WIM de VOS – Artist, teacher, musician, mentor, brother & friend
A portrait of Wim de Vos with his work at Studio West End
For Wim, by Vicky Cooper
In your last days we visited you….
Like the artist thinking about your next artwork…
You described your final work…
How, where, when…
You would be buried….
An acrylic case made by friends
In the bush
Up a hilly rocky track
To a hidden mountain
A stand of trees that had black bark
A particular view across a Valley
A golden sunset
A rock with the Red Fox coat of arms
Also created by a friend
50 years I have known you
Sometimes distant
Sometimes close
I danced with your groupies
In Cloudland where
You played a red Fender
Those favourite songs
Neil Young, Focus, George Harrison
Beach Boys and so may more…
I danced with Opa
At the Dutch Club
I loved Oma’s apple pie
The paper flowers and the needle work
The smell of pipe tobacco
The Dutch jokes
Stories of WW2
I remember your first exhibition
Michael Milburn
Your time in Maastricht
My sister with the two boys and soon a girl
My sister is now another beautiful story
The boys are also creating new stories
And the girl is strong and confident
The world has not limited them
At seminal moments
I needed inspiration and support
You were there
With Doug…
Fellow teacher, artist and family
I for 50 years
Doug for 30….
You could be at times testing…
But you were also investing
Your energy, creativity, ingenuity and knowledge
There are so many years of art
Toowoomba, Flying Arts, McGregor…
Then West End and Adele
A collaboration that built a strong community
Each of us all has personal stories
Each will be different
But all of it rich
Just like your studio and apartment
The walls and corners of your life
Are jam packed with collections
Of moments
Sad or cantankerous
Solitary or social
Dedicated and creative
But your parting words to me now echo in my everyday
That I never stop making my art…
And I now reflect that if it were not for his support
I – and perhaps many others – would not have started…..
It is in this legacy that you will always remain
.
.
.
Wim de Vos
VALE Wim de Vos 27/5/1947-8/12/2018.
Christene Drewe has written a post in the State Library of Queensland’ John Oxley Library Blog about Wim and the works that they have in their collection.
http://blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/2019/01/24/remembering-brisbane-artist-wim-de-vos/
SLQ-JOL Blog post by Christene Drewe
.
.
.
Some images of Wim from events over the last few years…
.
Wim presenting a long book at the Artists Book Brisbane Event – Griffith University Brisbane
Wim & Adele at ABBE Artists Book Conference July 2015
Wim showing the State Librarian Janette Wright his tunnel books at the Siganto Seminar 2015
Wim & Adele at the State Library of Qld’s Artists’ Book Fair 2015
The launch of the Bookplate collection with Anne Jolly, Helen Cole and Gael Phillips and others
A return to the ‘Band’ days at Studio West End
Farewell to ABSOE party, 23rd April 2016
A blog post about the ABSOE Studio and the NEW Studio can be found HERE
.
At the NEW West End Studio – November 2016
The NEW West End Studio
Adele in the New West End Studio
Lunch is prepared at the New West End Studio
Lunch at the New West End Studio
.
Wim will be back in the studio soon…
.
The studio
.
.
.
.
©Texts by Vicky Cooper . . . © All photographs by Doug Spowart
.
In remembrance….
.
.
.
THE QLD PHOTOBOOK CONSORTIA – SUCCESSFUL SUBMISSION National Gallery of Victoria ART BOOK FAIR 2019
The Queensland Photobook Consortia
.
Over the last few weeks we’ve put together a submission from Queensland photobook authors and self-publishers for next year’s National Gallery of Victoria ART BOOK FAIR. The Fair is a huge event attendances of 12-16,000 over the three days of the event have been recorded. The who’s who from collecting institutions, private collectors and fellow exhibitors all view, read – and sometimes purchase books…! Apart from networking and selling or trading books the Fair has associated with it a program from the Melbourne Design Week.
To celebrate photobooks and to bring together Queensland authors, designers and self-publishers we have formed a group called THE QUEENSLAND PHOTOBOOK CONSORTIA. Over the next week or so we will find out if our submission has been successful – In the meantime we are interested in hearing from any Queensland photobook maker that we can add to our list of contacts.
