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Gallery Hop - Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin, Brisbane & New York
Above: Marcel Cousins 2010 Tree in a city park. Helen Gorie Galerie at MOP Projects, Sydney.
Michael Zavros’ show at Melbourne’s Sophie Gannon Gallery has stayed in my head since I visited the day after the opening, especially the virtuoso drawing “The Wanderer”. (There’s an article on him in the current Art & Australia quarterly magazine, btw.) The exhibition also finishes this week. www.sophiegannongallery.com.au
From top and clockwise: Rochelle Haley & Monika Behrens, Belladonna Bitch, 2011. Ron Adams, The Great Defender (Yellow) 2011 both at MOP Projects at Helen Gory Galerie, Melbourne. Adam Laerkesen, ‘I’m angry, I'm wise and you, you're under cloudy skies' - Robert Forster, (detail), Anita Traverso Gallery. Abbey McCulloch, ‘Of Things to Come’, Helen Gorie Galerie at MOP Projects, Sydney. Drew Bickford, TWO SIX ONE NINE, 2010, at MOP Projects at Helen Gory Galerie, Melbourne.
Next door is John Buckley Gallery with an important solo show by John Firth Smith www.johnbuckleygallery.com and across the road in Albert Street (this is a great Melbourne art hub) cool young artist Adam Laerkeson at Anita Traverso Gallery runs till the end of the month (he was recently profiled on Australian TV on ABC’s Art Nation). www.anitatraversogallery.com.au
In Darwin, I loved the Angelina George canvasses at Karen Brown Gallery www.karenbrowngallery.com & interesting new work at the CHAN Contemporary Art Space www.nt.gov.au/nreta/arts/ccas/eventsprogram.html with the Togart Contemporary Art Award (all entries for sale).
Brisbane gallerist Edwina Corlette has been in New York, informative updates on facebook (amazing Nick Cave soundsuits at Mary Boone in Chelsea www.maryboonegallery.com). Back on her home turf, there’s young artist Kate Tucker coming up, and Julian Meagher in mid October. www.edwinacorlette.com
Sydney’s Annandale Galleries is holding an exhibition of new works by the wonderful, world-renowned John Mawurnjul - opening 4th October but it’s essential to get in touch for a preview if you’re keen to purchase. www.annandalegalleries.com.au
- SB
ROBERT POLIDORI’S FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION IN HONG KONG
Above: Bedroom, Ciudadela, formerly the house of Countess O’Reilly, the Condesa de Buenavista, 6 #320, Miramar, Havana, Cuba, 2001, Fujicolor Crystal archive print, 40 x 50 inches
These are exquisite images – rich in minute detail and saturated colour, luscious interiors that each has its own compelling narrative. Multi-award winning photographer Robert Polidori began his career with an atmospheric series on the restoration of the Chateau de Versailles. He went on to photograph the devastation post Chernobyl and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, among other significant events. Born in Montreal and based in New York, he’s published 11 books, worked for numerous newspapers and magazines notably the New Yorker, and even photographed fashion (take a look at Bottega Veneta’s stunning Fall/Winter 2011/2012 campaign). He’s represented in prestigious collections worldwide, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and London’s V&A.
In Polidori’s work, architectural spaces are allowed to tell emotive human stories of culture, society, the passage of time, history, loss, destruction, celebration, reward. He describes vacant rooms as exoskeletons of people’s lives. His pictures (taken with a large format camera using slow shutter speeds) of Chateau de Versailles and various interiors in Havana, Cuba are gorgeous to look at: in tonal range, depth, perspective and moral weight, they are like Dutch master paintings. The colours have texture, they are soft as old suede or gleam like silver; there’s soulful beauty in the fall of light and in the detail (lavish decoration, or part removed plastic sheeting, or peeling walls), layers of memory and meaning captured and exposed by the camera’s all seeing eye.
- SB
Images: Courtesy of Sundaram Tagore Gallery
Above: Home of Mercedes Alfonso Linea 508 (Between D and E), Vibora, Havana, Cuba, 1997, archival inkjet print, 40 x 50 inches
Robert Polidori Ars Memorativa at Sundaram Tagore Gallery Hong Kong September 25 – October 16, 2011. Take a look at the website image galley http://www.sundaramtagore.com/exhibitions/2011-09-15_robert-polidori/selected-works/Above: Salle de Crimée Sud, (99) ANR.02.036, Salles de l’Afrique, Aile du Nord – 1er étage, Château de Versailles, 1985, archival inkjet print, 40 x 50 inches
Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship 2011
The highly prestigious Scholarship to the value of $25,000 includes a three-month residency at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris administered by the Art Gallery of NSW. She was chosen from a field of 87 young artists (all under 30) and a final selection of just 5. James Drinkwater and Nicholas Fintan were highly commended. The judges were artist Colin Lanceley and the AGNSW’s Head of Australian Art Wayne Tunnicliffe. Gallery Director Edmund Capon presented the award (not before receiving a bottle of champagne himself, to mark his retirement later this year). Becky Gibson made a short speech of thanks and paid particular tribute to Beryl Whiteley (Brett’s mother) responsible for the creation and endowment of the Scholarship, who died last year. The small crowd of artists, art world figures and media gathered at the Brett Whiteley Studio in Surry Hills included doyenne Wendy Whiteley in her signature headscarf and statement jewelry.
Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship 2011 on view 10th Sep – 27th Nov, Brett Whiteley Studio, 2 Raper Street Surry Hills 2010, Sydney Australia, open Saturdays & Sundays only from 10am-4pm. www.brettwhiteley.org
Welcome to ATL Shorts
Welcome to ATL Shorts, a new, additional (and more frequent) pipeline to art, travel and life. Yes, we are branching out into books, food, wine, music, film and more travel, and more art! We’ve some cool guest bloggers lined up too. Watch this space.