Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery - EMSLA

So we set off to Coffs Harbour to cover the annual still life painting award, the EMSLA.

My Mum got shortlisted so it was a big one.

This was the third EMSLA I had been to and to be honest, while being the best show yet (the fantastic John R Walker won the thing and did I mention my mum being in it?) it just seemed a little bit like organised fun ... over produced ...

Like it's just an art prize guys.

The security on the door for the entry tickets(?), the officious volunteers throwing people out so a dinner can be set up ... the BELLY DANCERS?????????? The outdoor simulcast... it all got a bit much ...

It's worth seeing though .... Loved the Valadons and the John R Walker is a stand out choice to win ... it must be odd to win an aquisitive prize worth 15 000 bucks with a painting priced at $16 000


Until January 4th
Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery

Ray Hughes Gallery - Lucy Culliton

With Jimmy on holidays, I'm left holding the mantle for a good THREE weeks!!!

And most excited about being invited by a close friend to this show and meeting Lucy for the first time.

I do love a good landscape show, sorry that should have said "fantastic landscape show"!

Lucy's painting's gave me the feeling as if I was there breathing in the fresh country air. With her descriptive seasonal changes and getting all excited when it snowed the first time, yes I understand I probably would have done the same thing. The need to capture a moment in time is of the up most importance in a painter's life. The flurry and excitement and anxiety, with smiley faced dogs in toe to help move things along, gave her great haste. To produce an abundance of beautiful paintings.

I could gush forever over these works!

23rd October - 18th November 2009
www.rayhughesgallery.com

Royal Hall of Industries - Art Sydney

What can we say? We had a LOT of fun. We caught up with a LOT of people. We walked past a lot of art... and we saw a couple of things that we liked.

It's hard to tell exactly what the purpose of Art Sydney is. It seems that the galleries that purchase stands think that it will elevate their status, to put them on the same level as the big boys. Unfortunately the big players don't go to the expense or trouble.

As one of our favourites explained a week or two before "We'd rather put the money into advertising our own individual shows, that way it lasts all year and has a far better result." and she'd have to be right. Art magazines sit on coffee tables for years. Art Sydney lasts a weekend...

BUT having said that, the overall sameness of most of the stands made a few folk REALLY stand out. Loved Lyndall Hargraves work (well most of the work at the Geomancer stand) and there was some great stuff in the "Off the wall" section...

The lovely Janice McCulloch, we had a great catch up ... the irrepressible Christopher Coogan ... the delightful Scott Petrie and we made dozens of new friends...

22nd October - 25th October 2009
artsydney09.com.au
www.art-almanac.com.au
www.lyndalhargrave.com
www.geomancerdesign.com
www.galleryat28.com.au
www.aamr.com.au

James Dorahy Project Space - Ali Noble

With Jimmy covering another show, I walked into an exhibition that could very easily brighten a dark cave.

The works glowed in fluro colours which enticed the viewer into making them objects of desire.
Felt assemblage paintings almost depicting circular landscapes bursting from there frames.

I loved the hanging piece wafting in the breeze. Ali's choice of colours delighted my senses and if it hadn't been a rather hot day I would have worn my hot pink tights.

20th October - 8th November 2009
www.jamesdorahy.com.au

Gallery 9 - Locust Jones

Ink! Yay for ink!...

Moments of glorious inky goodness are crammed in this very busy show...

A very cool highlight is the major piece, spilling around the room it's subject matter going from politics to quoting ska record covers... it is a real treat ...

Ink, glorious Ink!

These large continuous works reminded me of another artist Robert Francis Williams who was part of The Happenings in the early 70's (a group of artists from the National Art School) He use to paint 18ft paintings based on physics and politics.

Oh and Gallery 9 has the most stylish toilet in town...

21st October - 7th November 2009
www.gallery9.com.au

King Street Gallery on William - Shona Wilson

A striking new crowd this time around which made us feel a little bit lost, but we came back to big welcoming smiles from the wonderful Gallery staff.

Shona's work took us back to our childhood, when we would collect everything including the tiniest stick from the local park and strip it bare of any leaves...

These are the most intimate in detail, of the smallest fragment of a tiny species. Put together with painstaking perfection to create something of such beauty that made you almost to scared to breathe....

And not to forget the most beautiful framing we have not seen in some time ... who is the framer?

