news


 

 

 

 

 

Artist Talk

Monash University

Guest artists lecture for Spencer2Spring studio program 

10.10.2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

Artist Talk

Readymade Abstraction - The work of Peter Atkins

Lyon Housemuseum

3.3.2022 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Mundane to Friday: The Art of Everyday Melbourne

20 April to 19 August 2022


The City Gallery exhibition From Mundane to Friday: The Art of Everyday Melbourne considers what the transient objects we leave behind might say about who we are and who we want to be, and what this legacy might reveal about us to future generations. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

UPTOWN 

A free outdoor art exhibition

26 Melbourne artists, Top of Bourke Street

Decemeber 1st - Feb 28 2021

LINK

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Art Collector magazine (Jan - Feb 2022) have a feature on the 30 year partnership between myself and Jan Minchin/Tolarno Galleries titled 'The Test of Time'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

I was in conversation with Danny Lacy at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery this week discussing studio process and the development/evolution of concepts as part of the Writing and Concepts series. A small crowd of only 15 allowed in Gallery due to covid restrictions though it was streamed online. You can access it through the @mprg_vic insta page if interested.


PETER ATKINS presents ‘Concepts and Process’ A conversation with Danny Lacy in partnership with Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery.

In ‘Concepts and Process’ contemporary artist Peter Atkins will delve into and discuss ideas around a series of unexhibited or unrealised projects/concepts from the past decade through images and small maquettes, including Disconnected, Beach Motel and Deconstructed Meadmore. Not everything that an artist makes or develops in the studio progresses to a realised outcome in an art gallery or public space. This is especially so when your practice is project based. However, these ideas can often progress into exciting new projects or provide entirely new ways of considering particular outcomes.
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6.00 pm Thursday June 24 at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Civic Reserve, Mornington VIC 3934
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Registration via Eventbrite - details in the @writingandconcepts bio and Facebook
Ticket price $10 ($5 concession). ------------------------------------
Peter Atkins’ practice centres around the appropriation and re-interpretation of readymade abstract forms that he documents within the urban environment. This collected material becomes the direct reference source for his work, providing tangible evidence to the viewer of his relationship and experience within the landscape. Peter is interested in the social and cultural associations of forms that evoke within the viewer our collective, cultural recall. He is represented by Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne and GAGOPROJECTS, Adelaide|Berlin.

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

Postponed from 2020 opening May 14th 2021

Kodak Camera Kit - a collaboration with Alan Constable
Manly Art Gallery and Museum
May 29 - July 19 2020
Drawing together 26 artists nationally, this exhibition pairs works by ceramicists with their collaborative artists in other mediums to explore the relationship between materiality, form and texture.
As such, the exhibition focuses on the open possibilities of clay as a starting point for making work and a collaborative approach to 13 large-scale gallery installations.
Presented by The Australian Ceramics Association and MAG&M, with guest curator Sophia Cai.

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Brisbane-based Gallerist Andrew Baker tells us about a⁣ work that he desires. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

'TV WEEK 1980-1985'

A new suite of 20 paintings exhibited with Tolarno Galleries in their online viewing room through Melbourne lockdown 2020. Follow link for more images and essay.

LINK HERE 

 

Below: 'Those Crazy Dukes of Hazzard / Neil Diamond’s Torrid Love Scene'

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Hot Spot 2020

Hand cut vinyl on paper

150mm x 100mm 

Towards the end of the first Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown in Melbourne, the Victorian Government announced that due to increased outbreaks and community transmission of the virus certain areas would be identified as ‘hotspots’. I was watching the news that night and found that we were actually sandwiched between two hotspots in the North of Melbourne. I use as reference for this work a screenshot of an information graphic from that night’s news bulletin mapping the various hotspots around Melbourne. I’ve deconstructed the dramatic data bubbles, removing all identifying data. The work represents a particular point in time, when fear, confusion and uncertainty was not only gripping Melbourne but the entire world. The work does not identify any particular suburb, city or country. It simply portrays a series of hotspots that could represent any part of the world at that point in time, in the midst of a pandemic.

