Toyota Community Spirit Gallery presents
madART Melbourne Automotive Designers
an exhibition featuring art and creative practice of Melbourne Automotive Designers
20 August - 5 November 2014 Toyota Australia, 155 Bertie Street, Port Melbourne, Victoria Gallery Hours: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm or by appointment Inquiries Ken Wong 0419 570 846
Toyota Community Spirit Gallery The Toyota Community Spirit Gallery is an initiative of
the Toyota Community Foundation, Toyota Australia’s corporate citizenship program. Toyota Community Foundation develops partnerships that share Toyota’s skills, networks, expertise and other resources with the community. The gallery aims to provide space for artists, especially emerging artists to show their work. The space is provided free of charge to exhibiting artists. No commission is charged on sales and Toyota provides an exhibition launch and develops a catalogue for each exhibition. The gallery has now shown works by over 950 artists. This project is mounted in consultation with Hobsons Bay City Council and the City of Port Phillip.
madART Melbourne Automotive Designers
thanks to Toyota Community Spirit Gallery Committee Katarina Persic, Toyota Australia Nicolas Hogias, Toyota Australia Peter Elliott, Toyota Australia Ian Wong, Program Director - Master of Industrial Design at Monash University Bernie Walsh
catalogue editing Ken Wong (watcharts.com.au)
pre press & graphic design Sandra Kiriacos (watcharts.com.au)
sales enquiries Sales enquiries for any of the works in the catalogue can be made by contacting the curator Ken Wong on 0419 570 846 or info@watcharts.com.au
TOYOTA COMMUNITY SPIRIT GALLERY MAIL LIST If you are interested in becoming involved in the gallery program or wish to be added to our mailing list to be kept informed of upcoming events,
email info@watcharts.com.au or visit www.watcharts.com.au/toyota.html
IMAGES FRONT COVER Time Displacement Equipment by Takumer Homma, Digital art, 2014 INSIDE COVER SPREAD Exploring Mars (detail) by Mark Wright, Photoshop illustration, 2009 THIS SPREAD Winter, Yea (detail) by John Orlando Birt, Watercolour, 2014
The opinions and points of view expressed by participants through the artworks and artists statements in this exhibition and catalogue are those of the individual person or persons and are not intended to reflect the position of Toyota Australia.
ken Wong curator
This is the 33rd exhibition for the Toyota Community Spirit Gallery and the first show in our 10th year of program since commencing operations in 2004. In all that time, it is only the second exhibition to focus on automobiles or the automotive industry, the first being Me and My Toyota in 2009 which celebrated 50 years of Toyota selling and subsequently manufacturing cars in Australia. The landscape of the automobile industry in Australia has changed significantly since that time, with the imminent cessation of car manufacturing by all major makers over the coming few years. For that reason, it seems a good time to reflect on a manufacturing industry that has not only had a major economic impact, but also a significant cultural impact on this country over the past 50 years or more. Australian and in particular, Melbourne automotive design, has played a major role in this. Whether you grew up as a Holden, Ford, Toyota or any other car maker devotee, there is no denying that the competition and cross-pollination of design talent and expertise developed here through our tertiary institutions and local car makers has led to an extremely high standard of design studios which have in turn exerted their own influence in automotive design internationally. At the essence of this design expertise of course, is the creativity of the individual. This exhibition sets out to explore the personal creative practice of a cross section of designers, from those whose contribution over a lifetime cannot be overestimated, through to those whose innovation and flair is only just beginning to make its presence felt. The most important thing I have discovered in working on this exhibition is the power of design in the creation of something new that then becomes a tangible, influential force within our lives and society at large. To start with, literally, a blank page and envision something that does not exist but subsequently becomes reality, is a miraculous and incredibly powerful thing. Let us hope the expertise built up over the years in our local design studios can continue to exert its influence on the design industry internationally and the wider global community. Welcome to madART. Ken Wong is the Director of Watch Arts, a Victorian based contemporary arts consultancy. He has worked in the fine arts industry for over fifteen years in both commercial and community arts, curating and managing a host of projects including gallery and outdoor sculpture exhibitions.
