2019

2019

29 November 

TRACING THE INLAND SEA  |  The Corner Gallery Stanmore

25 November 

STRATHFIELD COUNCIL HSC ART EXHIBITION  | Strathfield Library – Ironbark Gallery, Rochester Street Homebush

Some of my favourites from the  amazing and diverse artworks of talented local HSC Visual Arts students and guests.

8 November 

THE SHOP GALLERY  |  The opening of Still/Rage, Janet Kossy’s joint exhibition with Fran Munro, Sarah Gibson, Rosemary King, Fran Munro, Penny Ryan and Sue Young. There was a big crowd and difficult to get photos showing examples of all the different artists works. The Shop Gallery, 112 Glebe Point Road, Glebe.

7 November 

ST PATRICK’S CHURCH  |  The Rocks, Sydney

6 November 

KOREAN CULTURAL CENTRE |  Sydney  PLAYLIST Exhibition to 15 November

Featuring a beautiful range of metalcraft and jewellery by 7 local artists; Bridget Kennedy, Daehoon Kang, Jin Ah Jo, Joungmee Do, Kenny Son, Leonie Simpson and Vicki Mason, Playlistshowcases contemporary craft practices in response to the personal experiences of each artist. Like a variety of playlist depending upon the mood, situation and taste of the day, each work is diverse yet individual and enables audiences to investigate an artist’s intention in-depth.

 

 

 

29 October

THE SHOW MUST GO ON  |  NSW Parliament House

A film shining a spotlight on mental wellbeing in the entertainment industry.  The film is the debut documentary from filmmaker and former Home and Away actor, Ben Steel and is produced by award-winning feature film and documentary producer Sue Maslin, The Dressmaker.

Filmed over three years, The Show Must Go On is an important and moving exploration of the mental health of the 42,000 people working in the Australian entertainment industry. While ‘show business’ is often seen as glamorous, fun, exciting, and well paid, recent and alarming world-first research from Entertainment Assist and Victoria University paints a darker picture for entertainment workers. Anxiety symptoms are 10 times higher, sleep disorders are 7 times higher and symptoms of depression are 5 times higher than the national average. Suicide attempts in the industry are double the national average.

13 August

SYDNEY SCIENCE FESTIVAL @ STRATHFIELD

There’s More to Soap than Meets the Eye

What can the humble soap molecule teach us bout the origins of life?  Anna Wang, a researcher at UNSW is researching how simple building blocks including soap can self-assemble into primitive synthetic cells and what this behaviour could mean for the origins of cell-based life on Earth and its potential to happen elsewhere in the universe.

PhD Projects  |  Origin of Life

7 August

Sydney Symphony Orchestra at Sydney’s Town hall

JEAN SIBELIUS (1865-19570
En Saga (A Saga)

 

28 July

TAKE ( ) AT FACE VALUE | until 27 September

Korean Cultural Centre Australia Gallery, Sydney

55 Elizabeth St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Explores various aspects of modern Korean society through formats of contemporary art underpinning the stereotypes and bias that evolve around us. Spanning mixed media, photography, performance and painting, this exhibition will question the universal concepts that are revealed to us at face value. It is a rare opportunity to witness works from established contemporary Korean artists that have not had much exposure in the Australian art scene.

Artists: Kim Beom, Minja Gu, SaSa[44], Sulki and Min, Min Oh, Oan Kim, Choonman Jo, Ingo Baumgarten, Joo Jae Hwan, Nayoungim & Gregory Maass

6 July

Exhibition Opening | Alwy Fadhel

Lentil as Anything

27 May 

 

Head On Landscape exhibition at NSW Parliament House

This year the Head On Photo Festival is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. The Parliament welcomed the Head On Landscape Prize back to the Fountain Court.  The exhibition will also feature finalists in the NSW Parliament Landscape Photography Prize; a prize awarded to the best photograph of a landscape within NSW.  The Head On Landscape Prize and NSW Parliament Landscape Photography Prize was launched in 2013 to encourage a new perspective of an old genre to push creative boundaries and promote work that is informed, but not limited, by traditional practices.

