DIFFERENCE

Each of these stereo images are made up of the same two photos. They are layered across each other in subtly different ways. The beauty in each of these images lies in the difference between its two parts and how that difference is read.

Trying to Articulate a Dream

TWO EYES

This is the National Art Centre in Tokyo. The exterior of the building is cool.

The interior is massive.............

..............and a nice view on each level.



Unfortunately the quality of the art that I saw was awful. It was "Western Style" Japanese paintings with terrible frames, hung horribly and the gallery spaces are small and cramped.

PEACEFUL SPACE

This series of photographs was taken in Kyoto, Japan on a visit to the Ginkaku-ji Temple. If you want a free pair of 3D glasses send me an email with your name and address and I'll put one in the post for you.

It's a Holiday - Not Work

While traveling around Japan I'm constantly reminded about the surrounding space. Everything in the cities is so crowded and the spaces constantly vary between tiny and massive. Whenever I take a photograph it completely flattens out all the intensity of the place so I have started to take stereoscopic images to convey the magnitude of it. In Ginkaku-ji temple the gardens are phenomenal and the giant trees look exactly the same as the tiny shrubs on the ground. After I made this stereoscopic image I searched through my luggage to find my pair of red and green 3D glasses that I never leave home without and much to my frustration I had left home without them. I'm not sure if it works or not but if you have a pair that works then try it and let me know. I'll upload some new ones upon my return home. If you don't have a pair of glasses to view it then send me an email with your address and I'll mail you a pair when I get home.

I've been inundated with awesome photographic gadgets here but this basic point and shoot camera is the coolest I've seen. It's a 35mm camera you build yourself much like little models I built as a kid. I'm hoping to get some cool results from this in the future.





I also just bought a stereoscopic pinhole camera from the same awesome Roppongi bookshop I bought my lomo in my last Tokyo trip. It came in a magazine and every issue you get a new build your own camera. The last one was a twin lens reflex. The magazine only costs 2300 Yen = about $25 AUD.

Wonder Rocket, 2009

Portrait of Contemporary Tokyo, 2009

Sometimes Sonya likes to stop off and look at shops. It happens on an impulse and so I paint on my iPhone from the colour palettes I've been saturated with over the last week. The top is the crazy bunny rabbit from an Alice in Wonderland shop I found Sonya in which has frenetic shoppers and creepy bunny mannequins.

A TOUR OF THE STUDIO

I've been working on this one for a while. It started turning out so different from any paintings I had done before. I started this painting early this year and I work on it at least once a week. I'd be surprised I I ever finish it.

This started as a weird play with throwing ink around. After you throw things around they begin to talk to you kind of like a Rorschach inkblot used by psychologists and psychiatrists. In a similar way I quickly started to notice hidden meanings in this one. I see a bunny's face caressed by a hand which brings back the memory of my deceased pet rabbit. He died when I was about 10 or something and was my first experience of death.


These works are a stereo-painting in development and they have been in development for months. Almost every line takes a day to dry and it's a very calculated and tight approach. They need to differ slightly so that they are looking at the subject from slightly different angles. This work is a long way off.



I usually have a bit of paint left on my brush and on my palette. I also usually have a big mirror next to me and so I do a quick self portrait with what I have. This is the last two.

Progress Update - This Little Piggy

I'm sculpting this out of paint - granted I started with a ceramic model.

PHILOSOPHY WITH TONY

I'm working on a project called This Little Piggy which is a group exhibition. I'm having to plunge the depths of my relationships to pigs. I suppose the strongest relationship to pigs is my love for bacon, pork and ham but beyond that I draw a blank.

I am to make a work somehow drawing inspiration to a ceramic piggy bank. I have tendencies to make a gory scene with the piggy as some kind of reference to manufactured animals but it would all be coming from a John Berger book that I've been reading. I also thought about putting $5,000 in it and seeing if anyone would steal it. I'd sell the artwork for $5,025 + commission. But where would I get $5,000 from?

Other associations with pigs are that they're greey. Piggy + bank = money greedy? Money greedy translates in this day and age as the cause of the global recession or GFC, the cause of international slavery, the cause of climate change, the cause of wars and conflicts and probably a lot more. In World War Two Nazis were referred to as pigs. The term pig is also used to refer to Police and also chauvinists.

But piggy banks always look friendly. The funny thing is pigs actually have very little to do with the evolution of the piggy bank. The term piggy bank actually refers to the type of clay that they were initially made from "pygg".

This inquiry into piggy banks is like Plato's world of ideas. He believed that the essenses of everything lived in a seperate world from ours. In our world, objects exist as an approximation of what they are in the world of ideas. For example if you ask yourself what a table is the answer might be something with four legs and a flat bit you can put things on. But really that could be a chair or a bed or a dog depending on how you argue it. Also you might find that some tables only have three legs and aren't necessarily like every other tables. You might notice that piggy banks are the same.

Majapahit Piggy Bank

But it would be a little boring of me to try and transform the piggy bank and make it "different". The correct thing to do is to make it "better". What makes a piggy bank special is its mystery. The most interesting thing about any piggy bank is trying to detect the full value of the jingle jangle.

Will someone lend me $5,000?

Click here to download the magic and mystery of the Piggy Bank

STUDYING THE PIGGY

Costume Dramas

Photos courtesy of Jodie Barker.

Loving Bababa International

Photographic Expedition With Jodie Barker

I MADE A WEBSITE FOR 2042

I made Website. It's the first website I've ever made and you can view it here at www.2042artonthestreet.com. Check it out and follow the links, bookmark them and wait for the news about what's happening. This year's 2042 is looking great and will feature great artists from and around Newtown.

