Kate Mackay: FACTORY 49 A TRIBUTE - Articulate project space, 497 Parramatta Rd, Leichhardt, Sydney

From the Articulate project space website -

Articulate project space presents 'FACTORY 49. A Tribute' a group exhibition that honours the extensive history of Factory 49 and its significant contribution to art, both locally and internationally.

Factory 49 was created by Pam Aitken in 2006 and ran for 16 years. It featured the presentation of non-objective, reductive, material based and process driven art in a factory building in Marrickville, Sydney.

This exhibition was curated by Beata Geyer, Chris Packer and myself, and it included the work of 67 artists. Invitations to participate were sent to all of the artists that had exhibited at Factory 49.

The artists in this show were - Alexandra Kennedy, Amarie Bergman, Annelies Jahn, Anya Pesce, Barbara Halnan and Rose McGreevy, Beata Geyer, Billy Gruner, Bogumila Strojna, Cameron Stead, Carrie Fraser, Catherine Gaillard-Remontet, Chris Packer, Christine Boiry, Christine Dean, Christine Wiltshier, Danielle Lescot, Elisabeth Bodey, Elizabeth Day, Elizabeth Rankin, Elke Wohlfahrt, Fabian Freese, Fiona Halse, Georgina Pollard, Ian Thomas, Jacek Przybyszewski, Jacky Ferrand, Jamie Bastoli, Jan Handel, Jason Haufe, Jenny Herbert-Smith, Judy-Ann Moule, Karen Benton, Karryn Argus, Kate Mackay, Kendal Heyes, Lila Alfiouni, Linden Braye, Lisa Pang, Liz Shreeve, Louise Blyton, Lynne Eastaway, Margaret Roberts, Marlene Sarroff, Michelle Le Dain, Nicola McClelland, Nicole Ellis, Pam Aitken, Pamela Leung, Paul Mallam, Paula McCambridge, Peter de Lorenzo, Pia Larsen, Richard van der Aa, Ro Murray, Roland Orepuk, Sandra Curry, Sarah Fitzgerald, Sarah Keighery, Sarah Robson, Sue Callanan, Susan Andrews, Sydney Art Exchange, Tanya Alexandra Richards, Wendy Cohen and Wendy Kelly.

I wrote a piece on the creation and history of Factory 49, that was put together by Chris Packer, in the style of the Factory 49 publications.

FACTORY 49 - A MEMOIR

The first exhibition opened at Factory 49 in Marrickville on the 22^nd of June 2006. I remember because it was mine. The second show was Margaret Roberts, and there was an outside wall work by Andrew Leslie. Pam Aitken had asked me if I would like to be involved in a new exhibition space that she was creating. She had previously been involved in the first iteration of SNO (Sydney Non Objective) at 11 Faversham Street, Marrickville that ran for 2 years. She owned the 49 Shepherd Street space and it had been leased to a manufacturer for a number of years, but finally they were moving and she was able to take it back. The first exhibition was originally scheduled to happen a couple of weeks earlier, but at that stage she had only enough money to create the walls in plywood, planning to reline it later. I offered to line it with gyprock in lieu of gallery rental, and then volunteered my partner Mick to do the work….I did help…. The height of the walls was determined by the standard size of ply and gyprock sheets.

There was always discussion about whether the walls should be raised to the ceiling height. Pam was always insistent that the space was to retain its factory history and aesthetic. There was to be as little interference with the nature of the space as possible. This is also the reason why she always referred to Factory 49 as a Showroom and not a Gallery, emphasising the idea that the production of artworks was work, and the showroom was the place that the public could see the artists output.

Pam’s vision was to give artists who worked within the field of the Non-Objective and Reductive Abstraction a space to have affordable solo exhibitions. There was at that time (and still is) very little opportunity to hold solo shows, and she wanted artists to be able to have a space to properly develop and expand their work, something that is difficult to do if you can only ever get one or two works into group shows. Pam made no decisions as to what work went into the exhibitions, as long as it fell within the realm of the non-objective. The exhibitions ran for two weeks with the gallery being open from Thursday to Saturday. Artists normally had access to the space on Sunday night with the show ideally being hung by Tuesday. The exhibition was then photographed and an A5 catalogue was created and printed in time for the opening on Wednesday night. It was a well-oiled, if slightly stressful, machine. For the first few years, Pam also interviewed each artist during their exhibition, creating an invaluable historical resource.

According to my CV, the first Annual Group Show happened in 2010, and the Office Project Space was created about the same time. The Annual Group Show was a departure from the insistence of solo exhibitions, and allowed a great opportunity to see the vast array of work within the non-objective sphere. They were interesting exhibitions to install. Often many of the artists involved would stay around and help with the hanging. The works that had been submitted dictated the arrangement of each exhibition, with aesthetic connections being created as each show was installed. Despite the diverse works on offer, the Group shows always had a cohesiveness resulting from the shared sensibilities of all those involved.

The Office Project Space came about as a response to artists who wanted to present work that may have been less resolved and more experimental, and also allowed for joint and group shows. The work had to share its existence with the gallery desk and storage cupboard. Outside Wall Works were also a feature from the beginning. The external concreted space beneath the stairs was available for a 3 month Wall Work. Later the Biscuit Factory across the road also allowed artists to create works on their external wall.

Around 2014, Pam had to take time off and myself and Marlene Sarroff, with the help of Chris Packer and his technical expertise, kept the space going for a while. We eventually decided that a new committee was required. We initiated visits to SCA and the National Arts School, seeking like-minded artists to become involved and continue the experience of Factory 49.

Each year, Pam Aitken travelled to Paris for 3 months, establishing contacts with many European artists and spaces. She participated in the Salon Realites Nouvelle Exhibitions and introduced many Factory 49 artists to this exhibition and to many European contacts, enabling Australian artists to exhibit in Paris and elsewhere in Europe. She created a Residency at Factory 49 at Marrickville, where European artists could come and stay in Australia and create an exhibition in the Showroom. But she had always had a vision to create a Factory 49 in Paris. Finally in 2018 she acquired a lease on a space and created a residence in the small attached room. Artists would go for a month-long exhibition and residency. They would install and photograph their work, send the images back to Pam in Sydney for the catalogue, which she would send to the printer in Paris, ready for the artist pick up in time for their opening. I remember being sceptical that it could all work, but with Pam’s organisational skills, the professionalism of the artists involved, and the help of many of the artists in Paris, the space was a success, running for almost 2 years until covid made it all too hard. It showed artists from both Australia and Europe.

The final Exhibition at Factory 49 in November 2021, was the Sydney satellite of 'Que des femmes / Only women'. Part of the 6th International Biennale of Non-objective Art, it was curated by Anya Pesce and Lisa Pang, under the auspices of recently deceased biennale founder Roland Orépük and curator Billy Gruner. It contained work by many of the women artists who had been part of the history of Factory 49 and was dedicated to the memory of F49 favourite and good friend, Barbara Halnan.

Kate Mackay, January 2024