Archive for the ‘Doug Spowart’ Category
JULIE MILLOWICK’s ‘Surrounding’– Intrinsically Local
Continuing Drought El Nino year – Julie Millowick with son Christian McArdle at Crocodile Reservoir PHOTO: Courtesy of the artist
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SURROUNDING
The beauty of Central Victoria’s landscape in tumult and recovery
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An exhibition by Julie Millowick at Castlemaine Art Museum
CAM – Surrounding Julie Millowick
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“Photography is my life; it is the very core of my being”
Julie Millowick
Surrounding is an exhibition by Julie Millowick surveying her lived experience over 36 years in Fryerstown, Victoria. Over time this celebrated documentary and commercial photographer, driven by a curious and creative mind, has created a photographic archive both cataloguing her visual inquiry and providing a chronicle of her life within this place. Millowick’s work is multifaceted where the poetic and psychological is interconnected with an almost scientific aesthetic thus sharing deep insights into the land that has both nourished and challenged her.
The curator, Jenny Long, has written a sensitive and informative essay for the book Surrounding that accompanies the exhibition. Long discusses Millowick’s process and conceptual thinking along with observations to provide background and framework for the viewer to consider this extensive project. Along with the book there is promotional material and didactics that proposes the exhibition will ‘show us the devastating effects of mining, drought, flood and invasive plants, but also remind us of the interconnectedness that links all parts of this ecosystem including its human occupants.’ And that there is a, ‘capacity for renewal … that offers a spark of hope for the future.’
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Surrounding House and domestic installation PHOTO: Supplied by the artist
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In the first gallery space, the ‘house and domestic’ body of work is presented as twenty-three individual framed works including an 1870s photograph an original owner, Mrs King, standing outside the home. In this work Millowick’s subject matter includes botanical still-life works, images of the detritus of past inhabitants unearthed in the house grounds and there is also a large print of a section of a house wall interior etched with the marks of habitation and the patina of age. Images of washing drying on the clothesline refer to the domestic space of the past and present habitation of this home. Far from being prosaic records of domesticity, the photographs of the washing have an ethereal perhaps even ghostly appearance.
Washing in Horse Paddock pinhole image 1996 PHOTO: Courtesy of the artist
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There is also a kind of haunting in the walls and surrounds of the house, which continues through the shadowy and dramatically lit scenes of this exhibition. The appearance of a selectively illuminated tree branch or the enchanted presence of Millowick’s horse Goldie, imbues the place with a mythical spirit that beckons the viewer to follow into the mysterious dark forest.
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Contrasted with a sense of wonder and fairy tale mystery, Millowick’s work is also deeply grounded in the reality of place, which is as sharp and unadorned as the land itself. In the larger exhibition space, there are groupings of unframed images that explore both topographical and psychological aspects of specific spaces and themes including mine sites, the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park, ecological thinning, the Crocodile Reservoir Drought and horse paddock. A constant subject for Millowick is her son Christian whose activities are documented in many of these themes. images within the groups are placed together to form clues and evidences that suggest larger narratives. It is also interesting to consider the installations as visual representations of the conversation between artist and curator piecing together the rich collection of work and the resonance or dissonance between images and concepts.
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Invasive Thistles 2002 Lumen print by Julie Millowick
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Goldie, 34 year old horse 2009 PHOTO: Julie Millowick
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Horse Paddock Post Goldrush Uniform Regrowth PHOTO: Julie Millowick
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Fryerstown, Isolation, Lockdown, Orchard, Chinese Pistachiola Tree, last moments before midnight on 21 October, and first moFryerstown, Isolation, Lockdown, Orchard, Chinese Pistachiola Tree, last moments before midnight on 21 October, and first moments on 22 October PHOTO: Julie Millowick
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Original Cottage Wall with introduced Invasive Blackberry 2023 PHOTO: Julie Millowick
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Fryers Diggings, Sluicing, Heron’s Reef 2023 PHOTO: Julie Millowick
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Crocodile Reservoir 2006 PHOTO: Julie Millowick
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Drowned Kangaroo PHOTO: Julie Millowick
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Lumen Buried Paper Under Blackberry Bush by Julie Millowick
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Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park Cherry Ballart 2022 PHOTO: Julie Millowick
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A photographer with less time moving over the space would document the superficial surface of things and create a record time-locked to when they were there. Millowick has set for herself the challenge of distilling a life of experience of time and place by using her comprehensive knowledge of photographic techniques* that, when combined with personal vision, can present to the viewer something deeper. As Millowick explores the environment or found objects, she reveals deeper layers and meanings through her experimentation with the visual language of each process and technique. The depth and complexity of this work tells of the unwavering commitment to her art, the community and the environment.
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Image grouping
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When introducing Julie Millowick at a recent artist’s talk about her exhibition the Gallery Director Naomi Cass described her as a ‘Localist’. ‘Localist’ is indeed an appropriate term not only for the work in this exhibition but also for Millowick’s continued photographic activity in the community. As a localist Millowick’s activity is part of the growing contemporary global movement for living locally and telling local stories particularly since the impacts of the Covid Pandemic. As it was 36 years in the making, this exhibition could only be just a fragment of Millowick’s creative visual documentation of her surroundings and community. Further digging or mining of her extensive archive will potentially reveal new perspectives and meanings on these powerful local stories of her place. Surrounding is just a beginning, there are so many other stories yet to be told …
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A commentary on the exhibition by Victoria Cooper and Doug Spowart
Surrounding was part of the PHOTO2024 program
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Surrounding – the book
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P.S. The Surrounding exhibition is complemented by an illustrated book copies of which can be purchased from Castlemaine Art Museum or directly from Julie Millowick
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IMAGES FROM THE IN CONVERSATION EVENT | Julie Millowick and Kyla McFarlane
Sunday 10 March, 11:30am — 12:30pm
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* Photographic techniques that Julie Millowick employed in the exhibition include – pinhole photography, lumen printing, added lighting (painting-with-light), double exposure, cyanotypes, out-of-focus capture, re-photography, progressive sequencing, documentary and personal narrative.