exhibitors john orlando BIRT
................... 10
carl Cerra
................... 12
peter ElliotT
................... 14
liam Ferguson
................... 16
nicolas Hogios
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takumer Homma
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yan Huang
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bryan Lee
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craig Metros
................... 26
chalisa Morrison
................... 28
nima Nourian
................... 30
mark Richardson
................... 32
bernie Walsh
................... 34
mark WrighT
................... 36
phillip Zmood
................... 38
IMAGE Red Moon Samurai by Bryan Lee, Digital art, 2014
john orlando BIRT
Summer Shadows, Yea Oil on canvas, 50 x 60cm, 2014 $1400
T
he single most important factor in my painting is the mastering of light; that is light portrayed, light reflected and light suffused. I enjoy the challenge of capturing the changing moods that light creates at different times of the day and the effects it has on the surroundings, such as buildings, the landscape and water. The atmospheric effects of light always stimulates my artistic eye. As an artist I believe that painting on location ensures that I capture the essence of the subject especially the subtleties and nuances of that time and place.
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Broken Hill-born, John was educated in Adelaide, South Australia, where he attended the South Australian School of Art majoring in fine art and art history, and later studied industrial design at the Institute of Technology. After graduating he pursued a career in the automotive industry initially designing automobiles at Ford Australia, and later in USA, Japan, Italy, England and Germany. He now resides in Melbourne and has held over 18 solo exhibitions, including several in Venice, Italy, John spends time most years travelling to Europe to paint on location in Italy, France, England and Portugal – his favourite place to paint outside his home country. In 2013 he was the recipient of the Kenneth Jack Memorial Award.
Evening, Strathbogie Watercolour 63 x 60cm, 2014 $1350
Winter, Yea Watercolour, 61 x 60cm, 2014 $1350
carl Cerra
Sub Zero Custom motorcycle, 2014 $50,000
Carl graduated in Industrial Design at RMIT in 1993. Since then he has worked as an automotive fabricator, currently with the Toyota Australia Design studio based in Port Melbourne. For years he has customised cars and motorbikes, applying his knowledge of car design to his own work. This is his first opportunity to exhibit one of his creations as a work of art.
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ub Zero is a ground up custom motorcycle with a Japanese theme. I have spent time working in Japan for Toyota and love the culture and custom scene. One of my favourite custom bike builders is based in Tokyo and inspired this build. More can be viewed at www. gasolina.com.au.
peter ElliotT After completing his Masters of Industrial Design at RMIT in 1995, Peter began a 15 year career at the design studio at Ford Australia. He worked on a variety of local and overseas programs including Falcon,Territory and Ford Performance Vehicles, to the global Ranger Program. His experience on Ranger was a particular highlight, as he was a part of a global team assembled in Australia to design and develop the vehicle from the ground up. He was a part of the design process from the very first sketch ideas through to final release data and production. In 2003 he also began working with Monash University, lecturing in Industrial Design, with an emphasis on Transportation Design. He has enjoyed the opportunity over that time to contribute to the tertiary education of developing design talent. After leaving Ford in 2010, he worked with Monash University as a freelance designer on the Optimus commuter bus project for Volgren Australia. He recently joined the team at Toyota in the Product Development group, as a manager in the Product Design Studio, contributing to local and regional product.
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Contraption at Speed Digital print on canvas, 2014 Price on application
rom a very young age I’ve had a genuine passion for all things automotive. It was therefore an obvious choice for me to focus on pursuing a career in Automotive Design. After hours, I produce automotive inspired work using Photoshop that can vary from quite stylised to more freely sketched or painted. This piece is a fictitious motor vehicle and driver, inspired by the early years of motoring - a time when a vehicle was a raw machine and an almost un-tameable contraption.
liam Ferguson
T
his is part of a series of wall constellations which bring an element of three dimensional space to a vertical plane. Non-obstructive and understated, the work uses negative space to form positive volumes creating the illusion of weight and dimension. The multiple shadows cast by the connecting webs provides a sense transience as changing light travels through the object.
After graduating from Monash University in 2008, Liam worked as an automotive designer with Ford until 2014. He currently works with Toyota at the Australian Design studio.
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WC01 Steel, 80 x 200 x 40cm, 2014 NFS (image shown digital representation of proposed work)
nicolas Hogios
Periscopic Digital Painting 120 x 96cm, 2014 $600
T
his piece represents the recent social and political climate in Australia. Under the surface, safe and myopic. What it once meant to be Australian is dissolving, individual thought discouraged, and core values being replaced by material aspirations.
