june exhibitions launch

opening night in june

 

this last photo is a pretty terrible photo - the focus is just awful.

but it's such a lovely image - composition, negative space, atmosphere.

Grant and Michael look like perfect profiles for ancient coins.

 

(worst graphic design ever. i must reiterate that this is kent's doing!)

Meet Your Maker: Larry Parkinson

Larry Parkinson is a wonderful artist, a lovely chap and a stalwart of the Stockroom scene (if such a thing could be said after only 2 years!). His work has proven extremely popular here and it's easy to see why. It's got visual intensity; it crosses boundaries between print, painting, drawing and graphic design; and it tugs on elements of symbolic meaning that resonate with our contemporary lives. I recently had a chat with Larry to find out more about his current exhibition, Dressing up for the devil, and he generously divulged some of the ideas permeating the work ...

People were drawn to Larry's work at the opening, often spending a lot of time with each piece.

The rich layering reveals hidden secrets and spatial depth with extended viewing.

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Kent:

So, Larry, 'Dressing up for the devil' is the title of your show - which evokes both a playfulness and a risk. Dressing up implies preparation for fun, but the devil is dangerous. Can you give a bit of insight into why you chose this name?

Larry:
Well Kent, the playful aspect is a major element and it is a playful title. We all need to make sure our shoes have been polished and our hair is brushed (I will just wear a tie!) as we prepare ourselves for a willful destiny. It's more like a Breugel meets Johnny Cash album!

It is about you and an idea and the seduction of making and the moving from the personal to the publication - dressing up for the devil - and as you say, playfulness and risk.

Larry Parkinson, Imp (detail), 2012

The title also refers to the duality in the works, not exactly a good and evil morality battle but more a subtle physical line between two or more ideas, possibilities, existing in one work and the hierarchy of these. We do not make snap shots of our worlds but are always processing many layers of meaning.

So in this way the title is more poetic than literal.

Kent:
You utilise a lot of erasure and stripping back in your painting process. What's the motivation for that technique?

Larry:
This way of working serves my process in a couple of ways, one of which is about incubation and sometimes procrastination, having to prepare or find the boards and make layers of under-painting takes time, and I find this helps in the forming of ideas - I guess I am playing.

The influence of having made etchings and using a process of scraping to reveal the image or as a means of correction that exposes the history of the plate intrigues me, but I can just as easily be seduced by the different layers of paint when sanding my weatherboards before putting my contribution on top.  So it is this idea of covering and recovery that became the starting point for this technique. It's also hard to control the results, there is a certain physical resistance in the process, an unpredictability that I enjoy.

Of course this process produces a unique mark, that is quite different from the drawn or rendered and I really like how the two interact within an image. In this body of work the resulting mark has often been the element that sets the image, so I mean the colour or the shape reminded me of an object, a bit like a Rorschach thing.

Even though the process of erasing can be brutal to an extent, I'm not interested in making heroic statements or marks with power tools - but using it more of a reverse drawing technique. I like to interrupt the narrative of the image with this idea of erasing and stripping back until there is a new cohesion. It seems to be working at the moment - we'll see how this process evolves.

 Larry Parkinson, A mortal tale (detail), 2012

Kent:

Could you tell us a bit about how you go about choosing the particular subjects that appear in your work? They have a very symbolic, almost iconic, feel about them.

Larry:

The images or subjects in these works are very much like a catalyst and so in this way can create the thread through the works. This means rather than choosing a particular subject there is an evolution of an idea and concept. Thematically the work has been dealing with duality or a parallel possibility, the idea that one belief or activity could be masking another.

I suppose that I could choose to illustrate this in a more direct or concrete way but I feel the work should be seductive and act as a lure into the idea and become an ornament to this idea rather than just being didactic.

I have combined found images, some are a substitutes for the human form, like tools (sourced from hardware catalogues) that are designed to be used for extending the body like ladders, wheelbarrows, objects to be used in toiling, -  'idle hands makes the devil's work'. In this way they could be seen as symbolic - but played off with a decorative decoy of a halo of gold 'coins' does become almost iconic but slightly ironic too. 

- - - - -

Big thanks to Larry for taking the time to chat about his work. It's so nice to hear all the research, all the ideas and all the thought that goes into the creation of these beautiful artworks. It reminds me of that feeling you get with books on bookshelves, that locked inside each cover is a whole world of imagination. What better way to adorn your world than with the power-packed wonder of art!

