YIORYIOS // Announced a finalist in the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize

Image: Yioryios, SOH3 Black, White, Pink, Yellow, Purple, Green & Blue, 2015, Acrylic paint on aluminium, 37 x 47 x 38cm, $750

Artereal Gallery congratulates the emerging Sydney-based artist, Yioryios, who has been announced a finalist in the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize. The national sculpture award this week announced the 43 finalists, who were each selected from a record number of 701 entries this year.  

Yioryios, whose work formed part of group exhibition, Paint 15, earlier this year at Artereal Gallery, creates sculptural paintings grounded in architecture. The works in Paint15 were responses to spaces within Harry Seidler’s Australia Square and Australian Embassy in Paris and to Utzon’s Sydney Opera House. Mutability and architecture underpin the ever-evolving free-form helixes and spirals engaging volume and space, surface and colour that opportunistically devolve from cut-out sections that are the out-takes from the interstices within earlier of the artist’s larger wall works to create new and independent objects. 

Selected by two of the 2015 guest judges – art advisor and curator Barbara Flynn along with collector and philanthropist Penelope Seidler AM– the finalist works showed innovation and diversity in their take on an original, freestanding sculpture measuring up to 80cm in any dimension. The third guest judge for the 2015 Prize, Art Gallery of NSW Director Dr. Michael Brand, will join the judging process at the winners selection in October. 

“We found the artists to be more inventive with their use of alternative materials, with a transfer of materials from the everyday to art,” commented Barbara Flynn. 

Penelope Seidler added: “The standard of finalists is highly creative and shows an intriguing use of materials with a wide range of concepts explored. The traditional form of ‘sculpture on a plinth’ was not one we warmed to this year as judges. We felt that sculpture has moved on from that,” said Seidler. 

The 2015 finalist artists are: Adrian Clement (NSW); Alli Symons (SA); Anita Larkin (NSW); Anita Reay (QLD); Annette Thas (WA); Anthea Williams (VIC); Aprile Alexander (NSW); Arenaria (NSW); Belinda Winkler (TAS); Carmel Wallace (VIC); Eli Braga (Brazil); Fiona Hueston (NSW); Fleur Brett (VIC); Glen Clarke (VIC); Guan Wei (NSW); Holly Dormor (NSW); Huseyin Sami (NSW); Hwanhee Kim (Finland); James and Eleanor Avery (QLD); John Nicholson (NSW); Julia deVille (VIC); Kathy Temin (VIC); Kendal Murray (NSW); Lisa Giles (NSW); Mark Booth (NSW); Matt Dabrowski (QLD); Melissa Coote (NSW); Michelle Cawthorn (NSW); Michelle Ussher (UK); Penelope Campbell (VIC); Robert Owen (VIC); Rocket Mattler (NSW); Roma Butler (NT); Rosalind Byass (VIC); Ruby Aitchison (VIC); Serena Bonson (NT); Sophie Carnell (TAS); Stephen Bird (NSW); Titania Henderson (VIC); Tracey Deep (NSW); Veronica Andrus-Blaskievics (ACT); Wendy Black (VIC); Yioryios Papayioryiou (NSW). 

The Prize attracts a diverse range of professional and emerging sculptors from around the world with a total of $19,000 in prize money awarded to winning artists across four categories. The Prize categories are the main acquisitive award of $15,000; a Special Commendation award of $2,000; the Viewers’ Choice award of $1,000; the Mayors Prize of $1,000 and two new highly commended awards courtesy of sponsor InterContinental Sydney Double Bay.

HYUN-HEE LEE / IN GROUP EXHIBITION AT THE KOREAN CULTURAL CENTRE

Image: Hyun-Hee Lee, My Prayer, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 150cm

Artereal Gallery artist, Hyun-Hee Lee, is participating in the group exhibition Art and Culture, Beyond the Surroundings at the Korean Cultural Centre. The exhibition is a collaboration with Korea-Australia Arts Foundation (KAAF) and runs from 14 August - 11 September.

Korea-Australia Arts Foundation’s vision is to foster a society that encourages artists to liaise with one another within the multicultural society.

Hyun-Hee Lee is also preparing for her anticipated solo exhibition at Artereal Gallery, opening Wednesday 2 September and continuing until Saturday 3 October. Entitled Secrete, the exhibition comprises disciplines including paper, installation and painting.

Notions of ritual, family and the role of memory continue to underpin the work of the Korean-born, Sydney-based artist. As part of her practice, the artist seeks to unravel the physical and emotional displacement she has experienced, caused by bouts of separation from her daughter and father, who have both played fundamental roles in her memories and experiences.

Secrete, which is defined as ‘to place out of sight’, is a reference to the artist’s desire to compartmentalise her memories. She achieves this by assuming a quasi-curatorial role – As custodian of her memories and experiences; she retains control over her most treasured collection.

Hyun-Hee Lee creates artworks using materials that have become signature to her practice, such as silk and Hanji Paper, in reference to her Korean upbringing. In further homage to her heritage, she merges her continuing devotion to Buddhism with her more recent adoption of Catholicism, finding solace and inspiration in the rituals of both religions.

