Jimmy goes to China!

The exhibition Jimmy Pike: Desert Psychedelic has received funding to go to the Ningbo Art Museum in April 2011 for the Australia-China Council.

It has now been included in the Federal Governments platform called Imagining Australia – the Year of Australian Culture in China and will receive marketing and promotion assistance from the Embassy in Beijing as well. 

The Darling Foundation is also sponsoring the exhibition. Their contribution will allow artisan to commission Carbon Media, a wholly owned Aboriginal multi-media company, to develop a presentation of Jimmy Pike’s life in both English and Mandarin.

Tinsmith finishes….or does it ?

Barbara Heath’s fabulous exhibition Tinsmith: An Ordinary Romance was an outstanding success with excellent sales, and two great articles extending the media coverage into the Australian and Inside Out magazine. The exhibition has now been packed up but Museum and Gallery Services (MAGS) are keen to tour the show and have sent out Expressions of Interest to regional galleries. Fingers crossed it appears again so more people can experience this thought provoking and well crafted show. Well done Barbie and MalE!

Artisan Funding

 

The wait is over! Artisan has finally received notification that its funding application to Arts Queensland’s funding program S2M (Small to Medium) has been approved and the organization will continue with triennial funding.

Aseem Pereira Commission for QSL

Artist Aseem Pereira has been busy cultivating and shredding cans in preparation for some serious weaving for his commission with QSL facilitated by artisan. We will keep you posted as the work progresses!

One Lost Earring

This new and interesting project is open to craft and design practitioners, artists and the general public. The blog provides and opportunity to tell stories, and remember a loved object. The author asks three questions, where did you get the earrings from? When or how did you loose the earring? Why did you keep the lost earring? 

http://onelostearringproject.blogspot.com/

Glen Henderson Artist in Residence with QUT Creative Industries

Artisan member Glen Henderson, artist-in-residence at the Creative Industries Precinct, presents part one of the The Lightness Matrix, a three part Parer Place project extending into 2011. The opening event will be held at the marvelous Glass House with Peter Lavery is opening it on 24th November.

about the work:

The Lightness Matrix is a response to microscopic biological structures where all of the patterns are interrelated and the injection of each unexpected physical image reinterprets the space. From the smallest living organisms to designed and fabricated formations the lightness matrix looks at the way things are connected. 

In this work, the connections that play out between the scientific, the architectural and the infusion of selected imagery may seem like leaps of the imagination. Yet the process of bringing this material together frame by frame transforms what might be read as disparate elements into a seamless language of idea.

I see the brain as patterned environment. Through exposure to stimuli recognition takes place and the patterning evolves. In an endeavour to realize the new, the movie and the photographic prints chart a course through my recent practice, extracting from research material, constructs and processes. As a maker of imagery, I feel like a disjunctive poet bringing complex elements together and this introductory work is an invitation to enter stage one of a space-time continuum.

 

The underlying patterning of Matrix One reveals a shifting contingent of relationships between things of long interest to me. Viewers may decipher the codes and diagrams that link the sometimes disparate images by trailing back through to Glen's website, catalogues and publications. www.glenhenderson.com

Example:
Lightness: Whether the focus is a nerve cell, a Mongolian desert tent or a Stealth bomber, there is no shape without material and effort so the more we value minimal energy consumption the lighter (more efficient) the form becomes.

The Parer Place Project s an innovative outdoor projection exhibition series celebrating the moving image in all its forms - film, television, games, new media and art. The Urban Screens are solely dedicated to providing a digital canvas for emerging or experimental artists, with artworks animating the bold architecture of QUT's Creative Industries Precinct each night at dusk.

We heart Bridget Bodenham's white porcelain brooches!

Shannon has been busily photographing a selection of our new Cherish stock to ensure that our online store is choc-a-block full of goodies for Christmas. Cherish, (m)art's annual Christmas Shopping Showcase launches this Thursday the 18th November at (m)art design store Fortitude Valley, coinciding with the opening of the last two artisan exhibitions of the year - Jaishree Srinivasan and Yuta Badayala. A portion of the Cherish selection such as the lovely white ceramic brooches by Bridget Bodenham (above) will be available from our online store from Thursday. So if you can't make it to one of our stores don't despair, (m)art design store online will be brimming with Christmas gift ideas.

