October 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

 

  • Stephanie Tabram, Al Poulet, Leah Brady, Graeme Drendel, Lilli Stromland, Antonia Perricone-Mrljak & Brett McMahon

  • Collector David Walsh's subterranean MoNA museum expanding to house 'dream library'

  • Art Centres Supporting Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Elders: A Good News Story (NARI)

  • Our pick of current & upcoming exhibitions

 

FEATURED ARTISTS & EXHIBITIONS

STEPHANIE TABRAM: 'LESSONS FROM THE LAND'

Runs to 21 October 2023

Bett Gallery, Hobart

 

This highly anticpated exhibition by Stephanie Tabram once again establishes her as one of Australia’s most collectable painters. Almost two years to the day since Stephanie’s last show, a conscious decision was made by both artist and gallery, to provide Stephanie the time and space to create this — her most extensive and ambitious body of work yet. 

At a studio in the heart of New Norfolk overlooking the Derwent Valley, canvases, rectangular and circular, lean against white walls, their painted surfaces turned away. A single image is exposed – the one Stephanie Tabram is working on at the moment. One quivering painting at a time is enough, until everything is complete. Only then will the gallery of separate moments be brought together, and their harmonies and whispered conversations released. Over many months, as I have made visits to this space, wonderment has been augmented by a gentle oscillation between the tangibility of the real world, and the mysterious hand of the artist.

A sweeping wash of pigment initiates each proposition, holding breadth and depth in a field of potential. Over hours and days and weeks, the artist works from the horizon up and over to the sky, and down and into the foreground. Methodical and measured, the layers intensify with each pass, bringing forth highlights, and pushing back shadows – reality emerging. In bringing each image into the light, Tabram walks a fine line between two states of being – an active articulation of the outer world, and a quiet internal meditation. 

Excerpt from catalogue essay by Jane Deeth, 2023

 

Full catalogue available here. EXHIBITION SOLD OUT

 

Stephanie Tabram: 'Lessons from the Land', runs to 21 October 2023 at Bett Gallery, Level 1 / 65 Murray Street, Hobart, Monday to Friday 10.00 am - 5.30 pm, Saturday 10.00 am - 4.00 pm

 

Image: Stephanie Tabram, 'On Hollow Tree Road' (2023)

GENEVIEVE CARROLL, ANGELA MALONE, DAVID PEARCE & ADRIANE STRAMPP:

'ALIFEROUS: HAVING WINGS'

Runs to 21 October 2023

King Street Gallery on William, Sydney

 

Featuring Genevieve Carroll, Angela Malone, David Pearce and Adriane Strampp.

 

In the context of artistic development the creation of an artist’s work begins embryonically – progressing in stages – gradually becoming a completed piece -‘having wings’.

 

Full catalogue available here.

 

Genevieve Carroll, Angela Malone, David Pearce and Adriane Strampp: 'Aliferous: 'Having Wings', Runs to 21 October 2023 at King Street Gallery on William,177-185 William Street, Darlinghurst, Tuesday to Saturday, 10.00 am - 6.00 pm.

 

Image: Angela Moore, 'After the Rain, Summer Hill Creek' (2023)

AL POULET: 'THE SPOT'

14 October - 8 November 2023

Wagner Contemporary, Sydney

 

Al Poulet’s work evokes the visual density and complexity of the Australian bush yet stimulates our imagination to viscerally experience pushing through branches and treading on land, or hearing birds and crashing ocean waves. These sensations are infused into the artist’s new paintings, which are inspired by landscapes in NSW, near the artist’s studio at Wedderburn and remote beaches further south on the NSW coast. 

 

“I need the wilderness in order to paint; it gives me room, it gives me inspiration, and it gives me air,” he reflects. “It’s about going and watching the birds move through the forest.” He finds analogy for the process of making art in the act of surfing.“ As soon as you step off the sand and you are away, and there is no one else in the world,” he says. “And if it is massive surf and you almost die, it’s even better.”

 

Al Poulet is a graduate of UNSW Art and Design (achieving First Class Honours) and a recent recipient of the Paddington Art Prize. His work was presented at Sydney Contemporary International Art Fair in 2019, and subsequently exhibited in the joint exhibition, Cummings and Poulet, at Penrith Regional Gallery in 2021.