We wish to thank Julie Millowick and congratulate her on the exhibition and for the images of her photographs and the exhibition installation. Photographs of the IN CONVERSATION event were by Doug Spowart.
Castlemaine Art Museum is a member of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria
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This site is archived by PANDORA, Australia National Library’s Web Archive
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DOUG GOES WHERE THE SURFERS HAVE NO WAVES – Again…!
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IPPY DROPS IN … AND RIPS!
The exhibition reprise after 30 years
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THE PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPONENT FROM DOUG SPOWART: Read more later in the post
Click on the photo to enlarge …
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THE VIDEO COMPONENT FROM KATE ELLOVEE:
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The inspiration for the original exhibition was Kate Ellovee (Versace) who was working on a documentary project commenting on surfers who live at Ipswich and surf on the north and south coasts – much to the dislike of the locals. Entitled A Slagheap Safari the video takes centre stage in the reprise of the exhibition.
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Kate’s A Slagheap Safari video can be viewed HERE
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A mini booklet of the exhibition can be downloaded: Ippy Drops In and Rips Booklet
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The exhibition will be on show in the Ipswich Community Gallery, d’Arcy Doyle Place, Limestone Street, Ipswich until the 22nd of December 2023.
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IPPY-Australian Photography Cover
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Back in 1993 my work in the exhibition was featured in Australian Photography – the story inside added to the craziness of the whole project …
Click to enlarge text …
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Australian Photography story p1 of 3
Australian Photography story p2 of 3
Australian Photography story p3 of 3
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A reflection on the project by photographer Doug Spowart
Background to my work
I have a forty-year practice in conceptual photography. This approach to photography so profoundly directed my work that in the late 1980s my business card described my art practice as ‘Conceptual Photographer’. The methodologies of re-photography, photomontage sequential imaging and the use of a range of photo technologies and materials underpinned the conceptualisation, creation and presentation of the creative work. I look for the strange and the surreal or the sublime in everyday life addressed through irony and humour. I am always absorbed by how the mundane and ordinary can hold hidden moments of surprise if time is taken to see what is revealed.
The Ippy Drops in and Rips Project
In 1993 I received a phone call from Elizabeth Bates a curator at Ipswich Art Gallery. I had worked with Elizabeth at Araluen Art Gallery in Alice Springs a few years earlier on a documentary exhibition commenting on the tourist experience in Central Australia, so she was aware of the style of my photographic work. Elizabeth introduced the project she was working on with Kate Ellovee (Versace) in which Kate was to create a documentary video commenting on Ipswich’s landlocked surfers. It was suggested that I could create photography works that would complement the video presentation in the gallery. In the initial project development meeting with Kate she discussed the concepts behind the ‘A Slagheap Safari’ documentary video. Her project was full of the curiosity, irony, and humour that had resonance with my approach to documentary work.
My partner and fellow artist Victoria Cooper and I were intrigued by the idea that there was such a strong surfing culture in Ipswich. It seemed surreal to us and we wondered: where could we find a concept of surf or surfing in this mining town at the western edge of Brisbane? Who were these surfers and how did they navigate the cross-over from Ipswich to beach?
After contemplating these questions I put forward a proposition consisting of three concepts: (1) Re-photography portraits – commenting on the dual identities that surfers have living and working in Ipswich and yet maintaining a surfing life on the weekend down the beach, (2) ‘Hold-ups’, where I would search Ipswich town settings and mining landscapes for evidence or connection with the beach or surf and (3) Photomontages – through improbable interventions I would metaphorically bring the surf and surfers to Ipswich. Clearances were provided by surfing photographers and the pictured surfers for their photographs to be photomontaged with Ipswich location scenes.
In making the photographs we sometimes collaborated with Kate and at other times we worked independently. Kate’s energy and coordination skills were important to the project as surfers usually have one specific thing in mind – surfing. With Kate we went to the beaches to seek out these Ippy surfers in their preferred natural environment. In this quest we too “searched for the best waves” to find the surfers. Interestingly the Ippy project was pre the proliferation of mobile phones, so we needed to check the radio’s ‘best waves’ reports, we then went to the beaches and then looked out for the surfer’s cars, boards or the surfers themselves.
Working on the project’s themes Victoria and I would cruise around Ipswich looking for places that resonated with the concepts of beach and surfing. Gradually these were revealed to us: the top of a water tower with skateboarders, a tunnel leading into the mine, navigating a graffiti covered underpass, a mine cutting that looked like a wave. Each place we found was evocative and full of potential metaphors of surfing culture within this inland mining town.
A Concluding Comment
Documentary projects, either as video or photography, have the potential to tell stories and create a commentary on contemporary culture and social life. Thirty years on, the Ippy Drops in and Rips show returns to a new era, a new audience, and for those who participated in the original project, a possibility to recall memories of a different time.
