Graduate Show at NAS - 28 November

How will I #react?  Well, my first reaction was, wasn't this the tagline for last years show?  I mean, I realise Saatchi and Saatchi are still the sponsors but they couldn't spring for some new banners?  I'll be #underwhelmed if this theme is rolled out again next year ...

Second up.  How good is it, finally, that NAS seems to have worked out a half decent online strategy?  The website they had (and I use the past tense as they've already taken it down!) was actually pretty good.  Sorted by all the disciplines you could actually see nearly 100% of the works online.  Which is pretty handy to get a good feel for the show before you actually go, because opening night when I swung by is always jammed packed.  The one downside of the excellent website is that I didn't take notes, thinking I'd just look it up at home.  Big mistake as I am writing this on 9 December and google is not helping out much.  Luckily I had taken a few snaps on opening night.  Pictured top are two of Hilary Sandeman's pieces which made the cut for the main gallery.  Smaller works but I loved them.  Hard to make out in the photo but the glass jars were filled with wax hearts.  I think I've mentioned before I have a thing for medical models of hearts and Hilary was bang on with these.  If I'd have been a bit more organised these should've made their way to Big Lamington HQ as the grad show is always very affordable and good to support young artists.  Other highlights were Bahman Kermani who made these persian rugs (pictured middle) out of train tickets.  Not bad, although would take up a fair bit of space in a Paddo terrace so you might need to think about different ways to display.  Maybe put a glass table top on and make it a coffee table?  Hey, just trying to help.  Lastly, I was really digging the linocuts of one grad whose name I can't track down.  But in trying to find this online I found Jake Morrissey's name.  And he did some cool prints of Fidel & Marilyn from memory.  Speaking of which, next time I will remember to post earlier!

Points:  Hilary Sandeman will get the 3 for Tried to Feel But Couldn't Touch.  Bahman Kermani will take the 2 for the ticket carpet.  And my unknown artist will take a point for these great linocuts above. The two alpacas in the bottom right were my favourite.  I think one was even from the Hunter Valley!  Have I mentioned before that I'm from ….

Art of science at NAS - 15 February

So the National Art School currently has an interesting little exhibit going on right now courtesy of the Museum of Victoria.  Called the art of science it is concerned primarily with natural history illustrations, both historical and contemporary.  Even better, the public programme included a drawing class by multiple Big Lamington points winner Angus Fisher.

We started first with a walk around the exhibition.  For the fans of natural history illustration out there, rest easy, the big names were front and centre.  John James Audubon, check.  John Gould, check.  I like them both, just a shame the Vic Museum didn't have any Walton Ford's to go with.  Audubon's works really do set the benchmark and they are the pride of place here.  He was an interesting character who did most of his own shooting for specimens.  Perhaps a little too well as a few of the examples here are now only known to science such as the ivory billed woodpecker shown here.  I like how he includes other species such as the fish in the Fish Hawk (image top), the rattlesnake with the Mocking Birds and the rabbit being caught by the red-tailed hawk.  By contrast Gould is much more restrained.  Illustrating the birds and a little bit of flora.  I have a massive soft spot for this type of illustration (and even collect old Gould League membership cards from the '30s and '40s).  My favourites were the Cassowary and any of the parrots (the Blue cheeked parakeet, now known as the blue cheeked rosella is pictured middle).  The contemporary works included showed a variety of techniques from old school pencil and ink to modern photomontage (with masses of details on a close up of a beetles head for instance).  Enough inspiration already.  It was time to break out the pencils for ourselves.  A group of 20 punters retired to the NAS chapel to try our hand at illustration.  NAS had busted out the taxidermy for our reference and I had settled on an owl when Angus suggested that birds are hard and maybe try the fox instead.  Well, that was pretty tricky as well and our two hour class went by pretty quickly.  My poor fox didn't get any legs!