TULLY ARNOT'S DIGITAL FOREST AT UNDERBELLY ARTS FESTIVAL

Digital Forest / Nervous Plants from Tully Arnot on Vimeo.

Underbelly Arts Festival kicks off this weekend on Cockatoo Island and we are looking forward to seeing Tully Arnot's brand new artwork, Digital Forest, which was successfully realised through the support of his Pozible campaign and will be brought to life for the first time.

Digital Forest is an extension of his solo exhibition, Trace Etc, at Artereal Gallery in March, which developed on the artist's investigations into the blurring between digital reality and real life and the tensions between CGI/Artificial Intelligence/robotics and more organic or natural elements.

Digital Forest uses our connection with objects to explore the alienation that exists in an increasingly connected, but ultimately disconnected world.  By integrating complex technologies with everyday components, the artist merges the familiar and the unfamiliar. His work creates an uncanny feeling, indicative of the isolating nature of our digital existence.

Underbelly Arts develops and presents work from the boldest new voices in Australian art and was established in 2007 as a response to the number of artists working out of their bedrooms and in warehouses, in isolation. As a kind of social experiment, it sought to bring all those artists under the one roof and expose them to one another, and to new audiences.

Earlier this year, we produced a short in-studio film with Tully Arnot about his practice, which you can watch here. 

LIAM BENSON // Selected for inclusion in Over View Travelling International Festival of Video Art

Image: Liam Benson, He Looks Just Like His Mother, 2012, HD Video, 2 mins 3 seconds

Sydney-based inter-disciplinary artist, Liam Benson, has been selected for inclusion in the inaugural Over View Travelling International Festival of Video Art, a film and video art project initiated in the Netherlands. 

Presented by dLux Media Arts and UNSW, Over View is curated by dLux Media Arts’ Sarah Vanderpeer and opens Friday 6 November at UNSW Galleries. 

The Sydney instalment of Over View includes the work of Liam Benson, Julia Davis, John A. Douglas, Nikki Lam, Tony Lawrence, Nicola Walkerden and Liam O’Brien. 

During August 2014, Over View previewed internationally at the Open Air Festival De Kaaij in the Netherlands as a compendium of global visions by video artists from eight participating countries.

NOULA DIAMANTOPOULOS / hosts group meditation for stress

Noula Diamantopoulos, Artereal Gallery's Managing Director and long-term meditation devotee continues to host her popular monthly group meditations at Artereal Gallery, in her bid to share her knowledge of meditation and to those curious about or already committed to a meditation practice. 

Taking place Tuesday 21 July from 6-7.30PM, this month's focus is stress, and the ways in which meditation can help reduce and / or manage the long term effects of stress. 

We know that chronic stress is on the rise – after all, our lives are becoming more demanding and connected than ever before. The unpleasant irony is that our obsession with productivity is causing our 

bodies to rebel; to switch the ‘off’ button. And never before has Western society been plagued by stress-related illnesses; from Chronic Fatigue to Autoimmune disorders. More often than not, these diseases are caused by the burden of long-term chronic stress. We know the science, and now we need to sit up and take action. 

In this meditation workshop, Noula will introduce a series of meditation and mindfulness techniques that can easily be incorporated into your daily routine. They are simple meditations that will help shift the way you approach a busy schedule so that you can lead a rich and busy life without feeling crippled by ongoing stress.

Noula will intersect her psychotherapy teachings with a series of mindfulness meditation techniques that will help you significantly reduce the stress you experience, silence the monster and banish it for good.

To RSVP to the event, please contact Rachel@artereal.com.au or RSVP via Facebook.

SHOUFAY DERZ / Awarded grant by Australia Council / undertaking Hill End Artist in Residence Program

Shoufay Derz, I am death destroyer of words, Archival print on archival cotton paper, custom made cedar frame, stained natural indigo, Camera work assisted by Caterina Pacialeo, 104 x 111 cm

A huge congratulations to Shoufay Derz, who was recently awarded a significant grant by the Australia Council for the Arts.

Shoufay, who is currently in regional NSW where she is undertaking the Hill End Artist in Residence Program, received the grant as part of the $9.1 million of investment in Australian arts through the first round of Australia Council's new grant model.

The $9.1 million investment includes $4.6 million to arts organisations, $3.1 million to individual artists and $1.4 million to groups. 

The artist's work will be included in Artereal Gallery's stand at Sydney Contemporary 15 and is scheduled to have a solo exhibition of new work at Artereal Gallery from mid November. 

TWO REASONS TO BUY CONTEMPORARY ART IN 2015

Stevie Fieldsend, Suspended run-off, 2015, cast iron, beetroot, henna, black dye, blood, fringe curtain, 150 x 30 x 8cm, $1800 each

Whether you’ve had your eye on a contemporary artwork for a while or are interested in building a collection, external factors indicate that 2015 is the year to take the plunge. With the introduction of Art Money across NSW together with recent budget amendments for small business, there has never been a better time to update your home or workplace environment with a contemporary artwork.