Check out the Twitter, the blog, the facebook and the website.

Sketching depth.

These are facial studies.

In the top image I was recording the curves and contours of the face with brushstrokes. In the image second from top I divided the spatial planes into different colour groups which don't represent the chromatic effect of the spatial depth but actually just allow me to differentiate. This technique allows me to record more spatial information than would taking a photograph. Once a photograph is taken it is immediately flattened and it any information of stereoptic depth can only be guessed. Here I can make sterepotic decisions about how to accurately shift the image. The spatial planes are categorized far to near from white (Furthest) - yellow - red - blue - violet - black (nearest).

A combination of blind drawing and contour drawing reveal the undulating imaginary lines which give the clues to the structural depth of the figure.

All of these studies are preparation for a huge stereoptic life drawing of Sonya Gee.

New iPhone Application

I used to use one thing, and then I heard reviews about another one and a guy got on the cover of the New Yorker with it so I thought I'd give it a go.

experiment experiment experiment

SKIES

moon

I noticed a build up of sky images on my phone so I thought I'd make use of them.

The Devil

A good friend of mine visited a priest for guidance once. The priest told him he had a devil in him. The next day my friend died.

I'm putting work in for a group exhibition in Adelaide coming up. It's called The Devil and it's at Max Dawn Gallery.

Upcomg Exhibitions

Two new exhibitions coming up in November! One is This Little Piggy in Sydney, and the other is The Devil at Max Dawn Gallery in Adelaide!

MISSION COMPLETE

I hope you got in to see Mrs Petrov's Shoe at the Newtown Theatre. There were a couple of reviews, both good and one of them mentioned my drawings.

A CHILDS TAKE ON THE WORLD AROUND HER

On Wednesday 12th August Mrs Petrov's Shoe is opening at the New Theatre in Newtown for which I have been doing illustrations. The illustrations are of scenes from the scrap book of a nine year old girl in 1960s Australia. This play is great! It has won awards, my heart, a lot of my time and a lot of the artistic energy of many involved and is directed by Mackenzie Steele who I hold in high regard having now worked with him on this. Come along and I hope you enjoy it!

Week Four: 12 – 15 August

Mrs Petrov’s Shoe

by Noëlle Janaczewska

Sydney Premiere
Anna Lubansky shoots to prominence with her first novel, the emotional narrative of a nine-year-old girl's struggle to reconcile her Australian reality with her parents' Central European heritage, set in the Cold War era of the early 1960s. Promoted as heavily autobiographical, the book garners a harvest of awards and Anna's multicultural star is shining brightly in the literary firmament—until the real fiction is uncovered, and Anna Lubansky is revealed to be the very non-European Ann Loxton.

"Mrs Petrov's Shoe is as much about cultural identity as it is about literary scandal and it is very funny." – Melbourne Stage Online, 2006

By arrangement with The Cameron Creswell Agency

Director Mackenzie Steele
Cast Will Carter, Lindsey Chapman, Sonia de Domeneghi, Will Edwards, Jeneffa Soldatic and Paul Treacy

NEW iPHONE PAINTINS

Making Radio

On Saturday last Tony Curran (myself) and Jonathon Valenzuela (16 Tacos) were a radio Twitter partnership where my iDrawings of "Action Jon" were retweeted to FBI's twittership of almost 3,000. Collaborations usually work well and thanks to Jon's no-so-diva-like attitude to my portraits he was happy that only one of them made him look like a "guido". His sepcial request was a unicorn.

Posted with LifeCast

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FBI SMOKE BREAK

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Square Eyes

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AMENDMENT: FBI SHOW HADS BEEN MOVED TO SATURDAY

Get some rest tomorrow night because you're going to need it this Saturday night! The guy whose show we were filling in for has cancelled his trip so now we're going to do Jon's regular show!

This Saturday tune in to FBI from 8-10pm and follow FBi Radio on twitter for the pics with myself and Jon Valenzuela!

BUSY TIMES CALL FOR EXTRAVAGANT HANGOUTS

What happens when you use this medium on............................................

This Subject!!!!!!!!!!!

Tony

Hey I really need a bro down with JV

Tony

I'm coming over this week

Jonathon

Dude, that is essential.

Tony

at the moment i am sensing a thrsday

Jonathon

It would have to be a night time hangout, but we can do this, we are men of warm clothing.

Tony

yes we sure try to be

night because it's a thursday or night because youre always busy in days

Jonathon

Wait, oh snap, i'm filling in on a show on thursday night. Wanna come and play guest selector? It's leftfield hip hop. Guaranteed Biggie (RIP) tunes.

Tony

at FBI?

gimme the time

Jonathon

one sec

Jonathon

11 - 1am. Ouch. That's gonna hurt. Well, I could come round from Time Out for dinner?

Tony

yeah either or

i justhad an idea

i could come to FBI to hang out

what i would do in the studio when I wasnt "hanging out" would be taking photos of you for Making It

Also if this sounds good to you

Jonathon

so, shoot me doing my show?

Tony

i could do live action portraits on my iPhone which we would tweet from the FBi twitter account

yeah doing your show

Jonathon

Oh snap, that's an awesome idea.

Tony

and then ill do a tilted page one next week

Tony

let's teach these listeners how to see!

Jonathon

That sounds visionary. Bold moves, young man.

You gotta choose some tunes though.

Tony

i got a ton lined uop

Jonathon

wicked. Back in a sec, cooking dnner.

Tony

wicked

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A Kid Could Do That

A Kid Could Do that is how I'm approaching the latest body of work I'm doing. I've been designing concepts for the director of a theatre production to open in Newtown's New Theatre in early August. While I haven't necessarily even got the job I've been asked to submit concept sketches for a body of work to be used as visuals projected throughout the production. The catch is they have to look like they were done by a 9 year old. This challenge is pretty far from the look I ordinarily like to go for so somehow I was really seduced by it.