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lthough abstract, this piece attempts to express the emotional, human element to the sadness felt with the end of Automotive manufacturing in Australia. The mdf panel was destined for scrap, a sacrificial base that Toyota’s design studio used to mount and machine out manufacturing prototype components. The many shapes overlayed, creating outlines that were at once automotive and technical - yet organic delineating fluid channels, pulsing through the solid forms.
Corrosion Acrylic on machined MDF, 122 x 122cm, 2014 $1000
After winning the Wheels Magazine Young Designer of the year award in 1999, Nicolas worked for Ford Motor Company Australia for four years as a creative designer. He began work at Toyota in 2003 as a Senior Designer and was promoted to Design Manager in 2003. After two secondments to Design HQ in Nagoya Japan, he is currently the Chief Designer for Toyota in Australia. His design work includes the Sportivo Coupe Concept Car, Toyota Aurion and Fortuner. His personal art practice includes concept art for film, graphic novels and album artwork.
takumer Homma
Time Displacement Equipment Digital Art, 41.6 x 81.2cm, 2014 $220
I
am currently working in digital painting, utilizing state of the art technology to develop my visual concepts. Time Displacement Equipment is my interpretation of a time machine, bringing to life a graphical description of a wormhole. Lost is about finding a path amidst darkness. Takumer completed his Honours Degree in Industrial Design at Monash University in 2007. Between 2008 and 2013 he worked in Visualisation for Ford Motor Company Australia and is currently a freelance concept artist.
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Lost Digital Art, 2014 Price on application
yan Huang
I
have a lasting passion for art and design in all its forms and an enthusiasm for creative challenges.
A graduate of RMIT University, Melbourne, Yan has an extensive design career spanning 19 years, working with Australian, American, Chinese and Italian automakers on many successful automotive programs. These include the 2014 Buick Lacrosse interior components, 2013 Chevrolet Malibu interior, 2006 Buick Park Avenue, 2003 Buick Centieme show car interior and aXess Australia concept car interior. In 2012/13 she worked as a Design Manager at GM Holden Advance Design based in Melbourne.
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Ripple Ink and acrylic, 50 x 180cm, 2013 $4000
Secret Path Ink and acrylic 180 x 120cm, 2013 $4000
bryan Lee
S
ince I was young, my parents have always encouraged me to pick up a pen and draw. Throughout my school years, the desire to draw quirky objects and characters became so common that I would occasionally get in trouble with the teachers because of the constant ‘graffiti’ on textbooks and homework. But this didn’t stop me from wanting to pursue a future in the creative field. I have recently become a fulltime freelance designer. Driven by the excitement of unknown possibilities I truly believe that this path will allow me to express my personality and create things I have always dreamt about. This piece is a digital painting that utilizes my professional design skills, combining my love of Japanese culture with hard-surface mechanical design.
Bryan discovered Industrial Design in Year 11 and was captivated by the idea that his creativity could be brought to reality. He completed a Diploma in Applied Design and was then accepted into the Monash Industrial Design course in 2006. After graduating he worked for Ford Motor Company Australia as a Visualization Designer. View more of Bryan works at www.artbleed.com.
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Red Moon Samurai Digital art 70 x 100cm, 2014 Price on application
craig Metros
40 Mixed media 91 x 20 x 7cm, 2014 NFS
M
y interest in art and design blends original stencil work and photographs taken from around the world to capture visual statements both graphically and dimensionally. I draw inspiration from traditional hot rods, moon missions, street art and modern design movements. My work reflects the industrial, rough, and weathered side of the motor industry, with mixed-media pieces incorporating materials found in unusual places; ranging from abandoned buildings, roadsides, to junk yards and swap meets.
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Craig is an automotive designer who came from Detroit, U.S.A. to Melbourne in 2006 to work with Ford Australia. Like many international designers to work here, his experience and expertise has enriched the quality of automotive design in Australia. After leading Ford’s Melbourne design studio for 8 years, Craig recently returned to the United States.
