LOUISE ZHANG // MCA ARTBAR

Pink Malk, 2015, children's pool, polyurethane foam and plastic, plastic tubes, acrylic,
 enamel, PVA glue, synthetic, strawberry oil fragrance, water pumps, Dimensions variable.

This October MCA's ARTBAR: Dystopia will be curated by artist trio Hissy Fit and will feature the work of Artereal artist Louise Zhang.

Zhang's work "Pink Malk" uses strawberry milk in lieu of water to create a fountain that is at once sickly sweet and grotesque.

Be mesmerized and entranced by the pink milk as its pumped through the fountain, zen out, remember your primary schoolyard days, or just marvel at the wonderful mind that is Louise Zhang!

ARTBAR: Dystopia will also involve- 

Justin Shoulder’s full face and body sculptures; blurring the line between ‘worn’ and ‘performed’. 

performance-lecture by Giselle Stanborough 

Play up schoolyard nostalgia with Louise Zhang’s strawberry milk fountain artwork 

DJ Sveta and The Smuts serve music on the rooftop terrace 

live art and installations from Toby K, Kelly Doley, Salote Tawale and more 

"Pink Malk" was originally part of an exhibition entitled A robot attempts to eat a chicken nugget held at Firstdraft Gallery earlier this year featuring Tully Arnot, Josh Harle, Jason Phu, Louise Zhang with curator Luke Letourneau.

LIAM BENSON PERFORMANCE TO CELEBRATE MCA'S 2 MILLIONTH VISITOR

To celebrate 2 million visitors since the Museum of Contemporary Art reopened in March 2012, the MCA celebrated by commissioning Sydney performance artist Liam Benson to mark the 2 millionth arrival in a suitably artistic way.

Entitled 'Me & You', the performance involved tonnes of gold glitter and Liam dressed in extraordinary gold regalia, for two very lucky visitors who came in at just the right moment. Liam took his inspiration from the final scene of 'STAR WARS IV: A New Hope', and delivered a moment of 'splendour and sense of unified achievement', as evident in featured video above.

To learn more about Liam Benson, click here.

HAYDEN FOWLER / MCA NEW ACQUISITIONS IN CONTEXT

Hayden Fowler_New World Order_video stills_HD video, colour, sound_15:17min duration

On 12 December 2013, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) will be opening New Acquisitions in Context 2013.

"Celebrating the diversity of art making in Australia, New Acquisitions in Context 2013 features a range of media from painting and photography through to installation and the moving image and draws together multiple themes and ideas through a collection of very different artworks." (MCA)

Hayden Fowler's video New World Order was recently acquired by the MCA and will be on show alongside works from over 28 emerging and established artists from around the country.

Fowler’s work hones in on the suppressed yearnings of contemporary culture to explore feelings of loss and alienation from nature that pervade the human psyche. Stylistically, the hyper-real video is part documentary format, part artifice. Birdlife, rare and exotic live chickens and colourful canaries, are choreographed within a fabulous diorama; a strange, grey-scale, petrified forest setting that is an elaborate set created by the artist in his studio. The strutting, perching, scratching, flapping, and feeding of these outlandish and domesticated feathered creatures is intercut with close-ups and panoramas of this fictive and idealised natural space.

New Acquisitions in Context will run until 23 February 2014.
MCA: 140 George St, The Rocks NSW

To see more of Hayden's works from this series, click here.

THE MOTEL SISTERS PERFORMING AT THE MCA

The Motel Sisters_Podcast_2011_performance still

From 22-28 April 2013, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) will be showcasing 'seven days of experimental performances' in a program entitled Workout.

"Each artist has a single day to present temporary works using the body and everyday materials, drawing on the double meaning of workout as both a strenuous exercise routine and a test of performance capability. Behind-the-scenes comes front and centre as setting up and packing-down takes place in front of you." - Museum of Contemporary Art

The seven artists whom will be performing throughout the week will include: David Capra, Domenico de Clario, Brian Fuata, Sarah Goffman, Agatha Gothe-Snape with Susan Gibb, Jodie Whalen, and The Motel Sisters (performative/inter-arts collaboration between Liam Benson and Naomi Oliver).