Following the recent budget announcements, small businesses will now receive an immediate tax deduction for any assets purchased that cost less than $20,000, a limit which applies to a single item. 

In light of this, why not consider purchasing a contemporary artwork, which not only nurtures the careers of living, practicing contemporary Australian artists, but also provides an opportunity to inject a burst of vibrancy into your workplace. For further information on this budget development, please be sure to seek individual and tailored tax counsel to ensure the tax deduction applies to your business.

Artereal Gallery is thrilled to be able to offer Art Money, interest free loans for artworks priced between $750 and $20,000. After paying a 10% deposit, you can take your artwork home and pay the remaining balance over 9 months interest free.

For more information about applying for an Art Money loan visit www.artmoney.com.au or contact the gallery.

Sam Holt / Video Interview

Artereal Gallery this month presents a stunning body of work by the emerging Sydney based artist Sam Holt. The exhibition, which has already been a huge success, will run until Saturday 27 June.

To coincide with the exhibition, Fergus Wilson recently sat down with Sam Holt to talk about his latest body of work and gain some insights into Sam's creative process... To view the video interview click here.

Sam Holt will also be doing an Artist Talk at Artereal Gallery on Saturday 20th June at 3pm.

Artereal Gallery hosts Meditation for Relationships

Artereal Gallery continues to host monthly group meditation events with artist, Psychotherapist and facilitator of creativity, noula diamantopoulos. This month, the group meditation and mindfulness workshop will take place Tuesday 23 June between 6-7.30PM, with a core focus on the ways in which a practice of meditation and mindfulness can benefit your relationships. From July through to November, the events will explore a broad range of other themes including meditation for: stress (July), creativity, pregnancy and even meditation for kids! 

As humans, we are inherently social and rely on relationships for happiness, community, belonging and success. Relationships are the axes on which our world revolves. We relish the good ones but when they turn sour, they possess an ability to cast a shadow over everything, catapulting our lives into darkness. 

As a psychotherapist, much of noula's work is with clients who exhibit immense intelligence in all areas of their lives, but struggle to create and maintain healthy, loving relationships. 

At the core of every healthy relationship is the health of the relationship you have with yourself. If this core becomes rotten, it’s no surprise then that your relationships with others suffer also. 

In this meditation workshop, noula will intersect her psychotherapy teachings with a series of mindfulness meditation techniques to create a course in meditation that prompts reflection and invites us to examine the health of the relationships in our lives. The goal? To nourish the most important relationship of all – the one with yourself, which will in turn open up endless opportunities to nurture and improve the relationships in both your professional and personal life.

To RSVP to this event, please email rhianna@artereal.com.au and visit the Facebook page for more information.

#YOLO

Artereal Gallery last week celebrated the opening of #YOLO, a group exhibition that examines the complexities of life, death and passing time through the lens of the pithy acronym #YOLO, a common and often lighthearted catch-cry for the Internet generation.  

An abbreviation of the phrase ‘You Only Live Once’, this now ubiquitous acronym is so often used as a caption to excuse undeniably questionable and irresponsible behaviour or celebrate exciting events and moments of extravagance that the term has all but lost any true sense of meaning.

In this exhibition, the lighthearted use of the hashtag #YOLO on social media platforms is turned abruptly on its head in order to unravel the phrase’s darker and more philosophical origins. #YOLO is Artereal Gallery’s second group exhibition that explores the pervasive (mis)use of internet acronyms, and follows the light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek exhibition, #FOMO, that took place in 2014.

Exhibition curator, Rhianna Walcott elaborates; “The transience of life continues to be one of the most common themes tackled by artists throughout the generations, and #YOLO examines the way in which themes of life, death and passing time continue to be addressed within contemporary art. A thoughtful rumination on the human condition, the phrase essentially grapples with the fragility of our existence and raises universal questions to do with life, death, passing time and our own mortality.”

#YOLO features a lineup of six contemporary artists: Ben Ali Ong, Shoufay Derz, Stevie Fieldsend, Hyun-Hee Lee, Anne MacDonald and Zan Wimberley, all of whom examine these topics in their various practices, which span the two-dimensional, three-dimensional and moving image, including painting, photography, installation and video.

“What #YOLO represents is by no means a new phenomenon. Notions of our own mortality have been explored by artists since time immemorial and repeatedly examined throughout art history. You only have to look at the religious iconography of early Christian art to pick up on its fascination with man’s mortality, or the Vanitas paintings of the 16th century Dutch still life tradition to see the ongoing and prevalent investigation of these themes,” said Walcott.

Included in the exhibition are works such as Zan Wimberley’s time lapse video '#YOLO', which offers a light and antagonising yet probing look at the complex subject of mortality. By taking heavy concepts and making light of them, Wimberley’s work explores what at first glance are light ideas by highlighting the often-overlooked gravity that they actually contain.