Many photos stood out, this one, in particular, left much sadness in my heart.  Photography by Nicholas Moir ‘Death on the Darling’ ‘A red kangaroo drawn to the last drops of water left in the Darling River system became stuck in the thick mud in the centre of Lake Cawndilla near Menindee. Dozens of roos, sheep, goats and emus became stuck too far into the lake to rescue and were so close to death that they had to be put down. Extreme drought and high temperatures along with poor water management has left the Darling river a barren crack in the land with only a few miles of blue-green algae-filled water near’Menindee that is now filled with the dying carcasses of fish.’

20 May

Archibald, Wynne and Sulman annual exhibition at the NSW Art Gallery. Some quick snaps with my phone. The Archibald Prize is awarded to the best portrait painting. The Wynne Prize is awarded to the best landscape painting of Australian scenery, or figure sculpture, while the Sulman Prize is given to the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project in oil, acrylic, watercolour or mixed media.

9 May

CAPTURED  Portraits of Crime 1870 – 1930 | Touring Exhibition

Some of the compelling stories behind the faces of crime with guest speaker Senior Curator of NSW State Archives Dr Penny Stannard.  Penny wanted to create something meaningful from the 46,000 records.  Photography was new, something for the upper classes and it was a scandal that photos were being taken of criminals. The photos were taken in their own clothes and were originally quite stiff as people need to sit for some time in front of the camera.  The cameras had a stereoscopic lens and the use of glass plates. By the 1920s people were used to being in front of cameras.  Photos were are the discretion of the jailor.

The Crimes Act had 5 categories – against persons, against property, currency offenses, against good order and petty offenses. It was interesting thinking of the methods of punishment and how crimes have changed such as vagabond, which is homelessness.  The first divorce law was in 1873.

Going through all the files, the archivists used their immediate emotive response as a starting point, then choosing which people to focus on.  Who are these people, their circumstances, what are their individual stories then looking into getting representation in areas such as crimes, places, people and gender.  The records are closed for 75 years, up to about 1930.

Online Exhibition eBook

Searching for a record

25 April

Two-Up at my local.  It is a traditional Australian gambling game played on ANZAC Day in pubs and clubsthroughoutt Australia.  It is suggested that all winnings are donated to LEGACY.

14 April

Maggie Stein’s linoprints at the Corner Gallery, Stanmore

Out and about around Stanmore.  Loved how one home had organised for their fruit tree.

4 April

Addison Road Community Centre 142 Addison Rd, Marrickville

The site – previously an Army Depot – is home to more than 20 community organisations and artists; galleries; a theatre; radio station; park; and organic gardens. From an important indigenous water source and hunting grounds, to a 19th century dairy and market garden, to a military transit depot from World War I to the Vietnam War, in 1976 the centre was created by community activists as a green space and dynamic location for multicultural, artistic and children’s activities. In 2015, the ARCCO launched a Living Museum project to highlight the history of the site and its ongoing evolution.

31 March

ART EXPRESS | SYDNEY OLYMPIC PARK, ARMORY GALLERY, JAMIESON STRTEET, NEWINGTON ARMORY

Curious Visions

ARTEXPRESS is a joint venture of the NSW Department of Education and the NSW Education Standards Authority. It is a series of exhibitions of exemplary bodies of work created by students for the 2018 New South Wales Higher School Certificate. The bodies of work represent a broad range of subject matter, approaches, styles and media that reflect the high quality of Visual Arts education in New South Wales.

This year’s ARTEXPRESS at the Armory is titled Curious Visions. Curiosity is a desire to seek, understand and learn something unusual or interesting. The quality of being curious is an element of the creative process, where an artist’s inquisitiveness leads them to explore issues, subject matter and develop a visual language to express and communicate. A creative vision involves the capacity to explore or contemplate an ideal with imagination.

