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Art travellers: overseas or in your own city

artists, Melbourne tours, New York tours, spaces
14 May 2013

It’s that time of the year again (and it’s fortunately been like this since 2008): I am about to hop on a plane and head to the United States for walk to art New York.

So this is time to re-search artists, studios and art spaces, and read cultural online newsletters. Friends have emailed new places and must go bars… and I’m trying to catch up with the latest eateries and coffee shops. All of this needs to go into the little black book before I leave Melbourne!

If you are not joining our group this year (I hope you can make it in 2014), but would like to go overseas to enjoy art, how about Asia? If I were not going to NYC my destination would be the Hong Kong International Art Fair, between 23 and 26 May. This is the first edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong.

There will be a number of Australian galleries there and it is a fabulous way to engage in the international art scene – you can get an an overview of what’s happening around the world in just 3 days! Art fairs are interesting not only because significant galleries are invited to participate, but also local galleries tend to curate strong exhibits to attract the art lovers in town.

If you have no plans to travel, why not be a traveller in your own city? These are great shows to see in Melbourne:

Anna Finlayson – Shhh (The Hexagon Trip)
Sarah Scout Presents
Level 1, 1a Crossley Street, Melbourne (view location on Google Maps)
Thursday and Friday, 11am to 5pm; Saturday, 12pm to 5pm
Until 18 May

image from Rhys Lee's Still I'd Sea exhibition displayed at Utopian Slumps in Melbourne

Rhys Lee – Still I’d Sea (image above)
Utopian Slumps
Ground floor, 33 Guildford Lane, Melbourne (view location on Google Maps)
Wednesday to Saturday, 12pm to 6pm
Until 25 May

Ben Quilty – The Fiji Wedding
Tollarno Galleries
Level 4, 104 Exhibition Street, Melbourne (view location on Google Maps)
Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 5pm; Saturday, 1pm to 5pm
Until 1 June

All my passions put together: this is my job

Melbourne tours, New York tours, spaces
10 April 2013

People often ask me what I do. In simple terms, I have gathered all my loves and made it into a job!

Having graduated a while ago from the VCA, in Melbourne (view the details in the About us section), I put together all my skills and used them to mentor artists, facilitate the connection between business and the arts, and educate the public along the way.

Meet the Makers 2013 Most of my days are spent in my Collingwood studio, organising tours, speaking with artists and getting myself ready for the next big project.

Recently I curated the first edition of Meet the Makers. It was a weekend of inspiring, educational art events over Fitzroy and Collingwood, with the support of the City of Yarra. I am an ambassador for the council and was involved in their Discover Your Own Backyard campaign, with things to see and do in suburbs like Abbotsford, Carlton North, Clifton Hill, Collingwood, Fitzroy North and Richmond.

As an art consultant I work with many talented artists and assist people in purchasing art. They often don’t know where to look or start, so an art consultant can bridge that gap.

I am also the director of walk to art and, at the moment, I am getting ready for the next walk to art New York in May. It is very important that I travel, see and experience; both in Australia and overseas. In October I am heading to Italy’s La Biennale di Venezia for the second walk to art Venice. Recently, I visited the Brett Whiteley Studio in Surry Hills; definetely a place to visit if you are in Sydney.

And Melbourne is constantly changing, so I have to be out and about to discover new spaces and new exhibitions. I use a fabulous calendar, Art Openings – Melbourne, maintained by a friend of mine named Charles. It is an excellent resource tool (you could be at a different opening every night!), and some of the best listings are shared with my Twitter followers.

Not one day is the same and I am very fortunate to work in Melbourne and other great cities, get to know many talented artist and meet people who are so interested in learning about art.

White Night Melbourne: art from dusk to dawn

artists, spaces
20 February 2013

This Saturday, 23 February, from 7pm to 7am, White Night comes to Melbourne. White Night started in France in 2001 and has been to Brussels, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Toronto, Paris and Rome.

White Night Melbourne

What is White Night?

From dusk to dawn you will be able to enjoy more than 80 free events celebrating music, food, film, art and light, with more than 300 artists across 40 sites.

The event’s program can be collected around town and is also available on the White Night Melbourne website.

These are some of the sites where many visual and performing artists will be:

    • St Paul’s Cathedral
    • Forum Theatre
    • State Library of Victoria
    • Flinders Street Station
    • The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
    • Degraves Street
    • Flinders Lane.

Trams will run all night, and Melbourne’s CBD will be active with light projections, music and performances till 7am.

Enjoy!

2013: time to enjoy great events in the arts calendar

New York tours, spaces
15 January 2013

Melbourne’s art world is slowly coming back from the holidays, and there are great events in the 2013 calendar:

Local

  • The Midsumma festival takes over most of our art spaces in the first few weeks of the year, from 13 January to 3 February.

