James Dorahy Project Space - Tracey Clement

What we have learnt from our parents, handed down from our parents and what our parents have taught us...

These works are a distorted view, a bit like some of Tracey’s earlier works, changing the way we see an object and an image, playing with what our eyes really perceive... Be it a work made of paper, metal, plastic or these embroidered pieces... It’s also what we want to see, what evokes a happy memory from our childhood, if your feeling blue than this is the show to put a smile on your dial, it offers up many happy childhood memories...

You can’t go past ‘Dog’, ‘Hammer-Head Shark Lady’, ‘Spotty Monster’, ‘Lizard Lady’ and ‘Bloopy Guy’, cotton embroidery on Irish linen, without smiling... Even ‘Ugly’ is funny!!!

The Praxinoscopes are a marvelous invention, hours of fun and frivolity since 1877, ‘Jumping Gecko Girl’, ‘Walking Dog’ and ‘Waving Lizard Lady’... Very affective in exercising the facial muscles and you do find yourself just wanting to spin them again and again...

The series of original drawings that date back to the 70’s by Tracey and her father are sensitive and funny once again and a real treat and before you go don’t forget to flip the Flipbooks!!!

Written by Fleur

17th May - 12th June 2011
www.jamesdorahy.com.au

Gallery 9 - Michael Taylor

Michael Taylor has developed a much more freer approach, more lively and less constrained in these newer works and his glorious use of colour obviously shows us he is so not afraid to use it!!! From the brooding ‘Banksia Night’, oil and oil stick on linen with it’s glistening full moon brightening the eerie landscape... To ‘Barragga Bay’, oil and oil stick on linen, crashing off the wall in a barrage of waves... ‘Sandfly Point’, oil and oil stick on linen is a real beauty, I felt myself just gazing into this one, it’s a little intense, soft and hard at the same time...

‘Sea Story’, oil and oil stick on linen is one of my favourites, awash with colour in a mesmerizing flurry of activity... ‘Change of Season’, oil and oil stick on linen, is a collection of blues to mark a seasonal change and is another of my favourites..

Michael has travelled a long and lengthy road and doesn’t look like he’s stopping, he’s the same age as my mother who also is going strong and I look forward to still be working this hard at his age... He has committed himself to a life time of Art, established a hefty reputation and shows no sign of hanging up his paint brushes any time soon...

Written by Fleur

18th May - 11th June 2011
www.gallery9.com.au

Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery - Group Show - Head On

Group Show - Destiny Deacon, Fiona Hall, Bill Henson, Tracey Moffatt, TV Moore, Julie Rrap and Anne Zahalka

With the Head On Photography Festival in full close up and so many galleries getting involved it was great to see this selection of ‘greats’ since I missed the opening. On entry ‘Outerspace’ digital print on archival rag paper by Julie Rrap is a testament to her ongoing
search within and outside the body, another extension of ‘Escape Artist’ maybe... Fiona Hall’s large Polaroid photographs of shiny metal reliefs of domestic objects are as pure as gold, beautiful representations of objects that you wouldn’t normally see in Aluminium...

Around the corner are a line of ‘Star’ portraits, ‘The Immortals’, archival pigment ink print, are not what you first think, I too had to do a double take, but these portraits are beautiful, Anna Zahalka has captured the true essence of the wax model, if I was a wax model I’d want to be photographed by Anna... With the Bill Henson ‘Untitled 1985/86 (Suburban/Egyptian) series, it’s his landscapes that get me every time and the intensity of his portraits, like they are burning holes in your eyes, they are very sensitive and beautiful...

Tracey Moffat’s ‘Scarred for life II 1999’, off set print, are also just as intense, tell tale reminders of childhood bullying and a painful adolescence, Tracey has been completely honest in her heart wrenching portrayal... ‘Urban Army Man (2000)’ 2 channel split signal DV/DVD, is quite mesmerising, I really loved the sound track, it felt like I just sat there watching for ages, well done... And Destiny Deacon’s, Lamba and light jet prints from Polaroid originals are another set of intense story lines, truthful, humorous and playfully vibrant...

