Verneer: A Colourful Alternative - Bronte Mark

Smack bang in Brisbane’s nightlife centre Jugglers Art Space is an Artist Run Initiative (ARI) committed to supporting emerging all different kinds of artists. It was founded to approach the shortage of exhibition, performance and studio spaces available in Brisbane. Walking through the alleyway of Jugglers Art space you are confronted by overwhelming colour from the street art that covers every surface. Jugglers provides a classic inside gallery space, a tunnel and an outside public art area which recently held the exhibition Veneer, Guido Van Helton’s first solo exhibit presenting his stylistic street art in an unconventional gallery setting. The exhibition explores the tension between social housing policies and the freedom within the street art/graffiti community and its place in Queensland’s conservative climate raising important issues regarding urban renewal.  Impressive artworks were displayed on reconstructed remnants of demolished ‘Queenslanders,’ which have symbolic meaning to Helton’s ‘home.’

The Bjelke-Peterson styled government that favoured the out- with- the -old and in- with- the- new approach saw these buildings thoughtlessly discarded as well as Helton’s emotional attachment. His work combines the classic with the contemporary, depicting a colourful alternative to the current state of the arts in Queensland. Veneer challenges the notion that street art and graffiti are detrimental to a city’s identity and references the destruction of Brisbane’s unique architecture in alignment with its stance on the arts and cultural movements such as street art and graffiti.

Guido van Helten, I'm Listening, 2012.

Helton’s style celebrates Queensland’s architectural past and local identities through Helton’s trademark style merged with the textures, shapes and colors of historical Queensland architecture. The connection between his signature female figures and the vernacular constructions is harmoniously executed; the personal associations to childhood, home and beauty are purely stunning. Each artwork utilises fluent colour schemes reflecting graffiti but not focusing on it, this shifts the focus off the image and onto its broader concept. His portraits female models poised with face hidden, set up a flattened space flooded with light and shadow. The intimacy of the figure and the intrusion of the viewer juxtaposed to the urban habitat and architectural constructivism seems to be of great significance in Helton’s work if not to correspond to the Australian people but to signify the beauty of life itself. His massive and loud murals are painted with a distinct style reflecting the graffiti culture of ‘branding’ and ‘trademarks.’ The links to graffiti culture is useful in constructing Helton’s work, the longing graffiti has for recognition goes hand in hand with his professional approach to the art scene introducing street art as a credible medium. Perfectly integrating both the gallery and the street has led to a very successful exhibition, the juxtaposition of street art and traditional Queensland architecture creates new discourses that are topical and conceptually intriguing. Jugglers Art space was the perfect place to host Veneer with its connection to contemporary art and street art depicting a colourful alternative to the current state of the arts in Queensland.

Jeremy Eden

Metro Arts is the new BLAK – Bronte Mark

In the heart of the Brisbane city sits an iconic haven for artists. On Edward Street in a slightly hidden away tall building affectionately dubbed the Tough Old Broad, Metro Arts is a contemporary arts space that according to its artistic statement, “heralds the ‘new’ and keeps artists connected to context.” A facilitator of process, Metro Arts enable artists to extend, experiment, exchange and debate within the context of diverse creative inputs and constant peer review. Whilst providing 35 tenancies, including artist studios, creative small businesses a restaurant ect… The Metro Arts Galleries provide a professional exhibition space where Dale Harding has just exhibited.

Dale Harding, Blak boy, blak boy, the colour of your skin is your pride and joy (2012)

On the verge of graduating from the Queensland College of Art with a degree in contemporary Australian Indigenous art, Harding’s pieces range across the history when Aboriginal people were classified and numbered according to the tonality of their skin. Harding entwines his own contemporary experience with the lives of his matrilineal family through the domesticity found in cross-stitch juxtaposed with symbols and sentiments that reference Harding’s experiences as an indigenous artist. He explores the servitude which led to the sexual exploitation of Aboriginal women and girls and more broadly the administration of 'native affairs' in Queensland. Harding displays his versatility from the cross-stitched works with their suggestive text and almost totemic designs to the toxic lead breastplate and the minimalist sculpture that Harding has created as a 'quiet monument' to three generations of women in his own family. The confrontation of both the familiarity of the domestic cross-stitch and the unfamiliarity of the statements that reflect the horrid side of Australian society (past and present), force the viewer to reconcile the two. The artist appears to have the intention of using art to shift the viewers perception and understanding of the environment and objects that surround them, in order to not only acknowledge Australia’s past and present, but to also transform the future.

