Eastern Suburbs Art Group

These delightful colour paintings are so lovely and diverse. They suggest a landscape (they're done plein air I think I remember) but they are much more than that. I went to this show with Virginia. Some of the paintings (like the ones shown in the photo above) are small but others were quite large. Personally I think these work best in the smaller format. As studies in the effects that colour have the paintings are suggestive. The eye draws conclusions as it roams over the rough surface of the canvas. the roughness is an aspect of the impasto paint. There is a lot in these  works to consider and Mulholland's show expressed to me once again what a great range of artists we have in Sydney.

It was a good program. I arrived early and met Virginia a bit later. Juno Gemes was there to launch her new book of photographs (see below). Also present was Linda Burney. I reserved two copies of the book. There were two musical acts including Ceffie (see below) who is 17 and has a great voice. Very nice songs. A panel with two Anglo figures including Malcolm Knox and some guy from Newcastle University. These two were overshadowed by Koraly Demitriades who unlike the men has original ideas.

This was actually two trips. One day I went down with my friend Basia. Some of the works were better than others. I liked these shell Harbour bridges by Marilyn Russell. There was also a room full of works by Julie Mehretu and Jessica Rankin (see below). Some of these works were collages using words, so obviously I liked them immediately because my own work often involves such elements. I went back another day to figure out the name Julie Rrap, whose works are in different rooms. I found out later from Virginia that Rrap is the sister of Mike Parr. Rrap's works are of two types. in one room there is a movie and a charcoal drawing of a body outline. The body is the body being shown in the movie. In a different room are a series of panels showing Rrap's body. I liked these panels less than the movie. The movie is interesting because of the nature of the femal body with its soft lines and occlusions.

I went with friends Ming and Omer, as well as basia. We looked around the enormous collecion of works. I had certainly never seen so many Magritte works in one place at the same time. The show includes things such as the artist's early attempts at Cubism (see below). Obviously this is nothing like what we normally associate with the name magritte. It is awkward and derivative. Basia told me Margritte changed when he saw works by Giorgio de Chiricho. Now that's more like it. I had a great time. The show is immense and important. 

Remember taking this photo of one of the feature poets. As usual a pleasant evening, though it seems like a lifetime ago. How is it that the days are so full I have trouble remembering what happened a week ago. The theme for November was "love" and I read out a sonnet written origianlly in 2013. Funny how I remember that time more vividly than I do last week. The year 2013 I lived still in  Qld a prisoner of circumstance. Cyclone Oswald made its way down the coast from The Gulf of Carpentaria to the Hunter River in New South Wales. Horizontal rain. Days of rain. Anyway the day I wrote the poem it was Australia Day. I did some edits later on but most of the poem was written on that day in 2013. Not a lifetime ago. A different life. Leaving Queensland does that to you haha. It must've been 2008 that dad took me into his bedroom in the flat and showed me a map of the state on the back of the door. That conversation stands out because it was proobably one of the only times in...

For a change I went to this show with Omer and Ming, friends of long standing. I hadn't been to this gallery for a while. Fairbairn has a sort of Francis Bacon vibe but he also reminded me of Kevin Connor (represented by Liverpool St Gallery). I'd seen Connor some time before in the context of perhaps buying a work.  I heard froma  man in a green jacket I met at the show that Fairbairn was originally English and migrated to Australia. I don't know if this is true.  I quite like his work. I didn't in the end buy any of the Connor drawings. The aesthetic is sort of 90s street grunge, and I kinda appreciate what these artists are trying to do but it's not where my heart tlies.

This show has finished but the prints Stein makes are memorable. I bought one and sent to Japan to family, where it has arrived. Stein is a superior craftswoman, as can easily be seen in this portraidt of the last buttonholer in Sydney. Stein's subject matter is intriguing, I didn't really find an easily rcognisable pattern and this diffuse quality is emblematic for me of the show as a whole. The picture I got is below, it's got a window with a view and a fruit bowl. Stein will be at a pop-up space this Friday if anyone would like to see her works first-hand. Stein also provides cheaper access to images in the form of gift cards.

