Women in Art: Women only at GOMA
By Lauren Treiser Firstly, I must confess that I have not visited the Contemporary Australia: Women exhibition myself. However, when I heard about it, I just could not resist writing about it. It is an absolute doozy with 56 female artists presenting their paintings, sculpture, photography, installations, textiles, video and performance. Margaret Pomeranz from At the Movies has also curated a stellar film program which Nathania Gilson blogged about right here on CWC.
There is an excellent interview on Radio National with the curator and some of the artists which begins by explaining the title: ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’. Apparently the show isn’t just about gender but about Australia through the eyes of women. There is currently a lot of discussion surrounding women in the boardroom and and so according to Julie Ewington (curator), it seemed like a crucial moment to take stock of what female artists are doing in Australia.
Kate Mitchell
Being Punctual (2012)
Video
Image from GOMA
They have utilized the entire building, including the exterior! Kate Mitchell’s video, Being punctual, is projected onto the glass window of the building. An emblem of guts, courage and action; this piece would definitely stop passers-by in their tracks.
Gosia Wlodarczak
Window Shopping, frost drawing for GOMA 2012
Performative drawing, pigment marker on glass
Image from GOMA
Then when you reach the doors, the viewer is confronted with the next artwork. Gosia Wlodarczak, a Polish artist who has lived and worked in Australia for the past 15 years, focuses on drawing. Her practice extends beyond typical drawing to different disciplines such as installation, animation and sound.
In Window Shopping, Wlodarczak draws directly onto the glass doors of the museum reacting to what is going on around her. This means that the outcome is not predetermined and is as much of a surprise to the artist as it is to the audience. The process of drawing on glass brings together and separates the audience from the artist through the transparent barrier.
Hiromi Tango
X chromosome (detail) 2012
Site-specific work commissioned for ‘Contemporary Australia: Women’
Image from Radio National
Hiromi Tango being interviewed by Radio National
Image from Radio National
As you walk past the inscribed doors the next thing you see is a huge mushroom cloud that reaches all the way to the ceiling. Japanese artist, Hiromi Tango, has created an interactive soft sculpture made from ropes of fibers and clothes. Within the material, one can find objects. Tango encourages people to bring along an object that triggers a memory and tie it to the sculpture making it full of stories and emotions.
Ruby Tjangawa Williamson
Punu 2011
Synthetic polymer paint on linen
Image from GOMA
There is a significant inclusion of Aboriginal artists in the exhibition with a group of seven major paintings by women of the Amata community (in North Sydney). The work is about remembering and came about because of a community tragedy. They lost the boy that they thought was going to be their next leader in a road accident. The boy’s mother is one of the artists.
Fiona Hall
Fly away home
Image by Sarah Truong
There is something for the kids too. GOMA has worked alongside Fiona Hall to create an interactive installation for kids entitled ‘Fly away home’. Kids can create their own birds and nests from shredded American money and ripped newspaper and add it to the installation. This piece alludes to urbanization and the demise of the natural world. Even though this is meant for the kids, I want a turn!
Brown Council
Performance fee 2012
Video, installation and performance
Image via Brown Council
I just have to tell you about one more: Brown Council, the collaborative practice of four Sydney-based artists presents Performance Fee, where the artists sit blindfolded on stools against a backdrop that reads: “KISSES $2”. Just like the old fashioned kissing booths found at local fairs, the audience is invited to participate becoming part of the work itself. Anyone for a kiss?
Doesn’t this exhibition just sound incredible! I am hoping to find a cheap ticket online and visit GOMA for the day and I suggest you do the same. See you there hopefully.
Contemporary Australia: Women 21 April – 22 July 2012 Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Free entry
Lauren is graphic designer and founder of patchyrugs.com.au. She loves all things design (see her blog at blog.ilovelollies.net) and is particularly passionate about fine art, interior design and jewellery. Lauren is currently studying Gold & Silversmithing and doing graphic design on a freelance basis.
Women in Art: Colour Magic
by Lauren Treiser Although the Melbourne Fashion Festival is over for another year, you can still get your fashion fix at the NGV for the next few months. You may just need your sunnies indoors for this one!
Linda Jackson: Bush Couture
On display at the NGV; Image from National Gallery of Victoria
Although Linda Jackson is an Aussie icon, NGV’s Ian Potter Centre is only now presenting her first major retrospective. Linda Jackson Bush Couture includes 35 pieces, which highlights the designer’s love of the Australian landscape and indigenous culture. These elements inspired her fashion label from 1974 – 1992. Jackson worked closely with the NGV to realize this exhibition and I was lucky to hear her speak. She is doing a few floor talks so maybe you can still catch her.
Vibrant is the perfect word to describe Jackson’s aesthetic. She certainly has a flare for the most striking use of colour and layering. One of the pieces has 15 layers to it! Luckily Jackson explained that you don’t have to wear them all at once!
Jackson’s story is a creative journey filled with friends who were on a similar path. In the 1970s Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson began to forge a unique vision of Australian dress, one that looked beyond the mainstream for inspiration. Jackson sold her dresses through their 'frock salon', Flamingo Park, in Sydney. Flamingo Park was renowned for what was reported as Sydney's most sensational fashion events, the annual Flamingo Follies parades.
