Save Our Studios at Griffith University.

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What’s about to unfold at Queensland College of Art in Brisbane.

Griffith University is planning to “withdraw” all printmaking courses from its offerings from Jan 2021 as a part of its response to the Coronavirus pandemic. This is despite the viability of the print program even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. By withdrawing these courses Griffith is able to declare all resources (staff and equipment) associated with the delivery of them “surplus to requirements”. Printmaking is one of four studios on the chopping block. Jewellery & Small Objects, Documentary Photo Practice and Commercial Photography are the other three. While the university is reducing its staff numbers by 8.3%, the losses in Fine Art and Photography will equate to a minimum loss of 45% of the teaching and technical staff. QCA staff were ambushed by the proposal and the rational for choosing Print, Jewellery & Small Objects studios remains obscured. Having been advised of these plans on Monday the 2nd of November we now have three weeks to respond.

As the last dedicated Printmaking program in QLD the detrimental impact on the printmaking and artists book communities here will be irretrievable, especially in the current tertiary education environment. The opportunity for emerging and established artists from these communities to develop the conceptual strength of their print practice together with the technical proficiency they need will be lost to Brisbane and Qld. 

This is a repeat of what unfolded at James Cook University as Anneke Silver has shared in a post on the community facebook page established to build a response to Griffiths planned cuts. QCA print studios offer, Relief, Letterpress, Intaglio, Lithography, Silkscreening, Papermaking, artists books and many associated digital processes such as laser engraving.

QCA staff are planning our response. The Printmaking and broader art communities (student and public) have mobilised and are planning their response, see below.
 

An invitation – a call to action to prevent what Shasha Grishin has described as

1 damage to the whole structure of arts education in Australia,
2 an enormous blow to printmaking and artists books practice in Australia,
3 the irretrievable loss of the historical and successful Print(making) studios at QCA, the most important institutional printmaking workshop north of Sydney.

If you will – please;

sign the petition addressed to Griffith University council requesting this proposal be abandonded. –   http://chng.it/L4NhmZnynR

Danielle Creenaune, Fragile States, Australian Galleries

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‘Fragile States describes a parallel notion of fragility with respect to the state of our current natural environment and my own personal experience during a period of relocating to Australia after almost two decades abroad.

These works address the duality experienced both in a cultural and linguistic sense, and also within the landscape I inhabit. In this time of displacement and dislocation, my experiences were charged with sentiment, vulnerability, and a sensitivity to change. It was a period of introspection, weighing up what would be lost and gained and bearing witness to the closure of a chapter in my life. Now, in Australia I am challenged by new places of personal significance in my local area such as wide coastal perspectives and waterfalls. My work is concerned with the rhythms in nature and the importance of treading lightly on this borrowed land.

In this exhibition, I work in the techniques of stone lithography and mokulito, because there is a flow between the process, materials and image making. Lithography offers me a very direct way of making painterly marks within printmaking and carries with it a rich gamut of tones and textures such as reticulated washes and wood textures which mirror forms also present in nature. I walk and observe places while making quick sketches that later serve to situate myself back there with the movement, sounds and sensibilities. Back in the studio, I work on the matrix of stone or wood in a visceral manner creating a new landscape which taps into the feeling of being in that place.’

– Danielle Creenaune, November 2020

Image: Crystal  2020 lithograph and mokulito 42 x 60 cm edition 6 E.V.
VIEW ONLINE CATALOGUE
VIEW FULL EXHIBITION
View the making of Fragile States here
Collingwood, Victoria

Ben Rak: The Masks I Wear to Pass

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The Masks I Wear to Pass

Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
October 24th, 2020 – January 10th, 2021
 Dear Friends,

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to visit my exhibition The Masks I Wear to Pass at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery.  The exhibition is open to the public until January 10th, 2021.

The exhibition attempts to shed light on the ways in which people (myself included) conceal or reveal themselves in order to gain visibility, avoid marginalisation, and enjoy the privileges afforded to dominant groups. I use the print process as a metaphor for otherness, drawing parallels between art practice and social interaction.