Melbourne, a piece from here and a piece from there Mixed media, 120.5 x 30 x 3cm, 2008 $600
chalisa Morrison
I
nspired by creative expression, I have actively filled my life with many creative pursuits; including theatre, fashion design, photography, painting and product design. Since moving to Melbourne 9 years ago, I have been committed to developing my painting style; experimenting with different styles and mediums. My style is mostly abstract with creative use of colour. Colour inspires my world and I like to reflect this is my art. I feel like I’m at the beginning of my painting journey...
Chalisa studied Costume Design and Theatre and completed an Advanced Diploma in Fashion Design in 2001, before completing her Post Graduate Diploma in Business, Entrepreneurship and Innovation in 2003. She worked as a fashion illustrator and designer and was a Senior Designer and Styling Project Manager at Mitsubishi Motors Adelaide from 2002 to 2005. She is currently the Senior Colour and Trim Designer with Toyota Product Design in Melbourne and has recently launched her new fashion travel brand Zippy Skirts.
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Reflections Gouache paint, 102 x 86.5cm, 2000 NFS
nima Nourian Born in 1978, Nima graduated from Monash University in Melbourne with an Honours Degree in Industrial Design. His automotive design career started in 2004, when he began working for Edag Australia where he worked on a series of programs including the VROOM Virtual Concept car which was displayed at the Melbourne International Motor Show in 2005. Later that year he was made Creative Designer at Toyota Style Australia were he contributed to a series of programs for the Asia Pacific region, including the TRD Hilux and TRD Aurion. In 2006, Nima joined Ford Australia as an Exterior Designer, a position that would lead him to an Exterior Design Manager role for Ford Asia Pacific in 2011. During his time at Ford, he has participated in various global and Asia Pacific related programs including the 2015 Falcon, 2011 Territory, 2008 FG Falcon XR and 2007 BFII Falcon XR.
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GT Concept Digital art on canvas 100 x 198cm, 2011 NFS
T
his work is an exterior design study for a GT concept.
mark Richardson
M
y creative practice explores concepts of tension between conflicting states – that is, the ‘/’ in advance/ retreat, tension/compression, old/ new, intersection/divergence, hi tech/ lo tech, destruction/construction, decline/regeneration. What interests me is the space in which contradicting forces interact; where the pinch-point of conflict or difference of opinion sometimes results in beautiful chaos or atrocious order. These clashes often open microcosms of generative opportunity from which new states develop – sometimes constructive, sometimes destructive, but inevitably changing. This is not necessarily for better or worse, but can often be measured in contextual relevance to a point in time. On a time-based continuum, this process can be marked by centuries (as demonstrated by many natural systems), in years (as in the case of political cycles) and in moments (as with Pulse Width Modulation in electronic systems) and result in active net stability (and sometimes, but rarely, static net stability, as can be seen in the case of Buckminster Fuller and Snelson’s notion of tensegrity). My practice documents and/or demonstrates these states through curatorial, sculptural, and pictorial processes. Old Growth Digital photographic print, 320 x 110cm, 2014, $1800 30
madART
Wintery Flourish Digital photographic print, 74 x 110cm, 2014, $900
Zero-sum Digital photographic print, 64 x 110cm, 2014, $900
Formally a senior designer at Ford Motor Company between 1995 and 2005, Mark worked on projects such as the Territory, R7 show car, European Mondeo and Asia Pacific Fiesta. His PhD research at Monash University focused on understanding contemporary transportation design trends and sought evidence to support the advancement of ecological and social imperatives for sustainable mobility systems. Underpinning these interests is the motivation to foster Open Design, design for reuse, rapid distributed manufacturing and domestic-scale open-source hardware. Mark is currently teaching at Monash University in the Industrial Design program.
bernie walsh
Colour in a row Acrylic ink airbrush and prismacolour pencil. 50 x 100cm, 1995 Price on application
Low tide Acrylic ink airbrush and prismacolour pencil, 50 x 100cm, 1995 Price on application
Ok I’m ready, Acrylic ink airbrush and prismacolour pencil, 50 x 100cm, 1995 Price on application
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Bernie is an Australian Industrial Designer who has specialised in transport design for over 30 years. Starting out as a young designer at GM Holden, his extensive CV includes VARD, Bayley Design, Millard Design, International Harvester, Iveco and Chief Designer for Nissan Design Australia over a 15 year period. Bernie has an international reputation for expertise in both design and illustration which precipitated his own art and design company specialising in transport design with both interior and exterior concept design and production experience in cars, trucks, trains, buses, yachts, planes and military vehicles. His designs include the Transtar series of bonneted trucks for International Harvester, the Power Star series of trucks for Iveco and the little S2S sports car for the Orbital Engine Company. Bernie is also a successful artist in his own right and has taught digital concept sketching and design at university level around the world including North America, Mexico, Australia (RMIT, Swinburne and Monash Universities) and most recently, at the Post Graduate design school in Suzhou, China at Southeast University, which is a joint venture with Monash University.