Through creative endeavours and focus, artists have been driven by their curiosity to observe closely, to understand the world, to master materials and to resolve their body of work. The process of creating an artwork finds its genesis in an idea, a sketch or a vision that develops form through the process of experimentation and artistic practice.

ARTEXPRESS: Curious Visions presents an exhibition of contemporary artistic practices and highlights the transforming role of art, and the impact of current affairs, social media and popular culture upon emerging artists. In turn, the artist’s curious vision inspires a response in the viewer.

ARTEXPRESS: Curious Visions explores several themes through the exhibition:
Materialising visions Passage of time Inquiring commentary
Urban metropolis Personal encounters Conscious subconscious
Family matters Curious nature Instinctive land

With works by 61 students, this year’s Armory Gallery presentation is again the largest of all the metropolitan exhibitions.

27 March

CLIMATE ELECTION KICKSTART

23 March

MAN OF CONSTANT SORROW

City Recital Hall, 2 Angel Place, Sydney CBD, New South Wales

Take a stroll across the bright heartland of American folk music with this joyous show that pays homage to the now legendary soundtrack from the Coen Brothers’ hit film. Line-up includes The Morrisons, All Our Exes Live In Texas, Tommy Dean, Luke Escombe and Brian Campeau. After selling out three years running and featuring at the 2016 Spectrum Now and Vivid festivals, this spectacular show will scale new heights in the dramatic setting of City Recital Hall.

Hosted by The Morrisons (nominated for bluegrass recording of the year at 2018 Golden Guitars) the show features performances from Aria award winners  All Our Exes Live In Texas, comedian and ABC stalwart Tommy Dean, musical raconteur Luke Escombe and Canadian singer songwriter Brian Campeau. With such a stella cast of artists playing such joyous music this is a show not be missed.

20 March 

“Roads to Ruin – Taking its toll on Sydney”

I have been so disheartened to see the way this Westconnex project has been pushed through by the NSW Government and bureaucrats,  behind closed doors, using billions of dollars of public funds and treating the citizens of Sydney with appalling disrespect and lack of care, that I felt compelled to do something.  I have witnessed first hand people affected by forced acquisitions, tunneling and damage to houses, noise and toxic pollution  plus the devastating impact on thousands of citizens mental health. I have spoken to planning, health and transport experts who have all been ignored and I have seen suburbs and communities torn apart.

So I decided to make ‘Roads to Ruin’, and for months I have been making this 24 minute documentary. I have been overwhelmed with peoples support  in time, energy and footage and have received thousands of dollars of in kind support, donations and assistance in many ways and now I  just need a few more thousand dollars to complete it. I have one week to raise the needed $4,000 to cover editing costs etc and then to launch it, before the state election.  I really hope you can chip in something to help us reach the target.

28 February

QUEEN VICTORIA in SYDNEY HARBOUR

On a world trip from Hamburg, Germany to Hamburg Germany – Itinerary

Queen Victoria’s Current Position

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

Art Work On Display

DAVID GOLDBLATT:  PHOTOGRAPHS  1948 – 2018 | MCA Australia

Internationally renowned photographer David Goldblatt extensive exhibition documenting South Africa’s peoples, places and history and turbulent history with a quiet determination and unflinching sense of what is right and just, and what is not.  Featuring over 350 photographs that make up his compelling portrayal of the rise and dismantling of apartheid.

LENS CULTURE

David Goldblatt’s photographs are a subtle challenge to oppression

DAVID GOLDBLATT’S KIND, CALM PHOTOGRAPHS OF SOUTH AFRICA EXIST IN A MORALITY MINEFIELD

MUSEUM of SYDNEY

FIRST FLEET SHIPS  were built by modelmakers Lynne and Laurie Hadley following nine years of painstaking research into original plans, drawings and British archival documents. Each ship is built on a 1:48 scale,from western red cedar or Syrian cedar.

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

This exhibition explores the candid street photography prolific on Sydney’s streets during the mid-20th century. Drawn from hundreds of private family albums, this extraordinary record of the city and its people provides a glimpse into everyday life during the Depression, World War II and postwar years.  These photographs are displayed alongside contemporary reimaginings by photo-media artist Anne Zahalka.