Dressing up for the devil runs until 3 June.

may opening

a great night last night for our May openings, an excellent turnout and wonderful atmosphere. Debra supplied some nibbles to keep the burgeoning crowd refreshed, Beck kept the drinks flowing, and people met and mingled amongst a fine array of artworks.

 Pandarosa's Andii (left) and Ariel (looking handsome and ponderous)

contemplating the evocative landscapes of Debra Goldsmith

getting up close and personal with Debra's Ghost and Solace(Mourning Tree)

drawing a crowd to Larry Parkinson's work

it's the art that rewards time spent with it that is the art that lasts

 Larry's work has a lot of symbolic  imagery and it was great to see which works appealed to different people

 

more Larry

 Debra Goldsmith deservedly basking in the popularity of her paintings

 

chock-a-block in the galleries

inspecting Pandarosa's collages and paintings

 

it's always fascinating to see the detail of how art is made

some discussion about favourite works

   the milling crowd of art lovers

 pondering Pandarosa

 

catching up for a chat

a swirling flow of people

 

contemplating Larry

the shows run until 3 June and there's nothing like seeing the artwork in the flesh. each show by Debra, Larry and Pandarosa has been well crafted into a considered body of work, giving each gallery space its own particular character and feeling.
 

exhibition preview

could this be a whole new subgenre of video? trailers for art exhibitions.

this saturday our May shows kick off at 430pm with art by Debra Goldsmith, Larry Parkinson and Pandarosa. it's open to the public and we warmly invite you along.

open and close and open and close

There's a certain cyclical nature with art exhibitions. Shows go up, we have a big launch, they run for a month, there's another surge of rejuvenated interest as they near their end, and then off the walls and floor they come before everything gears up again and kapow! New art exhibition opening. It's like rapidly changing seasons.

This weekend is the last chance to catch a glimpse of Jason's and Martin's work, and the curated show I put together. And for some of the work, the last chance to get your hands on it for yourself. I know it's my job to advise on buying art, but I could quite happily give you plenty of good reasons to pick up any of the art in these shows. Every single one of the artists is just the sort of artist that (a) works really hard, (b) produces clever work that is also visually compelling, and (c) shows great potential to continue developing and producing high quality art in the future. While there's really only one good reason you should buy it - because you like it - these other reasons seal the deal. Plus you get to be a part of that wonderful tradition of supporting the arts.

Next weekend, the exhibition cycle resets and we kick off with a new set of terrific artists and artworks. Our openings are open invite and we would love to see you come along. The images here are of recent openings we've had, where there's much merriment, a chance to meet interesting people, or just look at the handsome and pretty ones, have a relaxing drink and even do some late night shopping. Thanks to an unnaturally high abundance of quality restaurants on Piper Street, you can start at the opening and then head off to dinner afterwards. Perfect really.

Rhythm and Pulse

Why hello there! This is Kent - gallery director - and occasional writer and reviewer in other contexts. I've put together a curated show this month at Stockroom and because I love to talk about good art I thought I'd jump into the blogosphere and let you know about this particular show.

 Liang Luscombe, After Proun Room I

It's called 'Rhythm and Pulse' and features Bryan Spier, Rhett D'Costa, Renee Cosgrave, Troy Christmass and Liang Luscombe - artists that work with abstraction and run the gamut from the internationally collected to young rising stars. The show is on in the Project Space which is a gallery that we like to use for exhibitions that test out new ideas, bring together artists new to showing with us, or for more program oriented events. The title of the show is a reflection of the artworks – repetitive, fractured, patterned and component forms. This sort of accumulated segmentation of colour and shape felt, to me, very much like an oscillating rhythm, not unlike musical notation or the wavelength pulses of a heartbeat. Hence the title.

Here's a little video I made, to give you a feel for the show:

Rhythm and Pulse

One of the joys of curating individual artists together as a group is the unexpected relationships that occur between the artworks. It’s almost like a group of characters set free in a space to make friends, form alliances and share their experiences. The character traits of each work begin to highlight the similarities and differences with their neighbours, drawing out new meaning and new possibilities.

Troy Christmass, Monotony (sold)

An aspect of interest for me in this show was the relationship between 2D and 3D image making. It was important for me to have a sculptural work in the show, so Liang's, and particularly Troy’s artwork are great inclusions. By having Troy's large piece in the space it has amplified the sculptural qualities of all the other works it sits with. Liang’s almost architectural shapes become even more heightened, the materiality and substance of her sculpture even more apparent. The offcut supports for Bryan’s wonderfully flat paintings seem more hefty, more solid even. The delicate and fluttering threads of Rhett’s drawing somehow drift further from the wall and make more obvious the process of moving his hand back and forth, piercing through the paper. Even Renee’s flat triangles on plywood – the found panels now somehow more a part of the full artwork and not just a support for the paint.