In re-viewing Ippy Drops in and Rips Ipswich surfing culture story, perhaps not much has changed – or has it? Is the credo of the Ipswich surfing culture – surf to live and live to surf, still as strong as ever … ?
And finally … Do north and south coast locals cuss the new generation of Ipswich surfers when they “DROP IN … AND RIP …?”
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Doug Spowart+ Victoria Cooper November 12, 2023
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Thanks to Kate Ellovee for resurrecting the Ippy exhibition after 30 years and to Alison McKay and Ellia Shurte from Ipswich Art Gallery for their support with the exhibition. And also to Thomas Oliver and John Elliott for the photos.
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MARTIN HANSEN MEMORIAL ART AWARDS: Our Works
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Once again we entered the Martin Hansen Memorial Art Awards at the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum. These Awards are the 48th event – Congratulations to the Gallery Team and the continued recognition of Martin Hanson’s early patronage of artists initiatives in Gladstone through these Awards.
For us each award entered is a place to present new works and their presentation – it is a challenge that hones our skills as artists.
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This year Victoria’s entry was an artist book entitled String Theory Explained.
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Victoria COOPER’s String Theory Explained presented
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String Theory Explained… its all about the unplanned and chaotic nature of everyday life… the beauty and terror within the order of “normal” existence.
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Opening up the book
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Bibliographic Details:
Format: Concertina book embedded in folded cover
Media: various pen inks on art paper with Stonehenge black cover
Size: 764 x 230mm
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Doug’s entry this year was Story Trees – First Nations a concertina artists book presented in a circular form.
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Doug SPOWART – Story Trees artists book
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Artist’s Statement:
For me a poignant physical sign of First Nations presence remains embedded in the dead trees found throughout Mokoan. In witnessing these scar trees I found a profound sense of a time now passed and thoughts of the many stories that this place can tell.
This book was book two in a series of personal responses to encountering the locality of Mokoan and the Winton Wetlands. It was part of my contribution to the PALIMPSEST collaborative exhibition with Maggie Hollins and Victoria Cooper shown at Bainz Gallery in Wangaratta in August.
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Bibliographic Details:
Format: Concertina book
Media: Pigment inks on photographic paper
Size in circular presentation: 600 x 700mm
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Doug’s Story Trees installed at GRAGM
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The Martin Hansen Memorial Art Awards exhibition will be on show until 2.00pm on the 27th of January 2024 at the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum.
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Here is some information about the 2023 Awards and the Entry Form.
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CLICK THIS LINK MH 23 Catalogue Online-r
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CLICK THIS LINK Martin Hansen Award 2023 Entry Details
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Photo of gallery installation courtesy of GRAGM
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TONES OF HOME: Cooper+Spowart in group show
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TONES OF HOME – Arts Project Australia
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Tones of Home draws together artists from Arts Project Australia (APA), Melbourne, regional Victoria, and north Queensland to present works inspired by domestic and urban spaces. Curated by Eric Nash, Director Benalla Art Gallery the exhibition extends beyond these settings to consider ‘what makes a place, a home?’, touching on notions of family, community, belonging, connection, love, comfort, safety, and personal histories.
Featuring APA artists Steven Ajzenberg, Miles Howard-Wilks, Chris Mason, Chris O’Brien, Lisa Reid, Anthony Romagnano, Georgia Szmerling and Amani Tia alongside Atong Atem, Susie Buykx, Cooper+Spowart, Erub Arts Torres Strait and Ghost Net Collective, Aishah Kenton and Ron McBurnie.
(Text from the APA Website)
Tones of Home continues until 25 November 2023
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Tones of Home Exhibition
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SOME COMMENTS FROM THE CURATOR – ERIC NASH
The seeds of this exhibition were truly sewn at home. As my wife and I awaited the arrival of our second child, I found myself considering a work by Mini Graff that hangs above our bed. It is a street art poster in a vintage drawing style. Text on the work reads ‘Today is my lucky washing day’, and a woman hangs washing on a clothesline while an atomic bomb appears to have gone off in the background. It seemed to resonate with my experience of our domestic bubble of safety, and, when at home, perhaps even my ignorance to the outside world.This caused me to ponder what ‘home’ felt like, and indeed meant, to others? It had to mean more than just somewhere we reside. I couldn’t help but imagine my favourite fictional retired barrister, Lawrence Hammill QC, declaring, “You can acquire a house, but you can’t acquire a home”.
