Fiona Fenech + Dianne Longley – Closing 13 April

FIONA FENECH’s Utterances of the Everyday is an exhibition that masquerades as the comfortable and familiar, with domestic settings realised through stitching and cut paper that have been invaded by fractured cautionary tales. A pertinent example that simultaneously has a sense of playfulness and hostility is the work ‘Too Many Little Chiefs’. As the title suggests, it articulates the warning present in the homily, ‘Too many chiefs, not enough Indians’ through the creation of a pervading sense of chaos within a scene of children playing a game of dress-ups. The exhibition also features her hand made wallpaper collages and sets of three graduated acrylic cutouts of domestic appliances, referencing the ubiquitous sets of ever diminishing ceramic ducks in flight of the 1950′s.

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DIANNE LONGLEY orchestrates curious dialogues between iconography from disparate places in history, mysticism and culture. Using white porcelain plates as her canvas, Longley has assembled strange scenarios of mystical creatures interacting with images from Japanese ‘kawaii’ culture, alien looking plant life and symbols from games of chance. The plates appear to be a portal into an alternate world of the fanciful, wonderful and fantastical, and also the eerie, disturbing and bizarre. Longley is exhibiting pokerwork pieces and prints alongside the porcelain works that evoke a similar multifaceted sense of intrigue.

Fiona Fenech + Dianne Longley – Opening 26 March

Please join us for evening drinks with the Artists, Wednesday 27 March 6-8pm

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▶ FIONA FENECH
“The cautionary tales that pervade everyday life are often ritualised into the cultural use of domestic objects, helping to construct collective and personal identities. Throughout this exhibition, the act of subverting such familiar ideas and items to reveal a sense of threat or violence is explored as a way of transforming and appropriating the familiar into fantasy, making visible the myths we live by.”

▶ DIANNE LONGLEY
“The works in this exhibition combine primordial plant forms such as yuccas, agaves and cacti, with fanciful figures and imagined landscapes. Magicians signal a quest, fantastic creatures interact and medieval monsters are guardians of future possibilities.”

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PLEASE NOTE that the 2 Danks Street complex will be closed the Easter long weekend, reopening on Tuesday April 2. We hope you have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Now Accepting Proposals for ‘Mighty Small’ curated by Olivia Welch

Brenda May Gallery is seeking proposals from professional practising artists in Australia and New Zealand for the curated group exhibition ‘Mighty Small′.

Mylyn-Nguyen-Untitled-(work-in-progress)Artwork on an immense scale often enthrals and consumes, whereas smaller works captivate on a much more intimate level, drawing the viewer in for closer inspection. This exhibition will not simply be concerned with works that are little, but works that defy the very notion of small meaning less or denoting an absence. It will present work that is compact, but is in every way just as powerful, notable and spectacular.
Proposals for this show must be received by Friday 26 April 2013.
Artwork to be delivered to the Gallery by Friday 5 July 2013.

 

Submissions should be posted directly to the Gallery (email submissions and proposals sent by registered post will not be accepted) and should include a CD of recent work and images in support of the proposal, an up to date C/V and a single page outline stating which exhibition you are submitting for and the nature of the work you are proposing. Please no powerpoint or keynote files.

Senden Blackwood + Helen Mueller – Closing 23 March

blackwood_mueller_installsEmploying the diminishing art of stone carving through his sensuous and seamless forms, SENDEN BLACKWOOD tirelessly labours upon his hand-carved and polished pieces, building a relationship between his aesthetic ideas and the physical attributes of the stone. Within his current exhibition, kaiu, Blackwood has worked in a range of scale and materials, showcasing his diverse technical ability. He creates stone pieces that evoke a visceral admiration through their impressive display of skill, and encourages a simple engagement with cast bronze works that sit comfortably in the hand.

blackwood_mueller_selections1Though contemplative and in subdued shades of black, white and grey, HELEN MUELLER’s current exhibition, Forest requiem, has elicited excited and perceptive responses from viewers. The restricted palette allows the complex layered forms of the branches to create alluring imagery, thoughtfully paired with areas of blank space to accentuate certain shapes and configurations.

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Interview: Senden Blackwood

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What is your earliest memory of making art?
While I was growing up my mum made beautiful rustic silver jewellery, so I was able to play around with her tools and materials. The first thing I made was a sterling silver fish skeleton pendant with a gold eye at about age 13. I’ve always been a scavenger, have always looked for objects like extraordinary seed pods and shells. This was my first exploration into making a special object, maybe because I hadn’t yet found the objects I was looking for.

Do you listen to music when you are creating works? If so, what is on high rotation?
Music is a constant in my working life. It distracts my mind so my body can get on with the work. It psychs me up when I’m tired and aching and it buoys my spirits when I realise how much I have yet to do. I’m capricious with new music but the high rotation stayers are Pink Floyd, Tool, Hermitude, Explosions in the sky, Bon Iver and Bonobo.

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When preparing for your last exhibition, did you create works around a theme or did the links between the works reveal themselves later on?
I always strived to have my own style, loving that you could see a Clement Meadmore, for instance, and know without a doubt that it was his work. There were no deliberate links between works in my last show, but I like to think a connection between them could be made.

Describe the space in which you create your works (studio, lounge room etc):
My workspace is outdoors next to a beautiful dam. It’s location, however, is where the beauty stops – there’s dust and sludge everywhere and the detritus  of a reductive process, tools strewn around etc. My subconscious is where half of the creating happens though. It’s probably just as messy.

Do you have a favourite piece or favourite pieces? If so, which piece/s and why?
My favourite piece is so far in the future that I can’t conceive it. I know it’s huge though. I consider half of my pieces failures because they just don’t turn out the way I had envisioned. I’m ok with this. I’m still learning and I’m closing the gap.

