Oculi: Terra Australis Incognita

27 January 2012 to 25 March 2012, Monash Gallery of Art

Donna Bailey, 'Blanche and Serene', 2005 from the series Unconditional, printed 2011 chromogenic print 68 x 101 cm courtesy of the artist. Image via MGA website.

A Manly Art Gallery & Museum Touring Exhibition curated by Sandy Edwards

Exhibition Opening: 3.00pm Saturday 4 February 2012

To be opened by Michael Coyne Adjunct Professor of Photography, RMIT University and eminent Australian photojournalist

Monash Gallery of Art, 860 Ferntree Gully Road Wheelers Hill,  VIC  3150.

Ten years ago, a group of Australian photographers began Oculi. Committed by a collective vision to represent contemporary Australia and its regions, each member of the group embraces a range of distinctive styles and perspectives that include a strong documentary focus.

The exhibition comprises approximately 80 photographic images of Australia as we understand and experience it today.

Oculi photographers: Donna Bailey, James Brickwood, Tamara Dean, Jesse Marlow, Nick Moir, Jeremy Piper, Andrew Quilty, Dean Sewell, Steven Siewert, Tamara Voninski.

Sensorial Loop – 1st Tamworth Textile Triennial

]]> http://melbourneartnetwork.com.au/2012/02/02/exhibition-and-seminars-sensorial-loop-1st-tamworth-textile-triennial/feed/ 0 http://199.238.187.99/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/RMIT_Tamworth_Evite1.jpg http://melbourneartnetwork.com.au/2012/02/02/exhibition-fred-kruger-intimate-landscapes-at-ngv-australia/ http://melbourneartnetwork.com.au/2012/02/02/exhibition-fred-kruger-intimate-landscapes-at-ngv-australia/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:52:24 +0000 MelbourneArtNetwork http://melbourneartnetwork.com.au/?p=3818 Exhibition

Fred Kruger – Intimate Landscapes

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, 4 February to 27 May 2012 

Fred Kruger, 'Wreck of the ship George Roper, Point Lonsdale (1883)' , albumen silver photograph 18.4 x 27.2 cm (image) National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Gift of Mrs Beryl M. Curl, 1979

On 4 February the National Gallery of Victoria will open Fred Kruger: Intimate Landscapes, the first comprehensive survey of Fred Kruger’s (1831–88) photographs ever to be mounted. The exhibition features features over 100 works drawn predominantly from the NGV Collection and incorporates loans from Museum Victoria, the State Library of Victoria and private collections.

Fred Kruger was one of the leading landscape photographers of the 19th century in Australia, working extensively throughout Victoria. Kruger migrated from Germany in 1860 and a few years later opened a photographic studio in Carlton, Melbourne before moving his thriving practice to Geelong.

Many of the photographs in this exhibition depict iconic locations that will be familiar to Victorians, providing visitors with a glimpse back more than 130 years to scenes at the You Yangs, the Esplanade at Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale among others.

This exhibition also showcases Kruger’s command of photographic language, providing a fascinating insight into the political and social life of Victoria in the 1800s. Kruger’s photographs show how European settlers altered the environment through farming and other developments while also depicting their growing appreciation of the picturesque qualities of the bush.

Theme: Reimagining the political geography of place and space

In the coming issue we wish to focus on political geographies, as well as artistic interventions in, and reimaginations of, such geographies. The distinction between “place” and “space” is of particular interest, as it is fundamental not only to much art, but also to our global situation within neoliberal political geography. If time has come for us to reimagine this geography, as well as the interrelationships between, and definitions of “space” and “place”, is it thinkable that art could be an ideal site for such reimagination?

The construction and exploitation of a particularism of the local also seems indigenous to the logic of neoliberalism, in the sense that it relies on the opposition between place and space to be able to expand in the first place. Among other things, the space-place dichotomy facilitates the reduction of developmental issues, political unrest or violence to irrational expressions of local misguidance, backward culture or belief systems. When the evolution of neoliberal space is merged with democratic and civilizing pretentions, the otherness and fixed specificity of places appears to be a legitimate pretext to expand into always new (potentially profitable) areas in and beyond the periphery.

The self-fulfilling prophesy of neoliberal geography also constitutes an effective impasse in alternative visions of political geography – on the one hand, by making the critical reconstruction of place and its interconnectedness with a larger picture, beyond the dichotomies of space/place and local/global, superfluous – on the other, by dissimulating any locally based meaning of universality that cannot be reduced to the civilizing prospects and ideals of neoliberal universalist geography. In this sense, the self-upholding myth of the local which neoliberal geography feeds on seems to express another form of orientalism, convincingly presenting itself and its worldview as the necessary cure to global and local problems, and reversely; presenting political issues in localities beyond its borders as a temporary void in its over-arching, inescapable logic.