In the catalogue essay, Hidden in Plain Sight, Jane O’Sullivan writes:

“The Masks I Wear to Pass draws on his personal knowledge of passing and includes elements of self-portraiture, but Rak is not declaring a single ‘true’ identity or attempting to show what’s under the mask. His interests are instead in those moments of uncertainty, dissonance, and self-estrangement—in the psychological experience of passing and the shadows it casts over us.”

In addition to the exhibition catalogue, a limited edition zine (Twelve degenographs and the masks they wear to pass) has been published in collaboration with Throwdown Press, and is available to purchase.
 
Exhibitions Launch + Live Performance
Saturday 7 November, 5pm – 7pm
Free for Artstate delegates or $5 General Public. Ticket includes complimentary drink + nibblesSession 1 General Admission – 5pm – 6pm 
Session 2 Artstate Delegates Only – 6pm – 7pm 
 
Artist in conversation – Ben Rak with Tony Curran
When: Saturday 7 November, 11am – 11.45am
Where: Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
Cost: Free event | Registration requiredArtist Ben Rak and Tony Curran will join in conversation to discuss Ben’s new exhibition The Masks I Wear to Pass.This is a free event – attendees must register as seats are limited.
 
             Digital copy of the exhibition catalogue             Download here
 
TWELVE DEGENOGRAPHS AND THE MASKS THEY WEAR TO PASS limited edition zineYear: 2020
Pages: 24 pp
Dimensions: 148mm x 221mm
Binding: Saddle Stitch
Process: Digital Printed
Edition: 100
Free shipping within AustraliaPurchase here
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Copyright © 2020 Ben Rak, All rights reserved.
 

Vale Robyn Waghorn

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Robyn Waghorn - No Boundaries IV

Laura Stark writes about the recent passing of Robyn Waghorn.

I have known Robyn for many years, living close by and belonging to a number of printmaking groups, we often shared rides to go to meetings. I admired her sense of purpose, the certainty and consistency with which she approached her work. She was a very private person but also generous and empathetic. Her artist’s statements were brief, bared back to essentials, unwavering in the certainty of her vision. She was always restrained and not given to self promotion.
In 2016 we had a joint exhibition at the Hazelhurst Arts Centre. Ruth Burgess opened the exhibition and in her beautifully expressed opening speech she referred to a comment on Robyn’s work made by Sasha Grishin, that it ‘was noted for a tragic dimension and a sense of loss and absence’.
She then went on to say ‘Using the subject of the Australian bushfires as the origins of her work, Robyn found that while flame is necessary for some species for regrowth, hope is expressed by the white lines and spaces symbolising regeneration and healing, (so much in keeping with Robyn’s own life as a nursing sister).’
Robyn qualified for an Honours degree in printmaking at the SCA. Her studies led her to the use of rich black relief prints. The sense of space these produced found its way into diverse books and images to become the central fugue in her work, tearing apart the conventional view of landscape.

We worked together on a print for the Sydney Printmakers exhibition ‘Collaboration’ in 2005, which, when I last saw it, was hanging in her home. I’m proud to have had the opportunity to have had that close contact with her and that, in that work, our mark making will always be linked.

 Laura Stark Oct. 2020

Robyn Waghorn - No Boundaries II

Robyn Waghorn

Northern Perspectives @ Gallery Lane Cove

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Northern Perspectives

14 – 31 October

Northern Perspectives is designed to provide insights into the current practices of artists living and working North of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 
 

 ARTIST TALK MARATHON & OPEN DAY

Saturday 24 October 10:00am -4:00pm 

Image: Anna Russell, Updraft, 2019. Monotype, stencils, 56×78 cm.