Points:  I quite liked some of the contemporary pieces, Mali Moir's shark was my top pick and will give it the 3 points.  One of the big names needs to get the 2 points and this former Gould League of Bird Lover's member is giving it to John for the Blue Cheeked Parakeet.  Angus Fisher (check out his website here) will pick up a point for running a great little class.  I will also post a photo of the birds we commissioned of Angus a few years ago.  It's a fantastic little work and now that I know how hard this type of illustration is will appreciate it even more.

cofa annual - 29 November

Okay, time for the annual exhibition for the graduates of the college of fine arts aka cofa.  This is back on campus after being in the wilds of Randwick as the new cofa buildings were being completed.  It is a very nifty new campus and it is great to pop along just to see the art school and some of the views they get from the top of f block.  Anyway on to the show.  How would I #react? (wait, that was last night)

So I now know why they try to call this place cofa instead of the college of fine arts.  I reckon its kinda like Kentucky Fried Chicken being kfc, in that they are trying to hide the fact the food is fried.  At cofa they hide the fine arts as today they seem to be about so much more, digital art, design, textiles, fashion etc.  It is an interesting contrast to the National Art School where the different majors were painting, drawing, photography, ceramics and sculpture.  At cofa I saw someone has a 'Master of Cross-Disciplinary Art and Design (Sculpture-Installation-Performance)'.  This was Arran Salerno and Arran's Death Mask series of hand coloured paraffin wax, earthenware clay and hand blown glass (I tweeted the image) actually struck me as being a very traditional looking set of sculptures that was totally at odds with the futuristic academic labels they are handing out here.  Maybe I am too old school but I don't see what would be wrong with giving Arran a plain old MFA and then having all the rest of it as the major.  Anyway, rant over lets get back to the art.  In the main gallery (which I think was just the honours students) I liked Katherine Corcoran's 'Searching for something I thought was you' (pictured top).  This was a steel cube containing piled up milk quartz.  I don't get it, but that is what I like about it.  The mystery.  The contrast of the natural shape of the rocks with the precise geometry of the cube.  Ancient and modern, etc.  Also interesting was Beth Dillon's installation (I recognised her 'Institutional Rainbows' from the firstdraft fundraiser, pictured on the link).  Her video's were idiosyncratic and a lot of fun.  Upstairs on the fine art floor I liked Kim Hill's '2 and 6' screenprint (pictured below) which for a minute made me think Reko Rennie had gone back to art school!  On another floor you couldn't help but notice Rod McRae's 'Born Free' (pictured above).  Take that Tracey Emin, did you ever think about putting a lion in an unmade bed?  I think this guy was one of the most photographed images on the night.  There was far too much to see and I think I will be back to check it out and maybe note down a few more names.

Points:  3 points to Katherine's cube and quartz structure, and not just because of its shared lamington geometry (although I have an inkling that is one of the reasons why I subconsciously like it).  2 points to Kim Hill whose green and gold stamp appeals to the Australiana collector in me.  1 point has to go to the lion in the bedroom.  Congrats Rod for making everyone #REACT! (again, sorry NAS, it'll take a few days for me to get that effective advertising campaign out of my head!)

national art school graduate exhibition 2013 - 28 November

So I've been coming to the grad exhibition here for a few years now (here's 2010, 2011 and 2012).  None has been as hyped as this 2013 edition, I think that is in part due to the new sponsorship from the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The tagline for this years show was "how will you react?" and was accompanied by a full court press of twitter, graffiti bombing sidewalks, posters and even this crazy message truck.  Each artwork even had its own #hashtag.  This had better not #suck ...

I'll start by saying that the photography was really strong this year, both Abbey Swinn and Sarah Dugan striking me as names to watch out for.  Abbey Swinn's photo series contrasted natural photos of young girls with the same sitter but with lots of make-up (image top 'Silvy').  The contrast speaks to the growing sexualisation of youth and made its point very well.  Sarah's photos were also striking images of the remote outback with the occasional character present.  On to the painting section which was a bit mixed.  Truth be told, I was indifferent* to quite a few of the works, but then again I'd expect that I am not going to like everyone in such a large grouping of art students (painting is the biggest major by far).  Eloise Cato made a mark with her black epoxy covered lumps of charcoal (pictured top, apologies but can't decipher in my notes what it is called, I think the title starts with a W and a C!).  She had shrewdly put out business cards so you could email her for a commission (her website is eloisecato.com).  It was a busy walk through the studios but I stopped for Alex Grilanc's works.  He had a great piece called "Muscle Beach Pattern" in the main gallery which recalled that well known AGNSW piece Australian Beach Pattern by Charles Meere.  Alex has populated his work with posing bikini babes taking selfies and muscled up guys juicing up with 'roids and protein shakes.  His other pieces in the studio were along a similar vein and he even had some great little zines to give away that promoted his website (yes, well done son - good to see more grads fully equipped with websites!).  Other painters I noted down included Anthony Essenza and Emma Cooper, who did these quite saturated paintings of girls with bright glitter ice-creams (pictured below, a little Lolita-esque and there were a few more a bit more suggestive than this one). She also had a few that were borderline nsfw except for the glitter pasties.  Of the ceramics majors another Eloise caught my eye.  This one was Eloise Rankine (and again with the business card and websites).  Eloise had quite a few nifty little houses and other vessels on display but she was also putting the other ceramacists to shame by showcasing her mixed media skills with some embroidery art as well.  Her "I am my mothers daughter" in the main gallery was pretty striking.  But then again I don't mind a bit of text here and there.  Finally the sculpture section highlighted Nina George's constructed bodies in recycled wood bits which brought to mind one of those Campana brothers favela chairs.  All in all a great opportunity to see so many different artists in the one place.

