T H E Q U A R T E R LY B R E N D A M AY
G A L L E R Y | 2 Danks Street Sydney Australia | brendamaygallery.com.au
AUTUMN 2015
VOLUME 1
NUMBER 2
BLA CK BOX PROJECTS
TODD FULLER
HEAD ON PHOTO FESTIVAL
MOUTHFEEL
Little Star 14 April to 2 May
Moving Image Prize Finalists 5 May to 6 June
curated by Megan Fizell 9 June to 4 July
By night one way, by day another, the spinning ball of blue and the others of light. One falls from the sky. The dream. To catch that ball, to be that star.
The Moving Image Prize was established in 2014 and forms part of the acclaimed Head On Photo Festival.
Mouthfeel is defined as the physical sensations in the mouth created by food or drink. The objective of this exhibition is to stimulate a synaesthetic response in the viewer through the observation of these films.
Zvezdochka, or Little Star was the 11th dog to be sent into space by the Russians. Like the others in her program, she endured extreme conditions as a scientific experiment into the effects of orbital travel on a living creature. Other dogs may dream of space, watch for shooting stars or wonder what the world looks like from above. Little Star didn’t have to wonder. Todd Fuller, ‘Little Star’ 2014, film still detail
Head On is Australia’s largest photography festival celebrating excellence in all genres by photo-artists from across the globe and provides a major platform for discovering new talent, re-discovering established artists and exploring recent technologies and ideas. 2014 Multimedia Prize Winner: Nina Ross, ‘Untitled #1 (Fish)’ 2011, film still detail
The mouth is used by these artists to trigger the sense of taste and touch by ingestion of edible and non-edible substances. The exhibition includes the work of American duo Hillerbrand + Magsamen, alongside Australian artists Hannah Raisin, Nina Ross, and Elizabeth Willing. Elizabeth Willing, ‘Lick’ 2009, film still detail
14 APRIL to 2 MAY 2015 PAPER WORKS III a curated group exhibition Paper is such a commonplace and pervasive material. We write on it, read it, drink out of it and eat off it, yet in terms of conservation it is considered one of the most fragile of mediums in the art world. This third installment of our Paper Works series endeavours to illustrate the diversity and versatility of paper, providing a glimpse into the range of creative potential for this medium. Elizabeth Willing, ‘16 singles’ 2014 sliced processed cheese on paper, 150 x 150cm
Exhibition install, Paper Works 2010, Brenda May Gallery
Exhibition install, Paper Works II 2013, Brenda May Gallery
5 MAY to 6 JUNE 2015 ASHLEIGH GARWOOD, Of Other Spaces Of Other Spaces are allegorical images that exist to question the influence and power that landscape imagery holds in neutralizing societal frameworks and cultural understanding. The majority of early painted landscape imagery that is presented at Australian national art institutions is of a rugged, but peaceful and unified environment. There seems to be a hidden ideological agenda that informs the portrayal of the landscape, which in turn promotes that ideology. My project, Of Other Spaces, is a way of examining the process by which this is achieved and our collective memory is affected. Ashleigh Garwood, ‘La Perouse’ 2014 silver gelatin print, edition of 3, 117 x 93cm
JANET TAVENER, Memento In my previous work, ice sculptures of both heirloom and exotic fruits were photographed as they melted in a constructed glacial landscape. These works acted as a metaphor for shrinking polar icecaps, indicators of global climate change and fragility of our food system. In the new series Memento, the crystalline fruit and vegetables are no longer floating on a melting surface, but have sunken into the ocean - semi submerged as they are swept along the icy current. Objects such a skull and fly, symbols of decay and transience, join the icy fruit and vegetables that once nourished and sustained life. The photographs have an innate sense of loss – a frozen moment in time that has already passed. Janet Tavener, ‘Acino’ 2014 archival digital print, edition of 5 (two sizes) 55 x 55cm and 85 x 85cm
9 JUNE to 4 JULY 2015
Janet Tavener ‘Coke’ 2010 coloured resin edition of 3 19 x 6 x 6cm each
MULTIPLES curated by Akky van Ogtrop An exhibition of prints, books, photographs and sculptural objects. The ideology behind the artist’s multiple is born out of the anti-art movement, fuelled by Dadaism, Fluxus, Conceptual Art and Pop Art. Creating artist’s multiples, typically in short runs, allows artworks to be accessible to a larger portion of the population via the employment of economical materials and processes. Also, by making reproducible artwork, the sacredness of the object itself decreases, allowing for the concept behind the work to take precedence and for these concepts to reflect the interests of their audience: the general public.
A selection of books and ephemera in the collection of the curator, Akky van Ogtrop
GA LL ERY N EWS 30 Years | 30 Artists | 30 Works This year marks the 30th year of Brenda May’s career as a Gallery Director, from Access Contemporary Art Gallery in Balmain, Forrest Lodge, and Redfern to Brenda May Gallery here at Danks Street. In 2015 we are looking through our archives to create a retrospective exhibition featuring one work to represent each year and a publication looking back over the last three decades. Featuring the voices of Gallery staff, clients, and art world peers, this comprehensive exhibition and publication will be a celebration of the many artists’ careers both galleries have fostered. Left to Right - Peter Tilley, Megan Fizell, Nicole Welch Robert Boynes, James Guppy, Melinda Le Guay, Leslie Oliver, Jim Croke, Olivia Welch Al Munro, Carol Murphy, Brenda May, Lezlie Tilley, Tanmaya Bingham, Sybil Curtis, Waratah Lahy Mylyn Nguyen, Gemma, Todd Fuller
Nicole Welch at Albury Regional Art Gallery Albury Regional Art Gallery will re-open mid 2015, after undergoing a $10.5M redevelopment. Nicole Welch’s next body of work will be on view in Albury Regional Art Gallery’s new premises from 15 October to 22 November 2015, after being exhibited at Brenda May Gallery in September. This travelling exhibition is titled Eastern Interiors: explorations from Bathurst to Albury and will be composed of work from a residency undertaken at Hill End in September 2014 and in Albury in 2015.
Al Munro residency in Tokyo Al Munro will be completing an Australia Council residency in Tokyo from 18 May to 10 August, drawing on both traditional Japanese patterning and scientific visualisations to explore the mapping and cataloguing of nature.
Nicole Welch on site in Hill End
B R E N D A M AY
G A L L E R Y
2 D a n k s S t r e e t Wa t e r l o o N S W A u s t r a l i a 2 0 1 7 www.brendamaygallery.com.au info@brendamaygallery.com.au tuesday - friday 11-6 saturday 10-6 t. +61 2 9318 1122
Front Cover: Ashleigh Garwood, ‘The Gap’ (detail) 2014 silver gelatin print, edition of 3, 93 x 117cm