What do the city and its citizens look like today?  Sydney photographers Tawfik Elgazzar and Roslyn Sharp have revisited locations identified in the historical street photographs and reframed patterns and movements with modern subjects, capturing people out and about.

HOW CITIES WORK

From sewers to skyscrapers, this world-premiere interactive children’s exhibition reveals the secret workings of the city. How Cities Work has been developed by Sydney Living Museums in collaboration with illustrator and city fanatic James Gulliver Hancock, and is adapted from the bestselling book How Cities Work from Lonely Planet Kids.

STATE LIBRARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

A chart of the Indian Ocean and East Indies showing the European discoveries of the Australian continent made before Tasman. The Kangaroo Route, Qantas World Routes, 1958. Designed by Anne Drew, marked the launch by Qantas in 1958 of the world’s first all-het round-the-world service.Photographs by Louise Whelan. Each year, approximately 190,000 people migrate to Australia. Most come to work or be near family, and less than 10% have a refugee background.

CARTOGRAPHIC WALKING TOUR

Cartographica: Sydney on the map. An exhibition of reproduced maps with a focus on Sydney

Latitude 33.51’S

Longitude 151.2’E

This exhibition brings together a series of reproduced maps with a focus on Sydney, captured through the cartographic traditions of mapmakers.  It is a fascinating account of the factors that have shaped our city, highlighting some of the many different ways mapmakers have documented its evolution and guided our journeys.

CUSTOMS HOUSE  31 Alfred Street, Circular Quay

During additions to Customs House in the late 19th century, the height of the building was increased and a frieze of cared medallions added to the north facade on two levels.   The names of six British imperial colonies are inscribed in the centre at third floor level, while eight significant colonial ports are named on the eastern and western wings at the fourth level.

FIRST FLEET PARK

Commemorates the landing place of the first European settlers to arrive in Sydney and is significant as an early contact site.  The large terrazzo relief map commemorates the bicentenary of the founding of European settlement in Sydney.   It features a map of Sydney Cove/Warrane drawn from historical maps and documents and showing the layout of the town in 1808.

EAST CIRCULAR QUAY

Small brass discs in the footpath paving along east Circular Quay inscribed ‘1788 shoreline’ mark the location of the natural shoreline of Sydney Cove/Warrane in 1788.  As the shoreline was modified to create Circular Quay and provide improved facilities for maritime transport, the shoreline was reclaimed.   The first of those alterations is mapped by a band of white granite.  There are other brass landmarks along Circular Quay, the 1844 shoreline and the Writer’s Walk. 

WINDINESS:  The Scout Compass of Discovery  

Harnesses the power and changing direction of the wind to prompt imagined and real journeys of discovery.   The bronze map in the centre of the ground plane is inscribed with place names, many significant to Scouts.   Extending out from the map are lines of text accompanied by a distance and a direction for each of the 16 points of the compass.

OBELISK, Macquarie Place Park

The sandstone obelisk was erected in 1818 and is recognised as the geographic centre point of 19th century Sydney.   It continues to be the point from which all official distances in NSW are surveyed, measured and mapped.  Nearby, small bronze birds sculpted by renowned artist Tracey Emin are part of a sculpture installation entitled ‘the Distance of Your Heart’.

LANDS DEPARTMENT

For over a century, the Lands Department was the government workplace of surveyors and cartographers who were responsible for creating and publishing maps of New South Wales.   The Datum Bench Mark Plug is the baseline for all height levels above sea level in NSW.  Around the facade of the building are statues commemorating prominent men including explorers, surveyors and naturalists.

TASMAN MAP

The State Library of New South Wales holds the state’s largest public collection of maps.  The vestibule features a floor map of part of the coastline of the Australian continent compiled from observations by Dutch navigator, Abel Tasman in the mid-17th century.  His discoveries were made over a century before the eastern coastline was charted on Captain James Cook’s voyage on HMS Endeavour.