BUSY BUSY BUSY

Wow I know it's terrible blog etiquette to disappear and then resurface with a shallow apology so I'm going to leave it out of this post.

I have been BUSY

Ok so here is a wrap up of what I'm about! I have a ton of new iPhone (finger) paintings and a few collages to give you but first I'm going to plug my very new gallery WATCH THIS SPACE!

WATCH THIS SPACE ends up everywhere. We don't expect the audience to come to us so we take the gallery to the audience. Above is an example of Luke Tipene (a WATCH THIS SPACE Director) taking our show to the sunny coasts of Antarctica.

WATCH THIS SPACE is looking for artists. We have ongoing opportunities for exhibition and it costs nothing to put n a show with us so please, if you are any good at what you do - contact us.

portable art making

Bowl of Nutrients, 2009. Collage on iPhone

Clippers Cafe is in Glebe and has great food with rare fruit. Check it out!

Shocked! 2009. Digital finger painting.

If you have your 3D glasses then put them on. If not then send an email to realperspectives@gmail.com with your name and address to receive your free pair in the mail!!

Study of a Ricky Maynard Portrait, 2009. Digital finger painting

Ricky Maynard has an amazing exhibition of photographs at the MCA. This image is a facial study of one of the Aboriginal elders in his portrait series. I suggest everyone get there to check it out if they can because it's more inspiring than any australian history book or teacher.

Waiting at the station, 2009. Digital finger painting

Trains (Study), 2009. Digital finger painting

Train, 2009 Digital finger painting

En route to work, 2009. Digital finger painting

Trains are very appealing subjects to me as their infrastructure challenges traditional perspective in drawing. Everything is curved and there are no vanishing points.

Pretty As A Picture, 2009. Digital finger painting

Sonya at Starbucks, 2009. Digital finger painting

FINGER PAINTINGS

MUNGO, 2009. iPhone with Paintbook LE

I remember when I got my hand-me-down NOKIA 5110 at age 15. Now I'm making things with my phone. I have begun using a free program for sketching which means I can sketch with colour on the go! I'm still trying to get my technique down and these studies are to aid my visual practice but I'm always proud enough to show them!

Road In The Hunter Valley, 2008. iPhone with Paintbook LE

MABEF M07, iPhone with Paintbook LE

Restaurant Exit, 2009. iPhone with Paintbook LE

Chatswood Station Platform, 2009. iPhone with Paintbook LE

View from the Yum Yum Thai Restaurant in Chatswood, 2009. iPhone with Paintbook LE

Youth on a Train, 2009. iPhone with Paintbook LE

Redfern Station Platform Shelter, 2009. iPhone with Paintbook LE

Sharehouse Bathroom Bin, 2009. iPhone with Paintbook LE

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MCA Zine Fair: Report From The Field

Right now Makign It is launching it's first print issue WOAH! $7 for 1 of a limitted run of 20. Only 8 left to get. You've got till 5 o'clock.

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SUBSCRIBE TO TONY CURRAN

CLICK on the subscription menu on the right and send an email to realperspectives@gmail.com with your name and postal address to receive FREE pair of RED and GREEN stereoptic glasses which will allow you to follow the development of my Stereoptic practice! I'll mail them out to you within a week of you emailing me your address.

PROPOSAL DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR REALITY CHEQUE!

REALITY CHEQUE is the newest exhibition I'm co-ordinating and the Deadline to get your proposals in to ATVP's has been extended until 28th of May!

Think CFC, GFC, sustainability, climate change, greed, welfare, govermnent, cops, drugs, sex, SHOES and CLARITY!!!!!

Click on the form to enlarge, print it email it or drop it off to At The Vanishing Point at 565 King St Newtown. Or send it to me at realperspectives@gmail.com.

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Possibly A Mobile Blog?

Right now I'm searching for a new iPhone application which can I can use to post text and photo to this here blog. I was using an app called Shozu but it leaves an ugly logo at the base of the post. The journey is one of discovery. I'm finding new blogger widgets as well as new iPhone apps all the time. You may notice now that you can follow my twitter updates live on the top right corner of the blog.

Posted with LifeCast

TWITTERARTY

I've begun a twitter gallery of Collage works that I can make on my phone. Follow me to check it out at www.twitter.com/tonycurran.

Boxed In

Boxed In, (2009). Tony Curran. Acrylic on transparent perspex.

It's been a long time. I've been spending a great deal on a bunch of things most importantly this new work which I submitted for the Australian National Youth Self Portraiture Award held at the National Portrait Gallery of Australia.

Boxed In is a representation of my research into the phenomenology of visual representation. Here the three-dimensional subject yearns to escape a two-dimensionally composed representation. As the subject's attempt to be expressed is representationally limited he is trapped. This ideological sacrifice is depicted through the visual language of christian art as it is a readily recognisable and controversial theme. This creates the opportunity for more accessible debate. I have used a crucifixion composition. The transparent surface and media is akin to the stained glass windows seen in churches, and the depiction of "saints" who serve as additional representatives of the phenomenological argument around representational form. The iridescent gold is a reference to “false idols”, ancient sculpture and Nazi “Aryan” statues as a way to subvert ideologies that enforce a limited perspective of the world we live in.

BID-A-BOX

Each week, a decorated matchbox with a tiny present hidden inside is left by a girl (and sometimes willing friends) somewhere in her travels. It's a random act of semi-artistic kindness aimed at disrupting someone's day in a tiny but positive way. That's if they dare to pick it up...