There’s many more examples of this sort of effect of connections - this is just one used as an example. Underlying the whole show though, I think, is a performative element to all of the works. The nature of the artworks reveal a subtle but powerful trace of the artist’s persistence, of their compulsive drive to make. Their repetitive nature is the major contributor to this feeling. There’s a palpable sense that each artist has devoted their time, their energy to the task of doing. And doing over and over and over again. All visible for us to see as an archive of their motion, movement and consideration.

The show is on until May 6, and I really hope you get a chance to come along and check it out. You can even acquire a piece for yourself - it's beautiful work and all the artists are worth the support. You'll be seeing a lot more of all them around the galleries and across the country over the next couple of years.

Meet Your Maker: Kim Percy

Kim Percy’s work occupies the large space of Gallery 1 with full effect. The strength of her show lies in its potency as a series of incredibly beautiful and poetic images, combined with a depth of meaning and underlying foundation in the exploration idea. You could look only at the majesty of her skies and oceans and feel an emotive and sensory impact on your body, or you could unpack the interpretation of a multitude of meaning. I probed some of these ideas with the artist directly.

____

KENT: Hi Kim. There are some very topical concerns that run through your current body of work, specifically ideas of human flight from injustice and danger. What I particularly like is that these concerns are subtly introduced in the work and not in any way overtly political or prescriptive. What drew you to focus specifically on the sublime imagery of the sky and ocean for this exhibition?

KIM: My work seeks an emotional response rather than an intellectual discussion. As a society, we are comfortable having an opinion about people arriving to our shores by boats. I wanted to remove the hype and rhetoric and take it back to a simple question: What would I do if I was placed in a situation where I had to flee persecution? Would I step on a boat? I read a story about a woman arriving by boat from Vietnam. She got onto the boat at night and when it was dawn she was in the middle of the ocean – no land in sight. This image struck a cord with me. The fear, anxiety, uncertainty of being surrounded by water with no end in sight conjured a powerful vision. I wanted to take viewers into a space where water and sky become a unknowable force and the horizon line is filled with hope, trepidation and possible danger. This exhibition is not a political statement, but rather an individual internal journey.  

KENT: There's definitely a sense of the sublime going on in the work - in that philosophical sense, where the power of nature impacts your emotions. That overwhelming sense of wonder at the majesty of nature, coupled with that sense of dread at its power and its all-consuming force. Another aspect to this body of work that has a nice impact is the way in which you have curated the pieces together around the gallery space. There are some red perspex rectangles interspersed with a selection of vertical and horizontal images, and it gives me a sense of musical notation running across the walls. How did you go about the process of forming the layout for this show?

KIM: My process is about vision. I generally have an overall vision of an exhibition – I see it in my mind's eye. It's almost like I have walked into the space with my eyes half closed - I can see the shape, form and colour of the whole show. As I work, the individual pieces become clearer. Simultaneously, I am working on the concept – researching, making notes, forming a story. Taking the images happens later. I look for the image, take a photo and then adapt them to fit into the story. Each image is heavily worked. I use my skills as a painter and printmaker to work into the image – drawing out elements hidden within the digital file. Once the images are ready, I then compile them together on virtual walls to create the rhythm and pace. I like the idea of the exhibition being associated with music. I have always seen them as stances in poetry but music works just as well.

KENT: That reworking of the images is where I was going to prod you next. It's clear the images are photographic, and yet they have other intangible qualities that make them almost vibrate between realism and abstraction. For example, there is a fantastic large work that has an almost green tinge to the clouds, and a mottled, translucent tone that reminds me of skin. Another work appears almost as if it's been changed into a negative. Are there particular processes you apply, in either the capture or printing of the images, or do you work intuitively with each image individually?

KIM: I work with each image individually. I see each image a bit like a drawing. I tease out tones, textures, soften, correct, desaturate, play with levels, curves, blending modes. I use a range of brushes, I invert, prod, blur. It is a bit like SaraLee, layer upon layer upon layer!!!  

KENT: There's a couple of other elements in this exhibition, aside from the 2D imagery - a large sculpture in the centre of the space and some texts on plinths. What's the correlation between object and image and text for you?