Dale Harding, of one’s own country (2011)

Despite the deep concepts, high aspirations and interesting forms of expression this exhibition seemed disjointed. The links between the different pieces were not obvious and quite confusing. Humour and irony do not sit comfortably when juxtaposed against themes such as rape and extremely horrid Australian history. If all the individual pieces were considered as one artwork, the relationships between the objects would have been more apparent. The only piece that truly stood out was of one’s own country 2011; at first glance the meaning is not clear however the piece is intriguing and challenges the viewer. The tightly coiled ball of crinkly steel evokes unease and fragility, something that none of the other works did. Having read up on it, it was unveiled that this particular piece represented the sexual exploitation of indigenous women that often went hand in hand with the employers of a generation of enslaved domestics. The piece was then proved to be emotionally obvious and thoroughly successful. The exhibition is interesting and thought provoking but the viewer requires the Colour by Number pamphlet if they wish to have any hope in seeing the juxtaposition and meaning between the works. 

Everything I want to be when I grow up- Bronte Mark

Polly Borland, Her Majesty, The Queen Elizabeth II (gold) 2001

The retrospective exhibition, Everything I Want to Be When I Grow up fills the entire upper level of the UQ Art Museum. It explores Polly Borland’s concerns with identity, the outcast, beauty and ugliness focusing on people, their outward appearance and personae and, at the same time their self-image, their doubts and insecurities, and the more fundamental psychologies of personality. Borland’s type C photographs are displayed on multiple walls, beginning with her celebrity pieces displaying famous faces such as Cate Blanchett, Nick Cave and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the entrance and progressing into her more ambiguous pieces until the end. Borland’s photography has straddled commercial/ documentary and fine art practice and this shines through the diverse range of portraits from a collection of different series such as Australians, Bunny, The Babies, Smudge and Pupa.  Her photographic practice is characterised by an edgy sensibility that lends her images tension and resonance, the portraits of celebrities and friends channel a portrayal of her own self-identity and human nature in general. Using others to pose for her rather than posing herself sparks interest, is she using others as a mask for herself? The already obscure link to Borland’s own self-identity is once again disconnected by the use of other people, especially celebrities. However this can only raise more speculative questions.

Polly Borland, Untitled XVII 2004-2005

The introduction of props such as balls, stockings, wigs, costumes, masks and make up transform her human subjects into hybrids, drawn to the weird and wonderful, Borland’s left-of-centre approach transforms the ordinary, even banal, into the extraordinary. These ambiguous pieces drift away from Borland’s more traditional portraits relating to status and transition into our more primitive and undesired traits that we, as highly intelligent beings seem to forget about. These images appear to deny the subject both their likeness, and any exposure of their ‘true’ character and could almost be called anti-portraiture. Some of Borland’s more successful works are the ones starring musician, actor and author Nick Cave in the series Smudge and the exceptionally tall model Gwendolyn Christie in Bunny. The transformation of their bodies and likeness is intriguing and simply a bit creepy and grotesque. The suppression of likeness, and the disguising of identity in these pieces support the notion that they are irrelevant. The subject is pushed and pulled to extremes.

Polly Borland, Untitled III 2012

The delicate transitions from Borland’s iconic celebrity photography to the more cryptic and bold pieces channels thought and care from the curator Kubler. The lead promotional photograph displayed on a large banner outside of the UQ Art Museum is Nick Cave in a Blue Wig from the Smudge series in 2011, was possibly the best image to use to evoke interest in a wide audience due to the Nick Cave’s relationship with pop culture. This exhibition definitely worth seeing takes the viewer on a journey from Borland’s boom in Melbourne the 1980s to her life England and to her current residency in Los Angeles. The UQ art museum is a highly regarded gallery that always immaculately displays high status shows and has delivered once again for Everything I Want to Be When I Grow up, a retrospective unveiling Polly Borland’s artistic journey, which is now maturing gracefully.