As we speak Sonya Gee is in our studio crafting up limited edition matchboxes for a show happening this Wednesday at THE WALL at World Bar in Kings Cross. BID-A-BOX will feature ten matchboxes on display for a silent auction. The winners walk away with part of this project that has been catching phenomenal media attention over the last two years. For more information on this project visit The Matchbox Project!

FIRST DAY OF GALLERY MINDING - AT THE VANISHING POINT

Stargazing is the exhibition I'm staring at while doing my directorial duty for At The Vanishing Point, situated at 565 King St in Newtown. At this show is a ton of great paintings:

Peter Fyfe, Which Came First: The Chicken Or the Universe? 2008

Come along and keep me company on Sunday afternoons. Or if you can't make it on Sunday, come along Tuesday to Saturday 11am - 5pm

TWEET TWEET

I have a twitter account now. "Follow me on twitter" (Sonya's words).

PLENTY OF FISH

Turn and Draw was a group exhibition featuring myself, Luke Tipene and Tina Salama last Wednesday night at THE WALL, The World Bar in Kings Cross.

I projected a DVD of this stereoptic work and supplied a bunch of the accompanying 3D glasses

TURN AND DRAW!!

Untitled (2009), Luke Tipene

TURN AND DRAW is a group exhibition featuring emerging Sydney artists Tony Curran, Luke Tipene, and Tina Salama. Having met on an all expenses paid British Council "art holiday" in Edinburgh, now they're back to the drawing board. Turning from their more conceptual three-dimensional work this troupe of talent coincidentally discovered that they're latest thing was experimental drawing techniques. This exhibition features a range of drawing approaches from movement studies, abstracts, windswept and figurative works.

This show opens on Wednesday 8th of April at THE WALL at THE WORLD BAR featuring DJs SLEATER BROCKMAN, CASSETTE, 2ONAJOYRIDE MAT MURDOCK.


Come along to 42 Bayswater Rd, Sydney's Kings Cross. Doors open at 8 till late!

New Curation with awesome artist/journalist/historian Sonya Gee

Last night was the opening of my most recent involvement with artist-cum-local microhistory journalist Sonya Gee. Opened by Ryde Mayor Vic Tagg and Bennelong MP Maxine Mackew the show was a great success.

Neighbourhood Watch opened last night and will run until the 7th of April. Open Wednesday through Saturday 11am -4pm at 19 Lawson St, Eastwood.

For more information check out www.real-perspective.blogspot.com.

Sold For $2500

Today I sold a work for the princely sum of $2500 to an anonymous Sydney collector.

Self Portrait studies

I forgot how fun sketching could be. My housemates girlfriend told me I was being "self indulgent".

SELF PORTRAIT PREP

The annual Self Portraiture prize for emerging artists at the National Gallery of Australia is coming up and I'm working on a few approaches. This is one of them.

MAKING IT

As an artist seeking representation I've continuously found hurdles when it comes to finding the "right" people to contact and/or the right way to go about promoting my work. It really helps to listen to artists that have achieved a sustainable practice, but not every artist wants to tell you their magic recipe because more than likely it cost them a lot to figure out for themselves.

MAKING IT is a newborn blog. It's aims are simple: to focus on successes and failures of creative practitioners trying to get themselves ahead in art, music, writing, design, and architectural practices with a specific focus on self starters.

If you are a budding writer, director, artist, whatever, and want to promote your latest project, or if you want to contribute any media around the topic of "Making it" email MAKING IT on makingitblog@gmail.com and make yourself known!!

CALLING OUT FOR SUPPORT FOR "CABIN FEVER"

Image by James Drasegic taken from http://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=1962

TONY CURRAN is seeking expressions of interest from galleries and arts agencies for supporting an upcoming research adventure to Antarctica and his ongoing practice as a fine artist.

Tony Curran's perceptual post-media practice has developed throughout numerous projects involving stereoscopic portraits, drawing installations, sound design, and quasi-sculpture. Following in the footsteps of the Emperor Penguins - in November Tony plans to adventure Antarctica as a practicing artist.

The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) offers arts fellowships to a lucky few who show originality, good health and a promising outcome after the fellowship period. To be eligible to embark upon the icy shores of the south pole the AAD require written commitments of support from institutions which can boost confidence in the fellowship resulting in the best possible outcome. The kinds of support include financial, marketing assistance, donation of facilities or any contributions to the project.

Tony Curran intends to host Cabin Fever: Pieces of Antarctica a series of ongoing exhibitions in Sydney. The exhibitions will be held at different locations around Sydney in art spaces and also on a consistently updated website. The work will be displayed while the artist is working on new pieces which will be quickly sent to the supporting galleries upon each pieces completion. Works will also be accessible all over the world with information about where to see the exhibition in Sydney. It is also intended that at certain times, visitors of the exhibition will be able to see and talk to the artist using skype. This will allow the artist to give presentations as discussed with the collaborating galleries and also to have informal conversations about general life in Antarctica.

Cabin Fever is a work which explores the triumph of of human isolation, humankind's impact on the environment both local and global, self sustainability and loneliness. In today's urban and information saturated climate this will be a work will be conducted in isolation from the metropolis yet it will penetrate the digital bubble and spill over to have real and tangible consequence in the city of Sydney. This project is important for a number of reasons; it will encourage interest in Antarctica for an audience quite different from its already scientific savvy crowd. By capturing the interest of the arts this creates a vessel to inform and engage more people in the issues of global climate change and natural beauty in a language that is not limited to the sciences.

