FEATURED ARTISTS & CURRENT EXHIBITIONS |
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OLIVER WATTS: AT REDLEAF1 February - 25 February 2023This Is No FantasyDianne Tanzer + Nicola Stein, (Fitzroy) Melbourne |
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It is so pleasing to see two of Melbourne's long-standing and respected gallerists throwing themselves so wholeheartedly into 2023. Dianne Tanzer and Nicola Stern have resisted opening their exhibition calendar as so many others do with last year's 'summer exhibition' leftovers, stockroom showcases or some lacklustre offering biding time until the holiday season runs its course. They are very much aware that this volatile art market leaves little room for the faint hearted and 2023 calls for new, bold thinking. And This Is No Fantasy's opening exhibition of spectacular paintings by Oliver Watts sends an unambiguous message to the art market that they are very much open for business. Watts vibrant but expertly restrained palette is instantly recognisable, with the artist's paintings having featured in the most prestigious art prizes, art magazines and public galleries in recent years. Watts super-sized paintings seems to burst from the seemingly cramped confines of the Gertrude Street gallery. They make you stop in your tracks to guiltily stare ever more closely through the gallery's windows at nocturnal and carefree bathers depicted in or alongside the edge-waters of Sydney Harbour, hinting at our more mischievous, playful desires. Oliver Watts: At Redleaf runs to 25 February 2023 at This Is No Fantasy, 108-110 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy 11.00 am to 5.00 pm Tuesday to Friday, Saturday, 12.00 am to 5.00 pm More info on Oliver Watt's latest body of work at This Is No Fantasy here. Main Photo (edited): Oliver Watts, This Is No Fantasy Photo below: Installation photo by Janelle Low |
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ROMANCING THE STREETSCAPE18 January to 15 April 2023 Town Hall Gallery, (Hawthorn) Melbourne |
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‘Romancing the Streetscape’ is a group exhibition celebrating the streetscapes and buildings of the great city of Melbourne. With a mastery of paint, the featured artists slip between direct observation and imagination, revealing their unique perspectives of urban existence and our shared experiences of place within this community. Highly realistic and evocative images of inner-city scenes reflect the romanticism often associated with traditional landscape painting. The resulting portrait of Melbourne is both endearing and surprising, encouraging audiences to appreciate the metropolis around us and the overlooked in the everyday. (Town Hall Gallery website) Despite the hustle and bustle usually associated with the city, there is a noticeable lack of people in 'Romancing the Streetscape'. As a result, these perks transcend the banal, hectic truth of the world and offer viewers a refreshing perspective. Imagination and a touch of mystery have transformed Melbourne into a sublime landscape. (Elle Hale, 'Finding the Sublime in the city', Catalogue Essay 2023) Featuring: Rick Amor, William Breen, Andrew Browne, Mark Chu, Robert Clinch, Cathy Drummond and Dani McKenzie. Full catalogue available here Romancing the Streetscape runs to 15 April 2023, at Town Hall Gallery, Hawthorn Arts Centre, 360 Burwood Road, Hawthorn from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday, 12.00 pm to 4.00 pm Saturday. Photo: Rick Amor, 'The Doorway' (2021) - Niagara Galleries, Melbourne |
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STEPHEN BIRD: RECENT ETCHINGS, DRAWINGS AND CERAMICS8 February to 25 February 2023 Olsen Annexe, (Woollahra) Sydney |
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Describing his recent work, Stephen Bird says, "In many respects my work exemplifies the confusion of categories that now pervades the creative industries: in production, process and materiality they belong to the domain of craft, while the subversive content keeps this category at arm’s length. I use relationships of surface, form, colour, line and mark making, (the mainstays of the painter’s vocabulary) to create narratives… I believe visual art is all about humanity’s relationship to objects and I wish above all to invoke the emotional connections which are felt towards things that have been made by hand with love." Full catalogue available here Stephen Bird: Recent Etchings, Drawings and Ceramics runs to 25 February 2023, at Olsen Annexe, 74 Queen Street, Woollahra from 11.00 am to 5.00 pm Tuesday to Saturday. Photo: Stephen Bird, 'Rogue Hero (yellow one)' 2017 - Olsen Annexe |
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Do mainstream artists dominate our Top100Artist list? |
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As with any list of top artists across any field, controversy will inevitably follow. Many may complain that such lists cannot be relied upon, compromised by bias or notable by who is left off, more than by who is included. Still others may complain of such lists being too safe, mainstream or unrepresentative. With the launch of our Top100Artists list, many critics have taken to social media bemoaning our compilation saying it was meant we said to be about championing artists, but many of whom are perhaps less deserving of any help than others. But as much as some were willing to rage about such lists, others had nothing but praise for our initiative, arguing among other things that it breathed a spark of much needed controversy into a rather dormant art scene. Not to mention a little boost along the way for our selected artists. We are the first to admit that we may not get our list right. It was put together in a non-scientific way afterall. We acknowledge the shortcomings of lists per se, but the breadth of our list we feel may speak for itself. Women and indigenous artists are well represented. Established, mid career and emerging artists we feel for perhaps the first time are near equally included in number. High yielding and those with little more than loads of potential share a ranking (although in no particular order). Those included have exhibited widely and featured in recent times in print and online media, with a particular embrace of social media in all its forms. It is all these things coming together that inform our list. Some artists may dominate the art scene through their talent. Others by the strength of their personality. And others still, by their sheer determination. Sure, we may have missed some pretty hot artists, but we will always be sure to give local artists the kudos so many richly deserve by talking up the collective talent of Australian artists to anyone open to listening. Stay tuned folks and please, share in our conversation. |
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OUR PICK OF UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS |
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*** Just click on the links below to view exhibition catalogues *** TASMANIA Pat Brassington: 'Strike' 10 March - 9 April 2023, Bett Gallery, Level 1/65 Murray Street, Hobart (Photo above by Pat Brassington - Bett Gallery) NEW SOUTH WALES Paul Yore, 'Word Made Flesh', 5 January - 25 February 2023, Carriageworks, Sydney Photo below: Paul Yore, 'Word Made Flesh' (2022) Martin King, 'Diary of lost souls' 14 February - 11 March 2023, King Street Gallery on William, 177-185 William Street, Darlinghurst Julian Twigg and David Jensz, 7 February - 25 February 2023, Australian Galleries, 15 Roylston Street, Paddington New Paintings: Celia Percival, 16 February - 14 March 2023, Wagner Contemporary, Level 1, 2 Hampden Street, Paddington 'Hanamida (Flower Tears)', 23 February - 18 March 2023, Sullivan + Strumpf, 799 Elizabeth Street, Zetland VICTORIA Still Life Group Exhibition, 'Lives of Their Own', featuring Hobie Porter, Kim Anderson, Chelsea Gustafsson, Julie Davidson, Christine Webb and MIchelle Molinari 7 February 2023 - 4th March 2023, Flinders Lane Gallery, Level 1/37 Swanston Street, Melbourne Group Show, 'Optimism', February 7 - 25 February 2023, featuring new works by Juz Kitson, Elliat Rich, Ryan Hoffmann, Ember Fairbairn, Laura Jones, Ross Taylor, Fiona McMonagle, Fred Fowler, Anna Carey & Emily Ferretti, Sophie Gannon Gallery, 2 Albert Street, Richmond QUEENSLAND Ann Thomson, 'Change takes time', 28 February - 18 March 2023, Mitchell Fine Art Gallery, 86 Arthur Street, Fortitude Valley Robyn Sweeney, 'Paradise Lost', 11 March - 25 March 2023, Anthea Polson Art, 29 Tedder Avenue, Main Beach |
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