Monday, September 30, 2013

Kaldor's next project has its origins in the practice of measuring the heights of children against a door frame


The next Kaldor Public Art Project is Measuring the Universe by Slovakian artist Roman Ondak. The artwork begins as a plain white space and every visitor has their height measured and marked directly onto the wall in black marker, alongside their name, eventually creating a dense black band of names around the space.

"I think the beauty is in the simplicity and how he takes an idea that's been around for centuries and turns it into an artwork," says Kaldor, who admits to measuring the heights of his own children growing up.

The work, which has previously been staged at MOMA, will be staged in Parramatta Town Hall during next year's Sydney Festival.
Image: installation view of Roman Ondak's Measuring the Universe

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Sydney Contemporary hits the ground running


You get one chance to make a good first impression and Sydney Contemporary nailed it with the first edition of Australia's newest art fair. Staged at Sydney's historic Carriageworks, it was launched last week with a vernissage attracting over 12,000 guests and a final attendance figure of just under 30,000. Galleries reported better-than-expected sales over the three-day event and gallerists were saying they would be back for the second edition in 2015.

Sydney Contemporary will be staged every two years, alternating with the Melbourne Art Fair, but Melbourne will now be under pressure to lift its game as many of the gallerists at Sydney Contemporary said the fair at Carriageworks should be an annual event.
Image: Seung Yul Oh's Huggong (Variation 1), Installation Contemporary, curated by Aaron Seeto for Sydney Contemporary

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Coming up at Starkwhite


Our next exhibition, Assembly Line - Entrance by Shanghai-based artist Li Xiaofei, runs from 2 - 28 October.
Image: Projection still from Li Xiaofei's Assembly Line - Entrance

Friday, September 20, 2013

Last days for Vagabond


Our current show,Vagabond by John Reynolds, closes tomorrow at 3pm.
Image: Installation view of John Reynolds' Vagabond exhibition at Starkwhite

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Australia's new art fair launched tonight




Sydney Contemporary gets underway this afternoon with a collectors preview followed by the  vernissage. Located in Sydney's historic Carriageworks, the fair includes two curated sections - Video Contemporary curated by Artspace's Mark Feary and Installation Contemporary curated by Aaron Seeto, the director/curator of 4A centre for Contemporary Asian Art.
Images: Grant Stevens' Supermassive and Clinton Watkins' Continuous Ship #1, presented by Starkwhite in Video Contemporary curated by Mark Feary

Thursday, September 12, 2013

"Stalking the world"


ART+OBJECT has launched the second issue of CONTENT, a magazine published "to celebrate the vital contribution New Zealand's visual artists make to our cultural identity and increasingly to the global discourse." The current issue traces the journey of whare Hinemihi from the desolation of the Mt Tarawera eruption to the grounds of a Palladian manor house in an English country. It also includes interviews with Justin Paton, head of international art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Simon Denny who will represent New Zealand at the 56th Venice Biennale. Tobias Berger discusses the Asia Pacific focus of Hong Kong's M+, Brian Butler and Isha Welsh comment on the US West Coast art scene and Richard Maloy and Roberta Thornley talk about a seminal photograph that has influenced their practices.  

CONTENT is a must-read magazine, avaialble free of charge from ART+OBJECT.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Spare a thought for the critic


frieze has posted a piece by freelance writer Joe Turnball (one of the cluster of reviewers axed by the Independent) on critics as an endangered species, adrift in sea of self-promoting press releases. Read more...
Image:Bernard Berenson in teh Borghese Gallery, Rome 1955

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Venice Biennale update


Creative New Zealand has provided further information on the selection process for New Zealand's presentation at the 2015 Venice Biennale.

Twenty expressions of interest were received from artists/curators of which nineteen have been asked to submit full proposals. The proposals will be assessed by a selection panel chaired by Arts Council Chairman Dick Grant and including: Heather Galbraith (2015 Commissioner), Alistair Carruthers (Patron), Anne Rush (Arts Council), Blair French (Assistant Director, Curatorial & Digital, MCA, Sydney), Brett Graham, Artist), Caterina Riva (Director, Artspace), Dayle Mace (Patron), Helen Kedgely (Arts Council), and Judy Millar (Artist).

The panel will meet in late September with the aim of announcing the successful artist(s)/curator team in early October.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

2014 Wallace Art Trust Paramount Art Award announced


The 2014 Wallace Art Trust Awards were announced in Auckland last night by the Governor General, Sir Jerry Mateparae. The Paramount Award - a six month residency at the International Studio and Curatorial Programme in New York - went to Korean-born, New Zealand-based artist Jae Hoon Lee.
Image: Jae Hoon Lee's winning entry, Dry Valley (2012), duratrans on lightbox