Incorporated in this project (and not limited to) will be drawings, paintings, photographs, videos, performances, and written reflections. While it is expected that this is the expected outcome of the project it is understood that it will be difficult to predict the artist's control over his circumstances while in Antarctica. The weather can be dangerous and the availability of transportation and equipment is dependent on the level of support that is given between now and the time the project starts. However each deprivation comes with it's own trajectory for the project and it's own excitement. It should also be noted that any activities that compromise Antarctic law and the rules of the fellowship body will not be undertaken and all necessary safety measures will be used for the duration of the project (November 2009 - January 2010).

Written commitments from supporting bodies are due with the artist's proposal application by March 30. For further inquiries please contact Tony Curran on this email address or call 0401230234.

Nam Nguyen at The Wall

Every now and then I get a text message asking me to source artists for an upcoming show. The event is The Wall which happens at The World Bar in Sydney's Kings Cross.


"This weeks artist is NAM NGUYEN if have not already checked his stuff here is a little bit about the man himself....
Nam Nguyen is a young painter and printmaker based in the west of Sydney. Having finished his bachelor of Visual Arts (majoring in Print Media) at the University of Sydney in 2008, he is currently undertaking postgraduate design studies at UTS. Within his art practice, Nam creates hyper-colored, almost graphic artworks that are heavily influenced by his love of comic book art, band posters, skateboard graphics and alternative graphic design.

In more recent works, Nam explores the ideas of visual manipulation upon compositional structures within iconic to even sometimes ‘senseless’ imagery. In other words, he takes certain images, (visually) strips them down to a more ‘purer’ form, and adds somewhat ‘filters’ to create highly experimental works that are maybe considered as psychedelic and abstract. By using mostly acrylics and inks, it is obvious Nam visually references contemporary alternative graphic art and design, although his works also conceptually deals with other various themes such as ‘Super Flat’, portraiture and popular culture."

	Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 8:00pm
	24 BAYSWATER ROAD, KINGS CROSS

Chris Burgess at World Bar 25th of February

Every now and then I get a phone call asking me to source artists for an upcoming show. Next week on Wednesday is an exhibition of works of one artist who surfaced with a solo show last year at Cafe Giulia, Chris Burgess

"Crispy, stencil artist extrordinaire - you know his face and might just have seen his art. At Cafe Guilia he may have made you laugh. Haven't been to Guilia? Let's start from scratch. Crispy is a flamboyant character. He has circulated the inner-city art scene with a deep desire to express himself within this colourful demographic of loveable people who are after an expression of their own inner experience. While being quite gregarious within his cafe persona, Chris Burgess has found a home within this community that has driven him to unleash the artist who can appreciate the world for the beautiful spectacle that it is. Despite formal training, navgation through the formal, the informal and moreover, the incedental parts of life has given him a unique and fresh approach towards the endeavour for artistic expression. Raised with five sisters, femininity has inevitably played a big part in the development of his vision as luscivious forms depict romantic silohettes reminicent of fifties pin-up girls, representing the fragility and power of the femine condition."

Archibald Realities!!!!

On Friday 6th of January sbs.com.au, World New Australia and Channel Seven's evening news used the above image as their headline for a story on the huge amounts of Archibald entries. The image is not the finished work but this post is a montage to complete the image. to read the article click here

sbs.com.au called their headline "Archibald Pantsdown" after the subject I painted who is most famous for his 1996 project Pauline Pantsdown, a satirical dance song with chopped up media recordings of Australian politician Pauline Hanson - famous for her xenophobic policy and famous for not knowing what xenophobic meant ("PLEASE EXPLAIN")

PAULINE PANTSDOWN AkA Simon Hunt is currently a lecturer in Sound Design at the College of Fine Arts in Sydney and has an exhaustive knowledge of good music.


Thanks Simon and hopefully I'll see you at the Archies.



Photos courtesy of Sonya Gee.

Entry for the Doug Moran Prize 2009

Hustlin' Internet - Jonathon Valenzuela (2008), The lynx effect on Perspex.

Photos courtesy of Sonya Gee

BUSTING OUT: Masters of Their Domain

BUSTING OUT: Masters of their own domain

Lust, greed, and the futility of men's and women's search for reality are just some of the themes that punctuate this exciting new show at Gallery at Wentworth, featuring a range of students and graduates from the College of Fine Art's Masters of Art program. Handpicked for their unique flair and talent, this show is an eclectic expose of new works by Tony Curran, Carla Hananiah, Gavin Cawthorn, Sophie P.d'Abrigeon, Anne Barrett, Stephen Yates and Anastasia Taylor.

Tony Curran's research into visual perception is expressed via colourful, interactive, and experimental neo-paintings which have been featured in exhibitions locally, interstate and internationally. www.tonycurran.blogspot.com.

Carla Hananiah's paintings involve an indepth study of contemporary imaging of landscapes and how memory can both form and deform artistic expression. www.carlahananiah.com

Gavin Cawthorn's paintings subtly discuss the inevitability of decay in photorealistic paintings of wealth symbols which become carefully curated still life works. He has exhibitted in numerous shows in regional and urban NSW. www.gavincawthorn.com

Stephen Yates' paintings depict the exotic. Travelling around the world Stephen has researched this subject in Laos, Cambodia and the reef fringed northern islands of New Guinea. As an outsider Stephen uses a hightened sense of awareness and understanding to dive into different cultures to give to us his anthropological representations. By day Stephen is an art teacher in the Sydney suburbs.

Sophie P.d'Abrigeon investigates the voyeur, and the power imbalance between subject and object in gender relationships. Eerie, political and provocative, Sophie's works stand up for the new taboo of gender discourse, in a world of confusingly altered gender politics.

