Collector's Space - 13/15 March

Collector's Space is is a pop-up gallery for Art Month Sydney (at least I assume it is only open during art month) that features works from the collections of six separate collectors (hence, Collector's Space). I'm in a rush so I am just going to dive straight in ...

As you would expect this was all over the shop.  Works from Clinton Ng's collection are on the ground floor (he owns the building so probably got first dibs on the floor) and there was a great Shaun Gladwell photo, a Daniel Boyd that I had seen at the MCA still in bubble wrap and with the label on (pictured below), a partially unpacked Alexander Seton marble sculpture that I saw at SSFA not so long ago and a Brook Andrew neon work in the box (pictured above) along with a fantastic little Lionel Bawden pencil work.  This was a great start to the show but it also ended up being in my opinion the strongest of all the mini-collections.  I would've happily taken virtually any piece from Clinton.

Upstairs is an "emerging collector", an "anonymous" collector, Pat Corrigan and Michael Hobbs.  I was interested to see what an emerging collector buys but  I think some of this was gifted which is cheating a little bit, although I was also a little relieved she hadn't spent her money for the Jasper Knight (I think once you start getting advertised in those 'investment art auctions' in the Sunday tele then you are officially overexposed).  My favourite was the "anonymous" collector.  In a sense it was a shame that this lawyer turned mother (there was a bio) decided to stay unknown but my respect for her grew vastly because of it.  There were some interesting artworks here, my favourites were the video works - but specifically the packaging which had been arranged in a glass box so that it became the art instead of the video (pictured top).  It was amazing to see the variation in how artists package up their video art - it reminded me in a way of the Christmas artist multiples that I used to collect from the Peter Norton foundation.  Anonymous had also gone in for the art in the box, leaving a Hany Armanious sitting inside a pine box (well, it is meant to be in there, but it might've just been the box! this is a great idea and I might just start collecting pine boxes and putting labels on them, see below for the sticker you will need!).  There was also a great little Michael Parekowhai (and I can pronounce that, remember I spent 6 months in NZ bro!) taxidermy sculpture for the eagle eyed viewer.  Down in the basement was some of Dick Quan's collection.  But first extracts from his bio ... "Dick Quan was born to collect, and to collect well ... Dick Quan's fearless intellect, natural instincts and honed eye lead him to acquire works by artists that are virtually unknown - but not for long".  Puh-lease.  I also saw Dick speak on the Wednesday night which confirmed to me that Dick's intellect is perhaps exceeded by Dick's fearless ego.  I realise this may seem a little hypocritical given I have a healthy respect for my own opinion but then again I have not commissioned a portrait of myself and then lent that to a gallery for art month ... yet!!

Overall a good little outing.  What I liked most was how a few collectors had left things in the box or partially wrapped.  It does take me some time to unwrap things at home and I admit to leaving a small work on display in the bubble wrap it came in.  I also liked how they had also shown another aspect of what they collect, be they cars or wedgewood.  I did feel a kinship with some of these collectors, I know I was born to collect and have the 500 phantom comics in the attic to prove it (any reasonable offers considered)!

Points:  3 for Anonymous' collection of video works.  2 for Daniel Boyd in bubble wrap and 1 for the Hany Armonius in the box!

Michael Zavros - The Prince.

One of my favourite all time images is Richard Prince's untitled cowboy.  It's my screensaver on every computer I've used for years.  And even cooler it is in Patrick Bateman's apartment in American Pyscho.  Well now it is also in Rockhampton.  At least a copy anyways.  Michael Zavros (he of Bulgari art award fame and a finalist in this years Archibald) has appropriated the appropriator and done some painting copies of the photos of the ads ripped from the mags.  Phew.

For all my loyal Rockhampton readers get there before April 7, otherwise you will have to schlep down to Brisvegas (where it is on until 7 July).  It doesn't appear to be coming to Sydney so I plan on supporting NQ arts by purchasing the catalogue (I think the above photo is the front cover of the catalogue)!  Maybe will be able to hand out some points then.  Given all the brouhaha last year about appropriation with that former Tim Olsen gallery photographer this is an interesting concept.  I would love to get Richard Prince's thoughts on it!