The Motel Sisters will be performing on Tuesday 23 April, showcasing a new work My Little Kony (2013). Recreating the iconic Bed-In for Peace protest by Yoko Ono and John Lennon, the artists will "take on the role of 'slacktivists', lying in bed with their laptops, ordering takeaway food, watching reality TV clips on YouTube and 'liking' socially conscious causes on social media."

For more information about the Workout performance program, click here.

LIAM BENSON / THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART'S 21ST BIRTHDAY

Liam Benson_Coat of Arms_2009

 

Liam Benson will be performing as part of an upcoming event celebrating the Museum of Contemporary Art's 21st Birthday on Saturday 10 November. 

Presented and hosted by the MCA Young Ambassadors, the evening will raise funds for Primavera, the MCA's annual exhibition for Australian artists aged 35 years and under. To purchase tickets for the event click here.

MIT JAI INN & SUDSIRI PUI-OCK IN THE 18TH BIENNALE OF SYDNEY (2012)

Mit Jai Inn, No. 112, 2002-12, oil and pigment on canvas, dimensions variable. Image courtesy of Oida Art, Bangkok and the Biennale of Sydney. Photograph: Tinnakorn Nugul.

Following on from their recent participation in Northern Lights at Artereal Gallery in March 2012, Thai artists Mit Jai Inn and Sudsiri Pui-Ock are currently exhibiting as part of the 18th Biennale of Sydney 2012.

Mit Jai Inn is exhibiting a selection of works, currently installed at the Museum of Contemporary Art, which hover between painting and sculpture. As an artist he refuses to define his own artistic practice in conventional terms such as painting or sculpture. When his work appears beyond categorisation, the artist has achieved his aim of working towards his vision of ‘eukabeuk’ or nothingness. Mit Jai Inn believes in art as a practice of mediation and collaboration. Using oil paint with pigments, the artist creates multi-layered and multi-coloured abstract works on canvas. Mit Jai Inn then leaves the composition or arrangement of the works to others, to facilitate a literal participation in a colorful co-composition. 

For Mit the use of ‘painting’ as a way of communicating his personal views on art and life, as well as the social and political implications of making art, are all key aspects of his practice. Mit has also been a pioneer in the development of the Chiang Mai contemporary art scene. He was involved with the Land Foundation project and was the founder of the Chiang Mai Social Installation (CMSI). Mit is an active commentator on the current political situation in Thailand and has been internationally active over the past thirty years.

Sudsiri Pui-Ock is currently exhibiting three video works at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Sudsiri’s practice is multifaceted and involves working across material processes (such as printmaking, drawing, painting, sculpture, video, interactive, internet) to develop her philosophical concepts on life and the existence of lives. Her video works are often characterised by a quest for a peaceful and sustainable life and the slowing down of time.

Pui-Ock’s film The Street of Two Birds (2006) is one of the artist’s most striking video works – a homage to people killed along the busy roads of Japan. Her other featured works include Farmer (2009), which was shot within rice fields while being simultaneously mystic and realistic, and Tatami Room (2006) addressing the themes of water and land. 

Sudsiri has undertaken various Artist-in-Residency programmes such as the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, Netherlands from 2004-2005, ARCUS Project, Moriya Japan in 2006, Jerusalem Center for the Visual Arts, Israel in 2007. She has held many solo exhibiitons since 2000 and has participated in many important group exhibitions such as Yokohama Triennale, Japan, 2011, theThai Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, Italy, 2009 and Incheon Women Artists Biennale, Korea, 2009.

Recent works by Mit Jai Inn can currently be viewed in the Artereal Gallery Stockroom.