Points:  My 3 points will go to Abbey Swinn for her photography.  In my mind she was well ahead of the pack here and there might even be a Big Lamington commission of the junior critics coming her way.  I'll give 2 points to Eloise Cato for the very slick charcoals.  They look great in the studio.  For the final point I will let my better half pick the worthy recipient and in her mind the best talent on display was Jemma Burke whose paintings conjured up abstract landscapes and displayed solid technique (my Mrs was once the art student herself so is a hard taskmaster on technique, I will spare you some of her less favourable observations!).  Also well done to all the grads out there hustling with postcards, business cards and websites already.

* as an aside, this was my concern with the whole 'how are you going to react?' campaign.  It runs the risk of over-hyping a show that will never deliver a reaction to every work.  I am reminded of a classic Andres Serrano (of piss christ fame) quote "I like to make pieces that make people feel something.  Any reaction is better than indifference".  I think punters will be indifferent to quite a lot of the work they see at any art school. I expect the same from the upcoming cofa annual, as the artists are still developing and experimenting, etc.

Postgrad show at NAS - 9 November

Just made it to the postgrad show at the National Art School, final day today.  If you missed this make sure to come back for the grad show on the 29th of November.  When they say postgrad they mean people doing their Masters but also folks doing an honours year.  Hence quite a few familiar names from last years grad show.

Lots of highlights.  Loved Anna Cuthill's vast (300 x 364cm) vinyl adhesive print at the entrance ('Milk', top).  This recalled that great size queen Andreas Gursky. I would love to have the space for that somewhere at Big Lamington HQ.  Also on the ground floor was Montana Miller, a highlight from last year, who has reprised her drawing on clothes with also quite a cool little sculpture / diorama (which given it was lit from below didn't photograph all that well).  Here's a link to some more photos of the show. Upstairs Kelley Stapleton is again dominating the room with another amazing study in perspective (above, looking towards the white wall on the left and a shot of the whole thing on the right).  Both the 6 year old and I loved it.  Really screws around with your depth perception when you look at it from the back.  Also upstairs was Master's candidate Giles Alexander who seems a little too distinguished to be back at art school (2 x Archibald finalist, 2 x Moran finalist, RBS emerging finalist back in 2010).  He had a big version of a work that looks quite similar to his solo show at Martin Browne a couple of months back.  I can't recall Gemma Avery from last year but I was really impressed with her efforts in this years show.  These were from what I can gather re-photographs of celebs with crystal vases covering their faces (see below, "hey lady (white)").  This was an edition 1 of 5 and you could have it for $1,500 framed which is pretty good for a 90 x 90cm photo edition.  We also liked Charlotte Le Brocque's 'scared sheepless' ceramics of sheep (of course).  These were NFS so my Gregor Kregar rugby world cup sheep remains friendless.

Points:  I though Gemma Avery's concept quite clever and as such she will nab the 3 points.  It was very close though and Kelley Stapleton will take the 2 (after taking the 3 points last year).  I would love one of these perspective works but need it on a domestic scale.  Not sure how it would go.  1 point will go to Anna Cuthill for all those gallons of milk.

