Down the Rabbit Hole

XX Mon. YYYY

White Rabbit Gallery is Judith Neilson's gift to the poeple of Sydney. And what a rare and wonderful philanthropic gesture it is! John McDonald writes glowingly of the establishment in the Sydney Morning Herald, and not for the first time. In an exerpt from the Director's statement Judith says: "We wanted to share with Australians and the world the best of Chinese contemporary art since 2000—a turning point that I think of as the Big Bang. I hope all visitors to the Gallery will experience the surprise, delight and fascination that the White Rabbit Collection's artists and their works have given the Neilson family."

Housed in a converted industrial warehouse, the gallery boasts 3x floors of the most diverse and fascinating artworks you could imagine. Every few months the owner, Judith Neilson, travels to China on a buying trip, collecting work from both well known and entirely unknown Chinese artists creating excellent work. Down the Rabbit Hole is a mix of mostly new pieces and work from the collection and is aptly named, as McDonald points out. It really is a journey into wonderland.

Sunday 10th was my third visit to Down the Rabbit Hole; I've been a regular visitor to the Gallery since its opening in 2009 and I'm now recognising some works in the collection. I found the current hang particularly uplifting. The 3x light sculptures are beautiful, lyrical works, engaging the attention for long periods of time. One in particular, which could not be photographed, produced quite profound images simultaneously evocative of planets and microscopy. And the workings of gradually shifting lenses and folded wire mesh were entirely exposed, immediately debunking the mystery of the whole artwork.

Scripting is accompanied by a meditative piano score, perfectly suited to an entrancing artwork.

I will finish this blog entry by quoting a rather poignant statement from the work of artist Liao Chien-Chung: "Part of aesthetics is getting rid of ugliness, reek, grime: art and life both depend on cleaning up." This accompanied the work Garbage Truck, mixed media, 2011- a full-size replica without the garbage.

ABLAZE WITH CULTURE

XX Mon. YYYY

I overheard a woman walking past in Crown St, Darlinghurst the other week saying, quite loudly and emphatically, "Sydney hasn't got any culture!"

I was quite shocked and disbelieving; does this woman live in a vacuum? An unbelievable array of cultural events is at our doorstep, waiting to be discovered and enjoyed. Hundreds of people were milling about Circular Quay and around the MCA last Thursday night, literally gawking at the amazing light shows that make up VIVID.

Customs House and the MCA are particularly exciting examples of animated lighting wizadry, with the MCA being very time-focused, in respect of the major work The Clock, which formed part of the new hang. So glad I managed to catch at least a few hours of this astounding cinematic masterpiece. There have been some excellent reviews of the work in various publications including the SMH and The Australian, so I won't go into detail here except to say that if it ever shows again I want to attempt to see the whole 24hrs worth. It IS that good.

VIVID has another 4x nights to go so if you've not seen any of the light displays yet then get out there! Some have said that the Opera House sails were disappointing this year; I found the work beautifully subtle and an excellent foil for the more outlandishly colourful pieces adorning Customs House and MCA.

This year the lightworks extend right round from the Opera House to Walsh Bay. And Walsh Bay is where you will find Garry Stewart's Be your Self, an astonishing piece of contemporary dance theatre. My partner and I, and many others in the audience last Saturday night, walked out of that performance gob-smacked. He said it felt like being on an acid trip! On every level it was a truly breath-taking performance.

The score was thrilling, comprising in the first 20 minutes or so a rapid-fire monologue of scientific data describing the human self. The minimal and surprising set was a perfect complement to the dance, which progressed from confrontational and sometimes violent expression through rythmic gymnastics and staccato procession to a very measured exploration of the individual parts that comprise a human body. The whole preformance was totally mesmerising and quite transformative.

The Head On Photographic Festival has just completed its run to great acclaim, with over 100 exhibitions around town and now the Redlands Westpac Art Prize has opened at the National Art School Gallery in the old East Sydney Technical College. It was formerly shown at the Redlands School and then Mosman Art Gallery. I stumbled across this wonderful show quite by accident this morning and took advantage of the spare hour I had to take it all in.