20th October - 14th November 2009
www.kingstreetgallery.com.au

Iain Dawson Gallery - Leonardo Cremonese

It's great to get to Iain's Gallery when we can, so far we haven't been disappointed.

Although it's sometimes hard to actually speak to the artist, so this time we had to rely on our instincts. These works were interesting, not entirely sure of the story behind them! But Leonardo has spent time in Charlie Sheards presence.

We so loved the red painting with it's blurred bullet hole effect...

Oh and thanks to Iain for the tickets to Art Sydney!

20th October - 31st October 2009
iaindawson.com

Roslyn Oxley9 - Angela Brennan, Tatzi Nishi & Teppei Kaneuji

Nice surprise to see the lower gallery space open. Tatzi's are really funny works, James hit his head on one wondering what the hell it was. All was revealed in the stockroom ...

Amazing drawings quoting AGNSW sculptures and you've got to love a tofu Buddha (with soy sauce).

Now upstairs ... it looked really busy... then as we walked into the main gallery we realised that everyone was standing around the bar. Now let's be frank, once you've looked at these paintings you've seen them.

Gallery 2 had Teppei Kaneuji's tower animation, funny in a Monty Pythonesque kind of way. More interesting are the finely drawn biro drawings pinned behind the main desk.

15th October - 7th November 2009
www.roslynoxley9.com.au

MOP Projects - Drew Bickford & Nana Ohnesorge

We don't often get to MOP openings ... there's usually something on closer and we are lazy.

We had to go to Nana's though.

Nana's Collages and Sculptures, are like being amongst the ruins of a make believe Versailles with splatterings of paint across intricate found object sculptures and collages of rococo-esque images framed accordingly.

Drew's Mongrel drawings are good and evil fighting for supremacy in a kinda hippy, kinda trippy way. Technically striking, enhanced by being presented on a black wall. There's a lot to look at in each of the works and they leave you feeling that you just might have missed out on something important, so you have to look more.

It's also nice to see a little colour coming into the work...But not too much!

MOP attracts the well behaved and polite young art punter.

15th October - 1st November 2009
www.mop.org.au

Tim Olsen Gallery - Guy Maestri

Always a good crowd at Olsen's

Yum ... watch the video ... we gush enough ... four days later and this show is still wedged in our heads.

13th October - 1st November 2009
www.timolsengallery.com

Members Pavillion, Sydney Cricket Ground - Cricket Art Prize

Ok, Jimmy is a finalist with a brilliant painting, I really love it.

It was a very interesting but wonderful show full of many surprises and I learnt something about Cricket. It's all about the members stand. A beautiful piece of architecture sitting grandly on it's foundations overlooking a pristeen pitch which I had to touch.

They welcomed us with open arms and served up an elegant experience, one that I will cherish for some time. I'll definately be entering the prize next year, just ran out of time this year.

We both caught up with the ever so charming John McDonald who parted with a bit of gossip.

I do believe the highlight of the evening was being given permission to walk the field and boy did we walk it...



8th October - 25th October 2009
www.publisherscup.org.au

Australian Galleries - Roylston - A sculpture by ...

It wasn't me Stuart ...

With Fleur at the opera it was up to me to carry the mantle and cover Australian Galleries sculpture show.

There's soooooo much work in this show with something to please everyone ... well perhaps too much work because while walking around you tend to get a bit blase about it all. It's a bit "Oh ... another sculpture ..."

Good crowd including Kerrie Lester, Rodney Pople and Pam Tippet. We're looking forward to catching up with Pam and Cal in Coffs Harbour for the EMSLA prize.

Apparently Michael Snape was there but he must have been hiding from me...

It's not really a show that you can take in at an opening, more one that you spend a quiet hour at late some afternoon.

6th October - 24th October
australiangalleries.com.au

Damien Minton Gallery - Matt Coyle

Enter the strange world of Matt Coyle. Decomposing bodies in suburban backyards. Macabre doll deaths. Crimes unimaginable and unexplained... it's all good fun.

We loved the skull dress and met some great people.

Another highlight of the evening was hijacking Jason Martin's car (of Flinder St Gallery), at the traffic lights and demanding he drive us part of the way back to Darlinghurst, which he did.

It was so thoughtful of Damien Minton to throw Fleur a birthday party.

30th September - 17th October 2009
www.damienmintongallery.com.au