Anastasia Taylor is an artist who has lived around Europe and the US before settling in Australia, Anastasia's work is a must see for lovers of Art History and inquisitors into national identity. Anastasia combines images from places she has been to express something both personal and universal about her visits/travels.

Anne Barrett works with the macroscopic and microscopic together to bring about a cosmos of waves and particles suspended in a state of constant flux, governed by forces of chaos and order. Anne's research explores the nexus of art, science and technology, using oil paint on smooth synthetic canvas. Her practice mirrors her concept by utilising techniques of chance and control within the painting process and by mimicking contemporary imaging techniques and the surface aesthetic of the electronic screen.

This show opens on January 14 at Gallery at Wentworth – 17 Bligh St, Sydney and will continue until January 20. Celebrations for the opening night commence at 5:30pm until 8pm January 14.

NEW WORK: Merry Christmas to the Matchbox Project!!!

Smoke, 2008. Ink and impasto acrylic on acetate.

The Matchbox Project is one of Sydney's most awesome ongoing artworks at the moment, and as I have recently been climbing the ranks of the art patron I decided to marry my two loves - patronage and painting - to give my own small present for a stranger. Light this for your pipe and smoke it!

Photos courtesy of Sonya Gee.

PHOTOS FROM THE STUDIO

photo courtesy of Jason Mcdermott.

Tony does Gallery Wentworth

REALPERSPECTIVE a biased review

Bring your pets to REALPERSPECTIVE. The Badly Keyed Horse by SAM BRYANT

REALPERSPECTIVE went off without a hitch. The day after a near death catastrophe heralded the works of twelve great artists and a debut show from the MPC artist ANTLERS. Everyone got lucky thanks to the love potion in the beer by the Happy Goblin Brewery, a fine brew who's varied malts makes it accessible to even the ladies of the party.


Those who were lucky found small presents for strangers by the Matchbox Project's Sonya Gee. If your lucky you might notice one hiding at TAP Gallery until Sunday the 21st of December, 278 Palmer St Darlinghurst.


REALPERSPECTIVE is my latest curation.

ICON CREATIVE SUMMIT 2008

After having arrived in Brisbane for less than an hour I was approached to sing Radiohead's creep in the centre Mall in Brisbane CBD. That was among the leisures I was to indulge. However this trip was purely business.

ICON Creative summit housed seven paintings from the 25th -30th November. I went to Brisbane to check it out and came away thinking that the Brisbane Powerhouse is one kick ass venue. Some of the works featured were great. Paintings from heart-throb Nick Plowman were among the highlights.

Mostly I enjoyed spying on people wearing my red and green 3d Glasses not realising what the accessories purposed until they saw the 3d effect of my paintings. This show featured Sculpture and The Hustler. I got great feedback from people, amazing ocean trout Bruschetta and kicking my girlfriends ass in Virtua Fighter, chicken, and TRON meant a holiday well spent.

COFA Annual 2008

HEARTBREAK

After eight hours of setting up, having my work removed on the night of the Alumni Preview (thank you Andrew Christofides) which saw my work crumpled on the floor in the corner, and setting it up again (6 hours later) the result was better than anticipated.

Thanks to Everyone who came along to see the COFA Annual.










In addition to this triumph I received a copy of a book I have been published in titled BY THE THROAT: Seeking a Nexus Between Glasgow and Edinburgh which is a British Council, College of Fine Arts and University of Edinburgh Publication.

Some of the artists in this publication will also be featuring in my new show REALPERSPECTIVE, opening on the 10th of December at TAP Gallery in Darlinghurst. Details are on the flyer below.

Honours Show at COFA

see you there!

Jason McDermott

Jason McDermott is a PhD student of Architecture at UTS. His research is in Informal Dialogue, which is about how architectural space communicates with it's surrounding environments and occupants. On December 8 Jason will be unveiling his latest work which is a computer program designed in Max MSP which will project a digital canvas onto the wall of TAP Gallery in Darlinghurst during the exhibition REAL PERSPECTIVE. Viewers will be able to use a virtual paint applicator in the form of a wii controller.

Jason's vision for his work is to allow artists to explore a digital medium beyond the desk-top studio that the digital revolution perpetuates. How this plays into architecture is that anyone can become the artist, occupant, and architect by wielding dominion of the visual environment.

Come along to my next couple of shows!!!

OK everyone, here is your timetable!
on the 26th you need to come to COFA for amazing art and gold coin donation drinks. Find me, hit up the afterparty with me and fall on to a bed somewhere in the wee hours of the morning.




THEN!! crawl about of bed and hop on to the first flight that's going to Brisbane! Come to the opening of the ICON creative summit at the Brisbane Powerhouse where you can check out a good seven original Tony Curran's

Paddington Art Prize Denied

This is a video of my work that the Paddington Art Prize rejected. The works they accepted were crumby.

This is Not a Film Premiere Opening Night

Last Night was the opening to This is not a Film Premiere which was the launch for the new media installation That Girl Will Not Be In My Film by Heidi Bi. The show will run until the 15th of November between two locations, Don't Look Gallery and Reverse Garbage. My work, Spin, is exhibitted at Reverse Garbage. The show is curated by myself and Heidi Bi.






Spin, 2008. Ink on acetate, 28"x28"



Photos Courtesy of Sonya Gee

Getting Ready For Paddington Art Prize

This piece is for the Paddinton Art Prize due on Tuesday morning. It is an homage to a swell buddy of mine who is no longer with us.





14 June, 2007. Ink on acetate, 42"x 32".
Photos courtesy of Sonya Gee

This is Not a Film Premiere

This is Not a Film Premiere is a group show in two separate Sydney spaces. Come along to the opening to see a ton of great artworks. I'm curating this one too along with Sydney artist Heidi Bi.