 

Full essay and catalogue available here.

 

Al Poulet: 'The Spot' 14 October to 8 November 2023, at Wagner Contemporary, Level 1, 2 Hampden Street, Paddington, Tuesday to Saturday, 10.30 am - 6.00 pm, Sunday 10.30 am - 5.00 pm.

 

Image: Al Poulet, 'Archangel' (2023)

LEAH BRADY: NEW WORKS

Runs to 28 October 2023

Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne

 

“This story tells of two snake brothers and their wives, who are sisters, that lived near Piltati, west of Amata. Every day the women went out hunting, and every evening they bought home kuka (meat for cooking) for the men, who didn’t do anything but perform ceremonies. After a while the sisters became annoyed at the men’s laziness and decided to eat all the food they caught, leaving the men to fend for themselves. The snake brothers were angry, and decided to punish the women for their insubordination.

 

After lots of talking, the brothers agreed to change themselves into a Wanampi (a giant mythical water serpent, which also had the power to travel above and below ground) and play a practical joke upon the women. They went to a marsupial rat hole where the women had been digging and imitated the tracks of a large snake by rubbing the back of a spear thrower on the ground. Then they entered the hole, and one of them left out enough of his tail for the women to see. The younger sister became very excited when she saw the tracks of such a large snake and its tail popping out. She begun to pull the snake from its burrow, but the tail kept slipping from her grasp. Again and again he let himself be caught before wriggling free once more. Eventually the younger sister became tired, gave up and returned to her sister.

 

In evening, when they were eating dinner, the younger sister told her elder sister how she had almost caught a carpet snake as big as a Wanampi, but couldn’t pull it from its burrow as it was too strong. The big sister said she would help her to catch it the next day. The next morning the women set off with their wana (digging sticks) and piti (large wooden bowl). They dug all day long, then the next day and the next, occasionally glimpsing the snake. They continued to dig after the Wanampi, but they never caught him. In their pursuit the women dug a trench from Aparatjara to Piltati, now a watercourse, approximately 25km long.

Their burrow became deeper, and the women dug many subsidiary branches in their pursuit, creating the gorge at Piltati, with its creeks and piles of rock that clutter the valley floor. Finally the elder sister changed her tactics. She dug a pit ahead of the entrance to the burrow (now the largest rock hole at Piltati), uncovering the Wanampi before he could get away, then she threw her digging stick, piercing the side of the Wanampi. The younger Wanampi left the burrow, chased and swallowed his wife, the younger sister. The injured snake (big brother) was angry and in great pain, so he caught, killed and ate the elder sister at the mouth of Piltati gorge.”

 

Full catalogue available here.

 

LEAH BRADY: NEW WORKS runs to 28 October 2023, at Scott Livesey Galleries, 610 High Street, Prahran Tuesday to Friday, 11.00 am - 5.30 pm, Saturday 11.00 am - 4.00 pm.

 

Image: Leah Brady, 'Wanampi Tjukurpa' (2023)

GREAME DRENDEL: RECENT PAINTINGS

17 October - 4 November 2023

Australian Galleries, Melbourne

Recent paintings showcases an exceptional series of works, on canvas and on paper, by renowned painter Graeme Drendel. These engaging pictorial vignettes resonate with the mysterious atmosphere for which Drendel is celebrated. Drendel’s compelling works depict figures in isolation as well as in groups, poised within enigmatic scenarios that invite extended contemplation. At times perplexing, the narratives within these works echo poignantly as insightful observations of the complex human experience.

 

The landscape of Graeme’s childhood, the Mallee region in Victoria, often forms the backdrop to these unfolding narratives. In many of his his recent works, the absence of a figure is keenly felt, and in their place a singular object takes centre stage. These objects; a beautiully embroidered sofa, a rural water tank, or an antique Persian rug resonate with presence, leaving us to ponder their significance as metaphors for a broader reality, or in relationship to figures unseen. Both Drendel’s figurative and non-figurative works emanate a powerful, elusive atmosphere which evokes a uniquely personal response in each viewer.

