A Weekend of Art - Final

Ok ... so pretty much the entire floorspace of the Exhibition building and the second level ... no mean feat ... and no mean feet .. if you know what I mean ... we were both glad to be sitting back in the car ... it was like the re-enactment of cocoon I tell you what ... but I think it was well worth the effort ... will definitely consider going again in 2009 ... there are too many to mention and alot of wasted photo-ops ... so here's just a very small sample ...

The absolute first thing that grabbed our attention was the plexi-glass sculptures of Roh Singh at the Dianne Tanzer Gallery stand:

Roh builds his 3-dimensional pictures by placing holes at various points on perspex sheets and slowly builds this up ... its amazing stuff ... you sit there and go "now why didn't I think of that" ... it just seems so obvious but the results are magical ... unfortunately I didn't take any photos ... so the images above are sourced off google images ... but you get the drift ... this gallery stand also had these plywood cockies in plain and black .... good stuff.

The other gallery that really caught our eye was Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art. In fact I overheard one of the stand members say that they had sold every single piece that they exhibited this time round ... no mean feat ... but whoever does the buying here truly understands diversity and eclecticism ... I would certainly love to pick their creative brains ... the minute I saw this sequined chihuahua amongst the heavily satirical china figurines I knew we were in good hands ...

Penny Byrne's wildly satirical figurines ...

Juan Ford's hand of God reaching out of a branch of eucalyptus leaves ... VR Morrison's take on fashion copy ...

Sam Leach's highly Varnished paintings of animals ...

all here and all welcome in my home if I had the cash.

Some of our other highlights ...

HK gallery - 10 Chancery Lane Gallery
especially the photos of old chinese theatres by Muchen and Shao Yinong:

and the action shots of Li Wei - stunning!!

M was taken by the noir-ish set pieces by Peter Neilson at the Australian Galleries stand:

We liked the bone pictures at the Despard Gallery by Patrick Hall:

I loved the floating figures in Denis Darzacq's work at Goddard de Fiddes:

We laughed at the marble statues of ordinary objects covered in dust shrouds ... Jan Murphy gallery had a number of these Kirra Jamison works:

In terms of painting .. this was a new discovery for me ... and one artist I will be keeping an eye on ... Joanna Lamb ... part of the Johnston Gallery stand:

Chuckles galore and memories of Shibuya at MEM with some great photos that provided much needed respite from all the po-faced symbolism going round:

Sophie Gannon had some luminescent miniatures by Michael Zavros who also painted some wonderfully chic centaurs:

Always a sucker for animals particularly dogs Petrina Hick's photos were a revelation at Stills Gallery:

I'm officially in love with paul davies' cool retro housescapes represented at the Tim Olsen gallery stand .. most of these were sold ... round about the $10000 - $25000 mark ... small change babe!!!

As far as prints and block paintings were concerned .. I'm not sure why this one appealed to me so much .. maybe it was the naive quality to it, the muted colours, the japanese lines and paper .. who knows ... but I dug Wilson Shieh's work especially the swimmer series which hung at L.A. Galerie Lothar Albrecht:

LA galerie also had some amazing photoworks by Peter Bialobrzeski ... large panoramic naturescapes ...

Still on the photoart tip, the John Buckley Gallery was showing Simon Strong:

Finally, the best stand ever was Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay - woodchip on the floor ... trees and wallpapered scenery ... shiny gnomes and mirrored structures ... the pics don't do it justice:

And craziest artwork - hands down it was Ian Burns ...

I'm not quite sure how to describe this ... installation pieces with cameras and household items ... bolted together to give an illusion of something other that is displayed on the screen .. for example .. an ordinary plastic chopping board .. shaved and chiselled to look like Uluru .... its visual ... its installation ... apart from the 2 second wow factor at having a piece of tarp turned into the ocean ... the contraptions themselves are ugly ... BUT ... its oddly appealing and it made us smile ...



What I can't remember ...

Random snaps ... and if I figure out who where and what I will append ...Ok Art lesson is over .. you can wake up now.

LabPartners and the Outre markup

Ok ... so I'm buying a pressie at lunch time and end up at Outre where I spy these 3 framed prints by Lab Partners at what I think is a reasonable price at $65 each. I stare at these for a good 15 mins and even ask gallery assistant to show me the missing one off the set that she has just sold. She kindly gets it from the back room and unwraps it for me. You can get the whole set of 4 for $245:

I love them. They look like retro childrens book illustrations ... and they're so cheery and I'm so weary ... the spending endorphonse start to kick in .. thankfully Miss Outre is distracted by another customer and I quietly slip out with my usual mantra of "if its still there when come back then it was meant to be" ... obvisouly I've missed out on tonnes of stuff before as a result.

So I go back to work all enthused and start checking things out online , and lo and behold ... what do I find ... the numbered and signed set of all 4 for US$45.00 at Etsy.com ... unframed but still .... that is so much cheaper!!!!

Score a few cheapo frames from Ikea ... we have a mat cutter so just some hard creamy paper and we should be right!!

Sometimes I'm glad that I don't think to do these things online .. I would be that much poorer!!

Street Level Google Maps

Ok .. oh.my.god. we now have street level google maps in australia .. its a little bit freaky peops ... almost feels like you can walk up to the front door and/or peer into the windows ... keep your blinds drawn peoples!!!!