Contributors from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds are invited to submit articles, exhibition reviews or interviews that address the theme “Reimagining the political geography of place and space”, through a high variety of possible angles.

Topics may include, but are not restricted to:

•  Artistic approaches to political geography, artistic intervention in geopolitical discourses and decolonization strategies.
• The concepts of space and place in art, and their renegotiation through art
• The role of art and artists in the rewriting of history and political geography in post-colonial situations.
• The relationship between neoliberal political geography and orientalism
• The art biennial as a global phenomenon, and its role in the (re)negotiation of political geography
• The relationship between the global art scene and neoliberal political geography.
• The relationship between art and geography

For guidelines and payment rates, please contact Seismopolite Journal of Art and Politics at submissions@seismopolite.com

 We accept submissions continuously, but to make sure you are considered for the upcoming issue, please send your proposal, CV and samples of earlier work to us within February 10, 2012.

Completed work will be due March 5, 2012. Commissioned works will be translated into Norwegian and published in a bilingual version.

Seismopolite Journal of Art and Politics is a bilingual English and Norwegian quarterly, which investigates the possibilities of artists and art scenes worldwide to reflect and influence their local political situation. Follow this link to visit the journal: www.seismopolite.com

]]> http://melbourneartnetwork.com.au/2012/01/31/call-for-papers-seismopolite-journal-of-art-and-politics/feed/ 0 http://199.238.187.99/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/seismo.png http://melbourneartnetwork.com.au/2012/01/30/lecture-sasha-grishin-voices-in-artists-books-the-collaborative-venture/ http://melbourneartnetwork.com.au/2012/01/30/lecture-sasha-grishin-voices-in-artists-books-the-collaborative-venture/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:17:18 +0000 MelbourneArtNetwork http://melbourneartnetwork.com.au/?p=3810 Free Public Lecture at State Library of Victoria

Voices in artists books – the collaborative venture 

Sasha Grishin

Wanderlust (detail), David Frazer & Martin Flanagan, Lexicon House, 2004. Image via State LIbrary Vic website http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/event/page-page-artists-books-viewing

The artists book frequently brings together the creative endeavours of many individuals, who may include the artist, the poet, the letterpress artisan and the binder, amongst others.  Each of these ‘collaborators’ has a particular and distinctive ‘voice’.  In this lecture Professor Sasha Grishin explores some strategies involved in listening to voices in artists books.

Professor Sasha Grishin AM FAHA is the Sir William Dobell Professor of Art History at the Australian National University and works internationally as an art historian, critic and curator. He has published 18 books and over a thousand articles dealing with various aspects of art, especially printmaking and artists’ books. Professor Grishin is currently undertaking an Honorary Creative Fellowship at the State Library of Victoria.

Venue: State Library of Victoria, Level 2A Conference Centre (enter via Door Three on La Trobe St), 328 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000

Date and Time: Wednesday 8 Feb 2012 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm (Australia/Melbourne)

Bookings available online at https://reg.eventarc.com/event/view/7377/professor-sasha-grishin-voices-in-artists-books—the-collaborative-venture

Presented in association with the 7th Australian and New Zealand Rare Books Summer School -

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/event/rare-books-summer-school

All enquiries to the State Library http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/

Together <> Apart

Call for Panel Proposals – Deadline extended to February 17th 2012

Source: AAANZ website http://aaanz.info/aaanz-home/conferences/2012_conference/

Held in the third week of the Biennale of Sydney, Together<>Apart will address major debates and issues raised by this year’s biennale theme ‘all our relations. The conference will focus on the very broad idea of relations and relationships as well as allied terms such as collaborations, networks and partnerships.

The emphasis on relations could mean examining aesthetic relations. For example, Mondrian famously announced that ‘determined relations’ would replace the importance of form. What would an aesthetics of relations mean for art history, art criticism, curating and art practice? How does aesthetic autonomy interact or intersect with an aesthetic of relations?

Panels might address the relations between artists and other disciplines: such as collaborations between art and science; art and design; or art and architecture. Interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural and intercultural relations that bear on art and art history could be examined. What is the nature of participation and connection between art and its others? What are the stakes, outcomes, and tensions of collaborations and partnerships?

Panels might examine how art is shaped by the network of relationships between artists, dealers, museums, critics and writers in various societies. How have artists historically imagined their audiences whether in academies, salons, museums or today through digital media? How do such relations inform the meaning of art?