TANK STREAM

As Sydney grew, its streets and thoroughfares followed many of the Gadigal tracks and pathways used for travel and trade.  Pitt Street, which followed the Tank Stream, was one important thoroughfare.  Another, George Street, led westwards away from Sydney Cove/Warrane.   The Tank Stream, now an active stormwater channel, is largely buried beneath the city.

27 February

ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

ART EXPRESS

WILLIAM KENTRIDGE

that which we do not remember

William Kentridge emerged as an artist during the apartheid regime in South Africa. Grounded in the violent absurdity of that period in his country’s history, his artworks draw connections between art, ideology, history and memory.

Curated by the artist, this exhibition encourages viewers to trace visual and thematic links between diverse aspects of his practice, from his engagement with opera to his interest in early cinema, from his inimitable animated drawings to sculpture and works on paper.

The exhibition features loans from the collection of Naomi Milgrom AO and the artist’s studio, in addition to works held by the Art Gallery of NSW. It includes one of Kentridge’s most ambitious and celebrated video installations – I am not me, the horse is not mine 2008 – a major new addition to the Gallery’s collection, donated by Anita Belgiorno-Nettis AM and Luca Belgiorno-Nettis AM.

MASTERS OF MODERN ART from THE HERMITAGE

A unique collection of European modern masters from The State Hermitage Museum collection in St Petersburg including Monet, Picasso, Cézanne, Matisse, Gauguin, Kandinsky, Malevich,  Bonnard, Denis, Pissarro, de Vlaminck, Derain, Delaunay-Terk, Rousseau and Friesz,

After the revolutions of 1917, the buildings and the masterpieces they housed were nationalised, with the Winter Palace becoming the face of the Hermitage as a public art museum.

Between the Impressionists and Malevich’s ‘Black Square’, the modern movement saw the evolution of modern art with the sacrifice of conventional accuracy, even breaking up and reorganising the elements of nature.  The masterpieces range from paintings where impressionist artists worked readily using the fleeting effects of light and weather without attempting to conceal the broken brushstrokes to ignoring the familiar appearances of objects focusing on the spectator’s emotional response to colour, shape, line and composition.  Shapes are dissected, becoming multifaceted so that several points of view can be seen within a single image.

The works during this time move to the use of abstract qualities of paint to express the intimate psychic relationships between people and their familiar surroundings.  Strong, discordant colours and energetic, freely handled brushwork created a sensation and the introduction of a new concept of colour as an independent and expressive element of their painting rather than an incidental feature subordinate to drawing.

16 February

MONSIEUR CAMEMBERT

“Gloriously melodramatic, extraordinary musical prowess and breathless panache…ensemble playing at it’s finest” (The Drum).

With sensitivity, virtuosity, & astonishing energy, Triple ARIA Award-winning band Monsieur Camembert brilliantly weaves Gypsy music with other World Music styles, to create a truly original, irresistibly potent blend. Or as The Age put it, “a brazen and intoxicating blend of jazz, Gypsy Swing, Latin & East European influences. Monsieur Camembert has received standing ovations around the globe, with acclaimed performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival and the International Leonard Cohen Festival to name just a couple of highlights.

“They pick you up & carry you on a wave of energy, excitement & poignancy that never relents….the band play with such cohesion, energy & abandon that I experienced an emotion so foreign I barely recognised it: elation. Simply the best Gypsy band in the land! ” (John Shand, SMH).

14 February

DISSCONNEX EXHIBITION  Michael Bianchino, Peter Donahue & Walter Maurice  Exploring the destructive and resounding impact of teh major infrastructure project WestConnex which is a colossal mega tunnelling project for proposed toll roads beneath Sydney Inner West and Western Suburbs.  There are images of those displaced and triumphant in the face of great adversity.  Landscapes that trace, map an dexpose the scale and magnitude of destruction.  The zines explore the long and hard-fought battle by activists, artists and poets and politicians opposing WestConnex.  Also exploring the lives of htose that have faced having their homes and lives unequivocally changed by the WestConnex Project.

