SYLVIA SCHWENK / in group exhibition 'Multiples'

Sylvia Schwenk, dada, when up is down, 2015 (single channel DVD with stereo sound, 2 mins loop)

Congratulations to Sylvia Schwenk who will have her film, entitled dada - when up is down shown as part of the Multiples exhibition held at Brenda May Gallery from 9 June until 4 July.

dada - when up is down is a film that re-presents a work of socially engaged performance art presented by everyday people who met half an hour before the performance during the opening of the ‘going gaga with dada’ exhibition at Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, Australia in 2012.

Curated by Akky van Ogtrop, Multiples is an exhibition of prints, books, photographs and sculptural objects. The ideology behind the artist’s multiple is born out of the anti-art movement, fuelled by Dadaism, Fluxus, Conceptual Art and Pop Art. Creating artist’s multiples, typically in short runs, allows artworks to be accessible to a larger portion of the population via the employment of economical materials and processes. Also, by making reproducible artwork, the sacredness of the object itself decreases, allowing for the concept behind the work to take precedence and for these concepts to reflect the interests of their audience: the general public.

For more please visit http://www.brendamaygallery.com.au 

ART + FOOD / BEYOND THE STILL LIFE

Ken + Julia Yonetani_Urn of Grapes_2011_ Murray River Salt_edition of 3_74.5 x 33cm

Ken + Julia Yonetani are currently included in a group exhibition entitled Art + Food: Beyond the Still Life at Brenda May Gallery.

Art + Food: Beyond the Still Life will consider the representation of food within the visual arts and beyond the standard still life tableaux. The consumption of food is a universally shared experience, enabling people viewing the exhibition to connect with the issues surrounding consumerism, food production and cultural identity. 

Some of the highlights will include a large installation of biscuit tins amassed by the artist Christine Turner over a 15-year period as well as an installation by Sue Saxon + Jane Becker of hundreds of fragile eggshells on strands of lights. The show will also include a number of photographs featuring melting ice sculptures by Janet Tavener, the colourful remnants of meals by Vin Ryan and both a colourful and melting ice block by Will Nolan. A sculpture composed of Murray River salt by Ken + Julia Yonetani will be offset by the artistic rendering of salt diffraction by Al Munro. The only traditional still life painting in the exhibition is by Michael Edwards who paints cement fruit which makes for a perfect pairing with the actual cast cement hamburgers by Will Coles. 

Curator, Megan Fizell, is a Sydney-based art historian and writer concerned with the representation of food in the visual arts. She is currently the Manager at Brenda May Gallery and is the voice of the popular food and art blog, Feasting on Art, an innovative translation of painting to plate – recipes inspired by art.

The exhibition opening for Art + Food: Beyond the Still Life will be held on Saturday 6 October from 4-6pm at Brenda May Gallery, 2 Danks Street, Waterloo.