Likewise, Anne MacDonald’s photographic work Candle, which depicts a birthday candle and the physical remnants from a child’s birthday party, is a meditation on the ephemeral nature of life: the passage of time and sense of loss experienced due to it’s passing, while Stevie Fieldsend’s potent installations (made from rusted cast iron drainage grates and blood red fringing) act as memorials, marking and remembering the little deaths we experience throughout life, such as the death of innocence, ego and attachment.

Meanwhile, Hyun-Hee Lee’s practice explores personal memories, experiences inspired by family rituals and practices derived from Korean religions and searching for an understanding of spiritual and cultural connections, which are closely tied to the life cycle and have a fundamental importance in marking and celebrating the passing of time, from the beginning of life until its end.

Ben Ali Ong’s breathtaking work has an underlying sense of anguish and sorrow, which clings to his moody black and white photographs. The interplay of light and dark in his work act as a visual metaphor for the vagaries of human existence, alluding to the idea that the beauty and fragility of life are inseparable from the horror and sorrow which accompany it.

Shoufay Derz’s work King for a day (Stripped), which depicts a golden satin bed sheet, the word ‘stripped’ woven through it using pomegranate-dyed hand-stitched silk thread, is a meditation on the passing of her father, whose final sleep was at home in gold satin sheets.

With thanks to Jo Griffiths, for her teaser video #YOLO. 

SHOUFAY DERZ, HYUN-HEE LEE & OWEN LEONG \\ selected as finalists of Hazelhurst Art On Paper Award

Shoufay Derz, Cameron's Quarry, 2013, pigment print on cotton paper, 120 x 120cm

Artereal Gallery congratulates artists Shoufay Derz, Hyun-Hee Lee and Owen Leong who have been announced finalists in the Hazelhurst Art On Paper Award, which recognises outstanding art by artists working on, with or about paper.  They join a host of other artists, selected from over 1500 entries by more than 750 artists. 

Artworks by Shoufay Derz, Hyun-Hee Lee and Owen Leong will appear alongside other finalists in the exhibition, which will will present a diverse range of paper media and industry techniques, including drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, paper cuts and video.  The exhibition will appear in both the Regional and Community Gallery between 30 May and 26 July 2015. 

Shoufay Derz has been selected for her artwork entitled 'Cameron's Quarry' from 2013. The work was originally shown in 'Phantom Limb' at UTS Gallery and accompanied the installation 'Without'. The Wombeyan marble used in 'Without' was sourced from this now disused quarry around the Wombeyan caves. 

Hyun-Hee Lee has been selected for her artwork entitled 'White Tears', which was also recently shown at UNSW Art & Design's AD Space Gallery. 

Hyun-Hee Lee, 'White Tears', 2014

Owen Leong was selected for his artwork, entitled 'Aura' from 2014. 'Aura' visualises the human circulatory system as an external shadow. This work is inspired by A.J. Defehrt’s 18th century engraving of the blood circulatory system, which has been cut from the soft black leather pelt of an animal. The act of hand cutting leather traces the passage of blood as it circles the body. The webbed veins of the circulatory system are then draped over my body like a second skin. A surgical stainless steel device holds his mouth open, which symbolically silences while opening up the body as a passive receptacle. This device suggests medicalisation of the body, hierarchies of classification and power. Aura attempts to make visible the transmission of social, cultural and political forces across the body. 

Owen Leong, 'Aura', 2014

With prizes totalling $26 000, the biennial award sees artists compete for the $15 000 major award, the $5000 Emerging Artist Award, the $5000 Friends of Hazelhurst Local Artist Award and the $1000 People's Choice Award. 

LOUISE ZHANG // Yen STAEDTLER Female Art Awards and two group exhibitions

Artist Louise Zhang is interviewed in her studio in a short film edited and produced for Artereal Gallery by Fergus Wilson

It's been a busy few months for Artereal Gallery artist Louise Zhang, who is showing work in our current exhibition, Paint15, alongside Adrian Hobbs, Adam Turnbull and Yioryios.

This week, the artist has been announced a finalist in the Yen STAEDTLER Female Art Awards 2015. Louise joins 19 other finalists, selected from over 600 entries. The winner will be announced on 11 June.

She will also be part of two group exhibitions at Casula Powerhouse and Penrith Regional Gallery, both which open to the public in late May and June.

Opening Friday 22 May 2015, Louise Zhang is included in the exhibition entitled Biggie Smalls at Casula Powerhouse. She will also have work included in a group exhibition entitled RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW, at Penrith Regional Gallery, which opens Saturday 6 June and continues until 23 August 2015. RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW seeks to introduce twenty Sydney artists who confront, challenge and agitate the traditions of painting to create bold, witty and unexpected results.

Most recently, Artereal Gallery commissioned videographer Fergus Wilson to produce a short film about Louise and her work, which you can view in the video above.

OWEN LEONG // 24 hours in the life of an artist

Owen Leong recently spoke with Arts NSW about his current residency at Swatch Art Peace Hotel. Here, he chronicles a day in his life as he undertakes his residency in Shanghai. Read here, or in full below. 

6:30am I like to wake early in the morning. I get much more out of my day that way. The Swatch Art Peace Hotel is one of the best artist residencies I’ve done for its location, facilities and services. It’s located on The Bund overlooking the Huangpu River in the heart of Shanghai, China.