I’ve donated this small new work titled Hot Spot as part of a postcard project titled ARTfair, with works donated by contemporary artists for a great fundraising initiative to raise funds for an organisation working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists – The Barpirdhila Foundation which is an Aboriginal-controlled not-for-profit organisation aiming to contribute to the sustainability of excellence of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community within the creative industries. All funds raised will assist the organisation in continuing to invest in First Nations artists and arts workers.

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

‘Eveready’ 2020

My work for Love In The Time Of COVID-19 finds inspiration close to home…in our kitchen drawer. A common item found in most homes and used primarily in times of emergencies, the EVEREADY Flashlight Battery. It seemed appropriate to reference this product during these dark days, a time of fear, confusion and uncertainty for everyone. The logo on the battery has been deconstructed - stripped of all pictorial and textual elements. The focus has been shifted to the beautiful red and blue abstract forms beneath...floating together in isolation.

 

 

Click on image for more info

Link to Love in the time of Covid - 19 complete project

                               

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

#spreadartnotviruses is the brainchild of Shanghai-born, Melbourne-based Charlie Xiao. He launched the campaign to showcase what people are making as well as to express solidarity and support for those affected by the coronavirus.

The second poster in the campaign for Spread Art Not Viruses features my work 'Control Pain - Live Life' from 'Medicine 2012-16'.

'When I first heard about the initiative #spreadartnotviruses, I was immediately interested the concept, I thought it was a brilliant way to bring people together through positive connections, especially during this difficult time of COVID-19. Art has the ability to unite people across the world, across borders and countries, connecting them is surprising ways, to challenge, confront and open up dialogues. Sharing thoughts and ideas together in a global online community through this free, Augmented Reality social network, could help people in times of crisis, confusion and panic.

Art can help people overcome their anxieties and fears. Art is a universal, borderless language; we all speak it and we all connect to it. COVID-19 is a global pandemic and every person on the planet is affected in some way by this spreading virus. Many people are self-isolating or quarantining themselves away to help halt the spread of the virus. With so many people secured inside for such long periods it made sense to try to reach out and connect to each other through art and the hashtag #spreadartnotviruses which encourages artists, writers and other creatives from around the world to upload their own images or words to the platform.

The first images I posted to the campaign were from a series of small sculptures titled ‘Medicine’ 2012-15 which meticulously references various pharmaceutical boxes collected over the past few years. Some found on the street or discarded at the back of my local Chemist Warehouse, while others were purchased or prescribed to my family. Stripped of all text and incidental imagery the work focuses instead on the abstract, geometric patterns that underpin the unique visual language associated with pharmaceutical packaging. 

I posted this particular series of work because of the references to anti-biotics, anti-fungals, painkillers and decongestive etc With individual titles such as ‘If Pain Persists’, ‘Two Tablets Daily’ ‘24hr Relief’ and ‘Control Pain-Live Life’ the works could be seen as an antidote (at least in a conceptual or visual sense) to the current viral pandemic situation. This initiative is a great chance to access and interact with art and artists from all over the world. A chance to distract yourself from the often-harsh reality of our current day to day lives by connecting online and looking at beautiful, interesting and challenging things and turning a negative into a positive'.

Read more on #spreadartnotviruses here

 

                             

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

OBJECT LESSONS: Significance, Authenticity and Value

Counihan Gallery Brunswick

May 2 - July 5 2020

 

How do we relate to objects?

Objects can reveal a lot about human nature; an inclination to make, possess, consume, covet, touch, use or fetishise.

Object Lessons presents the work of nine artists who utilise objects within their practice that in a broad sense consider objects as cultural artefacts and in so doing prompt further questions about our own assignations and perceptions of significance, authenticity and value. With a set of seemingly disparate works that draw on histories, designs and materiality, Object Lessons invites us not just to look, but to consider our relationship to, and complicity, with objects.

Peter Atkins - Chris Bond - Carly Fischer - Kirsten Lyttle - Jake Preval - Steven Rhall - Yhonnie Scarce - Cyrus Tang - Claire Anna Watson

Curated by Victor Griss.