A very diverse show, the exhibition brings together works by those already well recognised in their fields, including Rodney Pople with a lovely triptych on Martin Sharp and Ben Quilty with a portrait of his Dad, together with some exciting and fascinating works by lesser known contemporary artists. It was guest curated by artist Lindy Lee and runs through until August 2nd. Definitely worth the effort.

No culture in Sydney? You're just not looking.

NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize and John Lewin at the State Library

XX Mon. YYYY

I spent a delighful few hours this wintry afternoon at two exhibitions in Macquarie St Sydney. The Australian colonial artist John Lewin is being showcased at the State Library of NSW in a huge exhibition of his work. Lewin is considered to be the first Australian professional artist, with a keen eye for seeing the natural world as it is and the skill set to convey that vision into beautiful works of art. Lewin was collected by Governors, his works gifted to dignatories around the worl. With only a week to go (closing May 27th) this exhibition is well worth getting to.

The detail in Lewin's works on paper is amazing. As a former artist for Taronga Zoo I know just how difficult it is to portray a platypus as an intersting artwoprk. As for wombats, they have no shape at all! But it is John Lewin's portrayal of the Doryanthes Excelsior (Gymea Lily) and Telopea (Waratah) which are the standout works. They are stunnning illustrations of beautiful plants. And the naturalist's detailed pencil drawings of the plant's segments at the bottom of each picture give the works an interesting context and depth.

Just up the road from the Library is the NSW State Parliament. The 2012 Plein Air Prize for Painting is the 5th such prize and makes for a beautiful exhibition. Some well known names are included, such as Tom Carment, Geoff Harvey and Guy Maestri. I absolutely love Tony Hulls' "Looking South from Coledale Hills" and Rachel Ellis' "Eglington Landscape 11" which was Highly Commended. But the stand out for me was Amanda Penrose Hart's "Hill, Sofala NSW". Hart captures the essence of the Australian landscape with economy and verve, her vigorous painting technique enlivening the canvas with dark passages of eucalypt leaves dancing across the composition.

I was lucky enough to walk in on an artist's talk by Brigiat Maltese who made a most enjoyable presentation and spoke eloquently about the space that an artist inhabits while painting "en plain air". Her book, "Capertee Valley Diary", which was taken out of it's glass case for us and laid out on the floor of the House for close inspection, is made up of a continuous, concertinaed sheet with smaller pieces of paper collaged into the landscape to produce a beautiful panorama of the Capertee Valley, west of the Blue Mountains. Measuring over two metres long, the viewer's interest is maintained throughout the work. In fact one gains an insight into the artist's working method by examining the detail contained within the various sheets, produced over different times and lighting conditions

Artist Talk: Richard Tipping at Australian Galleries

XX Mon. YYYY

In conversation with Glen Barkley, curator at the MCA, Richard Tipping gave a lively address last night at his solo exhibition at Australian Galleries. I found it interesting to learn of his early work as a concrete poet: it made so much sense and put the more recent body of work with signage and urban intervention in context.

In conversation at the conclusion of the talk a member of the audience commented eloquently that Tipping's work expresses "the triumph of the human spirit over the banal". This is evidenced nowhere more clearly than the double signage intervention piece photographed at Bondi that read "SING HUM". Inspiring work.

Richard Tipping at Australian Galleries

XX Mon. YYYY

I would be surprised if you don't recognise this sign. One of the most iconic urban art interventions ever made, this is Richard Tipping.

Richard's exhibition at Australian Galleries in Roylston St Paddington continues until May 6th. The hilariously confusing red warning sign at the entrance says "Sorry, We're Open" But do go in! This exhibition is definitely a must see. One of my favourite works has to be the blue "AIRPOET" with an arrow pointing upward: actual street signs to the airport, surreptitiously reconfigured and photographed in situ.

Find and Arrest Joseph Kony - NOW

XX Mon. YYYY

There are many, many pressing human rights issues around the globe; God knows there are many right here in Australia, with the Intervention policies of the Federal Government wreaking havoc within Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.

But the horror stories comning out of Uganda where Joseph Kony is abducting children to train as guerilla soldiers has placed this man at the number one position on the United Nation's list of wanted living war criminals. It would appear momentum is building within the International community to actually do something to bring this man to justice.