6:45am First thing each morning, I have a large cup of coffee in bed. My window overlooks East Nanjing Road and the Huangpu River. I check the air quality for the day on my phone, look for any urgent messages and speak with my amazing husband, who’s holding the fort in Australia.

7:15am I grab my bag and head out into the as the city wakes and people head to work. I catch the local bus to the gym, where I like to keep fit. The discipline of weight training and the focus of running both give me a sense of clarity and keep my mind sharp.

9:30am I walk back past the office workers lining up for breakfast at the morning street food vendors, or I catch the bus back to the residency. The hotel provides breakfast in the communal kitchen, where the artists gather each morning. It is a great space to share important information with other artists about individual experiences of the city and the residency itself.

The energy is one of constant flow, renewal and creativity.

10:30am After breakfast, I check and respond to emails. I also write a list to plan what I want to achieve for the day. I check if there are any exhibition openings that day, and factor that into my planning. I also spend time working on proposals, applications, paperwork, media and publicity. I find it’s important to balance my creative work with the administrative side of being an artist.

11:30am Make another coffee and then head downstairs to my workshop, where I do most of my studio work, which includes research, planning and sourcing materials. At the moment I’m researching the body, the city, and maps as systems and structures. I’m also researching Chinese medicine and acupuncture, developing prototypes for sculptures and photographic artworks. At the end of my residency I will be leaving a ‘trace’ of my experience, an artwork that becomes part of the Swatch Art Peace Hotel Collection.

1:30pm Lunch is a healthy green salad. After lunch, I make another coffee and return to more work in the studio. A consistent and continuous routine helps me stay focused. Sometimes, after lunch I have meetings with professional contacts in Shanghai to discuss projects, presentations and opportunities for collaboration.

3:30pm After a few hours at the studio, I might grab a quick snack of shenjianbao or jiaozi from Yang’s Fry Dumpling. Their delicious dumplings with pork and prawn are filled with a hot scalding soup inside. If there’s time, I might visit an exhibition. The Shanghai Biennale at the Powerstation of Art was a recent highlight, as was the solo exhibition of Xu Wenkai (also known as aaajio) at the cutting edge Leo Xu Projects, a boutique gallery in the French Concession – one of my favourite districts in Shanghai with interesting shops, cafes and galleries.

5pm In the evenings Shanghai really comes to life. At the end of the week there is a huge range of art openings, talks and music events. I go with a group of Swatch artists to several openings each week. It’s a great way to discover new parts of Shanghai and explore what’s happening in the local contemporary arts scene. We’ve seen some incredible exhibitions, museums and galleries from the independent scene through to major institutions. The M50 Art District on Moganshan Road is a dense complex filled with galleries and art spaces. Also, the recent VIP opening of the Xu Zhen major solo exhibition at Long Museum West Bund was one of the best examples of cutting edge contemporary Chinese art that I’ve ever seen.

7pm Hopping across the city to see one, two or sometimes even three exhibition openings, meeting local artists and curators, really works up an appetite! For me, art and food is a perfect match. Shanghai has an amazing wealth of food to choose from and we often stop to sample some of the amazing street food vendors selling charcoal barbecued cuttlefish or smelly chòu dòufu, sample chewy handmade noodles, spicy hotpot, or a steaming bowl of silky húntun. In Shanghai there’s something to suit everyone’s taste.

8pm Evenings are a productive time of day. For me, it’s an important moment to reflect on the day, to make notes about exhibitions or artworks I’ve seen, and to sketch new ideas for my future work. I enjoy this focused and uninterrupted time to play with new materials, test ideas and concepts, and to physically make the art. There is a natural rhythm to the working life of artists at the residency. Most of us work late in our studios, well past midnight, before shutting our workshops and heading to bed. On some nights, if there’s an event late in the evening, we might go out as a group.

11pm As a group of artists we sometimes attend an art or music event at The Powerstation, see one of the resident musicians Monokino, who performed at the Rockbund Art Museum, or support Selladoor, the resident Swiss rap/hip-hop artists, when they played at Logo Bar in the French Concession. We then catch a taxi back to the residency, where it’s time for bed, ready to start a brand new day in Shanghai the next morning.

TULLY ARNOT // Reviewed by Blouin Artinfo

Earlier this month, Blouin Artinfo's Nicholas Forrest visited Artereal Gallery to view our current solo exhibitions from Liam Benson and Tully Arnot. 

This week, his review of Tully Arnot's 'Trace Etc' was published on Blouin Artinfo, which you can read either on their website here or below.

Saturday 28 March is the last day to view solo exhibitions from Liam Benson and Tully Arnot at Artereal Gallery.

REVIEW: Tully Arnot “Trace Etc.” at Artereal Gallery, Sydney

Tully Arnot’s exhibition “Trace Etc.” at Artereal Gallery in Sydney showcases the depth and scope of the up-and-coming Sydney-based artist’s intriguing and innovative practice. Continuing his ongoing interrogation of the way humans interact with technology and each other, Arnot investigates the increasingly contested space between virtual reality and reality itself, while at the same time uses humour to explore the absurdity of the human race’s obsession with technology.