 

 

         

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

Prismatic Rhythms 

Ten Cubed opens 2020 with our new exhibition, Prismatic Rhythms. From 4 Feb (Tues) till 29 February, the second exhibition under our five exhibition umbrella, the Symphony of Collection, will bring together a vivid, eclectic and visually diverse display of works from our collection.

Looking at basic art principles and its application across different mediums, Prismatic Rhythms, demonstrates the dynamism and diversity of these principles. The exhibition features artists, Peter Atkins, Hiromi Tango, Daniel von Sturmer, Anne-Marie May, Alexander Knox, Tony Albert, Alasdair McLuckie and Kate Rohde, from our collection

The Symphony of Collection (2): Prismatic Rhythms
4 February - 29 February 2020

Symphony of Collection, is a series of five exhibitions that celebrates Ten Cubed's ten fabulous years of collecting. The series is presented metaphorically as a 'movement' from our Ten Cubed collection.

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

Geelong Gallery - Recent Acquisitions

 

 

 


 

 

Haus Werk: The Bauhaus in Contemporary Art

McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery

24 November 2019 – 15 March 2020

The exhibition Haus Werk: The Bauhaus in contemporary art, 24 November 2019 to 15 March 2020 at McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery, forms part of the official 100jahrebauhaus program of events that celebrates the centenary of the Bauhaus in 2019. Including Australian and international contemporary artists and performers, Haus Werk affirms the relevance of methods first grounded in the Bauhaus, and explores the way these concepts have new applications across different locations and times. Echoing the expansive educational agenda of the Bauhaus, the project incorporates exhibitions, architecture, a library resource, an education program and a catalogue.

The title refers to the way our understanding of the Bauhaus has become entwined with domestic space, with particular emphasis on the influence of the female artists who were relegated to the weaving workshop . Acknowledging the production of artwork as both a form of labour and a kind of play, the project encourages a fluid understanding of these states of production, as outlined by Bauhaus master Johannes Itten in 1919: ‘Play becomes celebration; celebration becomes work; work becomes play.  Our play should become work; our work, a celebration; and our celebration, play. I regard this as the supreme excellence of the human tasks .’ [‘our play, our party, our work’ was the title given by Johannes Itten to his lecture of 1919]

Haus Werk includes an exhibition across the three internal gallery spaces as well as outdoor installations at McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery; a series of public programs to accompany the project including a kite festival and a lantern parade; an installation by Jacqueline Stojanovic at the Glass Cube in central Frankston; a series of related publications on display available for reading and perusal at Frankston Library; and a catalogue.

The project features an even allocation of Australian and international participants to increase dialogue and strengthen networks in the fields of art and design. In doing so, the project opens for consideration the differing contexts of influence.Many of the international artists have never exhibited in Australia before.

Artists: Peter Atkins (AUS); Anael Berkowitz (USA/ISR); Katja Brinkmann (DEU); Danica Chappell (AUS); Sarah crowEST (AUS); Elizabeth Day (AUS); Stephan Ehrenhofer (AUT); Assaf Evron (ISR/USA); Anna Farago (AUS); Robert Jacks (AUS); Paul Knight (AUS); Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky (CZE); Paul Klee (CZE); Mafalda Millies and Roya Sachs (USA/DEU); John Nixon (AUS); Laresa Kosloff (AUS); Jordan Marani (AUS); Sam Martin (AUS); Bernd Ribbeck (DEU); Jacqui Stojanovic (AUS); Esther Stewart (AUS) and Pallavi Sen (IND); Sebastian Stadler (CZE); Tim Tetzner (DEU); Claudia Wieser (DEU)

Curated by Jane O’Neill, with Lisa Byrne and Simon Lawrie

 

 

 

 


 

 

CHAOS AND ORDER (re-imagined) 2014 -19

click on image for more details

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

In Full View

7th September 2019 - 26 Jan 2020

Housemuseum Galleries
217 Cotham Rd
Kew, 3101
Tuesday – Sunday
10am – 5pm
+61 (3) 9817 1725

The Lyon Collection represents a thirty-year journey by collectors Corbett and Yueji Lyon in their support of Australian contemporary art. From small beginnings in 1990 the Lyon Collection has grown into one of the largest collections of its type in the country, representing more than sixty emerging and established Australian artists.  