I owe a debt of gratitude to the Arts Project Australia team and artists who kicked this project off by sharing their thoughts on the topic of home. A number of responses stuck with me and have framed the exhibition. Home, in their words, could be “where the most important people in your life are”… “where you feel safe”… “a base where you start from”… “a place that fits your ideas of design,
location, and convenience.” Common themes emerged, specifically ‘Personal histories’; ‘Love and family’; ‘Community and connection’; and ‘Belonging, comfort and safety’. …READ MORE FROM THE CURATOR – Download the exhibition Catalogue
“CLICK LINK” TonesOfHomeCatalogue_Web
“CLICK LINK” “Tones-of-Home-Room-Sheet-2
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SOME VIEWS OF THE EXHIBITION
Susie Buykx and her ceramics
Chris O’Brien’s works
Georgia Szmerling ceramics (front) & Erub Arts Torres Strait and Ghost Net Collective (back wall)
Chris Mason “Me and Monica Together” & “Me and my friends at work” 2019
Anthony Romagnano’ works
Aishah Kenton’s photographs
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COOPER+SPOWART WORKS IN THE SHOW
Cooper+Spowart “Desire Paths 2+3” Proposed layout
Victoria with Jo Salt Gallery Director + Doug PHOTO: Michael Coyne
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COMMENTARY ON OUR DESIRE PATHS ARTISTS BOOKS…
Some words from Curator Eric Nash
… I write this essay now during paternity leave. This is the longest time I have spent consistently at home in years. This break and time with Tegan and our children brought something into clear focus: while Tegan and I have moved cities several times in the last ten years, I have always felt ‘at home’ as we have been together. Cooper and Spowart (Victoria Cooper and Doug Spowart) exemplify this through their extensive photography, photobook and artists book practices, which are maintained both as individual practitioners, and as life collaborators. For these artists, ‘home’ “was an idealised state of being in Place, which offered a sanctuary and a garden. More than architecture, ‘home’ is also a psychological and sensorial place for the safe shelter ofmemories and experiences.” (4)
Cooper and Spowart’s recent Desire Paths books resonate with their shared life and artistic journey, explaining “Our artistic process is also defined by the desire to discover new paths around the traditional norms. Over time these new paths become alternative solutions to the ultimate desired outcome. All these paths or lines are theexistential experience and representation of desire.” (5)
1.The astle (1997) Directed by Rob Sitch. [Feature .ilm]. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Roadshow Entertainment.
4 & 5. Cooper, V and Spowart, D (2023) Email to Eric Nash, 27 August.
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Susie Buykx+Victoria+Eric Nash (Curator) +Doug
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Thanks to Eric Nash, Jo Salt and the Team at Arts Project Australia for the opportunity to to show work in this exhibition in Melbourne (Naarm). N
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Unless noted otherwise photographs are by Doug Spowart
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IN THE WETLANDS: 3 Artists – Cooper + Hollins + Spowart collaborate, drawing inspiration from Winton Wetlands
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PALIMPSEST Exhibition artists in Winton Wetlands
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The Winton Wetlands in north-eastern Victoria, also once known as Lake Mokoan, has been through many changes from farming to the building then decommissioning of a dam. Now this visually haunting and beautiful place is undergoing a new phase of regeneration – reviving the natural state of living wetland environment.
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Dr Lisa Farnsworth, Winton Wetlands Restoration Manager, has been working with local artists to form a group that finds inspiration for their art in the Wetlands. She comments:
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The Winton Wetlands Creatives Group is driven by a passion for the natural beauty and cultural richness of the Winton Wetlands Reserve. Through various art mediums and engagement opportunities, the group aims to advocate for the Winton Wetlands restoration project and for the ongoing protection and appreciation of its cultural and ecological assets. I’m genuinely excited to see how art, culture and ecology can align to create great outcomes for the health of our local people and natural landscapes.
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Artists Victoria Cooper, Maggie Hollins + Doug Spowart
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In the spirit of Lisa’s vision we formed a collaboration with fellow Benalla artist Maggie Hollins to create a visual response to the Winton Wetlands inspired by its layered human and natural history and contemporary renewal. In our work we have associated this altered landscape with the concept of a palimpsest – a manuscript that was reused by writing new text over the previous words.
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The Palimpsest features again in the exhibition where the collaboration between us as artists can be experienced as a layered narrative, where multiple stories and experiences intertwine to form a cohesive whole.
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Check out our INSTAGRAM Project picture trail https://www.instagram.com/wetlands.palimpsest/
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3 Invitations for the exhibition in BAINZ GALLERY in Wangaratta
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SOME VIEWS OF THE EXHIBITION
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SEE A FLY-THROUGH VIDEO OF THE EXHIBITION
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A COMMENTARY ON THE EXHIBITION …
Victoria Cooper, Maggie Hollins and Doug Spowart have collaborated to produce and display a wonderful and diverse visual exhibition. They have sought to associate the altered Winton Wetlands landscape with the concept of a palimpsest. In doing so they are contributing to discussion of different, yet overlapping, stories of the wetlands.
Cooper and Spowart have been involved in the arts as practitioners, teachers and commentators for a lengthy time, including having residencies at Bundanon. Hollins has qualifications in ceramics, leads art workshops and enjoys playing fiddle. Unsurprisingly therefore, each and every artwork displayed is of a high standard.
There are unique, handmade textural and sculptural artworks by Hollins that use a diverse variety of materials – including found small branches, knotted bark, dyed cotton thread, solar and rust dyed cotton fabric, metal rings, and found grasses. They are accompanied by postcard sized images of the same artworks “displayed” on site in the wetlands. Those images were a team effort – Hollins operated the camera, Cooper was location scout and camera assistant, and Spowart did the lighting and Director of Photography duties.
There are larger standalone photographic prints and collaborative diptychs by Cooper & Spowart conveying stories of witnessing, magnificent 3 metre wide concertina photobooks by Spowart displayed folded out and attached to the wall, plus artist books and poetry by Cooper.
It all comes together splendidly, successfully conveying the messages the artists want visitors to hear.