KIM: Stories have many parts, depths and elements. The story of asylum seekers is also intricate – it is not a single thread. By utilising the whole space I am able to indicate various aspects to this story. It becomes a fuller picture.  People also assimilate information in different ways. I am a visual person – some people prefer to read. Other people are tactile. The large central boat is heavy yet it seems to float in space. By playing with different mediums, I have created dialogue. Each element has its own power, together they draw relationships and create tension. I am pleased with the way that the installation has become a whole within the space. It feels complete.

____

Kim’s photographic prints are each in limited edition runs of 5. For the exhibition they have been mounted directly on to the wall, enhancing the sense of an expansive open space of ocean, but can be framed to take away for placement in the home or office. Kim will be donating 10% of her artist price from sales to the Asylum Resource Centre.

Meet Your Maker: Lucy James

What better way to kick off a brand new year of exhibitions than with an artist full of potential and energy, and in the middle of a flurry of prolific creation and presentation. Lucy has recently had her work shown in Sydney, Adelaide and Berlin, and this year has exhibitions booked at the Rooftop Gallery, Anna Pappas Gallery and two collaborative exhibitions at Craft Victoria. If I was a gallery director I’d say she was just about the perfect investment.

So, in my capacity as an actual gallery director (ha!) I fired some questions at her while she busily kept cutting up old books with her medical scalpels.

SR: We were just talking recently about the materials you use for your collages and I think it's very intriguing the way you collect them and where they come from. Could you explain how you go about sourcing your images?

LJ: I initially started using books for materials when I was in art school, and in an effort to save cash I stuck scrap paper into old books to use as sketchbooks. I kept finding amazing imagery that I couldn't bear to waste, so I salvaged them and started to use them in art works.

Now all of my images come from second hand/antique/recycled books and magazines, which is often quite a contentious issue - so many people believe that it is sacrilege to cut up books. My view is that a lot of these books have already been rejected by their owner, and are collecting dust on a bookshelf (or worse, in landfill). I guess I try to breathe new life into these forgotten images and texts. These books come from op shops, markets, antiquarians, friends, online. Often I have a specific book that I'm using for one work, and I'll need more than one copy of it in order to get enough imagery. (Some of those leaf collages require a LOT of leaves!) That's when I'll venture online. I'm pretty anal about the kind of paper stock I use, the printing technique, the period in which they were printed etc - a lot of those reasons are purely material based, however I'm also drawn to books that are imbued with a strong sense of history.

SR: The other element to your work that is quite significant is accumulation. Often you have masses of flowers, butterflies or leaves in your works. What's the driving force behind masses of objects for you?

LJ: Hmm that's a good question. Um. I think initially it was a subconscious thing, I've always been interested in collecting. I think what I find interesting about these 'masses' is that individually, each flower/leaf etc, is quite different, in colour and shape and so on, but then collectively, these pieces become uniform and start to function as a single entity. Once you get to a certain point of accumulation, the objects/images as a whole tend to gather their own force and energy, similarly to swarms of bees, or crowds at a rock concert, that kind of thing. Which I reckon is pretty cool. And quite weird really, seeing as making work of this nature is a really solitary venture.

I wonder what that says about me: woman sits at home by herself, cutting out hundreds upon hundreds of pictures of leaves to glue onto paper. I sound like a creepy chick from a horror movie, that sings to herself and also has the power of telekinesis. Unfortunately I do not have the power of telekinesis. But all that other stuff, yep.

SR: Well, that leads me to pose another question to you. Your work often has these hybrid creatures in it, and for this show there's a few people with plants for heads. Conceptually, I find there's a lot in that. Humans with their intellect supplanted by brainless, yet thriving flora. Supplanted. Nice. Anyway, people sometimes see a dark edge to your work, due to the cutting up of the bodies - splicing body parts. What are your thoughts on that, and what's the intention with the hybrids from your point of view?

LJ: Well I think you've said it really! There is a bit of darkness in the work, though I don't necessarily see it as cutting heads off in a beheading sense. In a way these plants are representing a headspace (quite literally). In would I rather be a sunflower, I was referencing the song 'Sunflower' by Tinpan Orange. That particular aspect of the song talks about being solitary and alone, as a sunflower, as opposed to being a daffodil (which is what the image actually is of), blooming 'as one'. I thought that was a really beautiful way to reference the utter confusion of the desire to be altogether and alone all at the same time. Like we discussed before, so many of these works reference a mass of beings, yet to put them together, takes days of being alone. I don't sit at my desk and cut up bodies in a vicious sense - they are only made of paper Kent, they can't feel it. I think it's more of a rearranging and interpreting of images. Maybe in a melancholic longing sense.

Awesome. You can see more of Lucy's work at www.lucyjames.com.au