At the basis of the works in “Trace Etc.” is a variety of motifs, phenomena, and concepts which Arnot has extracted and isolated from cyberspace and then reimagined in the “real” world as a group of poetic, innovative, and engaging interventions that strike the perfect balance between humour, seriousness, and aesthetics. The exhibition comprises a number of sculptural works as well as a video piece, which together evoke a range of sensations from déjà vu to anxiety to fascination.

“Cursor” is one of the simplest yet most effective and elegant works in the exhibition. As the title suggests, Arnot has reinterpreted the computer cursor as a relatively low-tech kinetic sculpture. Upon entering the exhibition space, visitors are confronted with a plastic cut-out of the cursor symbol which rotates in mid-air with the aid of a small motor. At once uncanny and disruptive, “Cursor” creates the illusion that the exhibition is being viewed through a computer screen.

In the gaming world, the realism of the grass is a key indicator of the quality of a virtual environment. “Meadow (IRL)” reimagines the virtual grass of a game environment using fluro-green plastic straws which are animated by rotating solar display fans. It is a strangely hypnotic installation that although absurd is no more absurd than the pursuit of the perfect virtual representation of the natural environment.

Arnot’s “Nervous Plant” series is perhaps one of his best known bodies of work. Each of the artificial plants in the “Nervous Plant” series are activated using servo motors which are controlled by a light sensor that slows or stops the movement when its light source is blocked, whether it be from a shadow or the shutting off of the lights. The “Nervous Plant” works are a witty yet poignant reminder of just how blurred the boundary between the real and virtual world is becoming.

With the video work “Thoughts of absence, absence of thought,” Arnot has removed all the dialogue from a recently filmed interview, leaving only pauses, breaths, and sighs. The glitchy remnants of the interview could be interpreted as the effects of a virus of bug. Curator Rhianna Walcott explains that the work “examines the subtle traces which a steady stream of constantly evolving technology is leaving on the human psyche and the way in which we see and interact with the world.”

In the words of the artist himself, “Trace Etc.” is a “a suite of new works exploring different notions of trace – from residues, to transitional artefacts, to formal delineations of pathways. ‘Trace Etc.’ develops on my investigations into the blurring between digital reality and real life, and the tensions between CGI/Artificial Intelligence/robotics/etc., and more organic or natural elements.”

Tully Arnot “Trace Etc.” is at Artereal Gallery in Rozelle until March 28.

AMELIA TRACEY // Artereal Gallery Mentorship Award Winner to exhibit artwork in group exhibition at Factory 49

Image: Amelia Tracey, The 60s, 2014

Amelia Tracey, winner of the Artereal Gallery Mentorship Award 2015, this month exhibits work as part of a group exhibition at Factory 49, joining artists Elly Conomos, Lisa Sharp, Michelle Le Dain, Tania Alexander and Anya Pesce. 

Running until 28 March, the exhibition, entitled 'TO BE CONTINUED 2', is the second in a series of exhibitions featuring recent graduates from Sydney art schools. 

Last November, Artereal Gallery recognised Amelia Tracey with the second annual Artereal Gallery Mentorship Award, which secures her one year of professional mentoring from the Artereal team, including access to invaluable industry resources and expertise, culminating in a solo exhibition scheduled for December 2015. 

Amelia Tracey was awarded for her photographic series, 'Top of the Charts', is informed by the artist's interest in the expanded field of photography and its shift from its chemical roots into a medium underpinned by digital technology. By viewing the photograph as data, Tracey explores the impact of technology on art and ways of presenting information to create a visual representation of the last fifty years of popular music. The outcome of which is a series of data provided as visual, non-linguistic language.

SVETLANA BAILEY // part of group exhibition at Rhode Island School of Design

Image: Svetlana Bailey, 10-01, 2010, type c print, edition of 8, 120 x 120cm

Artereal Gallery artist Svetlana Bailey will exhibit eight new artworks as part of a group exhibition at Rhode Island School of Design, joining eight other artists; Pamela Chavez, Elizabeth Goodspeed, Sakura Kelley, Madison Kim, Hiro Nagaoka, Lily Siegel, Zharia Shinn & Nafis White. 

The show, which opened 19 March, seeks to address notions of identity, culture, history, tradition and belonging. 

Svetlana’s work is concerned with misplacement and longing to belong, and her images investigate the insecurity of our experience within the landscape. She explores the phenomenon of fog as a portal to experiencing the transitory quality of our surroundings. She seeks out locations of dense fog world-wide. Having researched and selected an area she can wait around for days for the appropriate atmospheric conditions and effect and ideal photographic opportunity. 

Of the eight artworks selected for this exhibition, Svetlana commented; "Presented is a collection of globally significant constructions. Normally displaced across the earth, they are assembled on one wall to be considered as a single phenomenon, perhaps in a similar way to that envisaged by the original builders of Beijing's World Park. What are objects of private memories for millions of co-witnesses, are replicated, eliminating the physical impediments to experiencing their true wonder."