Gemma Smith and Jamie North at the new Sarah Cottier Gallery - 1 March

New gallery openings are a pretty big deal.  And when they are in Paddington it is an even bigger deal. I have been watching the former Roylston street factory get transformed and you could've put Bromley on there tonight and I would've turned up to get a sticky at the space.  Lucky for me we had some artists I liked!

First impressions, where are all the people?  It is a big space and the room is quite empty.  Found you.  This new space is a cave that keeps on going with rooms hidden around corners and a really big outdoor courtyard.  There are hundreds a people here, not Quilty sized but still a great turnout.  And a couple of big names too.  Gemma Smith has the front room and here is an installation of her tangle works (top Infinite Loop, Blue / Yellow, and above the installation view showing the slick new concrete floor).  I am not sure if it is because the room is more spacious but I think these Gemma Smith works are getting bigger, these are all 185 x 185cm so it kind of limits where you can put these tangle paintings.  I think they look great en masse and up close they are impressive, the detail is nice and I like the occasional hint of a different hue in there.  That said, there is a bit of a decorator feel to them due to the colour palettes used.  I would expect some people to pick what would go with the furniture!  And even I would probably want to specify colours, maybe a hi vis orange and navy like the colours of the finest soft sand running club in the world?  At just under $20k you are getting a lot of wall coverage for your buck and I think there will be plenty of red dots by the end of the month.  I think I had counted a couple on opening night.  Around the corner in the side room is Jamie North's innerouter.  I really like these works (below installation view), what look like decaying concrete pipes filled with plants, in a kind of terrarium effect. To be honest I was not that familiar with the artist so had to go searching for a CV, and in good news Jamie has a website.  Thank you, more should.  Certainly makes it easier for your average punter to learn a few things.  From here I learnt that Jamie is an artist that is interested in "documenting, emulating and reimagining ecological systems and their attendant species". And I just thought they were pretty cool.  I was thinking these would be great in the garden but at $8,800 each you would hope they could be concreted in!

Points: I am going to give the 3 to Jamie, I like the website and I loved this body of work.  That said, I couldn't really tell the name of one work to the next, they are all concrete and had the same plants in them!  Oh and top marks for use of natives like the Port Jackson Fig.  2 points to Gemma's infinite loop and 1 to Open Tangle (orange / blue).  I am hoping Sarah might pick up a few new artists with all this space so I will be back to see what's on next.

Art Month Sydney - March

So it is Art Month Sydney - you'd think an art lover like me would be excited right?  Well I am and I'm not.  I think it is a great idea but March is one of my busier months, and I already average about one art event a week so how I am supposed to fit any more in?  I will try and catch a few things here and there. I have managed to score some spots for the talk at Alaska projects that looks promising, and I will try and go to the Rozelle thingy as they look to have Liam Benson there and I am a big fan of his work.  Apart from that I think I will be playing it by ear and seeing what pops up.  I would've loved to take the kids to TextaQueen but it is (a) sold out (hey where was the heads up SSFA?) but more importantly (b) we are off to the Robertson Show this weekend.  No, not stalking Ben Quilty but I've heard it is a great old fashioned country show and I love showtime.  In fact, I am more excited about the Royal Easter than Art Month.  Hey Michael Reid, could we do this in September next year?  It will coincide with Sydney Contemporary every other year!

Artexpress at AGNSW - 26 February

So I feel old coming to Artexpress.  Mainly because I am visiting during my lunch break and there are school groups everywhere.  This is always an interesting show and it too has now moved up to the top floor room where the last Dobell was.  This is on until 14 April so you've got plenty of time to swing by, oh and it is free so put that tenner back in your pocket.