Find out more here: http://maps.google.com.au/help/maps/streetview/

A Weekend of Art - Part 2

Ok ... so this is going to come in drips and draps but deal with it ...

Kaliman Gallery had a stand (naturally) at the Melbourne Art Fair .... and if you didn't already know this ... their star turn is the always intriguing Del Kathryn Barton ... who is one of my favs ... but what I didn't know was that she did sculptural works as well ...

They also had something a little more traditional ... and oddly subdued ...

I'm sure I'll be able to fit everything else in one more post ...

Look I know this whole event is commercially driven, but for your $24 entry fee you do get to see alot of art ... i mean its both floors of the exhibition building ... its no longer billed as the Cheap Art Fair ... but its great not only to see such a wide cross-section of movers and shakers, but also up coming artists ... names that you are not familiar with but each painting with a red SOLD dot to indicate that this is the artist to watch ... also general people watching ... lets not forget that.

And gallery owners have a particular look ... think obscure austrian designers ... and whacked out jewellery.

A Weekend of Art

Ok ... its almost midnight but I just had to get this down before I went to bed ...

It was one of those Artsy weekends .... firstly the Melbourne Stencil Festival (underwhelming) and then the Melbourne Art Fair 2008 ...

I have mentioned my fascination for Ron Mueck previously and I have noticed that a number of google image searches on said Artist have led to this humble blog ... so I'm not the only one ...

Anyhoo there were a number fo Sam Jink's pieces on display which are very similar to Mueck's ... and I guess evoke a similar response ... the detail is amazing .. right down to the little unruly hairs that drive some of use completely potty ...

Would I buy one if I had the money ... not sure to be honest ... they creep me out ever so slightly .. I woudln't really want to catch sight of one when I'm grappling in teh dark for the toilet light switch ...

Anyhoo they were on display at the Boutwell Draper Gallery stand:

PS ... by the way ... if you want to be added as a friend ... but you don't have a link to your space that I can check out ... could you at least drop me a message and tell me a bit about yourself ... maybe its not the thing to do in this cybernetic world ... but its sort of common courtesy in my book ...

Mohair and the Camel's Hump

Ok .. so lets start backwards .... with My hump, my hump, the lovely Camel's Hump!!!

Me, CC, DV and M decided to catch up for dinner after whats seems like an inordinately long time ... there is a backstory to this involving copious amounts of alchohol, a birthday, one silly litle inebriated fashionista and one freaked out grump ... but that would be an entirely different post!! Anyhoo ... I felt like dumplings but we couldn't decide on a conveniently located spot so we ended up at El Gaucho on Nicholson street for a artery-hardening Argentinian meat fest ....

And so to round off the evening we thought about having a little after dinner drink and possibly a little sweet snack ... CC was thinking about meeting up early at what he thought was a bar called The Camel's Hump ... but they were only opening at 8 and so we ended up at the Royal Oak (CC reckons the pub food here is excellent) instead ... So we decided to go there for our little post-dinner soiree ... we walk into the Camel's Hump and onto a 70s Hong Kong Movie set ... or one of those Egyptian soap operas ... rattan dividers ... wooden animals ... worn out velvet ... all manner of fabric, objet d'art of the middle eastern bazaar variety .. i.e. Heaven!!

But for the alckys out there, let me say this ... If you were stuck on a desert and only a lick of alcohol was all that was needed to save you ... then this camel's hump would certainly not have been a godsend ... apart from one chocolate cake with a hint of cognac ... this is a bible-belt bottlo free zone ... HOWEVER!!! If you are up for coffee and cakes at an hour when most high street cafes are shut and their staff are going crazeee on some sweaty dancefloor ... then this is it!!! And let me tell you what a great great idea this is ... you know how you go out for drinks or dinner ... and you are really craving something sweet .... and you don't really want to go to a restaurant just to have dessert ... and the kitchens are mostly closed anyways ... well come on down here ...

ME and M had a chocolate mousse cake each ... CC had the sticky date and pear and DV had a flourlesschocolate slice ... they come in slim or full (?) and you are going to want a slim ... because its slim as in mid-west sugar covered chip loving america!!! My only bug bear is that the coffee was plunged .. but otherise the atmosphere was great, the decor suitably tacky and the staff extremely friendly ... it was such a great way to end the night decently ... not disgracefully as we are wont to do.

Its always a fun night with DV & CC .. this time without the winkish garrulity (ok so I am experimenting here) of JR's company ... where exactly he was and with who remains a matter of some subterfuge ... a bit too much sauce methinks ... but we shall simply concentrate on CC's burberry and DV's special Parisian find ...

So I did say we were working backwards ... well reverse to lunchtime when I popped off to the oft mislooked Crossley Street off Bourke ... where 2 lads from south australia were hosting their own little vintage happening above Von Haus ...

So up the rickety wooden staircase I went to be met at the top landing by a table with candles and a couple of skulls ... through to the right where Hounds of Love was playing - side 2 The Ninth Wave in its entirety ... flicked through the racks ... found some gems that did not fit ... saw a Christian Dior from the 80s .. brocade jacket going for $650 ... a few stage costumes which if they fit would have certainly been part of the loot ... ended up with the following Mohair extravanganza ...

Isn't it appalingly hideous ... $10 ... a song!!! Would I wear it ... absofuckinglutely!!

Chookers!!!