Potential session convenors please send a 300-word session proposal to be sent out to AAANZ members. Panels can be single 3-4 or double 6-7 presentations.

Deadline for session proposals: Extended to Friday 17th Feb

All enquiries about submitting proposals or the conference should be direct to AAANZ

Email: admin@aaanz.info

Website: http://aaanz.info/aaanz-home/conferences/2012_conference/

Conference Keynote Speakers

Professor Thierry de Duve, author of Sewn in the Sweatshops of Marx, Revamping Kant, PictorialNominalism, Kant After Duchamp, and Clement Greenberg Between the Lines.

Dr Helen Molesworth, Chief Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, previously held positions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA. She has curated shows of Catherine Opie, Luc Tuymans,Andrea Fraser, Paul Chan, Félix González-Torres, Zoe Leonard, and Louise Lawler.

The conference is supported by the Power Institute, Art History and Film Studies, Sydney University Museums, and Sydney College of the Arts, from the University of Sydney; and the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales; the National Art School; the Art Gallery of New South Wales; and the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation.

The other Vitruvian man – Smithsonian magazine article on a recently discovered 15th century version of Vitruvius’s Universal Man

JISC digitisation – the problem of studying art history and images on the web and why words are the answer.

Academics warn of damage to Aboriginal rock art, including vandalism.

The Age and other media outlets (The Telegraph, ABC) report on a painting stolen from the NGV 12 years ago and suggest the gallery only just reported it. However, the NGV has since released a statement explaining that the painting has now been officially reported as stolen rather than just missing in order to claim insurance - Bonington Media Release.

Review of the Nicholas Chevalier exhibition on at Geelong Gallery until February 12th.

JSTOR announces limited free access to read articles to individuals without a subscription or access to an institutional subscription.

New resource - Online Visual Archive of Gothic Architecture and Sculpture in Ireland

Conference next week at Melbourne University - Dispersed Identities: Sexuality, Surrealism and the Global Avant-Gardes link

Calls for Papers, Funding and Jobs

A scholarship for medieval art history for graduate students enrolled at Melbourne University – link

Some opportunities at the Centre for the History of Emotions that might be of interest – link

Lecturer in the History of Art and Material Studies at University College London – link

Lecturer in Byzantine Art History at the Courtauld, London – link

CFP The Body in Visual Culture, Dartouth – link

CFP Visual dialogues: South Africa in conversation, Pretoria – link

CFP 23rd Annual International Sculpture conference, Chicago - link

Interference strategies for art

The Second International Conference on Transdisciplinary Imaging at the Intersections between Art, Science and Culture

22 – 23, June 2012, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne

Deadline for Abstracts: March 30, 2012

The Transdisciplinary Imaging Conference seeks papers that explore the theme of ‘Interference’ within practices of contemporary image making. Today we’re saturated with images from all disciplines, whether it’s the creation of ‘beautiful visualisations’ for science, the torrent of images uploaded to social media services like Flickr, or the billions of queries made to vast visual data archives such as Google Images. These machinic interpretations of the visual and sensorial experience of the world are producing a new spectacle of media pollution. Machines are in many ways the new artists.

The notion of ‘Interference’ is posed here as an antagonism between production and seduction, as a redirection of affect, or as an untapped potential for repositioning artistic critique. Maybe art doesn’t have to work as a wave that displaces or reinforces the standardized protocols of data/messages, but can instead function as a kind of signal that disrupts and challenges perceptions. ‘Interference’ can stand as a mediating incantation that might create a layer between the constructed image of the ‘everyday’ given to us by science, technological social networks and the means of its construction.

The Transdisciplinary Imaging Conference wants papers that ask:

• Can art interfere with the chaotic storms of data visualization and information processing, or is it merely eulogizing contemporary media?

• Can we think of ‘interference’ as a key tactic for the contemporary image in disrupting and critiquing the continual flood of constructed imagery?

• Are contemporary forms and strategies of interference the same as historical ones? What kinds of similarities and differences exist?

The conference will explore areas related to: Painting, Drawing, Media Art, Film, Video, Photography, Computer visualization, Real-time imaging, Intelligent systems, Image Science.

Participants are asked to address at least one the following areas in their abstract:
-

• Expanded image
• Remediated image
• Hypermediacy
• Expanded film
• Imaging science
• Computer Vision
• Networked Image
• Immersion

Proposals

Abstracts for an individual paper relevant to the conference theme as described above are due in March, 2012. Abstracts for individual papers should be no longer than 250 words. Please provide full contact details with your abstract.