  • The Substation, Craft Victoria, Edmund Pearce Gallery and Chapter House Lane all reopen on Thursday 17 January.

    Your Old Self, at Tinning Street Gallery

  • On Friday 1 February Tinning Street Gallery, in Brunswick, reopens with a great drawing show titled Your Old Self (from 6pm to 9pm).

  • Also, the White Night Melbourne festival is coming! On Saturday 23 February, from 7pm to 7am, the state government will open up the city for a dusk-to-dawn festival of art, culture, film, fashion and sport. Melbourne will effectively become a 24-hour town.

International

See you around the galleries and in our tours!

November: busy time in Melbourne’s arts scene

artists, spaces
13 November 2012

November is a busy time of the year in the Melbourne arts scene:

  • graduate exhibitions
  • annual exhibitions
  • open days
  • the commercial galleries leaving the best to last.

Here are a few places to go, places to be seen and exhibitions worth viewing:

Wednesday 14 November 2012
Metro Gallery – E.L.K
Time: 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Where: 1214 High Street, Armadale (view location on Google Maps)
The exhibition will be on until 1 December 2012 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 5.30pm; Saturdays and Sundays, 11am to 5pm)


Friday 16 November 2012
Gertrude Contemporary – Gertrude Studios, 2012
Time: 6pm to 8pm
Where: 200 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy (view location on Google Maps)

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) – Art Bar (special evening of art and live music)
Time: 7pm to 11pm
Where: 111 Sturt Street, Southbank (view location on Google Maps)


Saturday 17 November 2012
Utopian Slumps – Nathan Gray
Time: 4pm to 6pm
Where: 33 Guilford Lane, Melbourne (view location on Google Maps)
The exhibition will be on until 8 December

Australian Tapestry Workshop – Open Day
Time: 10am to 5pm
Where: 262–266 Park Street, South Melbourne (view location on Google Maps)

 

Monday 19 November 2012
Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) 2012 Graduate Exhibition
Time: 6pm to 8pm
Where: 40 Dodds Street, Southbank (view location on Google Maps)

 

Thursday 22 November 2012
Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP) – Kodak Salon
Time: 6pm to 8pm
Where: 404 George Street, Fitzroy (view location on Google Maps)

 

Saturday 24 November 2012
Craft Victoria – Open Day
Time: 10am to 5pm
Where: 31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne (view location on Google Maps)

Gertrude Contemporary – Open Studios
Time: 1pm to 4pm
Where: 200 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy (view location on Google Maps)

 

Wednesday 28 November 2012
RMIT 2012 Master of Fine Art Exhibition (view flyer, PDF file, 1 page, 341KB)
Time: 5.30pm to 7.30pm
Where: Building 49, Gossard Project Space, Level C, 67 Franklin Street, Melbourne (view location on Google Maps)
The exhibition will be on until 5 December (Monday to Friday, 11am to 6pm; Saturday, 12pm to 5pm)

 

Friday 30 November 2012
Australian Print Workshop – Impressions 2012 Fundraiser
Time: 6pm to 8pm
Where: 210 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy (view location on Google Maps)

Melbourne’s festival season celebrates the best of art

artists
17 September 2012

Finally the spring sun is shining and it’s festival season in Melbourne.

 

Melbourne Fringe Festival 2012 – 26 September to 14 October

It all started in 1982, when the Melbourne Fringe Arts Network was formed, mainly consisting of performance artists supporting independent and experimental events.

Thirty years and some 50,000 artists later, the event focuses its 2012 edition on framing the city’s “independent arts culture in all its creative and vital glory.” This year the festival celebrates the past and anticipates the future of arts in Melbourne.

Free booklets can be obtained at various art shops, cafes and cultural outlets. Tickets can be purchased online at the Melbourne Fringe Festival website.

 

Melbourne Festival 2012 – between 11 and 27 October

Melbourne Festival 2012

The Melbourne Festival is 17-day marathon of dance, opera, theatre, film, visual art, music, forums and outdoor events.

The artists and performers are hand chosen by Artistic Director, Brett Sheehy, from Australia and around the world.Tickets are available at the Melbourne Festival website and participating venues.

 

Artery – Did you know about Artery?

Artery is the Australian Council’s online source of news and information about artists, events, projects and trends that shape the Australian arts landscape.

Commercial galleries, warehouse space and hotel installation: that’s art in Melbourne

artists, spaces
15 August 2012

Melbourne Art Fair for 2012 has come and gone, and it was a little quieter than its 2010 edition. However, still very successful with $8 million in sales and 27,000 visitors. For the invited commercial galleries, it is a significant investment, not only in time but also dollars.