HERE IS SOME MORE INFO about the Fair and the Consortia’s submission…
WE WERE SUCCESSFUL….! Got the news 21st of December
.
.
BLURB FROM THE NGV
.
About the Melbourne Art Book Fair
Melbourne Art Book Fair returns for its fifth year in 2019. Since the event began, the publishing and broader creative landscape has undergone many shifts. MABF 2019 asks: what is publishing now? What is encompassed by the term and how can publishing bring about positive change on multiple fronts?
Featuring diverse emerging and established local and international publishers, artists and writers, Melbourne Art Book Fair 2019 presents a four-day program of ideas, discussions and book launches at the National Gallery of Victoria. The 2019 program explores ideas around experimental and discursive publishing, challenging how we think about the publishing field. Guests ask the question: what can books do? How might the form change? How might publishing provoke and influence other creative and social phenomena such as fashion diffusion lines, capsule collections, event spaces, activist movements and community development?
.
The submission is only the first stage of the process. If successful we will seek some extra participants – HERE ARE THE MAIN ANSWERS IN OUR SUBMISSION….
QUESTION: Please tell us what you do, and why:
The Queensland Photobook Consortia is a group of photobook and artists’ book makers and self-publishers from Queensland who, through their publishing projects, provide comment on contemporary issues relating to life and times, not only of their home state Queensland but also Australia and the rest of the world.
The opportunity to present Queensland photobooks within the premier event of the NGV Art Book Fair will enable this substantial group of artists to share their creativity and visual stories. It is our proposal to showcase this group of contemporary emerging and established Queensland practitioners and their latest works.
Their backgrounds are many and varied and include the following:
Ana Paula Estrada
ANA PAULA ESTRADA is a Mexican–Australian artist based in Brisbane. For the last seven years her art practice has focused mainly on the documentation of life stories of older Australians by combining photography, oral history, and the artist book. She is currently completing a Master of Visual Arts by research degree at the Queensland College of Art. In 2016, she self-published an artist book called Memorandum in an edition of 200, which has been recognized and exhibited broadly nationally and internationally.
http://www.anapaulaestrada.com
Tammy Law
TAMMY LAW documents stories that are reflective of her experiences of being a child of Chinese migrants, and the bubble of Asian/Australianness within which she lives. Her travels through Asia—mostly in Japan, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Burma—and the differences between Asia and the West propel her to focus on concepts of migration, home and belonging. This book’s development and production has been supported by the celebrated Tokyo based Reminders Photography Stronghold.
David Symons
DAVID SYMONS is a Brisbane based artist. The idea that the photograph sits precariously on the edge of the real and imagined is the great appeal of the medium to David. Born in Scotland, he studied photography in Western Australia in the 1980s. David has exhibited locally and nationally and has been a finalist prizes including The Olive Cotton Award and the IRIS Award. His photographic work is held in The Art Gallery of Western Australia Collection.
http://www.davidsymons.com.au/about-2/
Louis Lim
LOUIS LIM is a Brisbane-based photographer and photobook-maker whose work explores the diversity in human conditions, specifically those that are under-represented in mainstream media. His work has been exhibited in several Australian galleries and presented internationality.
Lim has exhibited his photobook with live bookbinding demonstration in Central Embassy Open House as part of Photo Bangkok Festival. Lim has attended the highly regarded Reminders Photography Stronghold Masterclass and is currently developing his personal photobook project in a collaboration with Beth Jackson.
Dane Beesley
DANE BEESLEY is an Australian photographer who has created photography books, exhibited widely, and his photographs are held in public and private collections. Beesley has been described as a “leading Australian rock photojournalist” by Melbourne street press Beat Magazine. Marei Bischarn, photo editor at Rolling Stone Australia, described his work as “honesty in photos; nothing planned or fabricated – just pure energy and great times”.