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What has been, for you, a defining moment in your career as an artist?
I had some of my work photographed by an amazing photographer recently. It sent shivers down my spine and prickles along my skin to see my same old pieces in a new light. Suddenly I felt like a professional, ready to be taken seriously.

Brenda May Annex: >[sdc]<

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5 to 23 March 2013

sdc_install1“Our contemporary space, the technological sublime, is awash with potent meanings, actions, and reactions – one which is extremely personal and accessible, rich with iconography of word, phrase, and symbol fused seamlessly together.

We have inherited a real-time sense of accessibility and immediacy, compiling database’s of imagery and language which constantly shift and mould the montage of larger narratives. Meaning becomes subversive and interpretation is left to the recipient and in many ways is often misconstrued.

Notions of erasure and impermanence confuse and dissolve language, translating it’s readability to that of form, function and pattern – a conversation embraced by the structural workings of an underlying and undulating grid work. The surface of these paintings, their slowly constructed skins by way of layering and collage technique’s, marries the technological space from which their realm of dialogue is drawn and the physical act of painting as a means of interpersonal negotiation.”

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March 2013 Exhibitions

▶ SENDEN BLACKWOOD
“I feel like everything I want to say is written in the lines and planes of each piece. The repetitive physical process of carving translates my decisions and ideas into a subtle language, inherent in the finished form.”

▶ HELEN MUELLER
“This melaleuca forest formed the starting point for the woodblock prints in this exhibition. In the working process I discovered that struggle can result in rich complexity, in elegance and grace.”

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On Friday 8 March, Art Month Sydney will be hosting the Waterloo precinct Art Bar at 2 Danks Street. All the Galleries will be open till 8pm, with the Art Bar kicking off at BMG from 8 till late. We hope you can join us for drinks and and some TGIF fun!

sdcBrenda May Gallery is pleased to present the first exhibition in our project space, Brenda May Annex, by the text-based artist >[sdc]<. Of his work, the Artist writes, “The surface of these paintings, their slowly constructed skins by way of layering and collage techniques, marries the technological space from which their realm of dialogue is drawn and the physical act of painting as a means of interpersonal negotiation.”

Josh Raymond, Kelly-Ann Lees, Judy Watson – Closing 2 March

Last chance to see current exhibitions by JOSH RAYMOND, KELLY-ANN LEES, JUDY WATSON, on view until next Saturday. For Art Month, we will present Floor Talks by Josh Raymond at 2pm and Kelly-Ann Lees at 2:30pm on the final day, March 2. Worried about parking – no need! Convenient and free 1½ parking is available 2 mins walk away, up Danks Street under both Aldi and Coles.

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The photographs in Josh Raymond’s #atwar place striking fencing portraits alongside more intimate images from the surface of Mars. The Mars photos are presented in pairs, displaying the raw image captured by NASA, alongside the same image processed to include the hues of the Earth’s atmosphere – these are rich psychological landscapes. For Karak 1 & 2, Raymond worked in a studio with Callum Mitchell-Clark, a model he collaborated with in the first series of photographs shown at the Gallery in 2009, along with bird handlers, Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos, Barn Owls, and a lone Boobook Owl.

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Infitialis tractus, the Latin title of Kelly-Ann Lees’ exhibition, roughly translates to ‘negative space’. Lees continues her work with reclaimed industrial materials to create sculptures that play with depth and density. Ranging from delicate forms to complex constructions, Lees explores the way simple lines can develop into impressive, large and small scale, three-dimensional structures.

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The exhibition, experimental beds, by Judy Watson presented by grahame galleries + editions, looks at “Thomas Jeffersons’ black/white relationships with his slaves and reflects upon… (Watson’s) Aboriginal family’s history on pastoral properties in Queensland and the Northern Territory.” The prints are available individually or as a complete suite of six for $8,000.

▶ Josh Raymond Artist Talk, Saturday 2 March 2:00 pm
No RSVP required, all welcome

▶ Kelly-Ann Lees Artist Talk, Saturday 2 March 2:30 pm
No RSVP required, all welcome

Now Accepting Proposals for ‘Sugar, Sugar’ curated by Megan Fizell

Brenda May Gallery is seeking proposals from professional practising artists for the curated group exhibition ‘Sugar, Sugar′.

As a species, we are predisposed to seek out sugar to supplement our diet. “Sweet tooth” and “sugar rush” are colloquial phrases used to describe our bodies’ cravings for and reaction to the substance. Our inclination to seek out the sweet stuff speaks to the pervasiveness of sugar in the visual arts. This exhibition will feature contemporary art made exclusively with sugar.
Proposals for this show must be received by Friday 5 April 2013.
Artwork to be delivered to the Gallery by Friday 27 September 2013.

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Submissions should be posted directly to the Gallery (email submissions and proposals sent by registered post will not be accepted) and should include a CD of recent work and images in support of the proposal, an up to date C/V and a single page outline stating which exhibition you are submitting for and the nature of the work you are proposing. Please no powerpoint or keynote files.

 

Josh Raymond, Kelly-Ann Lees, Judy Watson – Opening 12 February

Josh Raymond’s exhibition #atwar “sifts and presents personal wars, cultural wars, militarised wars and the history wars to map a collusion of ideas where men are firmly at the centre”.

This sculptures by Kelly-Ann Lees are part of her continued exploration of geometric forms and the interplay between positive and negative space. She is also playing with the appearance of weightlessness, whilst continuing to use dense, industrial materials.

In addition, grahame galleries + editions presents Judy Watson’s experimental beds at Brenda May Gallery. The suite of six etchings features imagery courtesy of the Jefferson Papers and the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, both at the University of Virginia.

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