As the temperature drops in Melbourne, we find ourselves digging out those winter boots and jackets in preparation for the chilly months ahead. We’re over summer salads and start yearning for the comfort of warm winter soups and hearty roasts. It’s also a great time of year to head out to the Yarra Valley for a change of scenery and seasons. Not much surpasses the pleasure of snuggling up in a pub or winery with a nice glass of vino or a warm cappuccino. Even though the Yarra Valley is renowned for its beautiful wineries, it’s also a bit of a cultural hub, as TarraWarra Museum of Art (TWMA) clearly demonstrates this month.
In addition to the Yarra Valley’s wine and food, indulge in a couple of exhibitions at Healesville’s TWMA. Before the Imperative of Scale consists of twenty-eight paintings from TWMA’s collection from the 1950s and 1960s. It’s interesting to note the smaller, intimate nature of works from this period – possibly related to the artists hoping to sell more pieces to the domestic market. Or perhaps these were the only materials that artists could afford at this time. Exhibition curator (and TWMA Director), Maudie Palmer says, “It’s wonderful to see these early giants of mid-20th century modernism side by side, it’s obvious which artists painted together; the crucial shift from figuration to abstraction is evident and themes peculiar to the time like the ubiquitous 1950s that can be identified.” Some of the artists featured include: Ralph Balson, Charles Blackman, Arthur Boyd, John Brack, Janet Dawson, Ian Fairweather, Joy Hester, Godfrey Miller, John Perceval and Clifton Pugh, among others.
Two Sydney artists, Sue Saxon and Jane Becker have joined forces in another TWMA exhibition, All that is solid melts into air, where eggshells have been used as the primary medium. The delicate shells have been fragmented, cracked and illuminated from within to represent “a growing sensibility of fragility and defencelessness in the midst of the overwhelming dynamisms that are currently reshaping our world”. The exhibition has been curated by Anthony Fitzpatrick who explains, “These delicate and ephemeral works compel us to reconsider our relationship to nature and contemplate how our ongoing exploitation and degradation of the environment also diminishes humanity, further undermining and eroding our sense of connection to the natural world”. Both exhibitions run until 27 May. - www.twma.com.au
It’s your last chance to get along to ACCA’s tenth NEW exhibition, NEW12, which runs until 20 May. This highly anticipated annual event showcases the “bold, brave new work” of emerging artists destined to become the “art stars” of tomorrow. This year’s exhibition has been curated by Jeff Khan, co-Director of Sydney’s Performance Space and includes the following artists: Angelica Mesiti (NSW), Ross Manning (NSW), Katie Lee (VIC), Bennett Miller (WA), Kate Mitchell (NSW) and Charlie Sofo (VIC). Video artist, Angelica Mesiti’s work featured in NEW12 consists of four large screen video installations, filmed in numerous international locations. Katie Lee’s work “explores the relationship between the body and its environment via the mediating structures that shape our movement through space”. Specialising in sculpture, performance and installation, Katie’s NEW12 work consists of projections of choreographed movements that appear throughout the ACCA galleries. Also focusing on sculpture, installation, video and performance, Bennett Miller is interested in exploring the use of live animals in his practice. In NEW12 he has re-created Berlin Zoo’s monkey enclosures. Kate Mitchell has re-created a new office-style of Morse code that involves pulling vertical blinds up and down. A conversation between two neighbouring office workers via their blinds has been filmed and presented for NEW12. Charlie Sofo is fascinated by the small actions of everyday life. Charlie’s daily activity of “walking areas we often take for granted” is featured in his video and sculpture works for NEW12 - www.accaonline.org.au
If you missed Emily Jones’ article, Room for Further Excavation in our April issue, don’t miss Counihan Gallery’s group exhibition, Cut with the Kitchen Knife, which finishes on 13 May. Featured artists include: Christian Capurro, Simon Evans, Elizabeth Gower, Mandy Gunn, Deborah Kelly, Nicholas Mangan, Stuart Ringholt, Joan Ross and Heather Shimmen. Exploring the notion of “cut and paste”, these nine artists have used collage to “cut up their world and rearrange it as a way of reimagining, or shedding light on, the society we live in”. The exhibition has been curated by Emily Jones, who observes that there is a common thread that connects many of the artists. “It’s the artist’s natural disposition to store objects until they become useful…most of the artists who use collage are obsessive hoarders,” says Jones. Fascinated by this medium, Jones believes that collage “can be quite satirical in nature, but it retains its ability to bring harmony to the juxtapositions.” It also “has ability to reflect and reconfigure contemporary life and that’s what makes it so potent.” - www.moreland.vic.gov.au/gallery
It was the Swinging Sixties and the conservative days of the 50s were a distant memory. Popular culture ruled and names such as Jean Shrimpton and The Beatles rolled off every hipster’s tongue. Enter a new generation of fashion photographers: Terrence Donovan, David Bailey and Brian Duffy, who “rewrote the rule book on fashion photography”. This month, Monash Gallery of Art’s exhibition Notorious: Duffy’s celebrity portraits showcases a selection of Brian Duffy’s portraits, drawn from the Duffy Archive in Britain. Duffy’s interest in fashion photography was roused when he worked as a fashion illustrator at Harper’s Bazaar during the 1950s. The Sunday Times newspaper published his first photographs and he was ‘discovered’ as a photographer when he started working for British Vogue in 1957. Duffy’s photography career continued until 1979, encompassing a variety of genres, including fashion, portraiture, advertising and reportage. Sadly, Duffy abandoned his photography career abruptly and burnt most of his negatives. Notorious is comprised of images from the archive that have been sourced from negatives and contact sheets from newspapers, magazines and remaining material from Duffy’s personal collection. Runs until 13 May. - www.mga.org.au
Manningham Gallery annually celebrate National Reconciliation Week with an exhibition featuring contemporary Victorian Indigenous artists. This year’s four featured artists include: Robyne Latham, Anna Liebzeit, Steven Rhall and Peter Waples Crowe. Don’t miss the exhibition floor talks running in conjunction with the show: artists Steven Rhall and Anna Liebzeit will discuss contemporary indigenous arts in Melbourne on 26 May and 28 May respectively. Runs from 23 May – 16 June. - www.manningham.vic.gov.au
The Atrium Project: Filling The Void is an exciting initiative organised by the Incinerator Gallery. The project is comprised of an exhibition program designed to turn “barren spaces into energetic and invigorating places” by “bringing the Walter Burley Griffith heritage building to life”. Richard Ennis, Incinerator Gallery curator says, “The West hasn’t got much in terms of public galleries, so this project coupled with our upcoming curated exhibition program will give visitors this side of the river another great location for experiencing Australian art in one of Melbourne’s most historically significant pieces of modernist style architecture, the Walter Burley Griffin Incinerator.” This May, check out Hatchlings - a bronze-based floor installation from renowned sculpture and installation artist, Ewen Coates. Ennis explains that “We’re not only filling the void that is a result of the architecture of the building, but filling the void with good quality art and thought provoking exhibitions, currently lacking in the West and North-Western suburbs of Melbourne.” Hatchlings runs until 13 May. - www.incineratorgallery.com.au
Courtney Symes