Lastly, my one big tip for art grads is to have a functioning website so the punters can discover you and even contact you for commissions, etc.  The results of my random google survey were:
- Kelley Stapleton passes, although her website is still a bit of a work in progress;
- facebook seems to be the main contact if you are interested in Montana Miller or Charlotte Le Brocque;
- google didn't turn up anything for Gemma Avery; and
- Anna Cuthill has got quite a savvy web presence here.  Pick of the websites I found.

Continuum at COFA - 5 November

So it's November which is the season for art school grad shows.  I am not sure that CONTINUUM at COFAspace is the official postgrad show but hey they sent out a tweet and I came running (or at least swung by after work on the way home).

COFAspace for those that don't know their way around the old Paddington High School is tucked into the ground floor of building E.  Where exactly is that? Well you would expect that there might be a sign if they want some outsiders to turn up.  You would be wrong.  Anyway I did find it eventually and helped myself to the floor sheet.  First interesting discovery, Rebeccah Dent is the only artist trying to sell her works in this show.  I don't know why more aren't trying.  I would've been interested in Abdullah Syed's 'bomegranate" (top) which was an expertly upcycled cricket ball.  Enjoyed seeing a reference to the west papuan freedom movement (Melinda Sloan's 'Papua Merdeka'), although I thought it was a bit too dark (check my tweeter stream for an image of this).  This show also included 'alumni research' which potentially explains Louis Pratt's quite polished entry "what ever" (below).  Louis actually got his Masters from COFA back in 2004 and was a finalist in the Wynne last year and is also in this years Woollahra small sculpture prize.  An interesting start to the art school show season.  Will try and get to the National Art School's postgrad show before it closes this Saturday.

Points:  3 to Abdullah Syed's improvised six stitcher.  Loved it.  2 to Louis Pratt for his far too polished for a grad show sculpture and 1 point to Rebeccah Dent for her 'Dissymetry' collage works on paper (although I don't think her pricing had extended to these works).

Grad show at the National Art School - 29 November

With the new James Bond on Monday and Alaska last night we'd used up the babysitting sources for this week so I was flying solo over to NAS to check out the grad show opening.  Would the Mrs be kicking herself for choosing Daniel Craig over the students? Lets find out ...

The studios are open for the first few days and there are heaps of grads.  That adds up to more work than I can cover in a quick post.  You can see why the editorial in this months Australian Art Review wondered if "there is too much art-student toothpaste being squeezed onto too small an art-world toothbrush".  Kelley Stapleton's Perspective Portal was the star of the show in the main gallery (pictured above). This was on the second floor and had many punters lining up to walk through.  In the main space I also liked Bligh Jackson's animation video work of 'Pollock Painting'.  He had the action in a single circle on screen, kind of like the Bond opening but with mad dripping instead of the gun pointing.  Montana Miller was also a standout here.  She was doing drawing on underwear and nighties.  The underwear seemed a little nana style to me but then as my better half pointed out you can probably fit more on to that style of garment than a g-string.  Her work in the drawing studio was my favourite here ('Little Prayer for you', pictured above).  Also in the drawing studio was Veronica Habib whose 'Safety Line' series re-imagined your bog standard travel 10 bus pass with some social commentary (pictured below).  I quite liked these and think she should contact NSW Transport to get some on the buses for real.  Veronica also helpfully has a website which is I think a must for any art grad and something even AAR might agree increases your chance of getting on the toothbrush.  I also have Clementine Barnes and Kit Christian's names written down as artists that impressed but as I am getting to my notes a week late I can't put works to the names (and unhelpfully google can't find much on them yet) so you'll have to go and have a look see for yourself - the show is open until December 8.  From memory one of them did these cool colour works with bright yellow or orange on the back so that the works had a visual effect of glowing.  Pretty cool.  I think the other were these quite naive Basquiatish works that I liked because of incongruous overuse of rainbows.  Go figure.

Points:  3 to Kelley Stapleton for 'Perspective Portal'. 2 for Montana Miller for her drawings on undies. I have a bright orange pair of budgie smugglers from my beach running club that I might just commission for a lobster, drop me a note! 1 for Veronica for the tickets and for having a website.  Congratulations everyone on graduating. See you in some galleries.

NAS postgrad show - 1 November

Approaching year end means we start rolling into end of school shows.  First up for the Big Lamington team is the NAS postgraduate show.  This is mainly people doing their BFA Honours year, although there are a handful of MFA candidates.  Let's see what the students have in store ...