 

‘Invariably, when we’re in a crowd of people we’re still very isolated. I do like the sense that these figures are vaguely connected but are very much lost in their own thoughts. The characters don’t know what’s going on themselves half the time – they are just as confused as we are. They are enclosed by the edge of a canvas, yet beyond, the vastness continues. It’s unsettling, why are these people gathered in a group in the middle of nowhere? … There’s a conscious humour in the paintings but also a lot of darkness. Those are the things that keep you interested. These figures have cavorted off into the landscape with each other. It’s that frustrating thing artists say – ‘it’s up to the viewer to interpret.’ 

 

Excerpt from Graeme Drendel interview with Artist Profile, Issue 43, 2018

 

Full exhibition essay and catalogue available here

 

Graeme Drendel: Recent Paintings, 17 October - 4 November 2023, at Australian Galleries, 35 Derby Street, Collingwood, Open 7 days 10.00 to 6.00 pm.

 

Image: Graeme Drendel, 'Monument' (2023)

LILLI STROMLAND: 'HOME HARVEST'

10 - 14 October 2023

Damien Minton Presents, at Sheffer Gallery, Sydney

‘Whilst we are in the full swing of spring, my new solo exhibition, ‘Home Harvest’ celebrates the fruitful bounty to be gained from the winter months spent within our homes.
Supposedly a dormant season, winter however is a time of quiet flourishing, nesting and preparing.


I retreated into my home, curled up on the couch under woolen blankets, held hot lemon and honey drinks in hand to sooth the seasonal colds, observing grandma’s cut crystal twinkling on the mantle.


Triggered by cold spells the orchids bloomed as we guzzled on great spoonsful of pumpkin soup. These small moments are the gems of winter.

In ‘Home Harvest’, ceramic frames have been paired with paintings. The frames on the smaller works are slim additions, adding strips of colour and a contrasting texture. The shiny ceramic glazes suggest the twinkle of the cut crystal subjects. Larger frames are made up of small arches, which reflect the looping rhythmical patterns seen in the cut crystal. They are also reminiscent of the scalloped edge of a tablecloth, or trim of a lace doily. The ceramic frames refer to the long history of ceramics within the domestic space.

Home Harvest celebrates the shining gems that come with the cold.’

Stromland is a painter and ceramicist, living and working upon Gadigal land, Sydney. Her often psychologically-charged, observational oil paintings explore the subject of material nostalgia, comfort and home. Sensuous and tactile, they transpose the Dutch still-life tradition into the contemporary context of Australian suburbia. Stromland graduated from the National Art School, Sydney in 2015 with a major in painting. Since that time she has been in a number of awards and prizes, including being a finalist in the Brett Whiteley Scholarship (2020), the Portia Geach Memorial Award (2019), the Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize (2021, 2022, 2023) and the Salon de Refusés at S.H. Ervin Gallery (2019).

 

Full catalogue available here

 

Lilli Stromland: 'Home Harvest', 10 - 14 October 2023, at Damien Minton Presents at Sheffer Gallery, 38 Lander Street, Darlington, Wednesday to Saturday, 11.00 am - 6.00 pm

 

Image: Lilli Stromland, 'The Breakfast Table (after Brack)' (2023)

ANTONIA PERRICONE-MRLJAK: 'FERMARE LUTTO'

18 - 29 October 2023

Nanda\Hobbs, Sydney

"I am definitely not alone here, if I had to be honest, I feel like this was planned for me. I just had to dig deep to find it, memory, stories and marks, that is how it all started."

 

Antonia Perricone-Mrljak, 2023

 

Full catalogue available here.

 

Antonia Perricone-Mrljak: 'Fermare Lutto', 18 October to 29 October, at Nanda\Hobbs, 14 Meagher Street, Chippendale, Monday to Friday, 9.00 am - 5.00 pm, Saturday, 11.00 am - 4.00 pm

 

Image: Antonia Perricone-Mrljak studio shot (2023)

BRETT MCMAHON: 'BENEATH THE SUN, UNDER THE MOON'

27 September – 21 October 2023

Olsen Gallery, Sydney

'Beneath the sun, Under the moon' is an unusually poetic title for one of my exhibitions. Commonly I stick with a one word header that’s evocative, but more of a stance than a story.

