National Art School Postgraduate Exhibition helps launch the careers of more than fifty emerging artists

The National Art School Postgraduate Exhibition 2015 celebrates and showcases the achievements of more than fifty graduating students from the Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) and Master of Fine Art. The exhibition will be on show from 30 October until 7 November at the NAS Gallery in Sydney’s Darlinghurst.

The 2015 postgraduate cohort have reaped the benefits of the recent $8.7 million redevelopment of the National Art School’s state-of-the-art Postgraduate Centre. Now it’s time to enjoy one of the most anticipated events in the visual arts calendar, the National Art School Postgraduate Exhibition, offering the opportunity to see what our leading fine art students are creating and the chance to acquire these works directly from the studio.

Michael Snelling, National Art School Director, said, “The Exhibition is a platform for emerging artists to showcase their work to thousands of visitors including curators, collectors and gallerists.”

The Exhibition will feature a diverse and stimulating collection of artwork produced by graduates of the rigorous Master of Fine Art and Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) degree programs. Students can major in ceramics, drawing, painting, printmaking, photography or sculpture. 

Anna Schwartz Gallery presents new exhibition of work by Shaun Gladwell titled 'The Inspector of Tides'

The Inspector of Tides’ is appropriated from the second volume of work by the late Australian poet Michael Dransfield and provides the spiritual and conceptual framework for Shaun Gladwell’s exhibition. Rodney Hall has described Dransfield as an eclectic poet who was never interested in orthodox categories or even the larger interconnections within art and society. Instead, Dransfield was trying to open himself to ‘surprises’ through a wild and discursive range of interests and stylistic approaches. Gladwell finds an affinity with this rejection of a specific and singular signature, both in terms of medium and subject matter. If any methodology is employed in Gladwell’s recent works then it is an itinerant multi-media trans-national and trans-historical wandering: the present show was produced in London, Paris, Antwerp, Sydney and Perth. 

The work engages with material from the early 20th century with Hans Heysen, the 1930’s with the films of Cinesound and photographs of George Caddy, the 1970’s with Dransfield himself. The exhibition also features performances held within the last year by Gladwell and his collaborators. The work even makes projections into a distant future with the painting of a science fiction drone. The tide of the exhibition is historically and geographically expansive.

‘The Inspector of Tides’ is perhaps most literally depicted by Gladwell in a series of large scale photographs taken at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach. Since his childhood, Gladwell has returned to Bondi to receive inspiration. ‘Severed Heads‘ depicts a hand reaching out from the churning whitewash of a broken wave. The title describes both the mechanics of freshly cut flowers as ‘severed heads’ but also refers to the 1980’s Australian experimental band by the same name.

This exhibition is comprised of photographs, paintings, installation and video.

Fashion & Art explored in COLLECTION+: CHRISTIAN THOMPSON AT SCAF

Christian Thompson, one of Australia's most significant indigenous artists, will be the focus of a new exhibition presented Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation (SCAF) exploring the intersection of art and fashion through his cross-disciplinary work. Presented from October 23 until 12 December 2015, Collection+: Christian Thompson includes photography; sculpture, performance, film and video works that appropriate traditional Aboriginal iconography, often creating fashion-related imagery with original and compelling contemporary art results.  

Collection+: Christian Thompson is the fifth exhibition in the SCAF Collection+ series that incorporates key works from the Gene & Brian Sherman Collection alongside works loaned from major public and private collections worldwide. For this exhibition, works by Christian Thompson have also been borrowed from the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). A new sculptural work, All Revolutions are Led by the Young, 2013 will also be premiered as part of the exhibition.

The exhibition is curated by emerging Melbourne-based curator and lawyer Alana Kushnir, who has explored concepts of collection and ownership, questioning what it means to truly own or possess something. Kushnir has looked into concepts such as the extinction and rediscovery of indigenous languages and the appropriation of indigenous Australian material culture. Kushnir draws a connection between these questions and Thompson’s photographic series, We Bury Our Own, which has been selected from the 900 piece Gene & Brian Sherman Collection.

Naomi Milgrom Foundation launches second visionary MPavilion in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens

A major international architecture commission and design collaboration was unveiled today in Queen Victoria Gardens. MPavilion 2015 initiated by Naomi Milgrom Foundation is designed by AL_A, the studio of renowned British architect Amanda Levete. The second groundbreaking MPavilion employs materials and technology developed for the aerospace industry to create a graceful ‘forest canopy’ of five and three metre‐wide translucent petals supported on slender four metre‐high columns. Each petal is just a few millimetres thick and the resulting ultra-lightweight structure sits lightly in the landscape and gently responds to the climate. The petals are fitted with LED lights that are activated at sunset to give a light performance synchronised with music. 