An event like this can be overwhelming and cause some visual overload. Personally, I prefer exhibitions that are on at the same time as the fair, are free and available to everyone. Not Fair Art Fair Primal Mutation, launching undiscovered and emerging artists curated by Melissa Amore, Ashley Crawford and Sam Leach, was entertaining and a fabulous use of 1000 Pound Bend’s warehouse back space. I loved the laneway entry and it was exciting to see such a quirky artistic space in the CBD.

One of my favourite exhibitions was at Sofitel Melbourne on Collins (25 Collins Street, Melbourne;  view location on Google Maps). Gosia Wlodarczak was the sixth artist welcomed by the hotel’s annual Artist in Residence program.

She has previously exhibited at the Singapore Biennale, the Drawing Centre in New York and at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane (view image). Over July, Gosia produced a drawing installation on the hotel’s lobby windows. Guests were able to watch the artist draw and people were invited to observe her performance.

image from Gosia Wlodarczak's Frost Drawing series exhibited at GOMA

I first came across Gosia at a performance at Fehily Contemporary in Collingwood. Gosia’s drawings are spontaneous and flow freely. The work tells a story, it is an observation of the immediate surroundings.

Unfortunately the window installation is not up anymore, but her exhibition is on at Sofi’s Lounge until 8 October 2012.

Melbourne in winter: let’s get outdoors and enjoy art

Melbourne tours, spaces
22 June 2012

On my walk to art tours I am constantly feeding everyone information on how to find wonderful places in Melbourne, encouraging them to try something new and explore a different area or space.

Yes, it’s been cold and winter has hit Melbourne, but now it’s time to put your woolly gloves and hats on, grab a copy of Hot Spots and get outdoors!

Hot Spots 2012 is out on the streets and available for free at art shops, cafes, cultural hangouts and at the Melbourne Visitor Centre (MVC) in Federation Square. If you prefer to use your computer or smart phone, visit the City of Melbourne website.

Described as “your discerning guide to the very best of a new Melbourne you may not know about”, Hot Spots is divided into 5 areas:

  • Central
  • Southside
  • Northside
  • Docklands and surrounds
  • Cultural.

Hot Spots has pinpointed each venue with a number on a corresponding map. These maps are a guide only – use your smart phone or pick up a city map from MVC. My suggestion: try something new from Hot Spots each week!

Also visit Northern Exposure Visual Arts Festival until 1 July 2012. Installation, projection, performance and small works in small spaces, all located on High Street in Northcote (view location on Google Maps).

Northern Exposure Visual Arts Festival

Now in its eighth year, the event promises to deliver a “uniquely Northcote experience” (download the official brochure, PDF file, 1MB).

Have fun this winter in Melbourne!

Should we be upset that a Banksy artwork was destroyed?

artists, Melbourne tours
18 May 2012

Should we be upset that Banksy’s Parachuting Rat was destroyed earlier this week in Prahran?

Many street artists have their worked sprayed over all the time, and there is no public outcry or editorial in the newspapers. Street art has no timeline: it could be up for 5 mins, 5 days or 5 years. To remain untouched, untagged is up to the universe.

It’s fabulous that Bansky shared his work and love in Melbourne. We are fortunate to have enjoyed the work of this British artist for some years now.

The trade person who drilled into that wall in Prahran probably had no idea or understanding that Bansky is famous and expensive. It is a story in itself. It adds to the history of the wall and the history of what was.

Are we sad that the Bansky was destroyed because it’s worth x amount of dollars or are we sad because we lost another Bansky of our walls? Parachuting Rat was the third Banksy destroyed in 2 years – vandals damaged one in Fitzroy in 2011 and council workers painted over another one in Melbourne CBD the year before.

This is an interesting debate and, regardless of your opinion, watch Exit Through The Gift Shop: A Banksy Film. It is a must-see documentary.

The (complex) business side of being an artist

artists
26 April 2012

I have met many artists in need of an “agent” – someone to liase between a gallery and the artist, or an opportunity and the artist. As we know, artists are not that interested in the business side of being an artist.

I can understand this. Business is a full-time job. It is difficult to make the work and then negotiate the sale of the work.

However, how do you be an agent and earn an income? This is a tricky question, as artists generally do not have extra cash to pay for a right hand person. It’s not only about selling works and receiving a commission. It is about listening, offering advice and giving solutions to the artist, understanding situations and being their voice when the artist is too afraid to speak up.

I have talked to many artists who are with great galleries; however, they do not sell any work. They sold previously to being represented and now are in a situation that seems to be similar to a bad relationship, one that is tired and boring.

I do not normally air my thoughts. However, this month has been about support, care, advice to artists and numerous coffees with them.