This show is amazing, and well worth a visit or two or three...

Written by Fleur

6th May - 11th June 2011
www.roslynoxley9.com.au

Damien Minton Gallery - Elaine Campaner

Can you imagine a world without television, we would have artist’s interpretations of news worthy stories just like these and that would be perfect. I just fell in love with them the moment I saw them, brilliant representations of historical moments, the use of everyday and iconic objects and antiques is just wonderful, they are funny and serious and to the point and if you miss the point then you need to open your eyes...

I love them all but my 2 favourite’s would have to be ‘Sorry’, it’s very touching and her use of colour and composition makes it a very beautiful piece. ‘Australia Day #1(Ford Falcon XL8), has everything except for the kitchen sink, but it fits perfectly, perfect for Australia Day!!!

And another reason I love them is they are available in different sizes, what more could you want...

Written by Fleur

10th May - 28th May 2011
www.damienmintongallery.com.au

Barometer Gallery - October (1953)

An atomic wasteland as seen through the eyes by two great photographers. The more I see photos printed on Cotton Rag the more I love them, it gracefully enhances the image.

I finally got the chance to meet Paul Ogier and talk to him about his work, charming and ‘awesome’!!! I purchased one of his works with my ‘Rudd Money’ a couple of years ago and it too is awesome...

The sunshine was streaming in through the windows on this fine afternoon and complemented the work hanging on the walls and this gallery really lends it’s self to this process. ‘Clouds (Emu Field atomic test site)’ 2009, Fuji instant prints is the perfect introduction. ‘Highway (Emu Field atomic test site)’ 2010, pigment ink on cotton rag, is the blackness of the night, a dirt highway in the middle of nowhere and perfect in black and white and my favourite of Paul’s. ‘Charlie (South Australia)’ 2010, pigment ink on cotton rag, a ruin left from the testing, a remnant hanging on in a radioactive environment...

I’ve always been a bit of a fan of Catherine Rogers too, since first seeing her work at the Mori Gallery, and that giant Tasmanian tree photo is etched in my brain!!!

‘History landscapes (Emu Field)’ Arches Aquarelle paper, pigment ink, the third one in the set by Catherine Rogers is my favourite, it looks like a painting!!! The others are beautiful too, I love how there is more landscape than sky, it’s more of a detailed description of the land how it is now than what it once was...

Paul and Catherine have both photographed this dead land, this radioactive land, giving it an awakening and awakening something in themselves at the same time, these works are emotional and you are left wondering ‘are they safe from harm’!!!

Written by Fleur

4th May - 11th June 2011
www.barometer.net.au

Chalk Horse - Jasper Knight

The new Chalk Horse is an intimate setting and a stark contrast from where it use to be, but it’s great and I love it!!! It’s perfect... When you think about it, a gallery has walls and a front door, this new space, it may be much smaller than it’s original but it has walls and a front door... Easy!!!

I’d heard about ‘Sydney Boat Show’ for awhile now and was getting excited about finally seeing it and I wasn’t disappointed, those electric bold colours, broad brush strokes and dripping paint like incessant rain. Also love how the support is not just wood but a mix up of perspex and masonite which gives the works an added edge...

Just couldn’t decide which one I loved the most, I’m also a fan of seafaring vehicles be they tugs or yacht’s I can’t discriminate and paintings of boats, especially these ones!!!

Jasper has done it once again, keeping the post-Pop essence alive and well and making me an even bigger fan...

Written by Fleur

5th May - 18th June 2011
www.chalkhorse.com.au

King Street Gallery on William - Amanda Penrose Hart & John Turier

Be prepared for melodic farts and banana stuffed gnomes... These 2 shows are funny with works that make you interact and smirk...

How could anybody not like John Turier’s work, it’s light hearted and heavily serious at the same time and I’ve loved it from the first time I laid eyes on it. From those early bronze sculptures that people are still talking about and does anyone remember that giant drawing wheel from his last show... WOW!!! So my favourite’s from ‘Button & Box’ would have to be... all of them, sorry well most of them!!!

