February 2010 Issue

Deb Mostert
Untold Stories

Lorraine Pilgrim + NYST Gallery
February 26 to March 31
Queensland

“With a Regional Arts Development Fund grant, I accessed Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum’s vintage toy collection. The curator allowed a few toys out at a time which I directed her to move. We set up scenarios and conversations between toys, enjoying the emerging stories which I photographed and painted.

The potential for narrative was endless when the static objects were put into relationship with each other. The toys are painted to look real but they are obviously not. The scale of the objects is designed to confuse and delight, and often incompatible pieces sit in comfortable tension.”
– Deb Mostert

Deb Mostert, Tin Clown and Donkey, 2009, oil on canvas,
80 x 80 cm

Jeff Carter
Final Works from the Darkroom

Mossgreen Gallery
February 11 to March 6
Melbourne

Recognised as one of the nation’s pre-eminent documentary photographers, Jeff Carter has celebrated the extraordinary qualities of ordinary Australians for over 50 years. After a distinguished career behind the lens, Jeff has now decided to close the doors to his darkroom.

Final Works from the Darkroom showcases 25 of Jeff Carter’s most iconic silver gelatin photographs and represents an incredible historical and cultural document of Australian life, from the most remote corners of the nation through to the heart of our suburban landscape.

Jeff Carter, The Picnickers, 1960, silver gelatin print, 40 x 50 cm

Gayme

Counihan Gallery in Brunswick
January 22 to February 21
Melbourne

A Midsumma Visual Arts Program Exhibition

This exhibition features the work of queer and Indigenous artists Troy-Anthony Baylis, Dianne Jones, Gary Lee, Ben Mckeown, Clinton Nain and rea. Themes of cultural, gender and sexual identity are interwoven with the slippery discourses of history, memory and fiction. The continued repercussions felt by Indigenous Australians after colonisation can also be witnessed in some of the works.

Troy-Anthony Baylis, Berlin Poles (installation at Schlossgarten, Berlin, view 1), 2009, pigment inks on Hahnemuhle etching paper, 10 x 70 cm
Image courtesy the artist and Australia Dreaming Gallery

Helen McInnis
How Long?

Ararat Regional Art Gallery
January 21 to February 21
Victoria

Small landscapes painted at Glenpatrick, Elmhurst and Lexton in country Victoria between 2005 and 2009. McInnis’ paintings capture the line where the land meets the sky and the endless tones of colour on the surface of the land. Because the bareness of the land is a mostly man-made phenomenon, her paintings reflect sympathy for the land, but also an interest in the beauty of its form exposed by the clearing of trees and undergrowth.

Helen McInnis, Landscape #44, 2006, oil on canvas board, 12 x 17 cm

Papulankutja Artists
Paint Right Way - new paintings from Papulankutja

Chapman Gallery
February 12 to March 4
Canberra

“Paint slow way, make every mark count; the figures will then have character, the lines will have meaning and the story will be told.”
– Cliff Reid, Papulankutja Senior Artist

Janet Forbes, Wati Kutjara, 2009, acrylic on linen, 119 x 88 cm

Peter Ellis and Louise Weaver
Gamble Against The Spirit World

24hr Art
February 12 to March 20
Northern Territory

Weaver and Ellis explore the shared affinities of transformation, metamorphosis and the imaginative power of unconventional imagery.

Peter Ellis, Louise Weaver, Gamble against the spirit world, 2007, ink, gouache and gold leaf on 54 shikishi paper panels

Vitor Dos Santos
Mood Swings

19Karen Contemporary Artspace
February 20 to March 20
Queensland

“Through an almost compulsive drawing process I was able to generate ideas and follow certain narratives, which led me to the absurdity of these paintings. Burst word bubbles, floating letters and clumsy figures with strange hats, subtly mock their own existence.