But this body of work embodies an unfolding narrative of walking, running and riding through city spaces, sometimes in the day, sometimes at night.

I’m no great runner but it’s the most convenient and effective form of exercise that I can manage in a busy family life schedule - wrangling three school age kids and juggling the sometimes competing needs of my partner Ro’s clothing design business and my own creative enterprise.

I can't just run anytime, it has to be super early or later in the evening, as that's when I can transform a fitness activity into a cinematic experience of looking and discovery. Running from dark into the day along the harbour in Newcastle, Sydney, or the Port in Melbourne is something I have grown to love. The wind is often still at that hour, leaving the water surface a Homeric black mirror, reflecting myriad shapes, lights, ropelines, masts and marker buoys. I gather this all in while moving through in a semi wakeful state - I download what I can remember in the studio later in the day.

 

Brett McMahon, Exhibition Essay (extract)

 

Full catalogue available here.

 

Brett McMahon: 'Beneath the sun, Under the moon, 27 September – 21 October 2023 at Olsen Gallery, 63 Jersey Road, Woollahra, Tuesday to Friday, 10.00 am - 6.00 pm, Saturday, 10.00 am - 5.00 pm

 

Image: Brett McMahon, 'Beneath the sun 2' (2023)

WHAT'S NEWS ...

Collector David Walsh's subterranean Mona museum expanding to house 'dream library'

 

 

Australia’s largest private museum, founded by the collector and gambling millionaire David Walsh, is getting bigger. Walsh is adding a new underground space to his Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Hobart, Tasmania, which is hewn out of a sandstone cliff located at the six-acre riverside Moorilla estate.

 

The new space will house Walsh’s vast library which is currently housed in another on-site building (an extension to the central Round House building designed by the architect Roy Grounds). His books collection includes a first edition of Lolita (1955) by Vladimir Nabokov and an early signed edition of On the Origin of Species (1859) by Charles Darwin.

 

“Would you be surprised to know that more than art - possibly even more than mathematics and milkshakes - David Walsh is mad about books?” says the Mona website. “Our collection reflects David Walsh’s tastes, which are both prolific and eclectic (as a kid, he had no friends so decided to dedicate his small life to reading).”

 

Walsh gave an idea of how long the extension could take, telling The Art Newspaper: “We are building art and art takes time. We expect to be teaching trolls and troglodytes their ABCs (Anselm [Kiefer], [Willem] Blaeu, [Julian] Charrière) in two or three years.”

 

In an Instagram post, artist and Mona curator Kirsha Kaechele, Walsh’s wife, shows him walking inside a tunnel currently under excavation. She goes on to describe how the new expansion is “coming along beautifully" and that there are "so many surprises- the intensity of the sandstone and some interesting metal deposits [in the tunnel walls] … it’s money intensive to say the least, thank you [Anselm Kiefer] for driving us broke! But it’s worth it. One day it will house hubby’s dream library along with many treasures.” The cost of the extension is undisclosed.

 

Kiefer is currently showing two works at Mona: Sternenfall (1999), a mixed-media piece mapping stars and other parts of the night sky, and Sternenfall/ Shevirath ha Kelim (Falling Stars /The Breaking of the Vessels) (2007), comprising books made from lead and glass, (and) which is displayed in the existing library.

 

Anselm Kiefer, Sternenfall (1999) Photo: MONA/Rémi Chauvin

 

Mona opened in 2011. According to the Tasmanian news website Pulse Hobart, the new underground space is being designed by Melbourne-based Fender Katsalidis Architects, the firm behind the original Mona building (Walsh bought the Moorilla estate for A$2.5m in 1995).

 

The planned annex will be the museum’s third major extension after the Siloam project in 2019 and the Pharos addition in 2017, which houses four new light works by the US artist James Turrell and the acclaimed oil installation 20:50 by the UK sculptor Richard Wilson which was bought from the collector Charles Saatchi in 2015.

 

"Pharos cost approximately A$32m [approximately $20million today], the art at least A$8m," a Mona spokeswoman said.

