Indigenous Triennial Art Exhibition @ National Gallery of Australia

Till Sept 20th 2017

Plan to take a few hours or several visits if you want to take in this exhibition. The range and complexity of the works on show means it takes lots of time to engage with the abundant creativity.

There were grand explorations of traditional.arts from both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sources. They are joined to huge numbers or works of modern and technological styles of creations.

In the entry way to the NGA is a Rolls Royce painted in tradition art style. In the exhibition is a video of the artist driving that car and that activity brings together lots of remarkable visual traditional elements. The driver turns into a large area of red dust and by driving in various circles at high speed he digs up the red dirt creating patterns and a vast amount of red dust. The beauty and layered elements of the video production and were wonderful.

I will go back as we only had 90 minutes today. The exhibition is hard as it traverses complex territory of history, political comment, layered cultural interaction and many aspects of the underbelly of human society. I have included a few pics below but the only sensible thing to do with this exhibition is to go – it is free.

 

Seratonin Syndrome – Mikhalia Jurkiewicz @ Photoaccess Manuka

Photography has always had a role in recording social change. At the heart of Mikhalia Jurkiewicz’s exhibition at Photoaccess in December was the act of portraying the personality of eight share houses in her new neighbourhood. The photographs in black and white drip with personality, character and charm.The combination of people, furniture and background communicate a rich mix of social and cultural features.

Pictures and gallery material below

 

 

Athol Shmith – Fashion Photographs @ National Library of Australia

26 November 2016- 16 July 2017

The blurb for this exhibition reads

Elegant, bold and often experimental, Melbourne photographer Athol Shmith (1914–1990) worked in fashion, theatre, advertising and portraiture for decades. Shmith’s have been called ‘perhaps the finest of all Australian fashion photographs’. He is said to have directed every aspect of a shoot, whether at his studio at the ‘Paris end’ of Collins Street, at friends’ houses or outdoors. Much of his work was for Melbourne boutiques Le Louvre and La Petite, as well as for Myer.

In 1979, Shmith gave the Library a large collection of his prints, negatives and transparencies. Most are fashion photographs and came with few details on why or when they were taken. He later visited the Library and identified many of the models.

This small exhibition, drawn entirely from the Library’s collections, showcases his fashion photography. https://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/athol-shmith-fashion-photographs

The collection of photographs are truly remarkable. The poses, the clothes, the models,  all speak of high quality design and creativity and excellent use of light. Every picture posed against vacant or stunning backgrounds is a credit to the art of black and white fashion photography. A great collection of artistry.

Below are some naughty phone snaps to give you the vibe of his remarkable works,

 

Finding Focus – Laura Hindmarsh – @ Photoaccess

11- 27 November 2016

The title of this exhibition gives a true sense of her practice. Ms Hindmarsh is recording in film her journey to find focus both in her practice and in her style of photography. Most of the work is in pure black and white and from an 8mm film to lots of tiny photographs her work has a blurry look to it. Some samples and the gallery sheet are below.

Next Door – Photographs by Paul Blackmore @ State Library of NSW

30 Aug – 29 Nov 2016

Some photographers tell great stories. Some record history. This exhibition tells a great story about one of the central features of Australian life – the suburb. Blackmore’s moment in time shots give you a window into the nature of some Sydney suburbs in the 90s. They record the variety of house proud approaches to house and yard, There are pictures that taken together portray cultural diversity. There is also a tale of social aspiration and its opposite. They are a very engaging set of pictures of suburbia.

Webpage

http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/next-door

Pic samples

Through a different lens – Harold Cazneaux @ Australian National Maritime Museum

2 September 2016 – 5 February 2016

I have seen many exhibitions including the work of Harold Cazneaux. Eagerly I went to this one because the crisp targeted beauty of his photographs is something I never tire of.

This exhibition is a fabulous bringing together of the great many photographs he took of the Sydney harbour during his life time. His photos record the work life of ordinary people on the harbour. He lived through the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and that is recorded here. Sydney has always been a working port and there are lots of ships of various kinds being loaded, unloaded, travelled in and repaired. The harbour is a recreation site and Caszeneaux records that aspect as well.

Black and white photos have a grimy look to them but they record an era that was hard working, and functional with not a lot of attention to glossing things up.

There are some sample pics below but it was great to see all 100 on the wall. Two delightful features of the exhibition were the matching on about 10 panels of current day colour shots of the same place in some of Caszeneaux’s shots and a historical timeline blending his life with contemporary events.

Webpage with sample pictures

http://www.anmm.gov.au/cazneaux

Some of my pics

Beauty in this – Maryanne Voyazis @ Nishi Gallery

15-24 July 2016

The ways we respond to the death of loved ones varies  This exhibition is a personal exploration of the death of a mother after the experience of Alzheimer’s disease through photographs created and curated by a daughter. The photos consisted of people, locations and related  things like flowers.  It was a beautiful collection of touching photos put together lovingly.

Below are sample pics and some gallery materials.