In Full View presents selected works from the collection displayed in a panoramic salon-style hang, inviting visitors to survey the collection's breadth and depth through the narratives of Collector, Artist, Home and Family.  

In Full View
Works from the Lyon Collection
7 September 2019 – 26 January 2020


 

 

 


   

 

 

 

Major Works

GAGPROJECTS Adelaide

4.9.19 - 13.10.19

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

Shit That I Like

A show programmed by self-professed non-curator Benjamin Aitken.

Nicholas Projects

 

                         

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

VAULT Magazine

Issue 27 Aug - Oct 2019

'Ticket to Ride' by Dr Peter Hill

Link Here

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Dana and I hosted the launch for Sydney Contemporary's V.I.P. 2019 Program at our home and studio this week. 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

New York Times

36 Hours in Melbourne

Justin Bergman

May 2 2019

Link Here

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Art Monthly

April 2019 edition

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

The Design Files

21st March 2019

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
To coincide with my exhibition The Passengers currently on at Tolarno Galleries I have made a series of wearable multiples on aluminium. These are 1:1 scale of the original train tickets I've used as reference for the exhibition. A very limited edition.
 
 
 
 
                      
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

The Passengers

Tolarno Galleries 

March 23 - April 27 2019

 

       

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clement Meadmore and the Modernist Wave - State Library of Victoria February 7th, 2019

 

I recently gave a short talk titled 'No Locomotives' at the State Library of Victoria for a panel discussion moderated by Karen McCartney for 'Clement Meadmore and the Modernist Wave' - along with Dean Keep and Geoff Hatty. Link Below. I focus on Meadmore's sculptural practice between 1963 and 1966 after his permanent move from Sydney to NYC. During this period Meadmore developed the curve or twist in his work. Listen to my talk to understand why I believe this shift happened. My talk begins at around the 30.00 min mark. Unfortunately no images due to copyright issues. However I've described the works in detail. The final image compares Meadmore and Richard Serra's works - Meadmores early Criss Cross series from 1965 alongside Richard Serra's Equal series from 2015...it's an interesting intersection between both artists practices.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
The Modernist Wave - State Library Victoria
Feb 7th 6pm - 7.30pm, 2019
I'll be 'In Conversation' - moderated by design author Karen McCartney. Along with Dean Keep and Jeromie Maver, curators of 'Clement Meadmore - the art of mid-century design' (currently showing at The Potter Museum) and design dealer Geoff Hatty. Apart from the conversation I will also be speaking about Clement Meadmore's sculptural practice. Focusing primarily on the pivotal years between 1963 and 1966 after his arrival from Sydney to New York City. Unfortunately this event was booked out very quickly, but there is a waitlist if anyone is interested.
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Dana and I are the major lenders to this wonderful survey exhibition of Clement Meadmore's industrial design from the 1950s, carefully curated by Dean Keep and Jeromie Maver. Many rare examples from our collection, built up over the past twenty years will be exhibited, most for the first time, including tables, chairs, lighting, sculpture and ephemera. An opportunity to see these and other extraordinary objects from Clement Meadmore's industrial design and sculptural output before he left for New York City in 1963. These objects represent the birth of Modernist design in Australia and are important in understanding the future direction of Meadmore's mature sculptural practice. 
 
 
'Clement Meadmore: the art of mid-century design'
Potter Museum of Art
Tuesday 20 Nov 2018 to Sunday 3 Mar 2019
 

Clement Meadmore: The art of mid-century design is the first major survey to focus on the industrial design practice of one of Australia's most internationally successful artists. Curated by Dean Keep and Jeromie Maver, the exhibition charts the evolution of Clement Meadmore's design aesthetic in the 1950s and early 60s, before he shifted his focus to sculpture, and highlights the role Meadmore played alongside Australia’s most innovative and progressive designers of the mid-century period.