Jemima Wyman's Camouflage -Alrey Batol

Jemima Wyman  As seen by Dicky Chapelle, US special forces and 
their interpreter drink tea and discuss politics with a South Vietnamese 
Buddhist monk, near Khanh Hung, South Vietnam, 1962  2012

Showing at Milani gallery from 7 -21 October is a solo exhibition by Australian artist Jemima Wyman. The gallery is showing recent works based on her travels abroad which have the underlying themes of camouflage and political unrest. There are a couple of craft/sculpture based works but generally it is an exhibition of paintings. Her works are an eclectic mixing of references to current events using an Impressionistic painting style via the iconic pattern of military camouflage. This is a very post-modern style reminiscent of Gordon Bennett’s work which it may or may not be worth noting, is a member of the Milani stable.

Jemima Wyman As seen by Susan Meiselas, Muchachos await the 
counterattack by the National Guard, Matagalpa, Nicaragua, 
1978-79  2012

What is the value of art? Coming to see this exhibition we find that there are two types of values; artistic value and market value. They both seem to be operating independently from each other as they been since the invention of the art gallery or more accurately, since the commoditisation of aesthetic objects. Here we see a perfect example of art in the context of commerce. You find yourself analysing the content of art works yet look at where it is hung then think “I wonder how much these works fetch for?”. 

Milani Gallery installation view.

Being in the Milani gallery and stable, I would think these works would be worth more than the average Joe Bloe art school graduate’s. Not to take away anything from Wyman, she has a particular voice and style that has been snapped up by art market, no doubt boosted by her recent inclusion in the Liverpool Bienalle. But this is the commonplace nature of art in a capitalist society and it has to be said that Jemima’s place as an artist stands in between art and market.  The prestige of Milani representation cannot be overlooked as it affects the reception of these works from the beginning and my particular reception is a negative one. The monetary value of her work does not match up to the work’s artistic value. Buyers of these works would be paying for her voice or style and her commoditised potential, the common grounding to which will guarantee a stable rise in market value of the works and Jemima Wyman’s who was once an emerging artist seem to have blended in seamlessly in the background of the high-stakes art market which one must agree is a beneficial way of being included in the grand narratives of art history. 

Feminist art and the curator-activist -Alrey Batol

Dale Harding I Know My Place 2012

Addition 3 is the third instalment of West End ARI/Gallery Addition, guest curated by Lisa Bryan-Brown, featuring work by Dale Harding, Alice Lang, Dana Lawrie, Sancintya Simpson, Tyza Stewart, and Athena Thebus. The press release describes that Addition 3 aims to demonstrate “the broadness and variety of contemporary feminisms” and they have done just that.

Dana Lawrie Housed 2012

It's unfortunate that the works in Addition 3 are slightly overshadowed by the focus on having a feminist theme. On their own, they stand out particularly as exceptional works. From Sancintya Simpson's thoughtful video documents and Athena Thebus's personal ambitions and Alice Lang's and Dale Harding's hand crafted slogans. Dana Lawrie's figurative scenes and Tyza Stewart's aims of collapsing of gender binaries, are no doubt an expression of “contemporary feminisms” as traditionally, feminism relied on binaries and the curatorial stroke of connecting together works by artists that have admitted to having no identifiable Feminist influences or content was a bold challenge to not only conventional feminist discourse but to art sometimes having an incredulity to politics and activism.

Alice Lang Friendship Bracelet (Epic Fail) 2012

In the panel discussion I asked her to comment on the local and prominent curators who recommend objectivity and being neutral. She answered by agreeing to a comment I made about curators being essentially subjective; where there is a frame (mise en scéne), there is value-judgement. The frame in this case is the exhibition, Addition 3.

The collective works in this show begs the question, what is Feminism and feminist art? This may have been the curator's rationale; to foster a dialogue as opposed to the stale disinterested monologue that most galleries perpetuate. Take for instance the very political works by Dale Harding. His inclusion in the show maybe seen as unwarranted, however his position as an openly gay artist makes him closer to the feminist standpoint (art theorists call this 'otherness'), than the number of female artists in the show who hadn't identified with it before. “YOU HAVE ME AS AN ALLY”, one of his embroidered pieces as evidence.

It's not the first time Lisa Bryan Brown has included a male artist in a feminist exhibition. She had done so earlier this year in show 'Current' at POP Gallery in Woolloongabba.

This is exactly what makes this a positive review for Lisa's controversial hands-on approach. She is not a conventional curator. If the role of the curator is to stay relevant today, it has to be active.

Although this type of curatorial practice usually gravitates to one side, it is meant to. Just as activism ought to be. 

