.....and yes i somehow did manage to do three exhibitions in an afternoon! Not sure how??.... I guess it helped that all three shows were a few blocks from each other - but I was even surprised how I motored through them!
The first was the National Art School Gallery where they were hosting the 58th Blake Prize 2009.... and boy was it a strange show! I mean I'm sort of used to getting a mixed bag of lollies when seeing the Blake as it is the prize for works that explore the religious and spiritual in art - but this year the judges of Del Kathryn Barton, Andrew frost + Stephen Crittenden really out did themselves, as each work they chose for the finals seemed to fill the historical catalogue of art movements.... until everyone was covered! I don't think the installation helped - but as I walked through the 2 floors of the gallery I started to fly through it all as nothing really engaged me... I was not able to get into a flow and enjoy each work as they seemed to all meld together.....from video, to drawing, to sculpture, to tapestry!
I guess that's an open prize for you...
Initially ... what impressed me was the photography on the first floor ... The photography in this show seemed to be the middle ground between multimedia works and painting, creating a link for all the works to somehow work together.
And two of my favourites were ...
Michelle Sakaris' : Fasting from Colour for 40 days 2009 which was a montage of small still life images of what she ate over this fast from colour! ... and the small image from
Nathaniel Kiwis' : Prayers on the Westinghouse 2009 which again was a montage of still life images which depicted the quiet reflections of one persons spiritual life through the little notes and images pinned on a kitchen fridge...
Beautiful big abstract by Michael Cusack 'Polar' 2009
As for painting/drawing there were a few good works...
Guy Maestri {the winner of the Archibald was there}, along with Adam Cullen and Jasper Knight who always try to shake things up and be alittle controversial....
...a work by Paul Jackson called The Tohunga 2009 was extremely well painted even though it was a close look alike to the paintings by NZ artist Goldie...
....there was a lovely sketch series by
Tom Carment called Angel by the Sea 2009 one of the only drawings in the show!...
....but it had to be the work of Michael Cusack called Polar 2009 that i loved! It was abstract, gestural and quietly painted in a beautiful tonal palette that fit the brief for the show....
And for the winner...
Controversially it was a 10 minute video piece by Angelica Mesiti called Rapture { silent Anthem} 2009 . The judges praised the piece for its beauty, emotional intensity and technical skill - as it depicts a sea of faces at a dance festival as they sing, dance, sweat and cry while ensconced in the mosh pit! And - yes - it does depict the joy , ecstasy + intensity of youth as they pray at their version of an alter. It is shot in a very reverential way - but I did find that there was one thing missing.... and that was the noise! The work was alittle too quiet on the wall and I know it was trying to create an air of drama with no sound and slow visuals but it missed the mark for me in that respect...
Anyway - its food for thought...
Mulling it over in my tiny head...
I then walked down the street to Liverpool st gallery for the solo show of new works by
Stephen Harvey... Stephen was a COFA student a few years back and fell in love with the drawing trips to the outback ... as we all did! This fascination with the shapes, colours and textures of the outback has now become the central preoccupation of Stephens work and his new exhibition takes him to Kakadu...
The works are bold, strong, and extremely colourful that these images do not do the paintings any real justice. I loved the way he used hand made paper + Indian powdered pigments in the drawings, and the texture of all the paint built up of the surfaces of the canvases is so so beautiful... I really liked this show and am interested to see where he goes to next...
And then I was off....
for the final stop on this whistle stop tour of the darlo galleries ... to
Watters gallery for the drawings of
Tony Tuckson. Tuckson is alittle bit of a hero of mine and so I was eager to see these sketches. Raw and exploratory... these little works give an insight into this shy + closeted artist that hid is work away for most of his life...
Watters gallery has been slowly bringing out all these diary works for us to see... and for someone like me that likes art to sometimes be raw and unedited it is a joy to be in this little world filled with pencil marks and water colour brushstrokes...
So ..yes... tired tiny but i loved it!...
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