The exhibition sheds light on a time when mid-century tastemakers sought to shape post-war Melbourne into a thriving and cosmopolitan city that, through the intersection of art, design and architecture, embodied the ideals and principles of the modernist aesthetic. Meadmore's first furniture design, a steel rod and corded dining chair created in 1951, became an instant hit, catching the attention of the highly influential modernist architect Robin Boyd and receiving the Good Design Award from the Society of Interior Designers of Australia (SIDA). The chair would later form part of the iconic thirteen-piece series known as the Meadmore Originals.

For just over a decade, Meadmore produced a small range of innovative furniture and lighting designs, popular with architects, artists and designers of the period. The ground-breaking modern homes designed by architects such as Robin Boyd, Neil Clerehan and Peter McIntyre were not complete without Meadmore furniture or lighting, often placed alongside pieces by Frances Burke, Grant Featherston, Fred Lowen and Douglas Snelling. Meadmore's furniture and designs were regularly featured in journals such as Australian Home Beautiful and Architecture and Arts, and sold at Marion Hall Best’s showrooms in Sydney and Frances Burke’s New Design store in Melbourne.

In 1955, prior to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Meadmore was commissioned by Ion Nicolades to design the interiors of the Legend Espresso and Milk Bar and the Teahouse, both in Melbourne. Drawing upon international modernism and a new-found passion for Italian culture, the Legend Espresso and Milk Bar is arguably one of Meadmore’s greatest achievements and became a touchstone for many young creatives in 1950s Melbourne.

In the latter part of the 1950s, Meadmore’s attention increasingly shifted to his sculptural practice and the gallery scene, whilst maintaining his industrial design practice. He would also play a pivotal role in establishing and managing Max Hutchinson’s Gallery A. Known as the Little Bauhaus, the gallery championed non-figurative art and industrial design, with Meadmore responsible for designing the gallery's line of contract furniture.

The result of 10 years research, Clement Meadmore: The art of mid-century designpresents many pieces for the first time, alongside newly discovered Meadmore designs. The exhibition also presents a rare opportunity to see original furniture and lighting designed by Meadmore for the modernist interiors of the Legend Espresso and Milk Bar and the Teahouse. The iconic designs in this exhibition - including chairs, tables, light fixtures, and graphics - are enlivened by archival images and documents, alongside interviews with the artist’s family and colleagues connected to the Melbourne art, jazz and design scenes of the 1950s. Clement Meadmore: The art of mid-century design showcases Meadmore’s rich design practice and shines a light on the important cultural shifts that shaped mid-century Melbourne.

Link here

 

         

 

 

 


 

 

 

RAILway 2018

A 44 meter long billboard installed along Swanston Street at the Metro Tunnel site in Melbourne as part of Metro Tunnel Creative Program.

Find out more about this project by clicking on image below.

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

The Bathroom

Suite 124 - Spring1883

GAGPROJECTS, Adelaide and Berlin

 

Presented by GAGPROJECTS as part of Spring1883 is an installation of three projects titled 'The Bathroom'. The installation includes 'Medicine' 2012-2016, 'Skin Care' 2017-18 and a new project created especially for Spring1883 titled 'Sanitized for your Protection' 2018. 'The Bathroom' follows on from my installation with Tolarno Galleries at Spring1883 in 2016 titled 'Love Letters' where the use of the existing space and furniture were critical to the contextualisation of the project. The works were placed on and in the two antique writing desks in the Prince Alfred Suite.

 

This year my focus is directed towards the bathroom of suite 124. Traditionally, the bathrooms at Spring1883 have proven to be the most difficult spaces to exhibit in. They are small, highly reflective, brightly lit with cold, hard surfaces; granite, steel, tiles, glass and porcelain. The small spaces are made more difficult with the addition of cabinets, a toilet, shower and bath. Rather than work against the inherent difficulties of the bathroom, these projects work with the existing conditions, entering into the narrative and communal experience of the space by adding a series of objects that relate to what is commonly found and experienced within most bathrooms.

