Quiet Beauty/Wild Beauty

I am a finalist in the Gold Coast Ceramic Art Awards. Judged by ceramicist Stephen Benwell. this years exhibition is amazing (if I do say so myself!) . Stephen talked about the two categories that he could describe in the exhibition of finalists as "Quiet Beauty" and "Wild Beauty". All this talk of beauty is inspiring in the the often cynical, bureaucratic world of artspeak. The entries all contained a certain lyricism, an emphasis on concept that is sometimes neglected in the ceramics world of materials and process. This made a really interesting show, the viewer was constantly confronted with the bizarre, or whimsical, or crazy but the thread running through this was the IDEA. This has been deeply unfashionable in ceramic circles and of course the idea of beauty is viewed with suspicion at best and derision at worst in "high" art circles, as a result this show was a refreshing change.

The winner was Peter Cooley's "Tree with Busted Guts and Galahs".

Cooley is a fascinating mid- career artist who oeuvre includes carpet design, paintings and ceramics. His work is definitely in the category of "Wild Beauty" This piece references kitsch and the "busted guts" form includes two "handles" however the sculpture transcends these associations on closer examination. There is a sense of companionship and community in the way the galahs interact, from every angle they are inclining towards one another. Concurrent with this is the sense of imminent ,creative explosion, the colours are vibrant and beautiful and the busted guts of the tree function as a metaphor for the roiling crazy creativity of the artist.

Peter Cooley is represented by Ray Hughes Gallery in Sydney.

Professional Photography

After many tries at
A. Getting my pots to professional photographers
and
B. getting professional photographs
I have come to the conclusion that I should just bite the bullet and learn how to do most of my photos myself.

A tool that is going to be invaluable is my new collapsible light box. I tried it out the other day......

When photographing outside it is important to WEIGH DOWN the lighbox in case of a breeze (I did this with a kiln shelf.)

Now to just get the darned thing down. Look very easy............

Oh yes. I've got ! I've got it! .....just hang on a minute..........


Voila! (fuzzy photos courtesy of timer on camera and slow film setting)

Noosa Travelling Scholarship

Wallum Nests- finalist in Noosa Travelling Scholarship

I'm thrilled to be a finalist the Noosa Regional Gallery Travelling Scholarship. The winner gets a prize of $12 000 to travel to a destination of their choice and undertake research or study. The Scholarship has recently changed to a 3-d prize and the forty finalist include ceramicists, jewellers, sculptors, paper artists and textile artists.

Shona Wilson won the prize with her beautiful, delicate "Diatom 13", a sculpture made of twigs,seedpods,seeds,branchlets and plastic. Shona's work is absolutely stunning combining found natural materials with beach plastic. These works explore the cross-over between the natural world, the world of science and human impact on the environment. It is rare to see works using found natural objects with such beauty and delicacy supported by a rigorous, conceptual framework. The use of macroscopic images evokes contemporary scientific practice while the construction using seeds,twigs and natural objects evokes primitive talismans or magical,ritual objects.
These images are from Shona's website. You can see images and read artist's statements from the Noosa Travelling Scholarship here.

Herb and Dorothy

"Herb and Dorothy" is a great documentary about two of America's most influential collectors of contemporary art. The amazing thing about these two passionate and unassuming people is that they have collected art with a tenacity and vigour beyond both the constraints of their income and of their tiny, one bedroom apartment.

Now in their 80's, Herb and Dorothy Vogler began collecting art from New York's artists working in Minimalism in the 1960's. Herb was a postal worker and Dorothy was a librarian and their collection was constrained by their modest income. They would visit artists studio's and attend openings and often pay the works off over a series of payments. Their zeal for collecting continued and during the 70's and 80's they moved in into conceptual art. Eventually their collection numbered in the thousand's represented the finished works and working sketches of some of the 20th century's most important artists including Sol LeWitt, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Tuttle, Chuck Close, Robert Mangold, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Lynda Benglis, Pat Steir, Robert Barry, Lucio Pozzi, and Lawrence Weiner.
Sol Le Witt
Herb and Dorothy became a respected part of the national arts scene in America and many galleries vied for the rights to buy part of their collection which was still impossibly housed in their one- bedroom apartment. Herb and Dorothy resisted all offers and in 1992 gave most of this significant and priceless collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. They believe that these works are items of beauty and should be enjoyed by all people for free. The Vogel's speak of themselves as custodians of the art and the incredible loyalty they have shown to artists and generosity in sharing their passion continues as they are still filling up their apartment with new work bought out of the small stipend given to them by the National Gallery in recognition of their services to the arts.

Borrow this wonderful documentary by director Megumi Sasaki as soon as you can!