July/August 08
Art Deco 1910 - 1939 (VIC) > VIC
With its Bakelite radio, Tamara De Lempicka painting and luxurious dressing table complete with intricate ivory inlays, the opening room of the National Gallery of Victoria’s Art Deco show says it all. Read More
Lyndell Brown and Charles Green: War (NSW) > NSW
Being assigned the role of an official war artist must be a pretty big ask at any point in time. Read More
Puberty Blues
To stay sane in this world it is sometimes necessary to step back and laugh at the sheer nonsense that follows in the wake of a moral scandal. Read More
Turn, Turn, Turn: the past talks to the present (NSW) > NSW
Nick Waterlow is the only person to have curated more than one Biennale of Sydney. Read More
Two Adventures in Three Dimensions (VIC) > VIC
Given their black gums and yellow bums, “loveable” is possibly not the word that immediately springs to mind when confronted with Julia Robinson’s goats. Read More
VIVID National Photographic Festival (ACT) > ACT
Australian photography festivals are seemingly multiplying at a rapid pace, with VIVID being the latest member to join the growing team. Read More
VIVID National Photographic Festival (ACT)
By David Wills
Australian photography festivals are seemingly multiplying at a rapid pace, with VIVID being the latest member to join the growing team. Virtually taking over Canberra for the next three months, VIVID (the National Photographic Festival) spreads its wings over no less than fifty venues, with one hundred exhibitions covering almost every photographic angle imaginable. The program is vast to say the least, with literally something for everyone considering the number of venues taking part. Not only exhibitions to see but also a range of talks, workshops and a series of outdoor projections to be beamed onto some of Canberra’s landmark buildings.
As you would expect, Canberra’s museums and institutions are home to the larger-scale shows. The National Gallery of Australia is focusing on its collection of photography from the Asia Pacific region in Picture Paradise: Asia-Pacific photography 1840s - 1940s. The exhibition ranges from India and Sri Lanka through to the west coast of North America and everywhere in between. The Australian War Memorial has drawn works from its collection of war photographs from the First and Second World Wars, while the National Library of Australia presents A Modern Vision: Charles Bayliss, Photographer 1850 – 1890, curated by Helen Ennis. Well regarded in his own lifetime, Bayliss is not as well known as he should be now, claims Ennis. Bringing Bayliss back into favour is one of the aims of the exhibition, and as Ennis notes will highlight his “acute visual intelligence and strong personal style…in beautifully composed and dynamic photographs”.
Dianne Jones, Murray, 2005. Exhibition: “An Exhibition
by Dianne Jones”. Canberra Contemporary Art Space.
Moving on to Canberra Museum and Art Gallery (CMAG), curator Mark van Veen presents highlights of CMAGs photography collection with a ‘focus on memories of Canberra.’ The exhibition showcases not only the work of artists who live and work in the region, but also those who have resided here briefly and responded to it including prominent photographers Olive Cotton and William Yang. In the first part of 2007 Yang was artist in residence at the Australian National University. During his time in Canberra he managed to share many meals with Canberra’s residents resulting in an exhibition at Helen Maxwell Gallery. CMAG purchased several photographs from the show including an iconic and typical Canberra street scene featuring many large white cockatoos. In addition to these works, Marcia Lochhead’s Mirror series explores an aspect of Australian identity through Canberra's swimming pools. The unpeopled photographs highlight the changing architectural styles of swimming pools while suggesting how we too have changed in how we use this communal space. Tension seems to be reflected in the still water, we’re waiting for the turbulence of human play in the much cherished Manuka Pool or the autumnal beauty of Big Splash Waterpark replete with a distant movie screen, still in use during
summer. CMAG’s photographic collection is also about bringing distant shores to Canberra and in this case, several exquisite landscapes taken in Switzerland from the series Weather Report by Denise Ferris. The CMAG show also features work from locals David Paterson, Marzena Wasikowska and Matt Kelso along with a separate exhibition by David Warren featuring holograms: I dreamt we had something to say.
The collection theme continues with Shooting Stars – Women from the Taussig Collection at the National Film and Screen Archive (NFSA). This exhibition has been constructed from Austrian Hans John Carlsson Taussig’s significant collection of 1920s and 1930s publicity stills from major European, Scandinavian and American studios. Taussig donated the works to the National Library of Australia in 1953 not long after he emigrated to Australia. The collection comprises over 15,000 images including candid on-set shots of the many glamorous and legendary actors and actresses of the time. There are Images of Leni Riefenstahl, Mae West, Katherine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman and Josephine Baker in an intimate exhibition of original prints. Curator Sonia Gherdevich said “the focus of the exhibition turned quickly to the women in the collection as their striking beauty simply shone through.” Shooting Stars promises to be one of VIVID’s more elegant offerings.
It seems that photography festivals have clearly hit the right note in Australia, with Fotofreo in Perth, Daylesford’s Foto Biennale and the recent Queensland Photography Festival all enjoying very healthy attendances. VIVID’s offering (a sprinkling of what’s on outlined here) promises to be an equally big affair with Canberra happy to join the ranks of those paying homage to the photograph.
Julian Laffan, The Silver Light, 2008, woodcut on card, 19 x 37.5 cm.
Exhibition: “The Silver Light”. Megalo Print Studio + Gallery
various locations 11 July to 12 October 2008