The Bathrrom - Spring1883 2018

 

 

 


 

 

 

Couplings

Dominik Mersch Gallery

Curated by Helen Hyatt-Johnston and Brad Buckley

11th April - 12th May 2018

 

'Couplings' is a show about the private ‘pillow talk’ that goes on between artist couples, whether conscious or unconscious. By hanging or placing the works next to each other, the curators Helen Hyatt-Johnston and Brad Buckley explore how these conversations affect the work, even when it may not be obvious in their visual or conceptual approach. 

By looking at how this intimate exchange appears across generations, styles and mediums, what becomes apparent is that a surprising number of artists in Australia also have artist partners. Is it a case of like goes with like, or do opposites attract?

Dominik Mersch Gallery will show the work of seventeen artist couples, including: Vanessa Berry and Simon Yates, Vicky Browne and Locust Jones, Josie Cavallaro and Somchai Chareon, Tracey Clement and Peter Burgess, Lottie Consalvo and James Drinkwater, Suzy Faiz and Matthys Gerber, Adrienne Gaha and Tim Maguire, Helga Groves and Matthew Johnson, Dana Harris and Peter Atkins, Francesca Heinz and Sach Catts, Lisa Jones and Richard Glover, Hilarie Mais and William Wright, Sarah Newall and Jane Polkinghorne, Anna Louise Richardson and Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Nike Savvas and Stephen Little, Tiffany Shafran and Kyle Jenkins, and Rachel Sherwood and Teo Treloar.

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

Peter Atkins - 5 Projects

Ten Cubed

Opening Tuesday 10th April 6-8pm

3rd April - 16th June

Media Release link

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Wish you were here!

4 - 17 November, 2017
Adelaide Central Gallery

Wish you were here! is a fundraising exhibition and opportunity to acquire original works of art by over 100 Australian and international artists. The identity of each artist will remain anonymous until after the work is purchased. As a not-for-profit organisation, all proceeds from this exhibition directly support the students and programs of the School.

 

Fairy Wren, Parrot and Galah

150mm x 105mm each

spray paint on paper 2017

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

Excited to announce my inclusion in the Ten Cubed collection. Ten Cubed is a new model collecting initiative with a long term commitment to supporting contemporary artist's practices. Fortunate to have three complete projects in the collection stretching back to Disney Color Project commissioned for the Clemenger Art Award at the NGV in 2009/10 and later shown at Art|Basel Hong Kong with Tolarno Galleries in 2016. Love Letters exhibited at SPRING1883 in 2016 and Tamiya Colour Chart shown as part of Tolarno Galleries 50th anniversary celebrations in 2017. I'll be drawing upon these and other new works for my exhibition with Ten Cubed in February 2018.

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

The City of Melbourne collection is now online.

Melway Project was commissioned for the collection in 2009/10.

Click here to view Melway Project or here to view The City of Melbourne's collection.

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

TolarnoGalleries@50

Tamiya Colour Chart

Hand-painted multiple of 10 (40 colours in each set)

Acrylic on paper

180mm x 180mm each

2016/17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

In Stereo

GAGPROJECT | Adelaide/Berlin

July 8 - July 30 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

Trocadero Art Space

A small show of imperfect paintings

Curated by Chris Bond

June 28 - July 15 2017

 

A small show of imperfect paintings is a modest gathering of failed paintings by twenty one accomplished artists. The works in this exhibition hover in a space where control over concept, aesthetics, motivation and technique has been lost or abandoned. This space is the domain of wabi sabi ‒ of imperfection, impermanence, irregularity, modesty, neglect, damage and incompletion. Imperfection in a painting emerges from the uncertain condition of its making and reception. Paintings are hard to begin, difficult to stop and defy easy objective evaluation, and the unease generated by the absence of clarity during each stage can quickly spill into an overwhelming feeling of not-quite-rightness. That feeling is the result of an acute awareness of the distance between the artist’s intention and the work’s material actuality, but it is not a feeling that necessarily needs to be reconciled, for once the painting has been designated as imperfect, it finds itself liberated from all of the things that it should be doing into something that simply exists by – and for – itself. Imperfection, let alone failure, is of no value in the contemporary economy of the unblemished and the functional. A small show of imperfect paintings provides the lightest of counterweights to this bias, opening a forum for a reconsideration of what might seem unreasonable: the idea of a kind of freedom, or maybe even perfection, in failure.