Panel discussion: from left, Leena Riethmuller, Lisa Bryan Brown,  Dana Lawrie, Tyza Stewart, Athena Thebus, Dale Harding.

For more photos and info on Addition 3, go to:  http://additiongallery.com/exhibitions/addition3
You can listen to the Addition 3 panel discussion here: Addition 3 Panel Discussion 

A Contemporary Art Exhibition? -Alrey Batol

Open/Closed is a collaborative exhibition of works by Lincoln Austin, Arryn Snowball and Sean Phillips, co-curated by Megan Williams and exhibiting at QUT Art Museum. Each artist is a local contemporary powerhouse with affiliations and representation from either Heiser Gallery, Rex Irwin, BMG Art and Andrew Baker. The three have a certain “shared sensibility” and it's uncanny how much so. But is it the right place to hold the exhibition? Does the museum's rectilinear similarity to the art make room for the art to have its own voice?

There is a somewhat outdated 'Modernist' feel of the exhibition, and it maybe due to the pairing of geometric art with geometric architecture. The labeling of 'modernist' is also based on my understanding of context and how much of art after Modernism is guided by it. The works in this exhibition have an unmistakable shortcoming of context as can be expected from works that have an abstract quality. They contain the typical cues of abstraction. Sean Phillips uses the arbitrary nature of words or letters and take them back to their origin; typography, as can be seen his series “Untitled 1-7” typewriter on paper. The edges of each letter are conjoined by land the overall shape of the sentences combined form a monolithic vertical line.

Lincoln Austin    No end in sight   2011

In Lincoln Austin's geometric work, there are repeated shapes, economics of space, and forms that don't relate to the politics of the day, as abstract art should be. However, Austin's lack of context is compensated by his use of geometry to vibrate our sense of seeing. In other words, Austin aims to include the viewer which is generally a post-modern phenomenon in art-production reminiscent of the Optical art of Brigitte Riley.

In September 19, 2012, the co-curator of QUT Art Museum, Megan Williams conducted a tour of Open/Closed. She highlighted a curatorial trend of “respecting the artwork” through the distancing between label/title and the art. This is particularly evident when considering the titles for Sean Phillips' pieces (with exception to “Untitled 1-7”) aren’t actually next to or on the same wall as the work. Megan mentioned having to decide between map-based titling or traditional titling (somewhat) next to the works.

She was right in choosing the latter, the former tends to confuse the viewer, who’s instinctive need for convenience is disrupted by having to decipher where they are in the map. However, a few unlucky viewers may have to decipher a white empty wall with a title.

Sean Phillips  Open Closed   2011

It's obvious a lot of thought went into the placements of works, as an example; Sean Phillips work ‘Open/Closed’ is placed not in the center of the column-wall, but on the left. Considering the amount of rectangles and lines in the exhibition, it was possibly an attempt to alleviate the stark rectilinear feel of the gallery and the works exhibited.

 

Sean Phillips   Untitled 1-7   2012

It seems the curator's attempt at curatorial innovation was in vain, considering it cannot escape the traditional, comfortably lit white wall as opposed to the current trend of exhibitions; the tactile, the haptic and sensorial, dimly lit, matte black wall, the 'no-wall' or the site-specific wall used extensively by prominent contemporary artists. Artists such as Daniel Buren, Olafur Eliasson and Bill Viola. Black walls also have the added practical application for exhibiting new media art. Art that heavily relies on a provisional degree of lighting or the projector / HD monitor.

With this in mind, any attempts or claims by the curator of having a contemporary curatorial edge is merely a humble way of establishing or asserting the museum’s place in the local art milieu and market. One need only look underneath the titles of the works to see where one may be able to buy the particular work; for Sean Phillips, see Andrew Baker Art Dealership. It’s worth noting that prior to Open/Closed, QUT Art Museum’s recent acquisitions included a Lincoln Austin wire-mesh piece and the rationale of promoting new works by an artist whose work they have invested in is questionable.

The day that art is not hung as precious artifacts and the viewer can run their hands on the surface of a painting or sculpture (in good faith) without fear of being reprimanded, or when conceptual value trumps market value, will be the day QUT Art Museum and the works they choose to show, be considered contemporary. They may even have to consider dropping ‘Museum’ in their name, which brings to mind something Theodor Adorno once said and for the reader to consider, “museum and mausoleum are connected by more than phonetic association".