australian artists whose art practice has become synonymous with the natural world. Artists at Mosman Art Gallery include Janet Laurence, Caroline Rothwell and Robyn Stacey.
GUAN WEI invited to participate in the Gold Award 2022
Image: Portrait of Guan Wei, 2006, for his mural painting at Powerhouse Museum Sydney.
Congratulations to GUAN WEI, who is one of eight artists who have been invited to participate in the Gold Award 2022, Queensland’s richest art prize. The artists invited in the Gold Award 2022 will form one of the exhibitions scheduled to coincide with the official opening of the newly constructed Rockhampton Museum of Art.
The artworks will be on public display from 25 February 2022 to 15 May 2022, with the winner announced 26 February.
The Gold Award is a joint initiative of the Rockhampton Museum of Art Philanthropy Board, Rockhampton Museum of Art and Rockhampton Regional Council.
ANNE ZAHALKA’s exhibition at the Wollongong Art Gallery
Installation view of exhibition SNAPPED! Street Photography in the Illawarra – Anne Zahalka with Sam St Jon and residents of the Illawarra.
ANNE ZAHALKA’s exhibition ‘Snapped! Street Photography in the Illawarra’ at the Wollongong Art Gallery continues until 20 February.
For this exhibition Zahalka has collected, examined and reconfigured photographic street portraits made in Wollongong in the mid decades of the 20th Century to form the imagery. Recorded originally by early commercial street photographers from 1930’s – 60’s of passers-by, these postcard sized prints captured people in a candid way. Collected through a call-out from residents, these photos have been assembled to provide a tangible trace of the city allowing visitors to reimagine how this city once looked.
For more information:
http://www.wollongongartgallery.com/exhibitions/Pages/SNAPPED-Street-Photography-in-the-Illawarra
ANNE ZAHALKA listed as the 2021 ‘Hundred Heroines’
Anne Zahalka, ‘artist (self-portrait)’, 2013, Duraflex print mounted onto perspex with engraving, 85cm x 87cm.
Congratulations to ANNE ZAHALKA who has been listed in the 2021 ‘Hundred Heroines’. ‘Hundred Heroines’ is a pioneering UK charity that champions inspiring women photographers, as well as celebrating the diversity of women working globally in photography today.
The full list can be found at hundredheroines.org.
NIKE SAVVAS was invited by The Art Newspaper Greece to speak in "Art in the Public Sphere"
Nike Savvas at the event ‘Art in the public sphere’; photo: Studio Panoulis.
NIKE SAVVAS was recently invited by The Art Newspaper Greece as one of the key speakers in their first public event “Η Τέχνη στην Δημόσια Σφαίρα (Art in the Public Sphere)”.
In this event, Savvas shared about her experience of creating art in public space, as well as her intentions behind her projects. In her conversation with Alexandra Koroxenidis, she explained: “My art seeks to eliminate classifications and genealogies. In this context, the hierarchies between the private and the public are annulled.” She also shared, ”In a way, my work is also an attempt to give a feminine aspect to the male-dominated tradition of abstract expressionism and minimalism…”
A video recording of the whole event will soon be available on the website of artnewspaper.gr.
Long & Stent selected as part of the Sydney Creative Hoardings Program
‘Suspended Figures’ series on the corner of Barrack and York Streets, Sydney; photo credit: Anna Kucera.
A series of photographic works by HONEY LONG & PRUE STENT were recently transformed into large-scale, site-specific public art and exhibited on the corner of Barrack and York Streets as part of the City of Sydney’s Creative Hoardings Program.
“We hope our work provides an interesting break in the cityscape and sparks people’s thoughts and feelings about their own bodily experiences,” Prue Stent and Honey Long discussed about ‘Suspended Figures’.
This series of shrouded figures playfully distorts the human form, creating a dream-like landscape intended to interrupt everyday thoughts and spark the imagination. The fluid and abstract shapes – created by the body interacting with fabric and wind – are left open for the viewer to make their own associations.
Five of ARC ONE artists are featured in the newly published 'Doing Feminism: Women’s Art and Feminist Criticism in Australia'
Anne Marsh, ‘Doing Feminism: Women’s Art and Feminist Criticism in Australia’, published on 2 November, 2021, by The Miegunyah Press.
Five of ARC ONE artists – ANNE ZAHALKA, EUGENIA RASKOPOULOS, PAT BRASSINGTON, JULIE RRAP and JACKY REDGATE are featured in the newly published ‘Doing Feminism: Women’s Art and Feminist Criticism in Australia’.
Providing a comprehensive analysis of women’s art movements in Australia from the 1960s onward, this remarkable book by art historian Anne Marsh chronicles the struggles, contestations and achievements of women and feminism in Australian visual arts history. The book also acts as an divergent investigation into how the “doing” of feminism has shaped contemporary art and culture at home and abroad.
“…art and feminism are cyclical; they spiral in and out of time, and it’s interesting to see these younger women, very schooled in theoretical frameworks, turning back to an earlier time, and asking: why aren’t we doing that anymore?” ——Anne Marsh in conversation with Susanna Ling.
JANET LAURENCE & DANI MARTI INCLUDED IN 'TERRA AUSTRALIS REVISITED'
Dani Marti, Installation View, ‘Terra Australis Revisited’, Galerie Ernst Hilger , Vienna, 2021.
JANET LAURENCE and DANI MARTI are included in the group exhibition ‘Terra Australis Revisited’, at Galerie Ernst Hilger in Vienna.
The legend of Terra Australis dates back to Roman times being the unknown land of the South. Now for the second time to Austria comes a group show of diverse Australian artists curated by collector and philanthropist Simon Mordant AO.
The exhibition was supported by the Australian Embassy Vienna and continues until 18 December 2021.
JOHN YOUNG'S EXHIBITION AT BUNJIL PLACE EXTENDED
John Young, Installation View, Diaspora, Psyche, Bunjil Place, 2021
JOHN YOUNG’s exhibition ‘Diaspora, Psyche’ at Bunjil Place will open again from 6 November and continue until 7 December 2021.
There will be a panel discussion on Saturday 13 November from 3.30 – 5pm with John Young, James Nguyen, Sangeeta Sandrasegar, and moderated by Carolyn Barnes. In discussion will be how diaspora informs the reality of contemporary Australia and how different communities fit into this place?
For more information, visit here >