Jackson experimented - she wore her own clothes and made-to-order. She would photograph her pieces in the setting they were inspired by. Jackson even gave friends her garments when they travelled so she could get fabulous shots insitu.
Image from National Gallery of Victoria
Journey to the red centre; Image from National Gallery of Victoria
Jackson initially worked with vintage prints. She travelled extensively around Australia, living and working with indigenous communities. This is where she learnt traditional textile techniques and brought the colours and patterns of the Australian flora and fauna into her work. She then moved onto screenprinting her own material. Once she did that, she simplified her patterns to the point that all she did was cut a hole for the head. This way she didn't loose much of the pattern. These became her signature kimono style garments. She also worked with applique, hand painting and patchwork. Her pieces have a sense of playfulness to them.
She only made very few of each garment as she didn't want a lot of the same out there and always wanted to move on to her next idea. Linda Jackson certainly had foresight though – so much so that she decided to ‘collect’ herself. She kept her important pieces and that has that paid off now.
My favourite part of the talk was when Jackson showed us material she had printed. Most of it influenced by the black opal with vibrant colours coming through black. As well as being a fashion designer Linda is an artist who draws and paints. She is now using a lot of these drawings to digitally create patterns for scarves that are being sold exclusively at the NGV. They are very beautiful! Her patterns have also been used for wrapping paper and rugs. One can see how Jackson influences current labels such as Romance Was Born with her outlandish colours and prints.
Unlike most previous displays at the gallery, the garments are out on open display allowing the viewer to observe the intricate details of each garment. We were told that the upcoming Napoleon exhibit stole the display cases but all the better for us!
Linda Jackson: Bush Couture 26 January 2012 - 9 September 2012 The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square Level 2
Lauren is graphic designer and founder of patchyrugs.com.au. She loves all things design (see her blog at blog.ilovelollies.net) and is particularly passionate about fine art, interior design and jewellery. Lauren is currently studying Gold & Silversmithing and doing graphic design on a freelance basis.
Women in art: Curious colour
CCP (Centre for Contemporary Photography) in Fitzroy was my first stop for this month. I have always been meaning to visit this gallery and I was pretty excited to discover this brilliant space housed in an unassuming white building. The gallery has been going for more than 25 years and in 2005 CCP relocated to purpose built premises designed by Melbourne architect, Sean Godsell. CCP has five exhibition spaces, including a Night Projection Window. This window is lit up at night and can be seen from George and Kerr Streets. What a great idea for viewing art after dark!
The current exhibition, Wall of Seahorsel features two series by New Zealand artist, Yvonne Todd.
Seahorsal is the artist’s newer series of large scale photographs. Men and women are portrayed wearing flesh coloured unitards performing dance moves. It is all quite strange and definitely left me feeling uneasy. The actions are quite illogical and made me think of these people as being part of a futuristic community of sorts carrying out rituals related to their beliefs.
Her next series of large scale photographs, The Wall of Man (2009), in comparison seemed so mundane. The Wall of Man features portraits of senior businessmen (who are in fact amateur models that Todd hired) posed in the obligatory tie and suite. Smiling back at the camera makes for a very ‘typical’ businessman portrait, however after viewing Seahorsel, I was searching to find something a bit off about these otherwise ‘normal’ images.
I love how the artist and curator planned it so the viewer feels a certain way about the work just by hanging the photographs in a specific order.
This gallery is well worth a visit and they have lots on offer with regular talks, classes and even a reading room.
Denise Green: Wonder: The Rainbow
My next stop was into the city to see Denise Green’s installation, Wonder: The Rainbow at Arc One Gallery. Green is an Australian-American artist and writer based in New York City who was awarded the Order of Australia in 2007.
In her current exhibition Green has created an installation of layered colour arcs. Clusters of these colour swatches are placed around the space. One of her works is made up of 135 individual pieces, which spans an entire wall of the gallery. The title of the exhibition, Wonder: The Rainbow, suggests that inspiration was taken from nature’s most wondrous spectrum. Green also references it in the fan-like shape she uses in her collages. The repetition of the shapes and the sheer number of the works gives the colour study a scientific feel, which I think is at odds with the exhibition’s title. Green is certainly a master of colour.
My favourite part of this exhibition were detailed miniature sketches showing how the pieces would all fit together in the space. Imagine the hours spent on figuring out how to hang the 135 pieces so they work harmoniously!
Is it a coincidence that the artist’s name is a colour? I think not! Although Green’s exhibition has ended in Melbourne she has a show coming up in Queensland at Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Bowen Hills in March. Green also has a new publication, An Artist’s Odyssey, which is both an autobiography and an investigation into the theoretical ideas that have shaped her painting over the past 40 years. I was previously unaware of Green’s work but as you can tell she is a prolific Australian artist who has successfully made a career overseas.
(It is also worth mentioning that if you head down to Arc One Gallery definitely have a look into the stock room – it is a real treat!)