‘Christo’s first toy teddy (Garry)’, button, leather, cloth, string and wood, how can you go past this one. ‘Devil on my roof’, aluminum, canvas, timber, steel and reed, love these sounds, they make me want to cry and cry out loud. ‘Red note’, velum, pencil, steel, aluminum, timber and horn, this brings back sweet memories. ‘Epiphany’, timber, canvas, steel and reeds, with it’s melodic fart and if I were rich I’d have all the buttons too and lie them down on the floor in a cascade of buttons...

It’s all a play on feelings and how you feel an object that makes either a sound like a melodic fart or the last sorrowful cry of a lost animal... Don’t be afraid to turn the handle!!!

For as long as I have known Amanda I’ve loved her work, I have 7 of her works in my collection through swaps and gifts and wish I had more...

‘Going somewhere?’ oil on canvas, is a dark and brooding work and I’m a little bit worried about the gnomes in the back. ‘Robbed’ oil on canvas, it’s a common occurrence in the bush. ‘Over the hill’ oil on canvas, an uncommon occurrence is colour in Amanda’s work, especially a beautiful blue sky, so when you get to see it it’s a bit of an extra treat. I really love how the surface of the work looks like it’s been applied with a trowel and not your average pallet knife...

‘Toogoolawah 1,2,3 & 4’, oil on board, Toogoolawah means black snake and is the name of her property at Sofala and was also the name given by her father to the house Amanda grey up in. ‘Dawn’ oil on canvas, with it’s sweeping paint strokes and early light, the caravan looks like it’s blowing away...

I love Sofala and the surrounding area’s, but I have only been to Amanda’s property once, but when your out there it’s a whole new environment. The air is clearer and it’s so quiet.. The perfect studio!!!

Written by Fleur

3rd May - 28th May 2011
www.kingstreetgallery.com.au

Flinders Street Gallery - Kurt Schranzer

From first seeing his work in the ‘Composite’ show at Flinders Street Gallery to this body of work is a bit like attending a master class in drawing given by a very famous dead artist!

This work is very beautiful, his attention to detail is immense, it’s sensual and quietly spoken but as loud as jet engine. They are intimate still life’s and self portraits, intensely private reflections of the artist himself. This collection of work doesn’t need a lot of words to explain it, as the work speaks for it’s self in laid out volumes. So I’m keeping this post short and sweet...

Written by Fleur

3rd May - 21st May 2011
www.flindersstreetgallery.com

At The Vanishing Point - HEAD ON: A Shadow Of It's Former Self

Rowan Conroy, Rachael Everitt, Alexander James, Kurt Sorensen, Marieka Walsh and Alex Wisser...

I may just have to add a few more names to my current ‘favourite photographer’ list as after seeing the works in this show I’m a little blown away... It’s brilliant!!!

I fell in love with the ‘Dust’ series by Rowan Conroy which I stumbled across and then I found them again in this show... That amazing dust storm gave us all many opportunities to take advantage of the light it threw at us... Rowan has created some very beautiful works, a complete stillness affected by the spooky unreal light... Well done!!!

Outside looking in at Rachael Everitt’s work, using windows and doors to frame the work, to see each section as a separate piece but still part of the whole, private little lives wrapped up as one...

If Alexander James and Kurt Sorensen were given camera’s and were sent back in time then these images would be what they would come back with, as each artist’s work represent a moment from a past time, atmospheric and lovingly produced!!!

‘The Darkness’ by Marieka Walsh is a hauntingly photographed video of the slow decay of a dying village, it’s inhabitants preparing to leave it as a ghost town...

As one of my already favourite’s the snappy dresser Alex Wisser doesn’t let the team down, reflecting on solace and offering us ‘Blank Canvas’ within the domestic environment!!!

This show is part of the ‘Head On’ festival and is one of many, if you don’t make it to all of them, then this one is a must!!!

Written by Fleur

28th April - 15th May 2011
www.headon.com.au
www.atthevanishingpoint.com.au