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BRIAN ROPE Reviewer for and member of the Canberra Critics Circle
Read Brian Rope’s full review HERE
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LATER POSTS WILL FEATURE MORE ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS & THEIR WORKS …
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SEE MORE ABOUT THE WINTON WETLANDS …
Winton Wetlands website Home page
CLICK HERE FOR THE WINTON WETLAND’S WEBSITE
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Winton Wetlands logo
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The artists wish to acknowledge the Winton Wetlands team for their support.
We acknowledge the traditional lands of the Yorta Yorta people & their 8 clans the original owners of Country.
We respect their deep enduring connection to their lands and waterways and recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.
We honour and respect their ancestors, their Elders past, present and emerging.
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THE EXPO 88 PHOTO SHOW – 35 years on
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First & Last EXPO PHOTO SHOW Poster
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EXPO 88 – A conceptual photographer’s document
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At this time thirty-five years ago the people of Brisbane were beginning their EXPO 88 six-month adventure opportunity to encounter the world and its cultures and cuisine. EXPO 88 is often seen as a watershed in the transformation of Brisbane as a sleepy backwater into a vibrant cosmopolitan city of the world and, most certainly part of the 21st Century.
I had a season pass for EXPO 88 and created a personal body of work as a response to my experience of the event. As celebrations are beginning to hit the social media space I thought I would recollect on my WORLD EXPO 88 work.
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Here is the back-story behind my 1988 project … The First & Last EXPO PHOTO SHOW
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EXPO 88 Crowd Crush ………..PHOTO: Ethyl Stevens aka Doug Spowart
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Background to the EXPO Project:
In 1988 I was a co-director, with my mother Ruby Spowart, of the Artist Run Space, Imagery Gallery that was situated on the corner of Grey Street and Fish Lane in South Brisbane. Our gallery was situated just a short walk from the EXPO site and I had been commissioned to work on the display installations in some of the major pavilions. I also had a season pass to EXPO to create a resource body of work as a conceptual response to this significant international event. My work as a photographer at this time has simpatico with Sol Lewitt’s 1967 manifesto on conceptual art:
In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art. (Lewitt 1967)
WORLD EXPO 88 is now often seen as watershed in the transformation of Brisbane as a sleepy backwater into a vibrant cosmopolitan city of the world and, most certainly part of the 21st Century. While the adventure of encountering the world and its cultures and cuisine was to form lasting memories for some others may have recollections of the crush of interstate and overseas visitors, the nightly flamboyant fireworks displays and the inevitable queuing to visit everything from food stalls, to exhibitions and toilets.
The Concept and Methodology of the EXPO Project:
As EXPO 88 emerged I recognised an opportunity for the creation of a new body of work investigating other approaches to my working methodology. For many reasons at this time I often worked with invented alias identities under which I could create new work. These identities were quite complete in that they had refined working styles, subject matter, presentation forms, signatures and artists statements. These personae enable me to challenge and critique the popular curatorial and academic perceptions of documentary and art photography. It also enabled me the freedom to explore and develop new personal directions through concepts of documentary photography.
When EXPO offered season passes I attended the passport portrait session with pair of fake glasses and a fictitious name, Eugene Xavier Pelham Owens, the initials and the signature spelled ‘EXPO’. With this first step, I now had the creative space to explore EXPO and the surreal cultural experience it represented. In time this project grew into an extensive body of work from 6 different personae all representing their manufactured personal responses to the EXPO experience.
The First & Last Photo Expo Show exhibition was opened on April 1st 1989 (April Fools Day), it was reviewed positively in the Courier Mail (see attached) and sales of work resulted from people who found the photographs reconnecting them with their experience of the event.
The 1980s was a particularly productive period for me as I created a trilogy of exhibitions: Tourists Facts, Acts, Rituals and Relics (Araluen Art Gallery), Icons & Revered Australiana (Imagery Gallery & Rockhampton Library Gallery) and The First & Last Photo Expo Show.
Dr Doug Spowart
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Lewitt, S. (1967). Paragraphs on Conceptual Art. Artforum 5: 8.
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HERE IS A SELECTION OF WORKS FROM MY EXPO’88 PSEUDONYMS
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John (Jack) Dorf ………(United Kingdom)
John (Jack) Dorf ………(United Kingdom)
Eugene Owens …….(USA)
Eugene Owens …….(USA)
Malenky Davotchka ……. (Russia)
Malenky Davotchka …….(Russia)
Y Regami ……(Japan)
Y Regami ……. (Japan)
Hanna Rhetzik …….(Czechoslovakia)
Hanna Rhetzik ……(Czechoslovakia)
Ethyl Stevens …….(USA)
Ethyl Stevens …….(USA)
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A PDF PRESENTATION CONTAINING MORE IMAGES IS AVAILABLE HERE: EXPO-SPOWART-v3
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First & Last EXPO PHOTO SHOW Poster
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Images and text © Doug Spowart Design of the Poster: Trish Briscoe
From the Doug Spowart Personal Art Archive 1953-2014
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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WORLD CYANOTYPE DAY 2022: ANZ – Online Exhibition
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EACH YEAR FOR THE LAST 4 YEARS WE HAVE COORDINATED AN EXHIBITION OF ARTWORKS BY AUSTRALIAN CYANOTYPE PRINTMAKERS TO CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL EVENTS LINKED TO WORLD CYANOTYPE DAY.
Unlike most years where the exhibition is in a physical gallery this year the exhibition is an online catalogue. Another aspect of World Cyanotype Day (WCD) events is the connection that works made should respond to a theme which this year was – ENLIGHTEN. This year WCD falls on Saturday September 24th.
