r e d s p e c t r u m

Im back doing one of my favourite things.
Collecting colour.
And his time it's through the red spectrum -
which is not a place I usually gravitate toward.
But there is something alluring about it.

I love its intensity, its warmth, its resonance with nature.
For me red means Earth - the base and grounding of all things.
Its a beautiful colour to find in nature - from the changing of the leaves in the Autumn trees, to the rich ochre's that the Indigenous peoples use to paint and mark themselves and their artworks with.

There are a lot of books written about red - and its meaning within different cultures around the globe. From lust, love, celebration, marriage, religion and revolution.
It truly is a colour with many interpretations and resonances.

From now until February Ill be dreaming, playing and getting by hands dirty with red pigment for a new exhibition project that opens in early March.

This will be interesting....

Bridget Kennedy's  'Choice Mate - Site 5' beeswax,
pigment soil and found object installation
@ North Sydney Art Prize 2017

Autumn colours
Northbridge Sydney 

Beautiful Jewellery art piece from
Bulay (i), Buku Larrnggay Mulka Artists
with Indigenous Jewellery Project
@ Australian Design Centre Sydney 

Quiet moment on a very busy Burano Island
Venice 

APT8 arrives in Brisbane

As you can see from this amazing image by Australian artist Danie Mellor (above) Ive been out and about seeing some beautiful work over the weekend in Brisbane - as the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial has just opened. The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) and the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) have been taken over by some amazing contemporary artists. And believe me - two days was just enough! 

The APT is such a brilliant and unique exhibition and The Queensland Arts has to be commended for their brave move to continue investing in this initiative to find, cultivate, support, and acquire artworks from countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Mongolia, New Caledonia and every country in between. The collection of works they present is always interesting, diverse and completely thought provoking. 

Ive just been to Venice to see the Biennale this year and I swear I saw more eclectic and engaging work in Brisbane with this Triennial than I did in Italy. The work this time focused on some key areas such as kinetic energy, issues of personal identity, the environment, displacement and globalisation. 

The one phrase I wrote down when I entered the foyer space at GOMA this year was....

'Public space + collective experience' 

and I think that's what all the works were really about. 

Protest, sharing of information, and a want of acceptance and acknowledgement of our histories - both past and present. 

Great show.

I didnt take many pics but here are a few that made it onto my phone.

Massive mural charcoal drawing by Indian artist Prabhakar Pachpute in the GOMA foyer
created in a couple of days before the exhibition opened

Min Thein Sungs amazing sculptural installation at GOMA.
He is from Myanmar and this work was all about the oppression in his country
and how people made their own toys using everyday materials

Mural drawing in the Queensland Art Gallery by an Indian artist

This amazing multimedia installation by Nicolas Mole (Kanak Peoples/New Caledonia)
was one of my favourite artworks.
It was made in collaboration with artists and performers from New Caledonia

My mate Amelia taking photos of the massive installation of 1000 Venetian blinds
that was in the Queensland art gallery waterfall foyer
by artist Haegue Yang (South Korea)

It was hard to take pics of these stunning photos by Taloi Havini + Stuart Miller
that represent the Hako people and the environmental concerns of  Bougainville.
I loved this series of works...

Amazing SaVage K'lub created by New Zealand artist Rosanna Raymond

A couple of pics of the HUGE installation of paintings, sculptures, drawings and everything else in between ...
by three artists - Ramin Haerizadeh (Iran/UAE), Rokni Haerizadeh (Iran/UEA), Hesam Rahmanian (USA,UEA)
The whole thing was mad, absurd, DADA and funny...

Beautiful work by Joe Ngallametta in QAG.
It wasnt a part of the Triennial but I loved it anyway

Three galleries in three months and three times ive found the work of Vincent Namadjira exhibited!
This man's work is going to be huge! 

Had to finish with this colouring in table at QAG
Amelia and I spent a little while here creating patterns with the other kids and parents at the gallery
The program is events of kids at the Asia Pacific Triennial is always brilliant! 

o n e

One moment.
One colour that dominants the November sky.
One image to remember the month.
One story to reintroduce myself back to this tiny blog.

Its been a while...
x

Venice art binge

I came. I saw. I drank it ALL in.

Venice every two years becomes an art lovers paradise - and if you're lucky enough to experience the pleasures of Venice while completely draped with art from across the world then you are a truly lucky person indeed.

This year I was able to spend five days walking, thinking, exploring and playing in Venice...

and have to say it was truly amazing.

