Dorothy Berry: Bird on a Wire

Dorothy Berry
He’s In Prison 2000
pastel 500 x 340 mm

Dorothy Berry
Not titled 1991
acrylic 1010 x 700 mm

Dorothy Berry
Sister Theresa from St Joseph 1993
acrylic & pastel 995 x 700 mm

Editor’s note: I featured one of Dorothy Berry’s works last week. But I really like her style and humour, so I’ve appropriated some more of her work from the Arts Project Australia newsletter. I am sure she will gain lots of attention, but hope this helps! GG

Arts Project Australia presents a major retrospective of ‘famous artist’ Dorothy Berry’s work that traverses a set of personal themes and fascinations as diverse as people, animals, religion and royalty. The exhibition was opened to a crowd of over 100 guests by the Hon. Bill Shorten MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services.

‘The flights of fancy, of real and imagined worlds which are so beautifully expressed in Berry’s work also suggests the transcendent potential of art, to marry the corporeal state with the freedom of the spirit.’ Founding Director, Dr. Cheryl Daye

Guest curator Maxine Ryder, an Australian artist now living in Munich, who worked with Berry over ten years, has captured all the major themes of Berry’s work.

‘Dorothy has always had a really strong sense of herself as an artist. She will quite boldly introduce herself to people as ‘Dorothy Berry, the Famous Artist’. So she does have that strong sense of identity and she sees herself very much as a painter. ‘ Curator Maxine Ryder

Berry has worked at the Arts Project Australia studio for over twenty years, during which time she has developed a style of work that is at once highly original, quirky, sensitive, poignant and humorous.

The exhibition, which runs six weeks, is accompanied by a full colour catalogue featuring an interview with the curator conducted by artist Sandra Bridie, along with a series of special edition artist cards produced to coincide with Dorothy Berry: Bird on a Wire.

Exhibition Dates:
Runs until – Saturday June 6, 2009.

Location:
Arts Project Australia Gallery
24 High Street
Northcote Victoria 3070 Australia

Gallery Hours:
Monday – Friday 9am-5pm, Saturday 10am-1pm
FREE and open to the public

FamousWhenDead exhibitions in May

All in All is an exhibition aimed to bring together local artists and local residents alike. It presents artists from a variety of different ages and backgrounds living and working in 3003 and 3051. Expect a range of different mediums including painting, sculpture, photography and jewellery. Featured are works by Ted May, Eric Henshall, Catherine Mather, Theo Robinson, Bengamin, Noriko Nakamura, Sophie Black, Lehmann Smith, Sonja Hornung, Natalie Jeffcott, Mirian Mooney and Julie Parker.
Exhibition runs from 1 – 17 May.

What to do with the good old vinyl record when music comes from discs and pods these days? Throw some art on it and spin that thing! This exhibition will present unique works on 12inch records, and if you are luck you might be still able to  play the B-side. Collector’s feast…
Artists include: Ali J, El Moocho, ApeSeven, Kirsty Furnes (FR), Shayna Yasuhara (USA), Martin Whatson (NOR), Caitlin Rigby, Yuki Nakano, Adi, Fray, Hermlife (USA), Megan Dell, Simon Milligan (NL), A1one (IRAN), Laura McKellar, Maria Slovakova (UK), Papermonster (USA). More to be announced.
Exhibition runs 21 – 31 May.

FamousWhenDead Gallery | 207 Victoria St | West Melbourne VIC 3003 | melway ref 2B A11 | Australia

http://www.famouswhendead.com.au/

Dorothy Berry retrospective – Tweet for real

Fancy Red Bird

Arts Project Australia surveys 20 years of work by artist Dorothy Berry.

Bird on a Wire – the exhibition runs from to Saturday 6th June, with an artist talk on Saturday 2nd May (2009) from 11-11.30am.

http://www.artsproject.org.au/

24 High Street
Northcote  Victoria  3070
Telephone: 03 9482 4484
Fax: 03 9482 1852
Email: info@artsproject.org.au

Official launch of 9 Lives at Cunningham Dax

The Cunningham Dax Collection consists of over 12,000 creative works on paper, paintings, ceramics and textiles, created by people who have experienced mental illness or psychological trauma. The Collection is dedicated to the conservation and ethical exhibition of these works, and the use of art in public mental health education.