Our preparations for the exhibition began back in May with a call for expressions of interest from members of the Facebook Group The Cyanotype in Australia and New Zealand – A group we founded in 2019 to facilitate the first WCD exhibition at the Monash Gallery of Art.
Respondents were presented with the concept of “presenting your cyanotype in a way that shows something about you – It could be positioned in your studio, home setting, in the garden or somewhere in your locality”.
Twenty-five cyanotype makers sent in their submissions. These artworks were collated and prepared for the design stage of the project by us. Here are their cyanotypes and a link to download the catalogue. ALSO at the end of the post is the story and links to the previous year”s catalogues.
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Here the submissions:
“CLICK” on the thumbnail to enlarge the image and see the author’s name and title
THE ONLINE CATALOGUE IS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD –
Here is the file: CYANOTYPE CATALOGUE 2022v3
Here is the backstory the 5 Cyanotype in Australia and New Zealand WORLD CYANOTYPE DAY exhibitions & catalogues
Download: WCD_CinA-Catalogue-2018
Event 1 – 2018
In September 2018 The Cyanotype in Australia Facebook group was founded and held its first collective exhibition and illustrated catalogue as part as the global event World Cyanotype Day (WCD). Entitled In Anna’s Garden the exhibition referenced Anna Atkins’ pioneering role in the development of the cyanotype.
The exhibition was held in the Atrium Space at Monash Gallery of Art, Wheeler’s Hill, Melbourne and was opened by Gael E Phillips. Gallery staff members Stephanie Richter and Gillian Jones joined with Victoria Cooper and Doug Spowart to prepare and hang the diverse representation of Australian contemporary cyanotype work. The Gallery Director Anouska Phizacklea attended the event along with many of the exhibitors.
Download: WCD_CinA-catalogue-2019
Event 2 – 2019
A world-wide call out from the A. Smith Gallery in Texas, USA, invited artists to participate in an exhibition by sending a cyanotype made on a 30cm square of fabric – referred to as ‘Flags’. The work was a personal response to the WCD theme for that year, Land / Sea / Sky.
The Cyanotype in Australia (CinA) co-ordinators decided to organize a collaborative show of cyanotype flags connecting with the WCD. Coordinated at the Maud Street Photo Gallery in Brisbane, the exhibition was called Under the Southern Sun. Again, the coordinators were supported by Gail Neumann, David Symons and Keiko Goto in the unpacking and hanging the flags in the gallery. However this was only the first part of a long and exciting journey for these cyanotype prints.
After the show came down, the working party packed up the show and the Flags were sent off to Texas where they were shown with all the other works from across the world at the A. Smith Gallery. Subsequently the exhibition was also shown at PhotoNOLA in New Orleans.
Download: ____WCD 2020 CATALOGUE-FINALv3
Event 3 – 2020
Due to the pandemic 2020 was a difficult year to show work in a physical gallery space so the CinA co-ordinators created an online presence and an illustrated catalogue referencing the WCD theme of Interconnected. After a call out to all members of our Facebook group, artists from across Australia and around the world responded by contributing to the collection of a creative work that showcased the diverse practice of the cyanotype in Australia and elsewhere.
Download: WCD 2021 Exhibition-SCREEN_Res-Sept27
Event 4 – 2021
Despite the challenges of Covid, 2021 saw the return of a physical exhibition. Gail Neumann curated the show at KEPK Gallery in Brisbane, supported by other members of the CinA team. The WCD theme this year was REJUVENATION. Local art identity and cyanotyper LeAnne Vincent opened the exhibition and an illustrated catalogue was made available to participants.
Event 5 – 2022
For many surviving Covid, floods and fire and rebuilding their arts practice has been challenging over the last 2-3 years, so the return to an online format seemed a good option. Also at this time, the organisers felt that it was important to recognize our friends and colleagues from across “the ditch” in New Zealand, so our group name was changed to The Cyanotype in Australia and New Zealand.
The call for expressions of interest was made in May and those who responded were asked to submit work on the WCD theme – ENLIGHTEN. They were also requested to consider making an in-situ representation of their cyanotype image in their studio space or where they live, to add a personal and physical dimension to the virtual online space. The 2022 catalogue includes the artists who responded to the in-situ request, and also those who only sent through a photograph of their cyanotype.
Once again, the catalogue presents a survey of the practice of cyanotype within our region. We wish to thank the contributors for making work available for this catalogue as well as providing commentaries about their work.
ENJOY and be ENLIGHTENED about the work by the members of the Cyanotype in Australia and New Zealand.
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ABOUT THE CYANOTYPE IN AUSTRALIA + NEW ZEALAND
The Cyanotype in Australia + New Zealand Facebook group has actively supported a vibrant community of practice of not only local, but also international cyanotypers for 5 yearsFF.
The Facebook page is a closed group though we welcome ‘Requests to join’ from cyanotype practitioners of this region.
The Cyanotype in Australia+New Zealand Team are Doug Spowart, Gail Neumann, David Symons and Victoria Cooper.
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.MGA POSTCARDS EXHIBITION – Our images
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WE RECENTLY RESPONDED TO A ‘CALL OUT’ FROM THE MONASH GALLERY OF ART to make and send in a POSTCARD representing ‘Our back yard’.
It is an interesting Mail Art Project so we selected images and sent them in. Recently we are in Melbourne and managed to go out to MCA to see their exhibitions and the post card show in the Atrium Gallery.