For more information, please visit Rhode Island School of Design.

OWEN LEONG // MADE IN CHINA, AUSTRALIA at Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery

 

Image: Owen Leong, AUTOevacuation, 2005, digital video, 4:3, colour, silent, 4:29 minutes. 

Artereal Gallery Artist, Owen Leong, has artwork included in the touring exhibition MADE IN CHINA, AUSTRALIA, a two-year touring exhibition which is now on show at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG) in Launceston until 17 May 2015.

QVMAG marks the last stop of the two-year touring exhibition, which has traveled to 10 different venues across Australia.

Curated by Greg Leong, the exhibition questions how the work of Chinese Australian artists is affected by the particular Chinese Australian heritage and experiences they have had. Some of the artists in the exhibition were born here, others travelled here in the past and some are recent arrivals. The curator is interested in the subtle differences that arise in the artists’ work due to their particular relationship with the two cultures.

Made In China, Australia investigates contemporary art practices across a range of mediums and disciplines, genders and generations.

THE DETAILS: 

Made in China, Australia 

Gallery 4, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Royal Park, Launceston A Salamanca Arts Centre Exhibition toured by Contemporary Art Tasmania.

OWEN LEONG // selected as a finalist in the Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award 2015

Image: Owen Leong, Mudra, 2014, archival pigment print on cotton paper, 120 x 120 cm, edition of 5 + 2 AP

Artereal Gallery artist Owen Leong has been selected as a finalist in one of the most important annual surveys of contemporary Australian photographic practice, the Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award 2015.

The artist has been selected for his artwork, entitled 'Mudra', which formed part of the artist's exhibition Bloodmilk which took place at Artereal Gallery in December 2014. 

Owen Leong explains his intention behind 'Mudra': A mudra is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the word mudra means seal, and is a spiritual gesture made with the hands and fingers. In this self-portrait I hold my own hands cast in the forms of mudras. In my right hand I hold the karana mudra, a powerful gesture for dispelling negative energy, while in my left I hold the gyan mudra, for opening oneself to knowledge. The doubling of hands, both real and cast, suggest grasping at a symbolic and spiritual language as a form of healing. Cloaked in black, out of my hooded jacket erupts black prismatic mineral that forms a mirror-mask protecting the wearer and reflecting the world back onto itself. Manganite has the healing power to let go of attachment and control, and to recognise that you are only responsible for your own actions and not for the actions of others.

The Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award exhibition takes place 28 March - 31 May 2015 at Gold Coast City Gallery and has been judged by Natalie King, (Curator, Writer and Senior Research Fellow, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne).

ANNE MACDONALD // in group show 'Mad Women in the Attic?'

Image: Anne Macdonald, Party 2012-2013, Fine art inkjet print, edition of 5, 110x160cm

Artworks from Artereal Gallery artist, Anne MacDonald's Party project have been selected for inclusion in a group show entitled 'Mad Women in the Attic' at The Plimsoll Gallery in Hobart.

Running 3 March - 13 April and curated by Dr. Maria Kunda and Dr Mary Scott, the exhibition includes a selection of Tasmanian and international artists and writers to reflect upon and amplify the storehouse of female expression, to revise and re-envision these themes. The exhibition seeks to reprise the significant contributions by great women artists and writers to the Tasmanian College of the Arts public program over three decades and coincides with the 40th Anniversary of International Women's Year and 125th anniversary of the university of Tasmania.

A range of themes are explored in the exhibition: domestic relations; sexual politics; activism; queer and racial politics; empowerment; obscuration; the gaze; portraiture, self-portraiture and performance – the body as site of identity, vulnerability, power, intimacy, transgression, subversion, abjection, violation and masquerade.

In the curatorial text, Dr Kunda and Dr Scott write: "We are looking at a range of artists 'Mad Women in the Attic?' A revisiting of the archive will plunder the archive of the Plimsoll Gallery and the annals of the Artforum program at the Tasmanian College of the Arts (formerly the Tasmanian School of Art) the exhibition will reprise the significant contributions by great women artists and writers to the TCotA public program over three decades

The Plimsoll Gallery’s inventory of previously shown women artists includes many ‘greats’. As well as numerous local luminaries, preliminary research yields the names of numerous now internationally acclaimed artists who’ve appeared in the TCotA public program over the years: Marina Abramovic, Annette Bezor, Pat Brassington, Anne Brennan, Vivienne Binns, Sophie Calle, Barbara Campbell, Justine Cooper, Grace Cochrane, Mikala Dwyer, Carolyn Eskdale, Nola Farmer, Anne Ferran, Sylvia Fleury, Sue Ford, Julie Gough, Gwyn Hanssen-Piggott, Louise Hearman, Meryn Jones, Lindy Lee, Tracey Moffart, Susan Norrie, Jill Orr, Patricia Piccinini, Jackie Redgate, Julie Rrap, Sally Smart, Kathy Temin, Judy Watson, Anne Zahalka and Maria Kozic"

THE DETAILS //

The Plimsoll Gallery, Centre for the Arts, Hunter Street, Hobart
Friday 13 March – Sunday 17 May, Wed to Mon 12pm-5pm (closed Tuesdays and public holidays)

Nathan Beard // Reviewed by Blouin Artinfo

Last week, Blouin Artinfo's Nicholas Forrest popped into the gallery to view exhibiting artist Nathan Beard's current exhibition, 'Ad Matres'. This week, the review was published on Blouin Artinfo, which can be read either on their website here or below.