Went with Yianni after the NAS grad Show. I knew a few of the other visitors to see Edmond Thommen's wonderful photomontages. The poses are discreet and rather polite. I didn't see any frowns and a lot of the visitors were women. Had a great chat with Mark Elliot-Ranken, useful information as it always is. But also met Deb Nankervis back from overseas. The night was expectant and there were a few drops of rain.

 With Yianni after NAS I went to Surry Hills.  Srivilasa's little (and not so little, some almost 1m high) mundane deities make quite a sight ranked along a table in the middle of the room. Above: 'Motiva, the Inspirer of Action'. We just found a parking spot as a car pulled out but the ticket machine closest to the car didn't work so Yianni went across the street to another machine. Srivilasa was at the opening, a kind and gregarious man. A little pat when he went off to talk to other people. I mentioned I had bought a painting from his Brisbane gallerist.

An amazing collection of works, mostly by people from the shrinking minority, the Anglo Celtic stream of Australian society. But nevertheless very good, for example Jocelyn Hedley (see below). This work just inside door of main gallery, stunning colours. And Beatrice Weldner (see below). Sort of like the endpapers of old 19th C books. But somehow a bit left-of-centre and creepy. I really liked the colours of these too. Upstairs Chrystie Longworth (see below) whose ceramic art also uses great colours but of course muted because unglazed. I really liked the sort of jigsaw appeal of the wall piece included in the show. Great use of text too. Bibi Soleimani (below) had some wonderful pictures. These are really striking and look a bit like First Nations rock art figures. Nikki Morgan-Smith was a real standout for me (see below). I was literally mesmerised by the skill, intelligence and humour of these wonderful works. In the one below you get a sort of Cy Twombly vibe with the panel on the ...

That heading shouls also say more photos of the pilot performance. But the time is here for all good art patrons to do their best. The Bondi Pavilion ticketing site for Sketch On Stage is now live go here to book . Here the actors (see below) rehearsing for the pilot show. And below two shots of the actors (first shot) in the drama for the pilot show. Then (below) a shot of the audience sketching. Unfortunately the audience had only coloured markers, but for Bondi Pavilion show we'll definitely have pencils and/or charcoal too. We have a new press release coming down the production line to so will be making that public soon. The marker issue was because of time constraints. It seems pretty obvious that you'd want to have pencils for  sketching. But there you go. We got one thing wrong. Outstanding performances by the cast, and the crew supporting them made for a productive evening.

Now that the pilot show went off without a crisis we're focusing our attention on the Christmas Special at Bondi Pavilion on 21 November. We discussed these things in  a marketing meeting today in Sydney via Zoom.  Some more photos from the Redfern show on Sunday. First, two photos of performers. Below two photos of audience members sketching. Here they are. Next show is later this month, as mentioned. The show later this month will be in Bondi. Deciding how to leverage our advantages to make the most of the opportunities presented to us. The Bondi show is possible with the cooperation of the Bondi Pavilion. We will be adopting a tagline to use in future materials, "Draw your Way to Wellness". Sketch On Stage is an immersive art class but we know from studies that art is good for you. What I mean is that making art increases your wellness. I expect tickets to the Bondi show will be on sale tomorrow, probably in the afternoon.

On the night (Sunday past) I had to go home to eat having brought the photographer from his home, but by all accounts the perofmrnace went well. After it was over I was outside when the guests left the theatre. They looked like they were out for a nice evening. We'll be having a follow-up meeting this Friday to discuss the event and to plan for the future. The forst photo above shows the actors on stage. The second photo shows the audience members sketching. 

A very Sydney difference, the variety encompassing WestWords at Parramatta and Petersham Bowlo. To get to the former a quick trip under the inner suburbs, then emerging in the air around Homebush. To get to the latter a struggle in heavy inner city traffic. They are at different distances from the centre but it takes about the same amount of time to get to both by car. The difference is the massive Westconnex tunnel system, a huge spider of motorway under expensive real estate.  I read two poems at WestWords last night, poems I had been planning to read at Petersham Bowlo the week prior. What stopped me the first time was the stuffy interior of the pub basement. WestWords is a dedicated spacious building just for poetry. An interesting night with some works better than others, the earlier ones better the later ones not so much. There was also classical music (Bach recorder). I didn't check how much the trip cost on the motorway app. Why would I and spoil a nice evening.

