Visual arts and crafts - News and events

Events | Featured projects | Announcements

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Events

Soft sculpture - Canberra

24 April – 12 July 2009

Soft sculpture looks at the ways artists use unconventional materials to challenge the nature of sculpture. Visitors will see works made from cloth, rope, paper, hair, leather, rubber or vinyl. The objects may droop, ooze or splash. They are fluffy, squishy or bent. They surround, suffocate and astonish and, in many cases, make us laugh. National Gallery of Australia.

Transformation - Scarf Festival 2009 - Geelong, Victoria

19 June -19 July 2009

In partnership with Craft Victoria, the scarf festival offers an opportunity to celebrate the scarf as a form of adornment, a vehicle for self-expression and creativity and, of course, a way of keeping the winter chill at bay. New to the festival is the Transformation Showcase, a visual and tactile art-based installation of hand-crafted scarves that embody the festival's theme of transformation. National Wool Museum.

The Anne Landa Award - Sydney

7 May – 19 July 2009

The Anne Landa Award is the first biennial exhibition in Australia dedicated to moving image and new media arts. The artists in this year's exhibition consider what it means to transform the self into another persona - as a doppelganger, a karaoke performer, an avatar, a robot or a fantasy alter-ego. Guest curator Victoria Lynn. Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Australian Ceramics Triennale - Sydney

17–20 July 2009

The First Australian Ceramics Triennale (formerly the National Ceramics Conference) will build on the momentum of the 2006 VERGE Ceramics Conference in Brisbane. The focus of this international event Facing the Future will be the relationship between contemporary ceramic practice and the emergence of diverse social, cultural and technological global forces. Various locations.

Tristan Louth Robins and Shoot Collective, Tensions - Adelaide

26 June – 25 July

Sound artist Tristan Louth-Robins and new-media arts collective Shoot will collaborate to produce Tensions. With original soundscapes, performance and projected imagery the exhibition will explore emotion and tension through the use of personal technological devices—what they transmit, store and receive, the emotional implications for the user, and how this ultimately influences society. Experimental Art Foundation.

Birgit Neiser, CAUGHT: Photographs of life at Sydney Fish Market - Sydney

13 June – 26 July 2009

The exhibition CAUGHT is the result of a long term personal project by photographer Birgit Neiser, who spent close to three years observing and recording life at the Sydney Fish Markets in Pyrmont. The images that she produced reveal her skills in documentary storytelling, through her passionate and respectful approach to the real life of the markets which often goes on unseen by the casual market visitor. Mosman Art Gallery.

Brett Whiteley, 9 Shades of Whiteley - Regional tour

12 July 2008 – 23 August 2009

Entitled 9 Shades of Whiteley, the exhibition will travel to six regional centres across three states over 18 months. The 'nine shades' include Whiteley's early works, abstracts, Christie & London zoo series, Lavender Bay, portraits, birds & landscapes, sculptures, late works and the Studio. The final section includes photographs of the Brett Whiteley Studio, Whiteley's last home and studio from 1985 to 1992 before it became a public gallery. Various locations.

John Brack retrospective - Melbourne

24 April – 9 August 2009

The John Brack retrospective will survey the artist's complete career, incorporating over 150 works from all of his major series. John Brack will bring together a significant body of the artist's paintings and works on paper, including pictures that have developed an iconic status and others that have rarely, if ever, been seen publicly since they were first exhibited. The Ian Potter Centre, Federation Square.

The Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize 2009 - Adelaide, Canberra

Adelaide 18 July - 6 September 2009, Canberra 24 September to 15 November 2009

The Waterhouse is Australia's richest prize for Natural History Art, boasting a total prize pool of $114,500. Each year entries are invited in three categories: Paintings, Works on Paper and Sculpture & Objects. This year, 101 finalists have been chosen from a pool of 837 entries. The winners will be announced on 17 July 2009. South Australian Museum, National Archives of Australia.

Caught in Thread - Hobart

9–13 September 2009

Caught in Thread, the 32nd Exhibition of the Hobart Embroiderers' Guild Inc. will exhibit the past two years' embroidery projects by guild. Around 350 to 400 items will be exhibited by approximately 63 members. A vast array of different stitches and techniques will be on display. Some projects are the design and handwork of the exhibitors, whilst others are from a design found in a kit, book or some other source. Long Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre.

American Impressionism and Realism: A Landmark Exhibition from the Met with iconic Australian paintings - Brisbane

30 May – 20 September 2009

The Queensland Art Gallery will be the only venue in the world to show American Impressionism and Realism: A Landmark Exhibition from the Met, featuring more than 70 impressionist and realist paintings from The Metropolitan's collection of American paintings and sculpture. The exhibition will present works by some of America's foremost artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Childe Hassam, William Merritt Chase, Maurice Prendergast and Mary Cassatt. Highlighting how Australian artists responded to key artistic developments of the time, more than 30 iconic Australian paintings will also be included in the exhibition. Australian artists will include Tom Roberts, Charles Conder, Frederick McCubbin and Rupert Bunny. Queensland Art Gallery.