This video will tell you the story. Watch the movie. Then decide what you can do to make this happen. The apparent and very public breakdown of the founder of this movement to galvanise public opinion (you've all seen that Youtube) in no way diminishes the urgency or importance of taking action to find and arrest Kony.

72 Hours of Art; Relocation of Stasis

XX Mon. YYYY

Over the weekend April 1st - 3rd the former Knot Gallery celebrated the opening of their new premises in 107 Redfern St Redfern, with heartfelt thanks to tthe City of Sydney's generosity. They have taken over the disused fire station, empty for a very long time, given it a coat of paint and turned it over to artist's studios and gallery space.

To the accompaniment of beats by Monkfly for the Sunday night opening, the crowd got to see the results of an open house situation where all and sundry were invited to participate in painting, drawing, building and playing golf. I spent a very pleasant hour and a half early in the afternoon taking the psych test... I have no idea whether I passed, or what it all meant, but it was fun.

Over the Easter weekend I visited the Renaissance exhibition at the NGA (absolutely beautiful!) and took the opportunity to deliver one of my works which was sold to a dear friend some time ago: it has been hanging in my studio window for the duration, illuminated each night as advertising, mainly visible from the Aurora Hotel opposite. Stasis now resides in its new home in Westgarth St O'Connor.

Australian Designers on Show

XX Mon. YYYY

The Australian Designers and Creators exhibition, which grew out of the Australian Craft Show at Fox Studios in Sydney has morphed into Australian Designers on Show. The exhibnition at the Masonic Hall in Turramurra over the weekend of 23rd, 24th and 25th March 2012 was the fourth exhibition of it's kind and the first time I have taken part.

The fine timber craftsman Dave Jones had to pull out of this year's Designers on Show so I was very pleased to have been invited as his replacement. While the number of visitors wasn't huge it was a good show for me. I sold several of my abstract leadlight mirrors and had many worthwhile conversations and some very positive leads for future commissions. It's been quite a few years since I have exhibited on the Northside (was a member of the North Shore Craft Group for many years when I lived at Lane Cove) and I'll definitely have a presence at Turramurra in 2013.

Holy Cross Catholic Church, Woollahra

XX Mon. YYYY

For the past four weeks I have been restoring a damaged stained glass window installed by Ashwin and Company in the 1930's. Once again I had chris Wellwood and Clive Hillier assisting on the excavation of the window and boarding up. After initial hesitation with the St Jame's Catholic Church project at Glebe, Clive has embraced working on scaffold with gusto.

The difficulty that presented itself with this paarticular restoration project was the obvious severe paint loss ocurring in almost all the windows in the Church: not on all the glass however, only the flesh- all the faces, hands and feet. Many of the faces have lost their trace lines and now appear as ghosts. When I eventually got the window into the studio I discovered that the paint on these pieces of glass was so flaky it could be scraped by a fingernail: very unusual.

It's a matter of conjecture as to why this might be the case. Other stained glass windows I've seen showing paint loss tend to suffer across most of the glass and I assume that the cause of this was not adequate firing in the first place. And it is possible that with the Holy Cross window the faces, hands and feet were fired as a differnet batch of glass to the remainder of the window. It would be unlikely that a different paint was used to that of the drapery and foliage. But I am convinced that it is to do with the chemistry of the particular glass, an unusual shade of pinkish/yellow brown, and a possible incompatibilty with the glass paint.

The window is booked for re-installation next week and the scaffold will come down before Easter celebrations begin the following weekend.

Restoration at St Peter's Anglican Church, Cremorne

XX Mon. YYYY

Today I've just re-installed the Gabriel window into St Peter's historic Church at Cremorne after carrying out some extensive restoration over the last few weeks. I did manage to see in the New Year in style but also spent many hours laboring over some quite challenging paintwork to achieve the best result I could in matching the old painted glass.

There was no signature or date of manufacture to be found on the window but a best estimate is around 90 - 100 years. It was common of windows from this era to be very heavily painted and while they look quite good, if somewhat sombre, insitu it becomes terribly difficult to read and then re-create such dark paintwork in the studio.