Underwatery Love Open

Thanks to everyone who came along, it always makes a show when you have a load of folks there who want to drink with you. Thanks to Huff for his unreasonable request at New York Pizza which ended up scoring a whole pie (RRP $38).



At Gallery 285 I have installed a work called Death Perspective.


This installation is made up of drawings which are aimed to immerse the viewer at the scene of Death. In the context of Gallery 285's show "Underwatery Love" I used the theme to explore the nature of attraction - the kind of attraction between predator and prey.



Blue and Red Cellophane were used above an overhanging web to colour the downlights as well as to dispurse the lights' reflections similarly to the oceans surface. A sound track was also installed:




The work will be up for about a month and opening hours are from 2-6 weekdays and 12-6 weekends. Enjoy the show!






photos courtesy of Sonya Gee

Underwatery Love

This is the latest show I'll be in come Tuesday 14th of October. Please all come to the opening, I've had a preview of the works and they are stella! My works will be brand new.

The exhibition will continue into November.

Cafe Giulia Continued

This amazing new work is now at Cafe Giulia. Ask staff for 3D glasses.



I got a great review of my show on a cooking blog! go check it out at http://theunbearablelightnessofbeinghungry.blogspot.com/

Show at Cafe Giulia

The Hustler
Ask Staff for 3D Glasses

Luke With Skull Shadow

Self Portrait, 2007

Operation


Falling Back



Cafe Giulia. Cnr Abercrombie and Meagher St.

Show Opened at Cafe Giulia

Awesome show. No Flyer, no prices, but I just put titles in. So far I've included The Hustler, Operation, Luke with Skull Shadow, Falling Back, and two Self Portraits.

When Viewing The Hustler ask a staff member for 3-D Glasses.

This work is not in the Cafe Giulia show but I just thought I'd put it out there

Tony Breaks Out Into Acting

Sam Bryant is the Sydney Director who maintains artistic integrity so strongly that even when he's working on an ad for Chartered Accountants he still makes it happen his way. So when he called me up asking if he could use me for a lead role in a project he was working on I couldn't refuse.......



you can see more of Sam's work by clicking here.

Tee Party on Blogspot

My main man and hausmate has set up a blog for his brand of tees. It's www.teepartyhaus.blogspot.com. You can find him in markets, in Chippendale, and sometimes out at night.

Ooooooh it's very exciting. The design for the flyer of a show I'll be in in January is an exquisite corpse from all the artists that will be appearing.

here is the progress so far:

Above: Drawings by Gavin Cawthorn

Below: Additions by Tony Curran

Photos of new show at gallery 285

photos courtesy of Sonya Gee

New Show

Well there's a new gallery in town. Gallery 285 is the new hot spot for the culture vultures on Liverpool St in Darlinghurst, and I've gotten myself a room to exhibit my stuff for their grand opening and first ever show.

The works in this show are fantastic and I'm very happy to be using a space with the other nineteen artists being exhibitted. It runs for a month so pop on down sometime the opening hours ate 12-6 on weekdays and 2-6 on weekends. I'm not 'sposed to invite people to the opening on Wednesday night but oops now you know about it.

New work

I entered this for the Dobell prize............. maybe next year.

Photos from Edinburgh

Thanks to Jason McDermot Architecture extraordinairre soon to be website extraordinairre at www.jasonmcdermot.net I have photos of my show in edinburgh. Thanks Jason.

This issue of Melbourne based e-magazine No Tears features a number of great artists who work in a range of media from photography to amazing. You can download this issue and their others from their website http://www.notearsmagazine.com/ or you can download the issue with five pages dedicated to yours truly by clicking here.

Mosman Art Prize Denied

After a night of free wines, foods and no beer I wasn't the one to take away the Mosman Art Prize for 2008. The top prize went to Jasper Night. A cool artist to look out for from the exhibition was the man who took the emerging artist award, Sebastian Nash, who submitted an ink drawing of an elephant in black and white. Beautiful.

Here are some photos of where it hangs. Images courtesy of Sonya Gee

Group show

It's early notice but put it down in your pocket organizers that I have a show confirmed for the 14th of January. I believe it's in the Sydney CBD but I'm not exactly sure yet. More information to follow.

Mosman Art Prize Confirmed

I got selected for exhibition in the Mosman Art Prize today. That's a great outcome so far.

My Debut Article, "Getting Aural".

This year has been a year of debuts for me: my first solo show, my first travel grant, and now my first published article. You can read it at www.vibewire.net or you can read it below.

Getting Aural - Liquid Architecture, Sydney

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submitted by Tony Curran — last modified 2008-07-27 20:47

At Liquid Architecture, a national touring sound-art festival, laptop musicians, experimental instruments, inventors and vocalists shared the stage with sound installations, people trying to flog homemade sound equipment and the odd heckler. It’s chaotic, confusing and occasionally overwhelming, writes Tony Curran.

“So what exactly is Sound Art?” bright eyed Angus from Canberra asked me on our way to Liquid Architecture – the national touring Sound Festival which was held at the Factory theatre on 11th and 12th of July. Sound Art is the term used to describe music which engages the audience on an aural level other than musical entertainment........ or so I thought. I wasn’t exactly sure which is why I wanted to check the whole thing out. At least for this weekend, sound art was personified by the likes of toy.bizarre, Robert Normandeau, Lawrence English, Nat, Jacques Soddell , Kusum Normoyle, Andrew Pekler, Marcus Schmickler and Metalog.