One day I will tire of describing an art school show as a mixed bag. But today is not that day. This was even more over all the shop than usual, it doesn't appear that students concentrations matter anymore.  I thought some of the drawing team had some good sculptures, likewise with the painting.  To be honest some printmakers looked like they were drawing.  You get the drift.  The most impressive piece of the night in my mind was Gabrielle Hirst's (from the drawing dept) sculptural installation called "Mnemosyne" (no, you look it up yourself).  This work (pictured at top) was made up of hundreds of those special crystal trees that grow when you add water.  We have had a couple here at home and I can think of a few junior critics who would like to see this. This work is obviously ephemeral but I heard Gabrielle also does photos of these pieces.  And her drawings weren't too bad but even in the drawing area she had a video. Why do they ask people to specify what they are concentrating in nowadays? Also right up there was Nadia Odlum (from painting) who had a lot of these really trippy geometric installations that nearly make you dizzy.  Very good although probably a bugger to live with, despite that I loved that she had a business card out for punters to pick up.  You've got to hustle in this world and we respect that. I am always on the hunt for a possible commission from this show (speaking of which we bumped into NAS alumni Angus Fisher checking out the wares, he has a show at Australian Galleries in the Melbourne in 2013 - always happy to plug an artist in the collection, which is another story in itself but I am getting way off track). Other highlights included Brandon Trakman's street artist style paintings directly on the walls and Amanda Seddon's propaganda pieces.  I liked how both artists incorporate text into their work.  Students love a bit of flesh and Kate Alstergren's subdued palette didn't disappoint with some provocative studies and other highlights included the guy who made the milk crate circle that looked like a low rent stargate (apologies but I forgot to write down your name).  At NAS you do expect to see some great technique on view and I thought Elliot Nimmo was one of the better exponents here.  

Points:  3 for Gabrielle's crystal trees.  Very clever, miles ahead of the field. 2 for Nadia Odlum's geometric patterns (I could see maybe a flag commission here). 1 point to Brandon for his use of text, a great quote in the above image which was a detail from his main installation work which referenced Ayn Rand quite heavily. Lastly, can someone from NAS hit up Armani (the new sponsor) for more beers at the next opening? I wasn't even able to wet my whistle tonight. Thank you.

NAS graduate show - 3 December

Quick one here as I am getting to this a week late. The NAS graduate show is on now and I recommend a trip to Darlo for everyone. I took my 4 year old and we had a great time looking at the gallery and the studios. Top picks for me included Frances Morgan's banknotes (I am a sucker for currency) and Emily Chew's text works (pictured above, which brought Tony Albert to my mind). My daughter liked Merryn Hull's colourful "Looking to Springtime", Melanie Heam's porcelain ice cream cones and Melanie Olsen's coloured box. Her art criticism of one of the video works entertained the crowd (it was a video of a lady eating a cake and then spitting it out on another plate, we concluded it must be a playdoh cake as you cannot eat playdoh). She also graciously agreed to contribute to Lucas Bayne's Cave Wall Palimpsest No 1 (it was a big chalkboard, and I did check with the attendants before we got to work on it). The beauty of the grad show is that most of the works are for sale, and very affordable. We like supporting NAS so my daughter selected Olsen's Acqua box for $50 and I picked up a counterfeit note for the same price. I hear Frances is off to Paris for a residency so I hope that comes in handy.

Points. I will let my daughter give the points this week. 3 to Lucas Baynes for the chalkboard. I wonder how long my daughters art stayed on exhibition! 2 for Alicia Poppett for the bouncy ball sculpture "Mary Contrary" and 1 point for Kelly Gilkes and her constructed 'wings'.

Postgrad show at NAS - 5 November

I may have a very tenuous link to the National Art School given my 1 week of studies there but I am always keen to get back as often as I can to see what goes on there. Last year at this time we took down Kate Shaw and the NAS postgrad show on the same day so we had to keep the tradition alive and swing past Darlo on our trip back from Waterloo.