So what did I like?  Well I had forgotten my favourite thing about this show from last year and it was that all the student artists (well not all but most) list their artistic influences on the wall tag.  There were quite a few Salvador Dali's, Picasso, and even a Leonardo Da Vinci!  I think the cool kids rocked the no influences.  One of those cool kids was Francesca Fox.  Her work Vadallat (or wild animal, above) was  some hand masks based on her family's heritage which she then photographed.  I would've listed her influences as Polixeni Papapetrou.  Other favourites were Lochie Howard who had a suburban cardboard diorama (top, one of the scenes from 'love the home you're in').  I immediately thought Howard Arkley when I saw this and YES! he has him listed as a reference, go me.  He also had the Strutt Sisters listed and hey I had heard of them too, and knew they were from Newcastle and then picked the Seven Seas which is a real art deco pub in Carrington.  So maybe my Hunter Valley bias is showing a little bit but I was buying what Lachie was selling here - celebrating the good times, kitschy as they may be.  I suspected Milli Wheeler had Banksy as an influence and was not to be disappointed here, two nice collages.  My other favourite was a sculptural still like done in a flat pack cut out way (days of our still lives kit, below).  This was by Ella Sanderson who had listed all of 5 influences.  I do like a good vanitas (Hirst or the Phantom, I really don't care) and would've happily had this on a shelf in my pool room (although they are getting quite crowded).

Points:  3 to Lochlan Howard; 2 to Francesca Fox and 1 to Ella.  Hope you all keep up the art no matter what course of study you pursue.

TABOO at MCA - 16 February

It's too late for TABOO, it closed last weekend.  I actually saw this pre Chrissie and came back for a young ambassador curatorial viewing the other day.  So now I really have no excuse for the lack of insight that will follow ...

Firstly, this was 'guest curated' by Brook Andrew (he of the patterns and bright neon).  One of his most noticeable contributions are the coloured walls that are in this gallery.  Breaking a taboo here?  Maybe, and I liked them, let's see if they stay. Apart from that this show was quite random in my eye, artists from all over the world with the theme of taboo linking all the work (sometimes more tenuously than others). I love Eric Bridgeman's work so was keen to see Yal Ton but this was in the random camp. I didn't really get this trippy video but apparently it is all secret mens business (at least mens business whilst on drugs) and the taboo is letting women see it.  Damn it, so it isn't even a taboo for me. Okay next up was Bindi Cole who had done what looked like a funny bedroom (detail above). It tells the story of how Jesus saved her when she was in the Big House in the UK for a some heroin related crime and this is actually a replica of her prison cell.  Wow, this I obviously didn't know about Bindi so it is very shocking to be revealing these facts but again, maybe this is just me but I am not all that shocked by this.  Sure it is bad, but if you do your time and change your life anything can happen, I know a very senior public servant who can say the same thing.  My two favourites were Anton Kannemayer and Leah Gordon.  White South African artist Anton has some lots of confronting pieces in this show that all expose racial issues.  His style is all Tintin in the Congo and aesthetically I liked them as I did use to love Tintin as a boy. The most amazing thing for me was that the MCA curator didn't realise the whites played rugby and the blacks played soccer, I could've given chapter and verse on this but instead will just link to an amazing article in the FT on it instead. I found it really interesting that he was a white artist dealing with race so forthrightly when in Australia there is a view that a white artist should refrain from that.  Leah Gordon's caste photos (example of Marmelouque, below) were another that dealt with race in a matter of fact way from victorian times, highlighting how there was once a classification from black all the way through different fractions of black (ie mulatto, marabou, sacatre - which is french as the work uses Haitian people, the US south had similar terms octaroon etc) to white. The work reprises poses from some classical european art and I thought it was very graphical whilst at the same time being thought provoking.  All in all great show Brook - please do this again sometime. 

Points:  I never thought I'd give 3 points to a springbok but 3 to Anton.  2 points to Leah and 1 to Bindi

Quilty at NAS - 21 February

Gee - this opening was bigger than the Prince concert.  Punters absolutely everywhere.  I didn't really get the chance to get a great skinny at the works due to the crowd and me needing to get home for dinner!  This show is on until 13 April and the whole crew is coming back to breathe this all in so more of a write up and points then.

Also coming up, a review of TABOO ...