A
fter years of automotive sketching, experimenting with all types of media including oils, acrylics, pencils and airbrush, I created original artworks capturing the tranquility and the beauty of the beaches and bays near my then home on the Mornington Peninsula. The demand for these paintings grew at an astonishing rate and led a series of prints that sold in over 40 countries. This is the first time the original artworks for that print series have ever been shown in public. In my spare time I recently began working on a series of concept vehicles called Nullarbor Racers for a book and possible game. More info can be viewed on my blog Drawon at berniewalsh.blogspot.
Nullarbor racer ready for a night run Digital hand drawn speed sketch, 50 x 100cm, 2012 $500
Our land Acrylic ink airbrush and prismacolour pencil 100 x 100cm, 1998 $5500
mark WRIGHT
Exploring Mars Photoshop illustration, 90 x 60cm, 2009, NFS
I
became interested in drawing at an early age, inspired to pursue a design career from watching sci-fi TV shows. I have a consuming interest in science fiction hardware, and sketching/making sci-fi themed models has long been a hobby of mine. These works are an Illustration of a large mobile laboratory used for long-term surface expeditions on Mars, a compilation of various aircraft sketches and illustrations and a mixed media scale model of whimsical sci-fi themed salt flat racer.
Mark studied Art & Design at Box Hill College and Industrial Design at RMIT, graduating in 1984. His first job was at the Ford Australia Design Studio in the Colour & Trim Studio. He worked with Ford for almost twenty years. In 1991, he spent 5 months at the Mazda Studio in Hiroshima, Japan. He has also worked with Millard Design, Venture Design and GM Holden, most recently in their global design studio between 2010 and 2013. Mark currently lives in Melbourne with his wife and two children.
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Aerospace sketches Photoshop sketches, 90 x 60cm, 2013, NFS
Velocitus Incredibilis Mixed media model, Approx 60 x 40cm, 2007, NFS
phillip Zmood Phillip commenced working with Holden in 1965, and during a 38 year career with General Motors he became the first Australian Director of Design and later the Commodore/Caprice Program Manager. He is an Industrial Design Graduate of RMIT University and has studied and worked in the USA, Germany, Japan and China. Career highlights include leading the Portfolio Planning of the current GM Holden global rear wheel drive car platform, GM International and later Australia. His responsibilities have included PATAC Design, Shanghai Automotive Industries Corporation and GM joint venture initiative as first Director of Design, designing and building the Qilin exhibit at the 1999 Shanghai Motor Show. As GM Holden Design Director for 14 years, he was also responsible for all design activities and commissioning of the Buick XP2000, the first advanced design vehicle designed and built for GM, USA division in Australia. More recently, Phillip has established Euro Design Associates, providing local and global consulting and recruitment services in Industrial Design and Design Management.
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I
Auburn 8-120 Boattail Speedster 1929 Acrylic paint and pencil,120 x 76cm, 1966 NFS
was always interested in art and design and my career was encouraged by winning a drawing competion to design a “car of the future� when I was very young. This painting was completed in my own time early in my working life at Holden, as an exercise to help develop my drawing and illustration abilities. My first boss, Joe Schemansky (who was sent to Holden by General Motors as its first Director of Design in 1964), selected it to hang in his office, which it did until he gave it back to me on his retirement. Designed for the roaring twenties, this car was the dream of a man by the name of E.L. Cord. While it was the new automobile Cord felt Auburn needed, the design was credited to Alan H. Leamy who worked for Duesenberg and Cord.
IMAGE Melbourne, a piece from hereand a piece from there (detail) by Craig Metros Mixed media 2008 IMAGE BACK COVER Zero-sum (detail) by Mark Richardson, Digital photographic print 2014