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