Much more than an art gallery, the centre provides a multidimensional experience in the growing field of art in mental health. Increasingly diverse audiences reflect the broader community’s interest in creativity and the mind.

9 Lives is an exhibition of selected works from the Cunningham Dax Collection exploring the experiences of nine individuals through their creative works. From works made in hospitals in the early 1960s through to works created more recently in private studios and community settings, by both untrained and professional artists, 9 Lives brings together a rich variety of lived experience and creative expression.

6pm, Thursday 30 April 2009
The Cunningham Dax Collection
35 Poplar Road, Parkville, 3052
Melbourne

To be opened by Mr John Lesser, President, The Mental Health Review Board

RSVP for 9 Lives by Monday 27 April: info@daxcollection.org.au or telephone 61 + (03) 9342 2394

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PUBLIC PROGRAMS

6pm Thursday 28 May
Launch of a new documentary film Collected Thoughts 3: Richard McLean
Presented by Richard McLean and Dr Eugen Koh, Curator and Director of the Cunningham Dax Collection.

6pm Thursday 25 June
Intersubjectivity: gaze interrupted
Presented by Frances Salo, Psychoanalyst.

6pm Thursday 23 July
Framing the Self: contributions of psychodynamics and neuroscience in understanding subjectivity
Presented by Dr Edwin Harari, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, St Vincents Hospital.

6pm Thursday 20 August
Artist-in-conversation, with artist Joan Rodriquez.

6pm Thursday 17 September
The Subjective Imagination: an art historians perspective
Presented by Dr. Alison Inglis, Head of Cultural Management, University of Melbourne.

http://www.daxcollection.org.au/exhibitions.html

Beck Wheeler’s Open Studio

One of my favourite Melbourne artists Beck Wheeler is jetting off to New Zealand. But here’s an opportunity to grab some of Beck’s work, which includes, toys, paintings, mixed media and anything very unique and inventive. Sunday, April 26th, 2009.

Address: 79a Queens Pde, Fitzroy, Melbourne 
2pm till 7pm 

A message from Beck:

“I am having an Open Studio and would love you to come. As some of you may know I am about to pack up my studio and head to NewZealand to complete a Masters of Illustration. Though I will be back and forth from Melbourne for work, I am currently cleaning up my studio and trying my hand at downsizing. 

I am opening up my studio on Sunday the 26th April. I will be previewing a new series of work. Also I will be selling large scale toys, prints, drawings, textiles and other artworks starting from $20″. 

+ 79a Queens Pde (Fitzroy) is a big blue and yellow building near Alexandra Pde. There is a mechanics downstairs. please note that Queens Pde has two 79a’s. One in Fitzroy and one in Clifton Hill. If you are close to Alexandra Pde you are at the right one.  Plenty of parking out the front.

beck@beckwheeler.net  

www.beckwheeler.net

Trick of the Light at Mop – Sydney

Trick of the Light is an examination of new video and projection work from Vienna, Austria. These artists work with video and projection as one part of larger practices that examine formal, sculptural, spatial, conceptual and material concerns using various media including drawing, sculpture, installation and painting. All of the artists have a strong sculptural component to their practices and Trick of the Light examines how light, moving image and projection are used within a broader sculptural practice.
 
Artists in the exhibition are Benjamin Hirte, Alex Lawler, Sonia Leimer, Tove Storch, Nadim Vardag. Curated by Marita Fraser
 
8 April – 26 April
Gallery 2, MOP Gallery
2/39 Abercrombie St, Chippendale, Sydney
For more info, go to http://www.mop.org.au/upcoming.html

Queen Victoria Women’s Centre features Russian artists

The Russian Women Artists Association
Queen Victoria Women’s Centre
30 Jan – 20 Feb, 2009
8.30am – 5.30pm, Monday to Friday

On the 20th anniversary of the Melbourne-St Petersburg sister city celebrations, the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre (QVWC) is proud to be  hosting its newest exhibition featuring the work of 8 talented women from The Russian Women Artists Association.  This free exhibition will be open to the public from January 30 to February 20 in the QVWC Women’s Gallery, 210 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.