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If you are interested in participating – The details and link are at the end of this post.
VICTORIA’s CARD: Image from the book VISUAL FIELD NOTES
Victoria Cooper MGA POSTCARD
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ABOUT VICKY’S POST CARD IMAGE: DAY DREAMING
We arrived in Benalla during one of the long Covid 19 lockdowns of Victoria. We found ourselves under a state wide travel restriction of only 5kms from our home. So walking became my way of exploring my new locality.
On these walks, and later on longer journeys,
I was captivated by the remnants of natural environment at the edge of the suburban spaces, roadsides and bushland. Here in the North East the trees tower like epic monuments to a pre-colonial history …
DOUG’s CARD:
An image from the book WALKING URBAN GROUND
Doug Spowart’s MGA POSTCARD SHOW
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ABOUT DOUG’S POST CARD IMAGE:
This photo is about walking in the place where I live. While my walks with Vicky are for exercise, they are also an exploration of the streets, homes and spaces of my suburb.
During these walks I witness the seasons, varied architectural forms, garden features and the idiosyncratic things that homeowners create in their suburban environments.
In this work, from the book “Walking Urban Ground”, I explore through visual play, the creation of a joyful representation of the place where I live.
year I wandered as a free-ranging spirit on a bright sunny day through my local botanic garden. Spontaneously I responded to the subjects that emerged into my line of sight…
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A POSTCARD FROM GLEN O’MALLEY is also in the show…
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HERE’S THE SUBMISSION DETAILS
Postcards from our big backyard
“CLICK” URL HERE
3 August 2022 to 2 October 2022
MGA Atrium Gallery
Tuesday – Sunday
Postcards from our big backyard | Submissions now open
Viva Gibb took this photograph of the landscape she grew up on during a trip back to the area in the 1980s. The work is on display as part of MGA’s exhibition Return to nature, which journeys through the Australian landscape in photographs from the 1870s to today.
To coincide with this exhibition, we want you to send us a postcard of your big backyard!
Wherever you are in Australia, we want to see your landscape. So take a photograph of your corner of this great continent, print it at postcard size, write your name on the back, along with the title, date and a short note if you wish, then affix a stamp and send it by mail addressed to:
Monash Gallery of Art
860 Ferntree Gully Road
WHEELERS HILL
VIC 3150
We will then display your postcard in a growing exhibition in MGA’s Atrium gallery from 3 August to 2 October.
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.2022 WORLDWIDE PINHOLE DAY – Our images
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ON THE LAST SUNDAY IN APRIL pinhole photographers across the world gather together as individuals or groups to celebrate pinhole photography in all its forms.
This year for the first time in many years we find ourselves in a place that we call home. On this warm sunny April morning we connected with fellow Benalla artist, Maggie Hollins, and found joy in pinhole play on Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day.
We met in the Benalla Botanic Gardens renown for its rose garden, cricket field, the lake and the Benalla Art Gallery. The Gardens and surrounds are a popular place for locals to picnic, exercise, canoe or just hang out.
Benalla Pinholers – Maggie with Vicky+Doug
This is the 16th year we have supported the WPPD project!
SEE LINKS to our other submissions at the end of this Post.
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WHAT IS WORLDWIDE PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY DAY ALL ABOUT?
From the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day website introduction:
All the photographs in this extraordinary collection share two common characteristics: (1) they are lensless photographs (2) they were all made on April 24, 2022.
They also share an additional and less formal characteristic: the sincere enthusiasm of their creators who, by participating in this collective event, shared individual visions and techniques. Hence the amazing diversity of subjects, cameras, techniques and photographic materials combined in this exhibit!
The process is that photographs are made on April 24 > they are processed / optimised by the photographer > uploaded and captioned on the WPPD website. The 2022 Gallery of images can be searched to see what photographers from around the world did on that day…
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VICTORIA’s PINHOLE IMAGE: DAY DREAMING
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ABOUT VICKY’S PINHOLE IMAGE: DAY DREAMING
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A beautiful Autumn day beside the Benalla Art Gallery and lake.
OTHER IMAGES BY VICKY:
VICKY’s DIGI-PINHOLE CAMERA
Vicky’s Pinhole Olympus Pen
Camera Olympus Pen: 1/90 @2500 ISO the pinhole is made with a camera body cap and a handmade pinhole in pie tin foil.
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DOUG’s PINHOLE IMAGE: WALKING THE DOGS
ABOUT DOUG’S PINHOLE IMAGE:
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This year I wandered as a free-ranging spirit on a bright sunny day through my local botanic garden. Spontaneously I responded to the subjects that emerged into my line of sight…
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SOME OF DOUG’s OTHER IMAGES
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DOUG’s DIGI-PINHOLE CAMERA
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My pinhole was a readymade found in our pinhole workshop toolbox – capture device a digital Canon 6D operated around ISO 6000 with a S/S of 60th part of a second.