If you expect dancing at a sound festival, you'd have trouble finding the beat. The recital inspired layout ushered the audience toward a classical approach to experiencing the performance. The best way to imagine this would be to think of a solo violinist at the opera house, take away the violin, replace it with a laptop and surround sound speaker set up. This is what I call contemporary music because it isn't pop music. It's fresh and located in the digital music realm.

What separates sound art from the familiar music of popular and underground culture is its separation from conventional rhythms and melodies. Here, electronics carry the timbre where as with most music, the timbre comes from carefully designed instruments or emulators of carefully designed instruments. At Liquid Architecture however, orchestras and bands give way to one man bands who produce the music on laptops. The language changes and notes give way to frequencies.

Performers Nick Wishari and Hirofumi Uchino as well as Metalog were welcome exceptions to the one man laptop phenomenon. Showing us that sound doesn't have to come from an elusive software interface, but can be used from found objects like toys and home modified instruments. This mixed up the performances a bit and it felt like there was hope for audience interaction. Nick and Hirofumi use conventional instruments such as guitar in addition to a myriad of toys through a bunch of effects to create glitchy scratchy sounds which form low tempo rhythms. The chaos of distortion and the unpredictable nature of their sonic structure gave their work the energy of a car crash aftermath.

A nice contrast to the chaotic linear assemblage of toy music was the gentle arrangement of a DIY sound art orchestra. Metalog are a six piece band with home made, invented and modified instruments. Their music progresses like free form jazz. They communicate with eye contact, their vocalist uses a kind of soft pentacostalist scat, and their set evolves from solo improvs which every member has a play. Jim from Metalog refers to their approach as a “corporeal interface”.

While they are aware of the electronic component of their art, their bodies produce sounds, gestures and their instruments create a raw acoustic character that is central – spacially and ideologically - to their work. Although they are fans themselves of one man computer music acts who get some epic sounds their corporeal approach to sound art is their response to the “same-ish ecomical approach to the sound art performance” – integrating new technologies with the body to push further.

Metalog's work was gentler than most of the acts at Liquid Architecture so it was surprising when they became the sole target of a heckler. “This supposed to be some kind of music??" was the first of several loud interjections, the aggression of the male heckler not unlike sports coaches who hurl abuse and instructions from the sideline. The audience stirred. “You better hurry up and figure out what kind of music you got 'cos I'm getting pretty bored.” Ending most spectacularly with, “do you have a SINGLE PIECE OF FUCKING MUSIC? YOU GOOSE!”.

Whatever, it's sound art, which means it was probably all part of the show, right?

The band's response a few days later was enlightening. “Brad [the heckler] is actually a really nice guy, it's just when he gets a few drinks in him,” explained Jim – the band's nucleus. He said he was initially pissed off but soon became thankful. “We really felt a change in the audience after that, they began to listen more. Besides I thought his voice sounded good. It worked well with the acoustics of the room, and afterwards the room made sense.”

From this attitude it is clear that sound art has a distinct ethic to it. It’s all about exploring the acoustic space, building a relationship between frequencies, contrast, building dynamics and tensions. It took me a lot of hating before I got to the loving. I kept comparing the sound's to movie soundtracks. Kasum was a horror movie, Heil Spirit's was an arthouse movie. I realised I was a hater of sound art because it just seemed to be doing what cinema does and as soon as I realised that I fell in love with it because sound art came before Hollywood. Hollywood took sound art and made it accessible within a certain visual context and only within that context. From the silent films, to the talkies, to the sensational blockbuster movies the development of cinematic virtuoso can be largely awarded to the caliber of the sound artists employed to create the desired acoustic environment. Here we get the sound for it's own sake.

While this kind of music festival may require some serious patience, there was definitely something there for everyone: an opportunity to explore our sense of hearing beyond whatever indie-rock/pop techno/hiphop four-four melodic tune is on our ipods that follows the same structures, roots and genres as all the other tracks on our itunes. Some talent to look out for is Melissa Hunt, Lawrence English, Metalog, Heil Spirits, Nat Bates, Kasum and Jaques Biddel. All have new and interesting interpretations on sound, the sense we use but don't really think about.

http://www.liquidarchitecture.org.au/

Image courtesy of Cedric Peyronnet/toy.bizarre

Turn It Up Competition on Noise

Noise.net has an online exhibitions at the moment called turn it up. There are image, word, audio, and multimedia categories that each have a prize. Two of my images are in the competition and one audio piece. The winners will be selected by a public vote (i.e you) so if you like any of the following three works you can vote for them by clicking here.







Going for a Cigarette in Edingburgh.mp3 Tony - Curran

HARD SOFT MOTHERFUCKERS

HARD SOFT MOTHERFUCKERS is a zine I made with Luke Scriver of Edmonton Canada for the Kinokuniya Zine fair earlier this year. You can download the zine for free by clicking here.

It shows the inner core and hamanity of a number of our most loved gangsta rappers. Tune in to read the beauty of Snoop Dogg's heart and soul as these hard men show us for the first time who they truly are

Mosman Art Prize

Figure With Skull Shadow, 2008. 594 x 420 x 340mm


I woke up with an alarm that said "Mosman Art Prize" at 10:00am today. I thought of something to submit which didn't take long at all. T he right choice was on the fore of my mind. Thank God I had Sonya Gee near by to give me some very important information. "All works are to be submitted ready for exhibition".

My work consists of four separate sheets of acetate that hang loosely from each other in mid air - not ideal to impress the Senior Curator of the MCA and Judge of the Mosman Art Prize Rachel Kent. I also had to
repaint one of the layers of acetate.

How do I get anything done when:
a) I never plan ahead
b) Don't have a finished work
and
c) Have a studio space that's so messy I can never find anything?

I get by with a little help from my friends.

T

Green and Pink Drips

Finito

Night Time