Eastern Suburbs Art Group

I popped into this gallery two days ago to catch a talk with the artist. I think his works are very beautiful but they work better when more abstract. I think the one about Juukan Gorge doesn't quite come off as if you don't know the title it's hard to work out that it depicts a cave. In the talk Tomkins revealed how he'd come from building industry to art. I can see how his experience has informed his art practice, the works are very laboooour-intensive. Pardt of his process includes cutting film and he said that for one work this can take up to five days to complete.  Many of his works have a background layer of board covered in cement render. On top of this and spaced different distances away from it is a layer of Perspex with the architectural film plastered to it. He also sometimes uses ink and watercolour to achieve the affects he aims for. I met Mark and Bernadette at the show and we had a chat outside before they went off to Flinders Street Gallery to catch anot...

I picked up Mic and Virginia and drove out to Parramatta on Monday night for a reading. Danny Gardner introduced a new segment where the audience has to pick whether the reader is telling the truth or not and it went off well, everyone got involved. I also Met Paul out there he'd come on his own steam. One of the poets Devina Bedford (above) gave us a performance of her witty poems, many of which rhyme. It was her 'Current Affairs' routine with politics the main subject. Alan Joyce got a roasting. Also on the schedule was Bhol Kumar Dhamala (above) who recited poems and gave us a performance on his flute. Bhol got us all together for a group shot so he could take it back to his country and Devina jumped in to nab a selfie (see above). It was a great night but my enthusiasm was dampened when i discovered that the motorway was closed on the way back to town. After a missed turning we got back to the main road without mishap.

Last week I went to see the ‘Porqueno’ show in Redfern and caught some of the engaged works on display. I particularly liked ‘Unplug’ by Mateja Jager because her use of text mirrors my own work.  It’s nice to think of someone else working on the same page as oneself. I didn’t stay long as I knew no one there but what I saw of the show was encouraging.

I was up in Newtown today picking up coffee fresh-ground and once I’d paid headed back to the car parked on Wilson Street. Of course I dropped by Laerk Space to check out the two photographers who’re currently exhibiting there as part of Head On Photography. Fiona Ferguson’s works are closest to the door so I’ll talk about them first. You can see the bright colours (above pic) and you can buy unframed photos in limited series as well. I was told the artist uses Photoshop with original material in layers. Carol Muller (above pic) takes photos of things in the street and she said all the shots in the show are of the local inner city area like Chippendale. It’s clear that Muller sees abstract elements in real life. If you're in the area on Saturday you can go to the gallery for the opening at 11am.

On Saturday I jumped in the car in the afternoon and scooted up the street to Camperdown to catch ‘Tree Tales’ a group show at Chrissie Cotter Gallery, arriving just in time to see the exhibition. The works were of a high quality and all inspired by the single subject of trees. I focused for this post on Mark Elliot-Ranken’s ‘Navigators’ which he told me was inspired by the idea of lost knowledge following the Council of Nicea, all the Roman temples and other religious sites closed down in favour of the Church. I got this information standing in front of Mark’s work upstairs in the gallery, then walked back to the car and tootled off home in the traffic.

The third show on Thursday night with Christine and Yianni was Marie Mansfield’s. The reduced palette and sombre tones used in these paintings gives them a sort of fin-da-ciecle feel as though you were in a café in Paris in about 1902. End of century is appealing to me, I wrote my bachelor’s thesis on a novelist practicing in the 1890s in Trieste, a city doomed to reduction once the Austrians were shuffled out after WWI. So I can understand the appeal of the aesthetic of darkness. These paintings were shown in the back room at the gallery, what they call the "project space" and the small size of the works and muted colours suited an intense atmosphere as people crowded in to see the works.

We parked on Abercrombie Street and walked two minutes to Nanda/Hobbs, which was packed with spectators. I was still with Yianni and Christine at this point and we walked around the gallery then joined the crowds of people out on the pavement. When we were getting back in the car Christine mentioned that Zilinsky's work reminded her of a particular artist whose work had been popular in the 1970s. It wasn't until much later that Christine remembered that it was Keith Looby she'd been thinking of when she'd brought it up. I remembered Looby's name and was familiar with dthe particular type of Australian painting with a cortoonish purpose as well as cartoonish style. Australia being a very mediated community has a richness of talent when it comes to political cartoonists and Zelinsky's humorous paintings seem to fit into that mould. I quite liked the line but wasn't overly impressed by the colours.

I went to this opening with Christine and Yianni and got there early on the crowded train to Parramatta. Adams uses either geometric lines or surreal drawing to convey meaning and this was a retrospective going back to the nineties. The ones in the photo (there is a series of them, in different colours) was painted in 2003 and they reminded Christine and me of 70s posters. I was put in mind of a series of posters featuring brutalist buildings that I used to see (not that long ago) advertised on Twitter (before the name change) for sale. Some readers will know that I’m a big fan of brutalism in architecture. Adams also uses words in his work, notably a large painting done in the 90s. The mentioned painting (apologies the room sheets weren’t for taking away and I didn’t snap a photo) also uses geometric lines. We met the artist in the gallery, which is a not-for-profit. Yianni got a parking spot on Station Street so afterward we walked down the street to the car and went elsewhere for mo...

The show was sort of like greeting the future, I felt exhausted like I’d been travelling in a time machine but the feelings were all of hope and anticipation. I discovered how hard it is to get people to come into the gallery off the street. They walk along, glance at the poster in the window, scope out the interior … … and walk on regardless.  I might have to do something about the impact of the feature pieces. The ones visible from the window. Bigger, brighter, most splashy. Vibrant. Entrancing. I did sell one piece (thanks Paul) a 2022 paramontage titled ‘Birth’ that includes photos layered and a poem. The photos come specifically from the TV and from a show opening I went to in 2008 at a time when I was struggling with my mental health. I might be in another group show, just putting the word out there and hope that people are able to keep in touch so we can meet up again and chat. My sticker campaign for the ‘Media of mass psychology’ was successful in that one person (in a yel...

Thanks to Devina Bedford (right in photo below) for the photos, I was a bit busy doing hosting duties, and thanks to Virginia (also pictured, left) for making time to be at the opening. It was a nice turnout to have people come along to my show though there were some no-shows due to illness. We had some people who come to openings with Eastern Suburbs Art Group as well as other friends and even someone who learned about the show from Facebook. One person had come along to see the pictures in the morning and popped back in at 5pm to meet the rest of the stalwarts. Below is me talking with Paul Mathew (who kindly catered) about 'Trial by media' (watercolour and collage on paper). I had been in the gallery for two days by this point and Sunday was cloudy so I left early at just on 2.30pm. I don't mind sitting in the shop, as I noted last time I did this, it's quite restful to be quiet surrounded by one's own works of art. You have more time to reflect and assimilate id...

Busy day today hanging my first solo show at Laerk Space 163 Wilson St Newtown. I got there in the car at 11.30am and we laid out the pictures along the walls to start with. Once all the picture were in the right place I hung them on drops using the picture hanging system installed. Each hook has to be positioned in the ideal eye line and the spirit level used to get the pictures perfectly straight. Annie the gallerist did the planning and adjusted the works on their hooks to get the ideal setting. I went away in the early afternoon and returned later on with some wine for the opening on Thursday night as well as some posters with material for the show. First day in the gallery tomorrow from midday. If you’re around the area drop by for a chat.