Visit the WWPD Site for details of other submissions: http://pinholeday.org/
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VIEW 16 YEARS OF PAST WPPD iMAGES:
2021 Doug+Vicky https://wordpress.com/post/wotwedid.com/12227
2020 Doug+Vicky https://wotwedid.com/2020/05/13/2020-worldwide-pinhole-day-26-april-our-images/
2019 Doug+Vicky https://wotwedid.com/2019/04/29/2019-worldwide-pinhole-day-28-april-our-images/
2018 Doug+Vicky https://wotwedid.com/2018/04/29/2018-worldwide-pinhole-day-29-april-our-images/
2016 Doug: http://www.pinholeday.org/index.php?id=1235
2016 Vicky: http://www.pinholeday.org/index.php?id=1540
2015 https://wotwedid.com/2015/05/04/april-26-worldwide-pinhole-day-our-contributions-for-2015/
2014 Vicky’s http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2014/index.php?id=1810&City=Toowoomba
2014 Doug’s http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2014/index.php?id=1811&City=Toowoomba
2013 https://wotwedid.com/2013/04/29/world-pinhole-photography-day-our-contribution/
2012 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2012/index.php?id=1937&searchStr=spowart
2011 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2011/index.php?id=924
HERE IS THE LINK to the 2011 pinhole video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk4vnbzTqOU
2010 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2010/index.php?id=2464&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
2006 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2006/index.php?id=1636&Country=Australia&searchStr=cooper
2004 Vicky http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2004/index.php?id=1553&Country=Australia&searchStr=cooper
2004 Doug http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2004/index.php?id=1552&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
2003 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2003/index.php?id=615&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
2002 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2002/index.php?id=826&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
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.2021 WORLDWIDE PINHOLE DAY – Our images
WWPD 2021 LOGO
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Around the [w]hole world on Sunday April 25, 20201pinholers were out having fun – Making their images for the 2021 Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day.
This year – still in Toowoomba we’ve been working on projects and supporting family. Once again, far away from the darkroom, we’ve fitted a piece of aluminium with a light admitting pin-prick to the body cap of our Olympus Pen camera and braved the parkland at the end of our street. Recently we uploaded our images with a detailed caption to the WPPD website to add to the contributions from Australian pinholers and many more from around the world.
This is the 17th year we have supported the WPPD project!
SEE LINKS to our other submissions at the end of this Post.
WHAT IS WORLDWIDE PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY DAY ALL ABOUT?
From the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day website introduction
All the photographs in this extraordinary collection share two common characteristics: (1) they are lensless photographs (2) they were all made on April 25, 2021.
They also share an additional and less formal characteristic: the sincere enthusiasm of their creators who, by participating in this collective event, shared individual visions and techniques. Hence the amazing diversity of subjects, cameras, techniques and photographic materials combined in this exhibit!
The process is that photographs are made on April 25 > they are processed / optimised by the photographer > uploaded and captioned on the WPPD website. The 2021 Gallery of images can be searched to see what photographers from around the world did on that day…
Here’s the website page of the Australian pinhole photographer’s works:
WPPD 2021 Australian submissions @ May 11, 2021
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VICTORIA’s PINHOLE IMAGE: AFTERNOON WALK
Victoria Cooper’s Evening walk pinhole photo
ABOUT VICKY’S PINHOLE IMAGE:
We pass by these trees everyday… I decided to take pinhole photos of our walk as I enjoy the way they transform these everyday places into a kind of poem, not distinct nor descriptive just evocative.
DOUG’s PINHOLE IMAGE: TREE HOUSE
Tree House a pinhole image by Doug Spowart
ABOUT DOUG’S PINHOLE IMAGE:
I chose the late afternoon to go out and make images as the low light angle and the deep shadows add drama and mystery to pinholes made at this time.
Over recent years I have continued to choose a digital camera and aluminium pie dish with a pin prick in it. Wet darkrooms and film, although it suited the zone plates of landscape that I made are beyond my current means – perhaps next year…
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OUR Digi-PINHOLE CAMERA
The Cooper+Spowart digi OLYMPUS PEN with pinhole …
This is a converted digital Olympus Pen, shared with my partner Doug Spowart. The pinhole is a pin pierced hole in aluminium which is inserted into a hole drilled into a body cap. It is a hand held exposure of 1/25th second at ISO 2000.
Visit the WWPD Site for details of other submissions: http://pinholeday.org/
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Our Past WPPD images:
2020 Doug+Vicky https://wotwedid.com/2020/05/13/2020-worldwide-pinhole-day-26-april-our-images/
2019 Doug+Vicky https://wotwedid.com/2019/04/29/2019-worldwide-pinhole-day-28-april-our-images/
2018 Doug+Vicky https://wotwedid.com/2018/04/29/2018-worldwide-pinhole-day-29-april-our-images/
2016 Doug: http://www.pinholeday.org/index.php?id=1235
2016 Vicky: http://www.pinholeday.org/index.php?id=1540
2015 https://wotwedid.com/2015/05/04/april-26-worldwide-pinhole-day-our-contributions-for-2015/
2014 Vicky’s http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2014/index.php?id=1810&City=Toowoomba
2014 Doug’s http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2014/index.php?id=1811&City=Toowoomba
2013 https://wotwedid.com/2013/04/29/world-pinhole-photography-day-our-contribution/
2012 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2012/index.php?id=1937&searchStr=spowart
2011 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2011/index.php?id=924
HERE IS THE LINK to the 2011 pinhole video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk4vnbzTqOU
2010 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2010/index.php?id=2464&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
2006 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2006/index.php?id=1636&Country=Australia&searchStr=cooper
2004 Vicky http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2004/index.php?id=1553&Country=Australia&searchStr=cooper
2004 Doug http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2004/index.php?id=1552&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
2003 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2003/index.php?id=615&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
2002 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2002/index.php?id=826&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
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