Category: Exhibitions

Exhibition | Ronnie Van Hout and Kate Mitchell | Gertrude Contemporary

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Ronnie van Hout, YOU! Exhibition dates: 9 September – 15 October 2015 Exhibition opening: Friday 9 September, 6–8pm Venue: Front Gallery, Gertrude Contemporary, 200 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy VIC Gertrude Contemporary is pleased to present You!, a solo project by Ronnie van Hout. As a leading figure in the Australasian art landscape for over two decades, van Hout has consistently brought into focus the presence of the artist within his practice. Frequently presenting himself within his extensive body of work, van Hout positions himself as the unwitting subject pervasively reappearing as a provocation to the artistic figure. The complexity of van Hout’s particular subversion of self-representation gains traction not through his own immortalisation, but rather, through the artist’s capacity to render himself as almost universal – the everyman inadvertently coopted as icon. Van Hout has created a new project specifically for the street-facing front…

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Exhibition | EREWHON | Margaret Lawrence Gallery VCA

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Exhibition Dates: 1st September 2016 – 1st October 2016 Brook Andrew, Mikala Dwyer & Justene Williams, Tony Garifalakis, Claire Lambe, Clare Milledge Curated by Vikki McInnes Erewhon is the (almost) return of Neverwhere, an exhibition that travelled to Istanbul last year, commissioned by Asialink as part of the ‘Australia in Turkey’ cultural festival. Neverwhere presented the work of eight contemporary Australian artists to disturb distinctions between our real and imagined selves, and between the authentic and the proposed. Narratives were informed by external – and often mysterious – forces, both seen and unseen; the exhibition shifted registers between sincerity and satire although its propensity was to shadowy psychological turns. And it is farther in this direction – towards the darker, more charged imaginings – that the work in Erewhon leads. More correctly, of course, Erewhon is the (not quite syntactically…

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Exhibition | The Jesus Trolley | City Gallery

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The Jesus Trolley | 30 years of Desmond Hynes pushing art and Jesus on the streets of Melbourne curated by Joanna Bosse Melbourne has been a stomping ground for street preachers for more than a century. In recent decades, Desmond Hynes has been the Nº. 1 evangelist, proselytising through both the oral and written word. The lately ‘retired’ Hynes combines the visual power of art and advertising on hand-painted signs and shopping trolleys covered in Jesus slogans. Unrefined and yet savvy, his unique hand-lettering is urgent and compelling, transcending the religious content of his god-fearing message. Opening Night: Thursday 8th September at 6:00pm with guest speaker Red Symons Venue: City Gallery, Melbourne Town Hall

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Exhibition | We Who Love: The Nolan Slates | Heide Museum of Modern Art

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Sidney Nolan (Lovers and flowers) January 1942 25.5 x 50.8 cm Collection of The University of Queensland Purhcased with the assistance of the Alumni Association and the Peter Stuyvesant Cultural Foundation 1997 © The University of Queensland

About the Exhibition We who love: The Nolan slates is a window into the world of renowned Australian painter Sidney Nolan (1917–1992), reflecting a time of artistic experimentation and personal upheaval. From December 1941 to June 1942, Nolan made around 32 paintings on roofing slates. They reveal his distinctive preference for non-art materials, his avant-garde aspirations and his literary interests. Through the paintings, Nolan recorded the end of his marriage, new relationships with patrons John and Sunday Reed, and fears arising from the war in the Pacific. Concerned that there might not be ‘many more tomorrows’, Nolan painted the slates as a remarkable, even desperate, avowal of emotional and creative freedom. Nolan’s deeply personal paintings on slate have been exhibited as a group just twice since 1943. We who love presents the most comprehensive display of the series ever assembled.…

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Exhibitions | Paul Handley – Unfolding/Folding – Katie Ryan | Kings ARI

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Image Credit: Sabella D’Souza, ~my motherland is a mouthful~, 2016, video, 5:24 minutes. Courtesy of the artist.

Exhibition Dates: 3rd – 24th September 2016 Opening Friday 2nd September, 6-8pm Paul Handley Liberte Multidisciplinary artist Paul Handley presents his new project Liberte, an installation of photographic images from Greece, with his Portable Protest Pod (a text based banner from the streets of Athens). Liberte explores the discourse around democracy and geographic placement while expanding on Handley’s ongoing site-specific work Meeting Points for Democracy – a text based narrative that provides a platform to connect individuals who do not typically identify themselves as protesters and those that would otherwise have no social or economic voice. Paul Handley is a New Zealand born Melbourne-based multidisciplinary artist who exhibits regularly both nationally & internationally. Recent projects and exhibitions include the National Contemporary Art Award; Waikato Museum 2013-16, New Zealand; Festival Internacional de Arte Camuflado 2015, Cuenca Spain, MPFD Syntagma Square, Athens; Global Project…

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Exhibition | Louis Kahan: Art, Theatre and Fashion | Town Hall Gallery

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Louis Kahan Still Life on Palette II, 1994 Oil on canvas on marine ply 70.5 x 91.5 cm © Courtesy of Louis Kahan/Licensed by Viscopy 2016.