Some weeks ago I went down to this gallery to see the spring show. I don't remember exactly when but I think it was two weekends ago. For some reason a different Kate with the same glasses as the usual Kate was in the back room doing something. Show comprised works by recent National Art School graduates. I liked the paintings by Janine Matthews. I seem to recall that all of her works were sold. I might be wrong.

Hot baths are a fact of life in Japan and public baths are commonplace. "Sento" means bathhouse but in Italian it means "I feel" so there is a hybrid signification in the show's name. All of the paintings in the show depict bathhouses. I bought one. I had been to a show of Harnett's work before and at that time the works were small and sort of flat-surfaced. In xthe new show the paintings are bigger and more expansive. I went to the show with Virginia and it was cool outside the front door of the gallery, where we talked with other people. 

Natasha had a pair of paintings in this show so this afternoon I went.  It's a pleasant campus. Inside there were two hallways of works by people living with mental illness. I bought one painting, not the one in the picture below, by Neville Dawson. I didn't capture the name of the painting below, which is also good. I had a scone with jam, presumably to commemorate the king's visit, which wrapped up today. There was a talk, or rather a scripted oration type of thing. The person who did the oration was inspiring.

We have been at the booth for three days. My first time at this event, which is held annually in Darling Harbour. Coffee at the internal facilities is not bad but you can also walk along toward Chinatown for a fuller menu. The event attracts a wide range of different providers, some with products others with services. Everything from mystics to chai tea, skin conditioner to water purifiers. And Sketch On Stage. Come along to see the show, it's free. My last day tomorrow. I have been there every day. Not necessarily for a full day each time, but it's been a tiring week. 

I ventured down to Surry Hills a week or so ago to catch the sort of retro street-poeterish works of Wendy Murray. I wasn't disappointed.  I didn't especially like the ones shown above but the technique has promise. Murray also makes works that are more figurative than advertorial. But again I asn't going to actually buy one of these. The ones that really caught my attention (see below) were more innovative in their admisture of words and imagery. There promises to be something good on at 50 Buckingham street next week.

These sparkly items on the walls were thin in signification, I really couldn't work out if it was a joke or if it was serious. Maybe I'm being overly censorious. Maybe it's me who is the problem. Me and my partners in art get to a lot of galleries over the course of a month but does that mean I'm topical? Should the word be some other. In a way it's a luxury to be out of date. You don't have to prove yourself anymore. Or maybe you have to prove yourself in more than one way. I hardly know it's after 4am and I have been talking with people in Europe and the US so yes, that should make me very much out of date. I think some of the people were in yeseterday.

After R Morecroft's attempts at depicting the natural world, the paintings at Arthouse Gallery were a relief. Though Morecroft's works have a slim allegiance to nature, Moss' works are highly funcitonal as renditions of a kind of admiration for what can be found in Australia. At the time I saw the paintings I was more concerned with the people in the room -- perhaps gallery openings are not really my "thing", though most people have no problems -- but looking at the reproductions now I think about whether they are particular to a place. Specificity is a quality of any work of art because it has an effect on memory. Ok, so here I am at the outset saying that I liked Moss' works more than R Morecroft's. But so what? It might be necessary for me to revisit the gallery at a different time, when there are fewer people present.

When I got to the gallery a friend had already left. Michael and I had a look at the canvases. Well, I had a look and Michael went off to get a glass of wine and talk to people.  A subdued sort of 70s palette, vaguely abstract-but-organic shapes. Some sort-of animals. I quite liked the works but I'm not sure I would invite one into  my house. Since Morecroft was a TV host there were lots of television types, so I did some celebrity spotting while staning in the room. I talked with a gallery crawl regular, Keith.