Refereeing of papers will be done by members of an expert review panel (to Australian DEST refereed conference paper standards). All selected peer reviewed papers will be published in the online conference proceedings.

Please submit by email to conference organiser Andrew Varano transimageconf@gmail.com

For more detail and enquiries see this website: http://blogs.unsw.edu.au/tiic/

Exhibition Dates: 1 February to 7th April

Opening Function: Saturday 4 February 2012, 3.00 – 5.00pm, Monash University Museum of Art, Caulfield Campus.

Hany Armanious Azdeena Persius 2010 (detail) Australian Pavilion, 54th Venice Biennale 2011; photo: Mara Comin, courtesy of the Australia Council for the Arts

Hany Armanious: The Golden Thread

Hany Armanious: The Golden Thread is the Australian premiere of works shown at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011, presented alongside a suite of new works and an artist’s book developed for MUMA. The first major exhibition of Hany Armanious’ work in Melbourne, The Golden Thread builds upon a burgeoning critical reception that has grown around the artist’s work internationally over the past decade.

Born in Egypt in 1962 and migrating with his family to Australia six years later, Sydney-based Hany Armanious was the sole Australian representative at the Venice Biennale in 2011. Hany Armanious: The Golden Thread was developed by the Australia Council, with Doug Hall AM as Commissioner, and Anne Ellegood as Curator. Armanious’ critically acclaimed exhibition at Venice – arguably the most prestigious visual arts event on the international calendar – builds upon a burgeoning critical reception that has grown around the artist’s work internationally over the past decade.

Examining the relationship between readymade and figurative sculptural traditions, The Golden Thread presents cast sculptural forms that are simultaneously archaic and modern, formal and informal, uncanny and concrete. Hany Armanious creates works that reveal the energy, sensation and perversity embedded within inanimate things. His interest in bringing ‘nothingness into being’, and exploring the passage between the mythical and the mundane, are just some of the complex twists and inversions that abound in his sculptures. More on MUMA website.

 Adrian Paci: Per Speculum

Adrian Paci, Per Speculum, 2006 (still)

A profoundly thought-provoking 35mm film installation that draws upon cinema and myth to reflect upon narratives of exile, flight and resistance. An Albanian artist based in Milan, Adrian Paci addresses themes such as mobility, displacement, globalisation and cultural identity as a way to explore how personal histories are defined by social and political circumstances.

Originally a painter, Adrian Paci works in film, photography, sculpture and installation. Having fled his homeland Albania in 1997 during the civil war, his practice regularly explores the experience of exile and immigration. Paci addresses themes such as mobility, displacement, globalisation and cultural identity as a way to explore how personal histories are defined by social and political circumstances. His works are both private and universal, and present a complex synthesis of autobiography and collective narrative, documentation and dramatisation, fiction and reality. More at MUMA website.

Self Conscious: Contemporary Portraiture

Donna Bailey, Generation Y girl, 2004 (detail)

Featuring a range of works drawn from the Monash University Collection, this exhibition explores some of the many ways in which artists approach contemporary portraiture and represent different modes of identity.

Portraiture allows us to dwell on one of the most fascinating of subjects – ourselves. The act of self reflection and the study of others can be fraught, humourous and enlightening, whilst also revealing artistic processes and modes of philosophical address, laid bare in the work of art.

Artists include Donna Bailey, Mutly Çerkez, Simryn Gill, Ronnie van Hout, Eliza Hutchison, Linda Marrinon, Fiona McMonagle, Mike Parr, David Rosetzky, and others. MUMA website.

A catalogue and series of public programs and artist talks will accompany each exhibition.

Due: 29 February 2012

Churchill Fellowships are available to Australian Citizens over the age of 18 years. No upper age limit is prescribed but generally awards will be made to those whose major contribution to their field lies before them.

Churchill Fellowships are awarded for the purpose of pursuing an overseas investigative project of a kind that is not readily available in Australia.

 The value of every Fellowship is different as it is calculated based on the number of countries visited, the duration of the approved Fellowship and an estimated airfare. The average is currently well in excess of $20,000. See point 3 for more detail.

A Churchill Fellowship is usually a minimum of four weeks and generally a maximum of approximately six weeks although longer itineraries are not precluded if this can be justified. Any additional time outside of the approved Fellowship itinerary will be at the Fellow’s own expense.

Submission of Application. The application must be submitted in the State or Territory of residence of the applicant, irrespective of the place of employment. An application can be submitted in one State or Territory only.

For further details and to apply visit the Churchill Fellowship website: http://apply.churchilltrust.com.au/information/