Banksy in Bristol

Graffiti artist Banksy’s biggest exhibition has been unveiled by Bristol City Museum, featuring more than 100 of works which were installed in the council-run museum amid great secrecy this week. The show – which was kept secret from council bosses – includes new works including a burned-out ice cream van. Banksy was previously sought for vandalism by the police and council in his home city. He said: ‘This is the first show I’ve ever done where taxpayers’ money is being used to hang my pictures up rather than scrape them off.’

More from The Guardian

Also check out the hangup pictures competition as they are giving away a Banksy!

Salt and the Dress an Installation by Lesley Dickman

Lesley Dickman’s new installation, Salt And The Dress, arrives at Guildford Lane Gallery this June. The artist, who cites the landscape as the starting point for her work, has travelled the Australian outback and crossed America’s Mohave dessert, sketching, painting and photographing the interesting shapes found in the eroded rock
formations.

Having grown up with a dressmaking mother, Lesley’s work also focuses on the theme of the dress. Living in a house used as a dressmaking factory meant there was very little separation between that creative process and our day-to-day living, she says. Like fabric it was woven into many aspects of my childhood memories.

Currently working with the landscape around Geelong and the You Yangs in Victoria, the artist says she has discovered the salt pond as a rich resource for the next series of paintings: I find it interesting that salt is corrosive yet a healer of wounds. It has proved to be very destructive in the environment and yet it has many useful properties that we encounter on a daily basis. I work in layers of paint that, like salt, can dissolve
and merge then reappear.

Exhibition: 17 June – 5 July
Opening: 6pm Thurs 18 June

20 – 24 Guildford Lane, Melbourne
http://www.guildfordlanegallery.org/

Melbourne Ink: a documentary – Thursday May 7th Docklands

Street art isn’t for anyone, it is for everyone.

A documentary on the underworld of Melbourne’s street art screening @ OPEN  CHANNEL, Shed4, Docklands

On 7th May, Melbourne Ink, an independent documentary about our beloved laneways and evolution of street art in Melbourne and its protagonists, will be screened at OPEN CHANNEL, Shed4, Docklands. It is an opportunity to get an insight into these disembodied artists, their motivations and philosophies. It is a free event with artists from the film doing some live painting, a delicious Argentinean BBQ will be on offer and there will be plenty of beer at a cheap price.

The documentary is made by two French directors, Julian Sena and Romain Levrault, who wanted to make an uncensored film featuring Melbourne’s most prominent figures in graffiti and stencil art. “Melbourne is legendary for its street art, it brought us here. We wanted to make a film about the conflicting forces where street art is illegal but is widely used to market the city”, says Romain.

The film stars various artists from the Blender Studio, the Mitten Fortress, the Everfresh Studio, No Vacancy and Until Never galleries. The artists have been interviewed and followed during their performances in the city. “This is their story uncensored, you will see from the film there is no holding back. It is an exciting and politically-charged 25 minutes”, says Julian.

Sponsored by Melbourne Stencil Festival, OPEN CHANNEL, Art Truck and Mountain Goat, the screening brings a night of live spraying demonstrations, music and a chance to get close up with some of Melbourne’s most notorious street artists.

Melbourne Ink
Thursday May 7th 2009
Victoria Harbour, Shed 4 North Wharf Road (end of Bourke Street) Docklands
Time: 6 till 9pm
Free entry

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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