A new exhibition opens this weekend at the Town Hall Gallery, Hawthorn. This exhibition explores the work of Australian-based artist Louis Kahan. Kahan is well known for his work as a portrait artist and painter, however, this exhibition will focus on his work as a fashion illustrator and theatre designer. The exhibition tells the little-known story of his work with the great fashion houses and celebrities in early twentieth-century Europe. The exhibition has been curated by Laura Jocic, (previously a curator in the department of Australian Fashion and Textiles at the NGV) with assistance from Kahan’s family, who are now based in the City of Boroondara. Jocic describes the exhibition as ‘ a showcase of an exciting artist who moved seamlessly across theatre, dress and illustration. It’s been a personal highlight to work closely with the Kahan family to showcase the multimedia nature…

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Rose Nolan, Jon Campbell and Vernon Ah Kee among finalists in the R & M McGivern Prize

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Jon Campbell On For Young & Old 2016 enamel paint, cottonduck 150x150cm Courtesy of the artist and Darren Knight Gallery

  Twenty-seven finalists are in the running for the prestigious $25,000 R & M McGivern Prize for 2016, the winner of which will be announced at the finalists’ exhibition launch, at 6pm on Friday 16 September at ArtSpace, Realm. The R & M McGivern Prize is awarded every three years for an outstanding artwork in oil, gouache, acrylic or watercolour. This year’s theme of “text” attracted entries from more than 200 emerging, mid-career and established artists from across Australia. The shortlist draws together artists working with text – or the idea of text – from a variety of perspective. Texta Queen’s work (below) ‘Congratulations’ shows a certificate awarded to a ‘Good White Person’. The work, in the words of the artist, ‘critically examines concepts of race by flipping the lens onto anti-racist identity.’ Jon Campbell’s ‘On for Young and Old’ explores the power and…

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Exhibition Review | The APW George Collie Memorial Award – Sheridan Palmer | Australian Print Workshop

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An exhibition of limited edition prints by two of Australia’s most prominent printmakers, Jennifer Marshall and the late Bea Maddock (1934-2016) is currently being shown at the Australian Print Workshop in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy (until 20th August). The APW presents the annual George Collie Memorial Award in recognition of artists who have made an outstanding contribution to contemporary Australian printmaking. It has previously been awarded to Noel Counihan and Rick Amor in 2014 and Grahame King and Jan Senbergs in 2015, and this year the prestigious honour is awarded to two women. Bea Maddock studied at the Hobart Technical College and completed post-graduate painting and printmaking at the Slade School of Art under William Coldstream, Ceri Richards and Anthony Cross. She was later appointed lecturer in printmaking at the National Gallery School and the Victorian College of the Arts from…

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Exhibition | Limits to Growth – Nicholas Mangan | MUMA

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Nicholas Mangan, Matter over mined 2012 C-print on cotton paper 69 x 103cm Courtesy the artist; Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland and LABOR, Mexico city

Exhibtion Dates: 20 July – 17 September 2016 Opening celebration: Wed 20 July, 6pm. With remarks by Dr Amelia Barikin, Lecturer in Art History, School of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland Limits to Growth is the first survey exhibition of Melbourne-based artist, Nicholas Mangan. With a strong research base in both history and science, Mangan’s work addresses a range of themes, including the ongoing impacts of colonialism, humanity’s relationship with the natural environment, contemporary consumptive cultures and the complex dynamics of the global political economy. The exhibition brings together several key projects (the eldest dating to 2009-10) in conversation with a new commission, Limits to Growth. This latest work explores the relationship between two monetary currencies: Rai, large stone coins from the Micronesian island of Yap, and Bitcoin, a digital currency allegedly invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. Nicholas Mangan:…

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Exhibition | Debris Facility Pty Ltd ‘Endolith Morphology’ | Gertrude Glasshouse

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Image: Crytoendolith, digital collage, sweat and clenching, 2016-2022.

Exhibition dates: 16 July–6 August 2016 Exhibition opening: Saturday 16 July, 4–6pm Location: 44 Glasshouse Road, Collingwood VIC 3066 Gertrude Contemporary is pleased to present Endolith Morphology, a solo exhibition by Debris Facility Pty Ltd and its Constituent Employees and Stakeholders at Gertrude Glasshouse. With Endolith Morphology, the Debris Facility Pty Ltd will be Entangling itself in the Showroom surrounds of Gertrude Glasshouse. The public appearance and Inhabitation will utilise Processes of Digestion to obtain Newtrition from materials of Speculative Nourishment. With an attenuated focus on the particular Physical Qualities of mineral samples, we will burrow into them, to further the scope of the Body Corporate. Through Professional Partnerships with other Practitioners, the Scope of Operations has increased, with Video, Performance, Audio offered up as part of a Diverse portfolio of Site Responsive Installation Services.  The Architectural scope of the Gallery…