How to Design a Car

Bryon Fitzpatrick's public program ‘How to Design a Car’ on 29 October at Toowoomba Motor Museum for artisan's touring exhibition Industrial Desire.

In it's last days - Tinsmith: An Ordinary Romance

This Saturday will be your last chance to view artisan's current exhibition Tinsmith: An Ordinary Romance (pictures of the exhibition above). This stunning exhibition by Brisbane designer, Barbara Heath, reveals the fascinating forgotten history of tinsmithing in Southeast Queensland and launches her collection of extraordinary new objects, inspired by the lost craft of the tinsmith.

Rediscovering the simple skills of tinsmithing, of bending, folding and tinning, Barbara Heath has made striking candlesticks. She has also created Hausgeisters and Hanging Crowns -  magical protective objects for the home or garden – as well as a Japanese-inspired rain chain,  a downpipe substitute that creates a water feature from roof run-off.
With their sophisticated rusticity, and redolent with history, these beautiful objects will enhance the interior or exterior of any home.

‘New tricks from old trades’ is how Barbara describes this new work. Best known for her superb precious jewellery, this is an exciting new direction for her.

This exhibition also gave Barbara an opportunity to research in-depth the history of the trade. “I had no idea tinsmithing had such a colorful local history,” says Heath. “Tin was once as common in our everyday lives as plastic is today. There were many tinsmiths in Brisbane and the R.C. Verney & Sons factory in Fortitude Valley even combined tinsmithing with jam making.”

Early tinsmiths used a few simple tools to produce utilitarian wares such as downspouts, kettles and bath tubs. Later they produced architectural detailing including window-hoods and delicate roof finials. Tinsmith : An Ordinary Romance exhibits a collection of old tinwares from private collectors, and even the tin patterns of Graeme Gillespie, one of Brisbane’s last working tinsmiths, alongside Barbara’s new objects. This reveals the link between her work and the techniques, shapes and forms of the early Queensland metalworkers. 

 “The very word ‘tinsmith’ evokes nostalgic, romantic connotations; nomadic fixers of things, outsiders, tricky, silver-tongued salesmen who charmed the farmers wives with their glinting wares” comments Barbara, and she cleverly captures this mystique in her work.

Tinsmith: An Ordinary Romance offers an opportunity to rediscover our past and see how it has inspired an artist to take a new direction.

Don't miss out on this fantastic exhibition - gallery artisan is open Tuesday - Friday from 10:30am - 5:30pm and Saturday 10am- 4pm. The exhibition will end on Saturday the 13th November. 

Coming soon to Crucible - Yuta Badayala

Look out for Yuta Badayala: In a New Light, the opening in our Crucible space on 18th November. The exhibition comprises a collection of lights which are the outcome of an ongoing collaboration between Sydney-based furniture designers Koskela, and weavers from Elcho Island Arts.

Elcho Island is located in the Arafura Sea off the coast of north-east Arnhem Land in  the Northern Territory. Home to the Yolngu people, it is an important creative hub, with many successful artists.

Yuta Badayala features work by Mavis Warrngilna Ganambarr, Judy Manany Gurruwiwi, Priscilla Baladurr, Aggie Warradika and Verity Burarrnanga. They have created lampshades using traditional pandanus and bush string weaving techniques. The materials are collected by the artists, dyed using roots and leaves and then woven around frames supplied by Koskela.

Each light is imbued with the stories of their makers and their lands, culture and traditions. Each light is also unique as the artist has interpreted the form which Koskela provided. 

The project represents a genuine collaboration with the weavers contributing technical skills, material knowledge and artistic capabilities, while Koskela contributes design and marketing skills along with their significant experience in the interiors market. 

Established in 2000 by Russel Koskela and Sasha Titchkosky, Koskela promotes environmentally friendly and Australian manufactured products.

Yuta Badayala: In a New Light opens alongside Jaishree Srinivasan in the main gallery and the launch of (m)art design store's Christmas Showcase - Cherish on Thursday 18th November at artisan 381 Brunswick St Fortitude Valley from 6pm- 8pm. See you there!