The main show is in the NAS gallery, one of the former main cell blocks and it is an interesting show. I knew a couple of people in the show, former teacher Deborah Marks and honors student Fiona Lanigan. Deborah was exhibiting some collages similar to the ones from Charles Hewitt earlier in the year. I liked Fiona's etchings in the main space but thought the digital ones in the print studio were my favourites. The students studios are only open the first weekend so you get to see about 4 times as much as in the main gallery. You can also take some sneakier photos that way if you have a blog to write for! Overall the sculpture didn't really do it for me, and the ceramics likewise. Painting was probably my top pick of the disciplines on show. Lots of talent there. Zoe Tweedale had some great animal portraits - a big squid in the main gallery that the junior critics fell for and a big pig in the studio that I liked (then again given I played a few seasons for the hogs I have a soft spot for everything porcine). Bridgette McNab had some cool portraits inspired by glossy womens mags (and a fully functioning website, students these days!). And Carlone Karllson had some Syd Ball'esque abstract geometric shapes (her Tripod sculpture was the kids top pick).

Points: 3 to Zoe (can't decide if it is for the squid or the pig, is that a form of surf and turf?); 2 to Bridgette and 1 point to Wally McGregor, my top pick from the drawing faculty. I did like his data flow (pictured upside down on the NAS website - perhaps as an homage to deceased alum Norman Hetherington of Mr Squiggle fame but more likely an unintentional piece of art criticism about contemporary drawing). Still, if I was him I would be filling out the Dobell entry form right now ...

National Art School grad exhibition - 4 December

We like checking out emerging artists at big lamington and they don't get more emerging than the graduate exhibition at the National Art School. It is on in the galleries there until 14 December but the first weekend had the studio spaces open as well. The 3 year old art critic and I went along on a sunny Saturday afternoon to check out the offerings ...

I was really impressed by some of the work the students had on show, and was also a little surprised to see that quite a lot of it was for sale. But that's commercialism and HECS for you I guess. We didn't make any purchases but I did make a serious enquiry on behalf of the junior collector. She was quite taken by one of Zoe Walford's images. Hers were all pop style collage / painting on board. One of them included a very striking purple pony which naturally caught the eye of someone who herself collects this theme in depth. Zoe's other images of a Japanese nurse probably weren't suitable for a childs bedroom so on we went.

Another little thing I noticed were the number of awards handed out to the graduating class. The first time I saw it I thought to myself, oh congratulations, X has won the prize. But by the time I saw the 5th or 6th marker advertise this I was a little less impressed. It was lucky I saw ceramicist [bear with me while we try and locate our notes and get the artists name!] early and was impressed by her prize winning work. She had a couple of pieces in the main gallery and we saw more of her work, including a nifty little video, in the studio.

The Big Lamington prize, if awarded this year, would have gone to Angus Fisher (don't worry readers, he had won another prize) whose bird print of a north american turkey could have gone straight to my pool room (or more appropriately, library). The Little Lamington prize, again if awarded, would have gone to Stephanie Gallagher for her work endless space (pictured).

The committee awarded the points this week, 3 for Stephanie (the "tents" as they were referred to left a lasting impression), 2 for Angus and 1 for Zoe.

National Art School postgrad show - 2 November

So my staycation is not going to plan. It is Tuesday and I am not in the office, two of the kids are in daycare and where am I? Well it is raining so golf is out which means there are a couple of galleries to check out. First up was the postgrad show at the national art school.

If you have never been to NAS you should put it on your list, primarily just for the campus. Located in the old (very old - c. 1840) Darlinghurst Gaol the galleries are all in lovely sandstone jails and cell blocks that have had the bars taken out and the walls painted white. The postgrad show covers students completing their MFA (masters in fine arts) or doing an honours year in their BFA (bachelors). About 40+ students all told exhibiting their work in 3 galleries.

It was great to look at the student's work and compare that to the emerging artists you see at galleries.  It will be interesting to see whether we see some of these students in a few years time as practicing artists in their own rights doing solo shows and the like.

Points: 3 - Criena Court, she is meant to major in painting but her exhibit was a plywood structure about waist height that had a floor and two walls, one with a mirror and one with a black and white print of a minimalist living room. Maybe I just liked the chairs! 2 - Either Todd Fuller or Alex Jackson Wyatt - process of elimination based on where the student said his work was, he was just about to graduate and was working in the cell block section and was good to talk to. 1 - Darlo Gaol, great to be back on a campus.