General Exhibition Viewing 

(for those not attending the talks)

10-10:45am

12:30-1:15pm

3:00-4:00pm

***********

Artist Talk Marathon
 11:00am-12:15pm
 1:30-2:30pm

Artist Talks 

11:00-11:15 Alejandra Sieder

11:15-11:30  Brett Green

11:30-11:45  Jill Kelly

11:45-12:00 Marta Ferracin

  

1:30- 1:45pm Rhonda Nelson

1:45-2:00pm  Anna Russell

2:00-2:15pm Deborah Wilkinson

2:15-2:30pm Viola Dominello    

Meet the artists and learn about their practice.
Viola Dominello, Marta Ferracin, Brett Green, Jill Kelly,
Pamela Leung, Rhonda Nelson, Anna Russell, Alejandra Sieder and
Deborah Wilkinson will speak about their works on show, their respective practices, the art scene in the Northern area of Sydney and answer audience questions.
 

For those unable to attend, please tune in to our Instagram at the respective advertised times to view the livestream talks. 
RSVP NOW

 

Note: As part of our Covid-19 safety measures, visitor numbers are strictly limited
at any one time. 
Registration is essential for attendance for both General Viewing and Artist Talks .
Attendee names will be checked at the point of entry. 
 

FAC Print Award

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The Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award is Australia’s premier showcase of prints and artists’ books. The award and exhibition, which have been running for more than 40 years, boast a national judging panel and $22,000 in prize money. The FAC Print Award presents the best works from established, emerging and cross-disciplinary artists.

PRIZES

First Prize $16,000 | Work acquired for the City of Fremantle Art Collection, WA’s largest municipal collection

Second Prize $6,000

Entries now open

Entries are now open for the 2021 Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award.

ENTER NOW

Entries close 5pm Fri 4 Dec 2020.

The winner will be announced at the exhibition opening Friday 28 May 2021.

The 2021 FAC Print Award exhibition will be open from Saturday 29 May – Sunday 18 July 2021.

If you have any questions relating to entering, please contact FAC Print Award Coordinator Emma Buswell.

Thea Weiss: Creative Responses to the Holocaust.

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The film Creative Responses to the Holocaust by Sarita Gold has been selected For several film awards and has been successful. The film features Thea Weiss’ 96 year old mother in law Lotte’s story of her internment in Auschwitz for 2.5 years, and Thea’s artistic response to it. You can watch the film on Thea’s website, here.

There will be an online presentation from the Sydney Jewish Museum at 7pm on Sunday 1st November in which Thea will talk about her role with the producer/director of the film, Sarita Gold, as well as the film being shown. https://sydneyjewishmuseum.com.au/shop/webinars/public/my-two-lives/

Lake Art Prize – Entries Now Open

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Lake Art Prize 2020 – Entries Now Open

The Lake Art Prize is open to all Australian Artists aged 18 years and over.

The Museum of Art and Culture Lake Macquarie is thrilled to announce the Lake Art Prize, a new biennial National Acquisitive Prize for Contemporary Australian Art – valued at $25,000.

Australian artists, aged 18 years and over, are invited to submit works which reflect on the theme ‘Where there is Water’.

There is a total acquisitive prize pool of $25,000 (ex GST), with the funding made available by the generosity and support of Lake Macquarie City Council.

Contending artworks will be across all media and can take any form, including sculpture, painting, drawing, photomedia, installation, sound, and a single piece or multi-piece artwork.

The prize culminates with selected artworks being displayed in a finalist exhibition at MAC. The inaugural Prize Exhibition will take place between 12 December 2020 – 7 February 2021.

The prize includes a People’s Choice Award – valued at $2,000 (ex GST) – a non-acquisitive award to the artwork with the highest number of audience votes over the period of the finalist exhibition.

Voters will also go into the draw to win MAC Packs and Sculpture park café vouchers.

Key Dates

  • Artwork must be completed 23 October 2019 – 23 October, 2020.
  • Entries close (digital submission) at midnight Friday 23 October, 2020.
  • Finalists will be notified on 30 October, 2020.
  • Delivery of finalist exhibition artworks: by 4pm Friday 27 November 2020.
  • Lake Art Prize 2020 Winner will be announced on 12 December, 2020.
  • Finalist Exhibition will be held 12 December 2020 – 7 February 2021.
  • Announcement of The 2020 LAKE prize People’s Choice award: 5 February 2021.

For further information and to enter, go here.