Eastern Suburbs Art Group

'Fork' has a stunning catalogue with the two artists' names in different inks. Kate said that she came up with the idea. The two lists are intermixed. Normally in shows with two artists the lists are kept separate. Kate and Felix run the gallery together. The two works above are Kate's, I think they would work really well  framed as a pair. Felix makes prints (see below) in a sory of Poppy style with bright colours and writing. I stayed til the end, there were a few people sitting round  chatting and just shooting the breeze. I also met Mark Elliot-Rankin who I've met before, but he wasn't among the oysters. Mark is a great conversationalist however. This show has unfortunately already ended.

Have been thinking about how to write about this artist. I wouldn't go so far as to talk about derivativeneess, though of course you might choose to take that route. One thing that sets Jaimen slightly apart is the looseness of the execution. This is almost outsider art. In fact Dune the gallerist used this word in a brief discussion we had when I was in the gallery.  A loose execution is the one thing that saves Jaimen from being derivative but I am guessing he would ignore it if you said that about his work. I like the apparenet quickness of execution, the fleeting nature of the mark making.  As if the scene were frozen in time. A more well rounded execution would invite more criticism. Jaimen might be imagined in the mind's eye standing on KinG Street painting with the crowds of people flowing round him, the beggars outside the IGA, the people leving restaurants and cafes or on their way to the train station. It's a kind of Impressionism but like 160 years after the fact...

There's something familiar about Elabdin's small rough textured paintings. It's like you've seen them before somewhere but I'm not trying to say they are derivative. Just something about them that hit me. Maybe it's the colours. Ochredfern is known for its colourful artist gatherings. I dropped by when I had time free expecting to see a different artist. At least a diffrent artist had been advertised.  But then this. You'd probably say that Elabdin is a very spiritual artist. He paints not what he sees, or at least not what he sees from his worldly eyes. he seems instead to paint what he sees with his hidden eyes. 

This month I did a bit of community work. With the Tree Veneration Society, that is. It included a couple of street appearances in support of nature conservation. The TVS had sent in a proposal for an installation in Kandos but we weren't successful. There are more such efforts pending but in the meantime in light of Labor government inaction on protection of old growth forests we hit the streets. A man I spoke with named Michael suggested 1000 people but there was no way to verify from my vantage point. Everyone shouting except me. I calculated that just staying upright for three or four hours would sap all my strength and I was right, I collapsed when I got back home. No I didn't shout. The people about me seemed to enjoy the shouting which was enough, I decided to participate in vocalising vicariously. Rap, speeches from politicians (Greens). The day had it all. Actually the rapping was good, but again I didn't dance. Energy conservation yes that was it, gosh it's bo...

Connolly has an easy facility with the medium, the works on paper mainly. Some more ambitious than others (see below) the colour and line are competent and interesting if not inspiring. When I visited the gallery Connolly was on the phone so I had no chance to discuss the ideas with her. I felt like Connolly represents a distinct and important stage in Australian art, the primary consideration being one of gender. Other works had evidence of this and while the smaller works were nicely priced I didn't need to see more.  Humour can be important in art. In Connolly's case works that reached beyond the routine political tropes of popular debate successful.

The name of the show is 'Burgeon' a sort of synonim of "growing' or "expand", a more poetic solution to the problem of communication. The sculptures are really great, I went with mark a friend and we found we were talking a lot more as we were standing among these large objects than we had at the other shows we went to. Abstract yet with an anthropoomorphic cast. There is something direct yet subtle about the works. While we were standing there the gallerist put a little black sticker near one work. I asked Mark where you could put one of them in your house. Probably  you'd want a back yard, somewhere outside but secluded.

Getting recognition as an artist is a slog. You have a solo show or a group show, take down the works that are unsold, and put them away in storage or else hang them on walls at home. Pack  up your creations and go to ruminate, think possibly deeply, or else you just move on and make new work. Some time ago I decided to be a sustainable artist. It's only recently that the word came to me but I understand looking back that this was what I had in mind from the start. Of course this also has to do with lifestyle. Eating regular meals, seeing friends, keeping in touch with family. All of that, sure. But it's more about not piling up tons of work that never gets seen. Earlier this year I gave some works back to a colleague. We had had a show two years before and for some reason she left her work in my garage. In the end I contacted her as I want to free up space for my own things. Two years. She came by with a van and collected the paintings and drove off. Another way to use work, o...