The loose line work, rapid application of paint and childlike irreverence to formal etiquette only adds to the ironic disposition of the work. By humorously making reference to a disenchanted popular mass culture my paintings continue to subtly provoke questions about language, communication and cultural hierarchies.”
– Vitor Dos Santos

Vitor Dos Santos, Saxa 2, 2010, mixed media on board, 160 x 120 cm

Fairlie Kingston
To the Lighthouse

Manly Art Gallery & Museum
February 5 to March 7
Sydney

A survey of ceramic sculptures and tiles by Fairlie Kingston whose work focuses on Australian icons and strong narrative themes centred on Sydney Harbour, including its many lighthouses, boatsheds, Luna Park rides, surrounding bush and the popular seaside resort of Manly.

Fairlie Kingston, PO639 Pittwater, 2001,
illuminated ceramic sculpture, 19 x 31 x 18 cm
Private collection of Margaret Sixel

Sarah Field
Loose Screw

Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay
February 3 to 26
Sydney

“My work is conceptually-based with a strong focus on theories of seduction and repulsion. In the space separating the theories is an exciting place for exploration and play and this is where I situate my work. One way of working within this space is to see how close I can push seduction towards repulsion before it tips over into disgust and vice versa. Central to my work is the reoccurring use of hair. Hair has become a vehicle that enables me to easily deconstruct, traverse and blur the boundaries between what is considered desirable and what is not.”
– Sarah Field

Sarah Field, A little bit of death, 2009, brass, resin and synthetic hair,
dimensions variable

Ross MacMaster
Religious Convictions

Barratt Galleries
February 5 to 28
New South Wales

“My current work questions the validity of organized religion within contemporary society. In a time when our society readily vilifies Islam for its actions, I believe it’s time for us to take a close look at the recent record of Christianity, in particular Catholicism, and its involvement in crimes against humanity and the relationship between the Vatican and Fascist regimes in the 20th Century.”
– Ross MacMaster

Ross MacMaster, Religious Conviction, 2009,
mixed media on canvas

Konrad Winkler
The Boys

Brightspace
February 14 to 28
Melbourne

The Boys in this collective portrait haven’t opted for the safety of suburban life and superannuation. They are artists and musicians, actors and misfits who tried to do something different with their lives. They didn’t all succeed, and some have sadly died. But they had a belief that what they are doing could make a difference and that it was all worthwhile.

Konrad Winkler, Stuart, 2008, silver gelatin print,
14 x 20 cm

The Sum of Parts

Sabbia Gallery
January 19 to February 20
Sydney

Sabbia’s annual glass masters exhibition features the work of Lisa Cahill, Matthew Curtis, Brenden Scott French, Mel George, Jeremy Lepisto and Janice Vitkovsky. These artists are all renowned for their attention to detail as well as their ease at assembling complex pattern, texture and colour to create a whole. The works explore the use of components, parts, segments and elements.

Jeremy Lepisto, Waiting for Night (Watertower Series), 2009, blown and enameled glass with metal, 46.5 x 18.5 x 18.5 cm
Photo by Paul Foster

White Hot

Dianne Tanzer Gallery
February 6 to 27
Melbourne

Curated by Dianne Tanzer and Lisa Keen, White Hot explores ideas of intensity and extremes.

Natalie Ryan, Devoid Matter (white baboon), 2008

Jenny Pollak
In the Beginning

Red Box Gallery, Royal Botanic Gardens
February 12 to 22
Sydney

In the Beginning takes a sideways look at evolution and the ancient lineage that runs back through time and connects humans indelibly to all living things. The exhibition has grown out of Pollak’s investigation of Australia’s oldest garden and its scientific collections during her residency in 2009.

Many of her pieces are driven by her interest in revealing the hidden aspects of things, in finding beauty in the unexpected. By drawing familiar and unfamiliar objects together into unusual juxtapositions, she encourages her audience to re-engage wth the natural world.

Jenny Pollack, Bloodlines, 2009, digital photograph, dimensions variable

Coded

Blacktown Arts Centre
January 29 to March 27
Sydney

From fibro houses to facebook and abandoned suburban locales, this exhibition shakes up Blacktown’s public and online spaces. Exploring the intersection of contemporary art with street and youth cultures, Coded unpacks ubiquitous codes to translate and transmit current creative ideas and actions.

Jason Wing, First Avenue / Prince Street, Blacktown, 2010, acrylic spray paint and synthetic polymer on plywood