This Saturday 28 February is the last day to view Nathan Beard's remarkable exhibition at Artereal Gallery.

REVIEW: Nathan Beard’s Crystal Conceits at Artereal Gallery, Sydney

There’s something unique and entrancing about the works in Perth-born Thai-Australian artist Nathan Beard’s “Ad Matres” exhibition at Artereal Gallery in Sydney. Taking his mother’s familial ties and links with Thailand as his point of departure, Beard investigates the universal issues of culture, identity, and mortality through the lens of his Thai-Australian cultural heritage. What makes Beard’s investigations so intriguing is that he takes on the roles of artist, family member, and historian, yet in his work he conflates them all, collapsing them into each other within a compelling framework.

The namesake body of work comprises a series of manipulated prints of vintage portrait photographs that depict deceased and estranged family members from the once abandoned home of his mother in Nakhon Nayok, Thailand. The artist’s mother returned to Thailand after finding out that her brother had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, giving Beard the opportunity to trace her journey and learn more about his family.

Beard has painstakingly encrusted the images of the portraits with intricate and somewhat kitsch crystal rhinestone patterns that reference the burial and death masks of different cultures as well as runway fashion and the crystal-decorated smartphone covers that are commonly found for sale at market stalls. Drawing in the viewer with the seemingly innocuous photos and the familiar crystal embellishments, Beard initiates a metaphysical and sociocultural dialogue that has the potential to continue well beyond the confines of the gallery space.

One of the most poignant works is the photo of the artist’s own mother as a young woman. Her exotic beauty is punctuated by a trail of crystal tears that glisten in the light; her distant yet emotive gaze denies a more intimate connection, but also encourages the viewer to speculate on the focus of her attention and the subject of her thoughts. The combination of the glamour-style pose, sparkling crystals, tear motif creates a sense of uneasy tension that pervades the entire series of works. At once intriguingly compelling, hauntingly beautiful, and strangely familiar, Beard’s “Ad Matres” series is the epitome of elegance and restraint.

Hanging across from the portraits is the lone work “Sorores_2014-15,” the basis of which is a mirrored photo of his mother as a teenager in a beautiful landscape scene. Beard has blacked out one of the mirrored images of her mother as a reference her twin sister who passed away when she was a toddler. Below the remaining figure, on top of the frame glass, is a pattern intended to vaguely indicate the shape of Thailand, according to Beard, while the visible streaks underneath are meant to convey a pool of trickling water. Underneath the blacked out section hides a pattern in the shape of a stream of tears that runs in two lines under the eyes of the figure. Beard’s hand is much more obvious in this work, but the hand of which role remains a mystery.

Explaining the inspiration for the photo-based works, Beard said: “With my own Thai-Australian background, I’m interested in how exploring and playing with archives of family photos, stories and documents acts as a form of auto ethnography that is always being renegotiated.

“Introducing this meticulous process to these photographs is a way of nurturing a personal engagement with the memory of my mother’s family, using an aesthetic that slyly references contemporary crafts and ephemera like crystal encrusted smartphone covers that are ubiquitous in South East Asia. The series uses these portraits to collapse the past with the present, bridging tradition with modernity from a personal and universal perspective.”

Complementing the photo-based works is a video entitled “Obitus” which features an interview with the artist’s mother as well as footage of her house in Thailand and the surrounding countryside. The addition of interventions of fog and neon is a means of “lyrically translating the confessional content of my mother’s interview,” according to Beard. The neon sign in the video is a Thai proverb written in his mother’s handwriting which translates to “leaving home is like a bird leaving the nest.” Once again the boundaries and dimensions of Beard’s manipulations remain unclear, affording the viewer a more pure and uninhibited experience of the work.

Beard explains, “’Obitus’ observes and is steeped in specific visual signs and symbols from my mother's Thai culture and spirituality, conflating this with a deeply personal narrative about homecoming, migration and displacement. However the generosity of this exchange between generations, and the rumination of broad, universal themes of mortality, memory and place within the work affords it a particular accessibility and poignancy.”

The genius of Beard’s simple yet sophisticated manipulations is that the artifice dissolves the hand of the artist to the point that questions of authorship and origin arise. The works refuse to be categorized, instead occupying an ambiguous space between cultural artifact, contemporary artwork, and memento mori. And although the background narrative adds another layer of complexity, it is not crucial to an understanding and appreciation of the works, which is an indication of Beard’s talent, knowledge, and foresight.

Nathan Beard’s “Ad Matres” is at Artereal Gallery until February 28, 2015.