Artists exhibiting:
Colleen Ahern, Peter Atkins, Louise Blyton, Chris Bond and Drew Pettifer, Michael Brennan, Yvette Coppersmith, Craig Easton, Juan Ford, Julia Gorman, Stephen Haley, Irene Hanenbergh, David Hawley,
PJ Hickman, Sam Leach, Tony Lloyd, Rob McHaffie, Jan Murray,, Lynette Smith, Bryan Spier, Darren Wardle

Remnants from a failed painting 2013

 

Remnants from a Failed Painting 2013 

 

 


 

 

 

LESS THAN

QUT Art Museum

18 MARCH TO 21 MAY 2017

In today’s world of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ and bestselling books on the Japanese art of decluttering, this exhibition delves into the artist’s pursuit of nothingness—or at least the next best thing. Reductionist techniques—repetition, limited or monochrome colour, seriality and plain-spoken materials—have been used by artists working in geometric abstraction, colour field painting, conceptualism and minimalism during the last century, and are today more relevant than ever. Less than: Art and reductionism presents works from the QUT Art Collection by Australian and international artists who employ a reductive approach or aesthetic, dating from the 1960s to now.

ARTISTS

Michael EATHER, Pierre SOULAGES, Mervyn MUHLING, Christian CAPURRO, George WARD TJUNGURRAYI, Rodney SPOONER, Eugene CARCHESIO, Rosella NAMOK, Margery EDWARDS, Leonard BROWN, Ian BURN, Rover THOMAS, Sam CRANSTOUN, Arryn SNOWBALL, Rosalie GASCOIGNE, Donna MARCUS, Judith WRIGHT, Allan MITELMAN, Alex SETON, Turkey TOLSON TJUPURRULA, Daniel MCKEWEN, Alexander CALDER, Margaret WILSON, Robert MACPHERSON, Sean SCULLY, A.D.S. DONALDSON, John NIXON, Sol LEWITT, John COBURN, Trevor VICKERS, Peter ATKINS, Gemma SMITH

CURATOR

Katherine Dionysius

 

Hume Highway Project

12 silkscreen prints hand printed by the artist

25cm x 25cm each in an edition of 20

 

 

 


 

 

 

Bricolage

27 March – 28 April 2017
Adelaide Central School of Art

media release link

ACSA website link

 

 
 

Peter Atkins and Matt Arbuckle

A bricolage is a new creation, assembled from what is to hand at the time of making...

This exhibition brings together drawing and painting works by contemporary artists Peter Atkins and Matt Arbuckle, each renowned for repurposing found materials to create original artworks. These artists are observers and collectors, who use narrative-laden materials to tell fresh stories. Bricolage presents new works by Matt Arbuckle and works by Peter Atkins never before exhibited in South Australia.

 

 

 

Detail from Obsolete Logo's (first series) 2014

63 works in total. Acrylic on found ledger paper.

 

   

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

FAUX STUDIO

C3 Annual Fundraising Exhibition

3 Dec - 11 Dec 2016 

In 2014, c3 launched a series of curated fundraising exhibitions to assist with the long-term sustainability of the gallery and to raise money to support artists by reducing the gallery fees and paying sales commission. While raising money was the goal of the show, the team was keen to work with fundraising as a creative concept. 2014's 'Faux Museum' explored how large-scale institutions create funding opportunities through their environments and functions, while 2015's 'Faux Fair' presented a play on the economics of the commercial art fair. Both shows were a huge success and raised enough to reduce the exhibition costs by over a third for 2015/16. The gallery also gave 50% of the proceeds back to the artists who donated their work, adding another layer of cash support.