Elena Ilyin, President of the Russian Ethnic Representative Council of Victoria, has been blown away by the amazing pool of talent she has discovered amongst our Australian-Russian women. “Russian women are so talented” says Elena. “These Russian-Australian women are so beautiful, strong and talented – it is a pleasure to bring them together to celebrate their shared cultural heritage”.

The Russian Ethnic Representative Council of Victoria was originally created 25 years ago to promote the Russian name and culture. Today the Council focuses more on community development and has set up the Women’s Artists Association to link Russian-Australian women from all backgrounds through their creativity, culture and shared love of art.

The focus on supporting women links The Russian Women Artists Association and the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre at a fundamental level. The QVWC is one of Melbourne’s major hubs for women and proudly supports diverse and talented women through their exhibition space. The exhibition of the Russian Women Artists Association will be open to the public from 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday until February 20. All are welcome to come along and experience the talent of these amazing female Australian-Russian artists.

For more information about QVWC exhibitions call: 1300 550 692
Media enquiries: Jett Barker Communications and Marketing QVWC – 03 8668 8105

Hao Guo Exhibit – Melbourne

Hao Guo is an artist from Beijing, China. He completed an Applied Design course at RMIT before going on to complete a Bachelor of Fine Art (painting) with first class Honours at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2006. Hao is now undertaking his research Masters in Fine Art at the VCA.

Hao has worked on many collaborative projects including: Increase Your Uncertainty with A Constructed World (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, 2007), got no puppamumma with James Deutsher (Singapore, 2006), Hao Guo, a magazine edited by Olivia Barrett (2006), and the group show Objects
in Space (a KickStart project presented as part of the 2008 Next Wave Festival). Hao created a project with James Deutsher during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and whilst in Beijing held a simultaneous project with Thea Rechner in Melbourne at Seventh Gallery. In 2009 Hao will return to China.

30 January – 14 February
Free Artist Floor Talk: 12 February, 12.30 – 1.30pm
Galleries 1 + 2 + 3

West Space, 1st Floor, 15-19 Anthony Street, Melbourne
Wednesday to Friday 12-6pm, Saturday 12-5pm

For further information, contact (03) 9328 8712, or info@westspace.org.au
www.westspace.org.au

Will the accused please stand up! Art History and Crime

FRANKFURT – The history of art and detective stories have something in common. In particular the fact that it can sometimes take centuries to find the «guilty one»… Take the master of Flémalle, a great Flemish artist from the beginning of the XVth century, who espoused the revolution of oil painting and naturalistic precision. A genius. Yet, five hundred years after his death we still do not know whether he really existed. Some like to believe it was Robert Campin, who had his workshop in Arras. The curators of the exhibition in Frankfurt refute this theory. They believe Flémalle is a hybrid creature hiding alternatively behind Campin, for the more archaic compositions, or his brilliant disciples – Jacques Daret and the young Roger van der Weyden – for the more audacious works. The heterogeneous style of the Master of Flémalle is enhanced through some twenty works, of which some (such as the Mérode triptych from the Metropolitan Museum in New York) are much closer to what van der Weyden would do later. A series of autographic wo rks by the latter allow us to be convinced of this.

The Master of Flémalle and Roger van der Weyden at the Städel Museum, until 22 February 2009. The exhibition will be presented at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin as of 20 March 2009, without the Mérode triptych nor the Annunciation from Brussels.

http://www.staedelmuseum.de/sm/index.php?StoryID=1&websiteLang=en

A passage to India – Exhibition

VALENCIA (Spain) – Over 500 works by some one hundred artists, and spanning two centuries: the retrospective the IVAM dedicates to Indian modern and contemporary art aims at being a reference. Of course it presents the most discussed creators of our day, such as Subodh Gupta, but it also flashes back on a wide past. The aim is to measure colonial heritage, the influence the European and American movements of the sixties, fascinated by Indian spirituality, had locally or the effects of censorship during the state of emergency (1975-77). We will admire side by side, anonymous chromos from Bengale, nude selfportraits of Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-41), a woman whose career was too short, photographs by Raghubir Singh, watercolors by Rabindranath Tagore or paintings by Francis Newton Souza (1924-2002). The Western eye is that of Cartier-Bresson or of the Land Art practiced by Richard Long in the Himalaya.

India moderna at the IVAM until 15 February 2009
Know more … http://www.indiamoderna.es/