MPavilion is presented free to the public over four months from 6 October 2015 until 7 February 2016 and populated by more than 200 free events, created in collaboration with more than 200 arts organisations, designers and architects from Melbourne and around the globe.

The MPavilion 2015 was officially opened by Martin Roth, Director of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and commemorated by a live performance by Yorta Yorta soprano Deborah Cheetham, overseen by MPavilion founder, Naomi Milgrom AO, Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Robert Doyle and commissioned architect Amanda Levete of award-winning British architecture studio AL_A. 

Kaldor Public Art Projects and Carriageworks present highly acclaimed French choreographer Xavier Le Roy

Kaldor Public Art Projects in collaboration with Carriageworks presents a groundbreaking new Project with world renowned choreographer Xavier Le Roy. Le Roy will develop a new exhibition Temporary Title, 2015, which will be informed by a series of open rehearsals and presented alongside three performances of Le Roy’s seminal solo work Self Unfinished.

Celebrated choreographer, performance artist and dancer Le Roy collaborates with Hong Kong based choreographer and dancer Scarlet Yu, and 18 Australian performers to develop and present this thought provoking exhibition Temporary Title, 2015, which premieres at Carriageworks on Friday 20 November 2015.

Le Roy has selected Australian performers from Melbourne and Sydney to collaborate closely in the development and presentation of this new work. A former molecular biologist, Le Roy brings a deep, critical, curiosity to his collaborative experimental process. Rather than instructing his performers to move using a specific technique, direction or tempo, he proposes ideas to be discussed and actualized in movement and form. In this new work, he invites the audience through a series of open rehearsals to participate in this unique process.

Le Roy’s 18 Melbourne and Sydney-based performers are drawn from a variety of ages, demographics, experience and performance backgrounds. They are: Natalie Abbott, Christine Babinskas, Geraldine Balcazar, Georgia Bettens, Eugene Choi, Matthew Day, Lauren Eiko, Peter Fraser, Ryuichi Fujimura, Alice Heyward, Becky Hilton, David Huggins, Marcus McKenzie, Kathryn Puie, Amaara Raheen, Darcey Wallace, Adam Warburton and Ivey Wawn.

First Australian edition of The Other art Fair attract over 8,000 in attendance

Sydney, Australia: The Other Art Fair launched for the first time in Sydney from 10 until 13 September, at Ambush Project Space, Central Park Chippendale. The launch event on Thursday 10 September saw 2,300 people attend, with an overall attendance of 8,400 for the four days. The audience welcomed the opportunity to meet and buy art direct from artists with 1,233 artworks sold, ranging from affordable prints from $49 to larger scale works of $12,000.

The selected artists, both emerging and undiscovered, showcased their work direct to the public at the Fair across four days, with mediums spanning installation, sculpture, mixed media, printmaking, painting, video works and photography. Participating artists were hand-picked by a selection committee of art experts including artist Mikala Dwyer, collector Dr Dick Quan, art advisor Virginia Wilson, curator Meg Robson and Paris Neilson.

The Other Art Fair 2015  succeeded in achieving its key objectives for artists; bringing them enhanced visibility within the art market, providing a platform for sales with collectors and the greater public and the opportunity to engage with gallery representatives and discuss the potential for future representation.  Sherna Teperson’s work was acquired as part of the Australian Government initiative Artbank and many artist initiated relationships with Australian galleries. 

Fair Director Emilya Colliver commented: “We are delighted with the outcome of the Fair. The introduction of this new interactive platform, that encourages collectors and the public alike to meet and engage with artists directly, generated a strong momentum and we look forward to the further of the Fair.” 

The Other Art Fair was established by Fair Director Ryan Stanier in London in November 2011 and has since presented eight successful editions in the United Kingdom, firmly establishing itself as London’s favourite alternative art event. The Fair’s unique premise of championing individual artists has earned it praise in the media as well as receiving considerable interest from some of London’s leading contemporary art galleries being regular visitors.  

Sydney Contemporary announces line-up for talks program and short film screenings

From L-R: Actress Rachel Griffiths, chef Adriano Zumbo, Romance Was Born design

Sydney Contemporary announced the full speaker line-up for Talk Contemporary, its series of free panel discussions presented from Wednesday 9 September to Sunday 13 September at Carriageworks.

The talks will explore topical and controversial themes in contemporary art with leading figures across a range of fields. Speakers include actress Rachel Griffiths; Art Gallery of NSW Director Dr Michael Brand; chef Adriano Zumbo; Romance Was Born designers Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett; and international gallerist Pearl Lam of Pearl Lam Galleries.

In addition to the Talk Contemporary series of discussions, Sydney Contemporary will present the debut and a screening of two short artistic films by artists Tracey Moffatt and Del Kathryn Barton. 

The Talk Contemporary program is free upon entry to the Fair, however bookings are essential given spaces are limited.