The 56th Venice Biennale curated by Okwui Enwezo entitled All the Worlds Futures was a smorgasbord of colours, ideologies, textures and technologies - and it took me two days to fully devour it all. Some of my favourite National pavilions in The Giardini were the Australian, the Japanese, the French, the English and the Dutch. And Ive got a few photos of those pavilions to share. 

But what I truly loved was all the off site shows that were scattered around the city like gold dust. You needed a map and alot of energy and patience to see them all - and believe me - I only managed to find a handful of them. But the hunt was worth the effort. Each time Id find an exhibition down a dark alleyway I always felt like I had achieved a tiny victory... and that the complicated network of Venetian streets hadnt beaten me!

Two other non Biennale exhibitions that I loved were Paradise : a solo exhibition of Cy Twombly's work, and Proportio: an incredibly detailed and poetic group show that was exhibited in the Palazzo Fortuny. Both left me completely inspired and excited, as they were so special and so incredibly unique. 

I know we are lucky enough to have some great galleries and exhibitions here in Australia but seeing these shows in a city like Venice felt like a gift. 

I hope you enjoy these few photos I have from my trip in June...

Chiharu Shiota, The Key in the Hand, installation, Japanese Pavillion

Fiona Hall, Wrong Way Time, installation, Australian Pavillion 

Woven pieces by The Tjampi Desert Weavers
- part of Fiona Hall's artwork installation in the Australian Pavillion 

Revolutions by Celeste Boursier-Mougenot in the French Pavillion

One of two amazing sculptural pieces by Jaume Plensa (Barcelona) entitled Together
that was installed in the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore on the Island of San Giorgio

This was the second sculpture by Jaume Plensa that was in the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore.
This steel hand looked like it was floating about the Nave

The first room of the Proportio exhibition in the Palazzo Fortuny -
curated by Axel Vervoordt & Daniela Ferretti.
Blew my mind!!

Anish Kapoor installation

Lucia Bru installation entitled Aerocubes (2015)

Art and wall textures merge!
Painting by Kees Goudzwaard called Build Up (2014)

Two beautiful Cy Twombly paintings
from his solo exhibition at Ca' Pesaro Museo in Venice. 

Posters line the streets of Venice letting you know that you are surrounded by art art art!!

b u r a n o

Island Life. Burano. Italy

Its sunny, its Monday, and it feel like the perfect time to celebrate the start of Spring with some colour... 

Actually... LOTS of colour. 

Over the years Ive been lucky enough to travel to Venice a few times. 

So on this years trip to Europe I knew I wanted to see the Biennale but I also wanted to experience some unfamiliar parts of the city. 

And that's not a hard thing to do as Venice is incredibly complex and diverse city - with over a hundred islands on the lagoon, each with its own unique character. 

So besides seeing a million exhibitions for the Venice Biennale, I took a few vaporetti rides out onto the lagoon to explore. And my favourite trip, by FAR, was my day on the island of Burano.

I felt like I was home. 

The colours, the textures, the slower pace to life, the friendly locals, the history and the craftsmanship of the lace-makers who live on the island. 

It all made for an amazing experience. 

I just hope my images do the place justice?! 

Perfection.

abandoned but beautiful.

Every window box was immaculate and lovely

venezia

Ahhhh... Venice.

Everything that people say about this tourist mecca is true.

Its complicated, and so are the locals.

The place is full of history, beautiful details, money, and a whole of secrets and hidden treasures that you can only dream about. Its packed with tourists, and people who want to help them spend their dollars. Its an expensive place, and yet the best things are free. Its full of art, food, culture - and invariably you will find music playing in the background wherever you walk.

Its a perfect expression of Italy itself. 

Its contradictory, frustrating and its bloody amazing all at the same time. 

On this trip I was focused on seeing as much of The Venice Biennale as possible. 

But I also took a day trip to Murano and Burano. 

And that has to be a separate post - as Burano was one of the most amazing places that Ive ever visited!  

But today its all about Venice itself.... and the walks and Vaporetti rides I took along the grand canal. I hope you enjoy them...

every back alley is a painting... 

Graffiti, flowers, water fountain and a lot of lovely wall details...
near the university

The Grand canal after the rain...

The textures of Murano Isola

Flowers everywhere and beautiful rich ochre coloured hotels and Palazzi

Down the end of my street this was the view that I was lucky enough to enjoy.
Such a beautiful sunset...