Gloucester Art Trail - Gloucester, New South Wales

3–18 October 2009

With support from Regional Arts NSW, the town of Gloucester will become one giant gallery during the Gloucester Art Trail. Over 30 local artists will display a wide range of art including photography, pottery, painting, sculpture, digital media and floral art. On the long weekend artists will also open their studios.

Fibre Textile Biennial Momentum - national tour 

March 2009 - July 2010

'Textile artists work inventively because of the rapidly changing context of their world, pushing the boundaries and communicating through their original expressive forms. They challenge our preconceptions and move forward into unknown territories. The strength of this work comes from the artists' ability to respect their tradition and history while engaging with the momentum of progress.' The 18th Tamworth  Fibre Textile  Biennial is curated by Valerie Kirk. National tour includes Canberra, Wagga Wagga, Mornington Peninsular, Geraldton, Dubbo, Windsor, Mount Gambier.

Featured projects

Murray Fredericks, Salt-Lake Eyre Photographs

May 2009

For six years photographer-artist Murray Fredericks has cycled out onto Lake Eyre in the northern extremes of South Australia. On the vast emptiness of the salt lake, he has created a body of time-lapse photography.  Michael Angus has augmented Fredericks' footage with aerial photography, time-lapse video and the haunting sounds of Aajinta's Harmonic Spheres to produce an experience of what it means to look at landscape with fresh eyes.

Creative Australians recognised for inspiring the community

1 March 2009

Creativity comes in a surprising range of shapes and sizes in Australia and is often the inspiration behind people becoming involved in their local community. This year, Sensis is celebrating the contribution creative Australians have made to their communities through the arts by featuring them on the cover of the 2009/10 Yellow Pages ® and White Pages ® directories.

Wonderlust Touch Tours - Perth

Ongoing

The Art Gallery of Western Australia provides vision-impaired visitors with the chance to experience artworks more directly than ever before through its Wonderlust Touch Tours. Many artworks in the Gallery's new exhibition WONDERLUST New journeys Your collection appeal to a range of the senses—with textural and aural elements as well as visual ones. Wonderlust Touch Tours allow vision-impaired people and their friends and family a chance to run their hands over selected pieces. Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Australian collection - Victoria

Permanent exhibition

Comprising more than 20,000 works, the NGV's collection of Australian art is one of the oldest in the country. Browse highlights from the Australian painting collection by artist name. It now includes the Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists (VFLAA). VFLAA purchases significant contemporary visual artworks by Australian artists for the NGV collection and for touring and lending to the network of regional and metropolitan galleries of Victoria. National Gallery of Victoria.

Announcements

AMCAT opens new museum space

June 2009

Australian Museum of Clothing and Textiles (AMCAT), established in 2005, features a wealth of local textile history and information. Among the many items of interest on show will be memorabilia from local industries of the past such as National Textiles (formerly known as Burlington Mills), Courtaulds Industries, Paynes Shoe Company, Osti and Bonds. The items currently date from the 1860s and range from working clothes and accessories through to refined garments worn by all classes, and an extensive range of household linen and adornments. Lieutenant Governor’s Residence Building at Maitland Gaol.

Callum Morton appointed to NGA Council

25 May 2009

Arts Minister Peter Garrett announced the appointment of Mr Callum Morton to the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) Council. Mr Morton is a practising artist and arts educator, who brings a wide range of skills and industry experience to the Council. An internationally renowned artist, Mr Morton's work has been exhibited extensively across Australia and overseas, winning several prestigious art awards including the Helen Macpherson Smith Commission in 2005.

Vincent Fantauzzo's Brandon wins 2009 Archibald Prize People's Choice award

May 2009

Melbourne artist, Vincent Fantauzzo has won the 2009 Archibald People's Choice Prize for his portrait of child actor Brandon Walters. Vincent Fantauzzo was highly commended at last year's Archibald Prize for his triple-image portrait of his friend Heath Ledger, painted just weeks before the actor's death. The painting also won the People's Choice Award. This year his subject is Brandon Walters, who played the young boy Nullah opposite Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in Baz Luhrmann's film Australia.

Mural Fest winner announced

18 April 2009

Marc Spijkerbosch from New Zealand was presented with $6,000 as the winner of the Wilderness Gallery 2009 International Mural Fest Judges Award with his mural titled Fire & Life. The Jelly Media 2009 Visitors Choice Award winner of was John Eathorne from Tasmania, winning $1,000 for his mural titled Perdition. The awards were presented at the Sheffield Town Hall at the closing of the Mural Fest.

Key online resources

• Arts OutWest
• artsource - The Artists Foundation of WA
• Living Treasures Online Resource
• WEB-ARTS

Collection resources and online publications

• Collections Australia Network
• RedBubble
• Artists of Australia
• Arts Northern Rivers - Visual Arts Network

Institutions and government organisations

• Artbank

Peak bodies and associations

• National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)
• Craft Australia - Australian guilds, societies and associations
• National Exhibition Touring Support Australia
• Viscopy
• Photography Australia Group
• The association of Western Australian art galleries

People

• Brett Whiteley
• Fiona Hall
• Grace Cossington-Smith
• Harold Cazneaux
• Margaret Olley
• Margaret Preston
• Dictionary of Australian Artists Online

Featured websites/projects

• Major visual arts prizes