THE PERCEIVED REALITY  Landscape in its real and imaginative form, playing with the viewers perspective of looking at the work straight.  An illusionary record of the real landscape while referring to the actual conditions existing in it, it neither reflects nor does it portray the reality directly.

TWO-DOWN  Frankie Chow & Alana Wesley  Videos, performances, photographs and objectsthat collectively critique the construction of Australian identities and unveil the bloody legends behind the regional mining city of Broken Hill.  A project about culture, gender, nationality and mateship.  But also beer.

11 February

KOREAN CULTURAL CENTRE

A Scholar’s Feast: Old and New

An exhibition that unfolds the traditional food culture and art of Korea. Introducing aspects of Cheongju’s local culture in connection with the spirit of Confucian Scholars (Seonbi) and food. The food on a Seonbi’s table is prepared for one person and one person only.

Introducing artworks to the heritage of food culture based on the culture of craftwork in Cheongju and the spirit of Confucian Scholars (Seonbi).

The artists:
EUNJIN KO
MANSOO KIM
JANGEUI KIM
NARAE DU
GAPSUL PARK
SANGTAE PARK
GUENYOUNG PARK
JAEMIN SONG
KANGLOK LEE
JUNSIK LEE
JEONGSOOK JEONG
WONSEOK CHO
MYUNGSOO HWANG
INSUNG HWA

Korean Cultural Centre Australia – Sydney
Ground Floor, 255 Elizabeth St. Sydney NSW 2000
Tel. 02 8267 3400
E-mail. info@koreanculture.org.au

26 January

AUSTRALIA DAY

CUSTOMS HOUSE

Cartographica: Sydney on the map. An exhibition of reproduced maps with a focus on Sydney at Custom House until Sep ’19. Unfortunately the glass made photos difficult with my mobile.

Latitude 33.51’S
Longitude 151.2’E

NSW GOVERNMENT HOUSE

The home of the Governor of NSW, located adjacent to the Royal Botanical Gardens and overlooking Sydney Harbour surrounded by their own beautiful gardens in this amazing setting.

ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDENS – CYCLEX

The Calyx, a world-class horticultural exhibition space and the theme of the current display is Plants with Bite. The exhibition tells the story of the captivating and bizarre world of carnivorous plants. As fascinating as they are horrifying, these plants are truly a miracle of evolution. Sun, soil and sky – this is all most plants need to survive. Yet carnivorous plants can thrive in inhospitable environments by luring, trapping, killing and digesting insects.

At this free floral display you’ll get to see the iconic Venus flytrap: an example of a ‘snap trap’. You can also observe the ‘pitfall’, ‘flypaper’, ‘lobster-pot’ and ‘bladder’ styles of traps. Combining botany with hands-on activities, Plants with Bite showcases these fascinating plants while bringing awareness to the ways in which many species are currently under threat due to habitat loss.

AUSTRALIA DAY CONCERT

The Australia Day Live concert included a flotilla of yachts, jet skis, flyboarders on the harbour with fireworks broadcast live on ABC, Australian Television. A wonderful event and well worth it and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was just wonderful along with the many talented artists.

19 January

SYMPHONY UNDER THE STARS

14 January

STAR WARS™ Identities: The Exhibition

PowerHouse Museum, Sydney.

Who would you be if you were a character from Star Wars™? Find out as you build your own personal and unique Star Wars hero in this interactive exhibition featuring 200 original Star Wars objects.

Designed for visitors of all ages, explore your own identity and learn about the forces that shape you through a series of interactive stations within the exhibition. Each answer you give will define a unique Star Wars character that you’ll create and meet at the end of the exhibition.

Along the way, discover rare treasures from the Lucasfilm archives and see original costumes, props, models and artworks up close as you go behind the scenes of the movie-making process. There’s BB-8, R2-D2, the Millennium Falcon, Yoda from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back™, Darth Vader’s suit from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi™, plus so much more!

May the Force Be With You.