 

 

Telecom #1 #2 #3

Ink on found ledger paper

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Re-Purposed

Drill Hall Gallery

Novemeber 11 - December 16 2016

Canberra

Reviewed Sasha Grishin

 

LINK to Sasha Grishin's review

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

Re-Purposed

November 11 - December 18 2016

Drill Hall Gallery

Australian National University

Canberra

 

Re-Purpose takes its impetus from the early collages of Braque and Picasso (and later, from Robert Motherwell) which demonstrate the potential of a “foreign” object to act as an artistic catalyst. The unprecedented use of pre-existing items in their collages entailed swatches of printed matter or textiles being incorporated (re-purposed) into a new context and given a new identity.

It is apparent to us in retrospect that this use of ready-made items served to challenge the precedence and priority of the “model” in earlier representational art. The works of these artists has laid a foundation for subsequent practice, where a work’s composition can no longer be dissociated from its subject matter.

Re-Purpose presents a range of abstract objects and images by three generations of artists: Matt Arbuckle, Peter Atkins, Chris Carmody, Nicole Ellis, Robert Motherwell, Elizabeth Newman and Trish Roan. All of their works feature a foreign object, a third party,a ready-made pretext or a pre-existing form that generates a fresh outcome. Through incorporation or obliteration, addition or subtraction, the re-purposed template alters its identity and its function.

Once the enemy, it has become the ally of invention.

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

Abstraction 15

Charles Nodrum Gallery

October 6 - October 29

 

The fifteenth installment of our annual exhibition, showcasing Australian Abstraction from the 1950s through to contemporary.

 

link to catalogue

link to COMMUNITY POLYCHROME PROJECT 2006

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

'L' is for Love Letters

 

the a-z of spring1883 art fair

 

It might still be winter but SPRING is here. With a full program of contemporary art staged in Melbourne’s Hotel Windsor, here's what you shouldn't miss.

 

Link here to full alphabet a-z of SPRING1883

 

                 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

Interview with Dr Peter Hill

Art Collector

2016 Edition of Spring1883

Link to PDF

Link to Love Letters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

BLOUINARTINFO

Sneak Peek: What to see at SPRING1883 in 2016

LINK

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

Love Letters 

Tolarno Galleries

Spring 1883

Aug 17 - 21 2016

LINK 

 

 


 

 

 

NEWS 2016

 

Deakin University Small Sculpture Award

June 8 - July 15

 

Medicine 2012-15 is included in The Deakin University Small Sculpture Award. In its eighth year, this annual acquisitive award and exhibition is organised by the Art Collection and Galleries Unit at Deakin University. Link to Medicine 2012-15

 

Medicine 2012-15:

Viagra

Nasal Spray

If Pain Persists

Wart-Off

Volaren Rapid

Sun Cream

24hr Relief

Heartburn

Two Tablets Daily

No Doz

Control Pain - Live Life

Non - Drowsy

 

 


 

 


 

 

 

NEWS 2016

 

The Age Cover Story

Spectrum 23.04.2016

On The Map by Andrew Stephens

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Melbourne icon, MELWAY.

Illustrated with works from Melway Project which was commissioned for the City of Melbourne in 2009/10. Currently installed over 4 levels of the main staircase in the Melbourne Town Hall.

 

 

 

Link to PDF of On The Map

Link to The Age Cover Story online version.

Link to Melway Project 2009/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

NEWS 2016

 

OCULA

 

The Low Down: Art Basel in Hong Kong

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

NEWS 2016

 

 

'Disney Color Project' has been acquired by Ten Cubed gallery, Melbourne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

NEWS 2016

 

 

A wearable multiple made especially for Art Basel-Hong Kong in Orange, Blue, Black and Pink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

NEWS 2016

 

Tolarno Galleries

Hong Kong - Art Basel

Level 1, Booth 1B18

March 22 - 24 2016

 

 

Disney Color Project, originally commissioned for the Clemenger Contemporary Art Award at The National Gallery of Victoria in 2009/10, will be exhibited at Hong Kong Art Basel by Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne.

 

Disney Color Project LINK

 



 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

NEWS 2016

 

The Traveller: Experiencing Movement, Time & Place