 

Gareth Harris,

The Art Newspaper, 2023

 

Main Photo: ABC

 

More information on MoNA here

 

Art Centres Supporting Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Elders:

A Good News Story

 

This story, a combined version of the three short films, invites the audience to listen to Elders, artists and staff from three Aboriginal community controlled art centres as they share the vital role they play in keeping their Elders strong and connected. Elders are the backbone of these centres and play a critical role in maintaining intergenerational connection.

 

NARI - National Ageing Research Institute (2023)

OUR PICK OF CURRENT & UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

Ayako Saito at Australian Galleries, Sydney

Click on the links below to view exhibition catalogues

 

TASMANIA

 

Wayne Brookes & Lucia Usmiani, 'Domestic Bliss-Take', 18 October - 11 November 2023 , Despard Gallery, 77 Salamanca Place, Hobart

 

NEW SOUTH WALES

 

Kathryn Ryan: 'Still Point', Nanda\Hobbs, Runs to 14 October 2023, 12-14 Meagher Street, Chippendale

 

Ayako Saito, 31 October - 19 November 2023, Australian Galleries, 15 Roylston Street, Paddington

 

Colin Pennock: 'Space to find peace', 12 - 28 October 2023, Arthouse Gallery, 66 McLachlan Avenue, Rushcutters Bay

 

Natasha Wright: Solo Exhibition, 12 - 28 October 2023, M.Contemporary, Number 8, 15 - 19 Boundary Street, Darlinghurst 

 

VICTORIA

 

Rona Green, 'Watching you, watching me, watching you', 17 October - 4 November 2023, Australian Galleries, 35 Derby Street, Collingwood

 

Tricky Walsh (Painting), Daniel Agdag (Sculpture) & Siying Zhou (Video), Run to 23 September 2023, [MARS] Gallery, 7 James Street, Windsor

 

Jo Darvall: 'Hydrosphere', Runs to 29 October 2023, Fox Galleries, 63 Wellington Street, Collingwood

 

Karla Marchesi: 'Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast', Runs to 21 October 2023, Nicholas Thompson Gallery, 155 Langridge Street, Collingwood

 

Ember Fairbairn & Ella Dunn: New Work, Runs to 14 October 2023, Sophie Gannon Gallery, 5 Albert Street, Richmond

 

Melissa Boughey: 'Cross-Pollination, 17 October - 11 November 2023, Flinders Lane Gallery, Level 1/37 Swanston Street, Melbourne

 

Sam Leach: 'Emotional Harvest', Runs to 21 October 2023, Sullivan+Strumpf, 107-109 Rupert Street, Collingwood

 

QUEENSLAND

 

Martin Smith: 'Feel good hit of the Summer' & Leith Maguire: 'Florescence', Run to 28 October 2023, Jan Murphy Gallery, 486 Brunswick St, New Farm

 

Bridie Gilman: 'Watching Walls', Runs to 24 October 2023, Edwina Corlette Gallery, 629 Brunswick Street, New Farm

 

Craig Handley: 'Refreshments', Runs to 21 October 2023, Anthea Polson Art, 29 Tedder Avenue, Main Beach

 

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

 
David Griggs, 'Baseline', Runs to 22 October 2023,
GAGPROJECTS, 39 Rundle Street, Kent Town

 

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

 

Patrick Brown: 'Hope' & Brad Rimmer: 'Nowhere Near', Run to 14 October 2023, Art Collective WA, 2/565 Hay Street, Perth

 

'TEN', 24 September - 21 January 2024, Art Collective WA, at Holmes à Court Gallery at Vasse Felix, Cnr Tom Cullity Drive & Caves Road, Cowaramup 

Craig Handley, 'Good Boy' (2023) at Anthea Polson Art, Mermaid Beach

Kathryn Ryan, 'Reflection' (2023) at Nanda\Hobbs, Sydney

Brad Rimmer, 'Nungarin Town Hall Spring 2020' (2023) at Art Collective WA

 

We welcome your comments, suggestions, artist news and questions, which we may feature in future updates, Q&As, listings and online articles.

 

Just hit the link below or jump on our Facebook page to contact us.

 
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