ONLY JUST BEGUN - Factory 49, 49 Shepherd St, Marrickville - 29 May-8 June, 2013

'Only Just Begun' was a solo exhibition at Factory 49 of paintings and paper and cardboard works.  All of the works were derived from my paintings of squares and circles that I have been calling 'One & the Same'.  

The painting consisted of 16 panels on which the small square and circle motifs were enlarged and broken up over separate canvas; the paper work did the same thing, but was constructed from cut out coloured pieces of paper, and the cardboard works played with a range of possibilities using shape and colour.

Each work is constructed from a random layering of elements, with the panels being hung in a random (grid) arrangement - each hanging could see the pieces being arranged in a different order, yet the result would probably appear much the same...

From the catalogue -
On the surface it would seem that making paintings that only consist of circles and squares would be very limiting – seen one, you’ve seen them all.  But then you change the colours, change dimensions, play around with materials – the permutations within the boundaries are limitless – we’ve only just begun...

CLICK HERE for a copy of the Catalogue and CLICK HERE for a video of the exhibition.

'One & the Same: Expanded', oil on canvas, 16 panels, 35cm x 35cm each,  2012-13

'One & the Same: Expanded', detail

'One & the Same: Paper', cardboard, paper & pva, 64 pieces, 17cm x 17 cm each, 2012-13

'One & the Same: Cardboard Constructions', cardboard, acrylic paint & pva, 16 pieces, 35cm x 35cm each, 2011-13

'Only Just Begun', installation

Below are separate photos of the 17 'Cardboard Construction' (each 35cm x 35cm) - 16 were hung in a grid in the main space, with one hung on its own in the office project space.

 

'Only Just Begun', Office Project Space Installation

'Flat Cube', cardboard, acrylic paint and yarn, 105cm x 105cm, 2013

'Flat Cube', detail

'One & the Sample: Sample 1', oil on board, 15cm x 15cm, 2013

'One & the Sample: Sample 2', oil on board, 15cm x 15cm, 2013

FACTORY 49@STEPHEN McLAUGHAN GALLERY - Room 8, Level 16, 37 Swanston St, Melbourne - 22 May- 8 June, 2013

Stephen Wickham and Pam Aitken selected a group of artists from Sydney and Melbourne for a show at the Stephen McLaughlan Gallery in Melbourne.  The artists were Pam Aitken, Susan Andrews, Tim Bass, Tracey Coutts, Andrew Christofides, Kate T Deacock, Kendal Heyes, Kate Mackay, Liz Shreeve, Paul Snell and Stephen Wickham. 

I exhibited 3 'One & the Same' paintings - white, colour and black.  CLICK HERE for a video of the exhibition.

'One & the Same: White, Colour, Black', oil on canvas, 45cm x 45cm each, 2013

While in Melbourne I visited the Ian Potter Centre in Federation Square where they had an exhibition called 'Mix Tape 1980s'.  I started at art school in the middle of the 1980's and walking around this show was a revisiting of all the stuff that I was looking at during my time at Sydney College of the Arts.

(CLICK HERE for an ABC video of the show)

I then saw the Steig Persson and gasped! - I had completely forgotten it - I had completely forgotten that I had completely copied it, but I recognised it immediately and realised that it was absolutely crucial to the paintings that I began doing at the time.  Here is the Steig Persson and a detail of the central section that I 're-imagined'...

I copied the grid and the monochrome, and I used a stencil for the first time to produce repeated flower motifs on 2 paintings - one with white flowers on a black background and one with black flowers on a white background....thank you Mr Persson...

'Untitled: White & Black', oil and wax on canvas, 150cm x 90cm each, 1988

CEMENTA_13 - Kandos, NSW - February 1-4, 2013

Cementa_13 was an inaugural arts event held in Kandos - a NSW country town about 4 hours west of Sydney. The town was formerly famous for making cement, now making nothing.... Georgie Pollard, Alex Wisser and Ann Finnegan (who runs Kandos Projects) had the wonderful idea to hold an arts festival - providing both an opportunity for artists to produce and show work, and a chance to revitalise the town through art.  It was an outstanding success, with hundreds of people making their way there to participate.  CLICK HERE to go to the Cementa_13 site where you will discover all things cementa (as well as my contribution to the site).

The work that I installed was a cube wall built at the end of the railway station that now operates as a cafe, as trains no longer run to Kandos.  It was a solid wall that blocked off the platform, but had three cubes missing that provided glimpses of the landscape beyond. (CLICK HERE to watch a video of the work).  I also had 9 small crocheted cubes that sat along the railway wall - they had been made from scraps of wool that were left after my previous cube work had been demolished.

'Side Wall', acrylic paint on cardboard with yarn, 320cm x 230cm x 18cm, 2013

One night there was a massive rain storm and the rain beat against the back of the wall.  I was concerned that it might collapse, but only the bottom layer of boxes absorbed the water and slowly began to crumple....

SCOPE MIAMI 2012 - December 4-9, 2012

Factory 49 was invited to be part of the Scope Miami International Contemporary Art Show in December 2012.  Ten artists participated - Pam Aitken, Louise Bylton, Lynne Eastaway, Franz Ehmann, Richard Kean, Wendy Kelly, Marlene Sarroff, Liz Shreeve, Chris Suttie and myself.  

We each sent 2 works - I sent a small yellow circle painting and a paper and cardboard construction.

CLICK HERE for a copy of the catalogue.

'Circle Painting Small Yellow', oil on canvas, 30cm x 30cm, 2010

'Circle Square: Paper', paper, cardboard, pva, 30cm x 30cm (4 pieces), 2012

Installation photos courtesy of Marlene Sarroff

left to right: Pam Aitken, Liz Shreeve, Franz Ehmann, Chris Suttie, Loiuse Blyton, Lynne Eastaway, Wendy Kelly, Liz Shreeve, Franz Ehmann, Marlene Sarroff, Kate Mackay, Richard Kean, Kate Mackay, Wendy Kelly, Loiuse Blyton, Marlene Sarroff, Chris Suttie