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Forum | Max and Olive | Ian Potter Museum of Art

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Olive Cotton Max after surfing 1937 gelatin silver photograph 38 x 30 cm National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased 2006

Olive Cotton and Max Dupain are key figures in twentieth century Australian photography. Champions of modernism, they were an important and influential part of a generation of Australian photographers during the 1930s and ‘40s, engaged in international debates on the role of photography in modern Australian life. Through their images they explored the ways that form, technology and the properties of photography come together. Working separately, but often alongside each other they created a sense of a ‘contemporary Australian photography’ for the first time. Max and Olive: the photographic life of Olive Cotton and Max Dupain is the first exhibition to bring together Dupain and Cotton’s work in a comprehensive way. Join us for an illuminating forum discussing these two luminaries of Australian photography. Speakers Dr Isobel Crombie, Assistant Director, National Gallery of Victoria and author of Body Culture: Max…

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Exhibition | Sitelines – Natatsha Johns-Messenger | Heide Museum of Modern Art

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Sitelines presents new installations, photographs and light-works by Natasha Johns-Messenger, an artist from Melbourne now based in New York, whose art explores the gap between knowledge and perception. A starting point for her work came from her discovering that the stars we see in the night sky may no longer exist. She tries to replicate this sense of wonder by creating spatial and viewing experiences that make us question what is real and what is not. Johns-Messenger achieves this by blurring the divisions between her work and the exhibition site itself. Her works extend the architectural features of the Heide galleries, and emphasise the existing relationship between the museum’s indoor and outdoor spaces. Several installations use mirrors in a disorienting way that expands our awareness of where we are – we need to pay close attention to our surroundings rather than…

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Lecture | International Degas expert Xavier Rey on Degas and the Nude | NGV International

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Edgar Degas Woman in a tub c. 1883 pastel 70.0 x 70.0 cm Tate, London Bequeathed by Mrs A.F. Kessler 1983 (T03563) © Tate, London 2016

The nude figure was central to the art of Edgar Degas, and yet frequently the artist’s expansive body of work in this area has been overshadowed by focus on portraits and dancers. Listen in as Xavier Rey, Director of Collections, Musée d’Orsay explores the evolution of Degas’s nude, from the academic and historical approach of his early years to the role of the body in modernity. Xavier Rey is the Director of Collections at the Musée d’Orsay. He has curated numerous exhibitions including Degas and the Nude (2012); Degas. The Masterpieces of the Musée d’Orsay, Paris (2012-13) and Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from the Musée d’Orsay (2014-15). Date: Friday 8th July, 2.30pm Cost: Free, booking essential. Book via the NGV website: http://connect.ngv.vic.gov.au/single/SelectSeating.aspx?p=8686 Venue: Clemenger BBDO Auditorium, NGV International

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Panel Discussion | The trouble with remuneration: the tricky business of being an artist | West Space

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THIS TUESDAY 5th July: Panel Discussion – The trouble with remuneration: the tricky business of being an artist   In conjunction with West Space’s exhibition, The Trouble with Remuneration, there will be a panel discussion to explore different ways artists are engaged with contemporary economic realities: as survival, as challenge, as resistance, as opportunity. Speakers: Janet Burchill, Masato Takasaka, Debris Facility and Beth Rose Caird. Chaired by: Jan Bryant. Date: Tuesday 5th July 2016 – 6pm Venue: West Space – Level 1, 225 Bourke St Melbourne RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/panel-discussion-the-trouble-with-remuneration-the-tricky-business-of-being-an-artist-tickets-26125648518 Janet Burchill is a Melbourne-based visual artist. Masato Takasaka is a Melbourne-based artist, known for both his performances as a lead guitarist in über-hip rock bands as well as his visual art practice. Takasaka thinks about his studio practice in musical terms, describing his aesthetic as an iPod Shuffle on endless repeat: playing the greatest…

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Masterclass | Degas – A new vision, a new beginning | University of Melbourne and NGV

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Edgar Degas Rehearsal hall at the Opéra, rue Le Peletier 1872 oil on canvas 32.7 x 46.3 cm Musée d'Orsay, Paris (RF 1977) © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski

In partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria’s exhibition Degas: A new vision, the Faculty of Arts is proud to present a four-part masterclass series on the life and art of Edgar Degas, one of the most recognizable grand masters of French modernism. Drawn from across the globe and with over 200 artworks, this exhibition represents one of the most internationally significant retrospectives of Degas, highlighting his influential contribution across the different mediums of painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking and photography. This masterclass will reflect the breadth and diversity of the exhibition as we explore the development of Degas’ art from its beginnings. We will contextualise his work within the dramatic social and political change that occurred during his lifetime, which made Paris the centre of the art world, and inevitably provided the backdrop for his innovative and creative depictions. Join…

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