Victoria Reid
VICTORIA REID is a freelance photographer based in South East Queensland. She is interested in documenting the human condition and provides a voice for injustices in society. Reid is about to graduate from the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, with a Bachelor of Photography (Honours) with a major in Photojournalism and Social Documentary.
https://www.victoriareidphotography.com.au/
Victoria Cooper
VICTORIA COOPER’s work traverses both personal and political territories in the investigation and representation of an Australian “site” and “place”. She creates visual narratives in response to, and informed by, contemporary social and environmental issues intertwined with historical, scientific and mythological insights intrinsic to each site. Her books are held in major artists’ book collections including the National Library of Australia, the State Libraries of Queensland and Victoria and Artspace Mackay.
http://www.cooperandspowart.com.au/
Doug Spowart
DOUG SPOWART has an extensive involvement in Australian creative industries as an artist, educator, curator, commentator and reviewer. For over 25 years he has made photobooks and artists’ books. Many of these books are held in private, regional and state public galleries, national and international photography and artists’ book collections.
http://www.cooperandspowart.com.au/
What are some of your recent titles?
SOME RECENT TITLES FROM MEMBERS OF THE QLD PHOTOBOOK CONSORTIA
.
I was there V.I by Ana Paula Estrada
I WAS THERE V. I & II by Ana Paula Estrada consists of a two-volume artist book that tells the life stories of Kevin and Esta, two participants aged over eighty, with whom she has been collaborating. Merging the fields of documentary practice, oral history and fine arts, and influenced by visual poetry, her books explore the combination of text, image and the blank space of the page.
http://www.anapaulaestrada.com/book-preview/
The shadow inside by David Symonds
THE SHADOW INSIDE by David Symons is a noir photobook. The book stylistically revisits the visual languages of the pulp noir genre and police evidence photograph of the mid 20th Century. A low-voltage current of psychoanalytical and surrealist themes run through the pages weaving the narrative in and out the real and imagined. This is a game constantly played out in the viewers mind. For the author the mystery is where the door is between the two states.
Permission to belong by Tammy Law
PERMISSION TO BELONG by Tammy Law explores themes of migration, home and belonging through the everyday lives of refugee families from Myanmar. Living against the backdrop of decades of repressive rule and civil war, countless families live between a place of home and homelessness, belonging and unbelonging. The negotiation and renegotiation of identities is as complex as the history and future of Myanmar.
http://reminders-project.org/rps/permissiontobelongsaleen/
Yelseeb Enad by Dane Beesley
YELSEEB ENAD by Dane Beesley deals with the mythic place that the road occupies in the American west. It is a romanticised Kerouac/Dylanesque view of the road captured in small moments and big cars invested with meaning. There’s an honesty, a quest for truth, perhaps a naiveté in the images reminiscent of cinéma vérité that captures the adolescent wanderlust it seeks to document.
… There is no end by Louis Lim and Beth Jackson
… THERE IS NO END a collaboration between Louis Lim and Beth Jackson deals with grief, loss and upheaval from two separate encounters that intertwine through the process of photobook making. The book was shortlisted in the Singapore International Photography Festival Photo Book Showcase 2018, and the 2018 Libris Award with acquisition by Artspace Mackay.
The final version of the book is in current production for release in early 2019.
http://sipf.sg/photobook/there-is-no-end/
liberté by Victoria Reid
LIBERTÉ by Victoria Reid is her first self-published book. This book of photographic work examines the search for sexual freedom in a society in which tightly prescriptive sexual norms prevail. This project focuses on people who create meaning in their worlds outside of what is considered ‘normative’ behaviour. Exchange of power, consent, trust, role-playing and gender identity are explored. The intention of this project is to promote dialogue around existing sexual stereotypes and stigmas.
We’ll keep in touch to let you know how our submission got on….
AND, If you are from Queensland and have a book do get in contact with us….
.
.
The Queensland Photobook Consortia.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
IMPRINT JOURNAL: Article on regional arts awards
IMPRINT COVER Vol53 #2
In March this year we were approached by the Editor of IMPRINT MAGAZINE, the journal of the Print Council of Australia to write a piece about regional galleries and the national awards that they coordinate. Of particular interest to Editor Andrew Stephens was Artspace Mackay’s Libris Awards: National Artists’ Book Award, and Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery’s National Works on Paper Awards.
We were familiar with both awards events and in particular we’ve had a long connection with the Libris Awards as entrants and reviewers. In 2017 we visited the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery as viewed and exhibition of works from their awards. Many of you will also be aware of our interest in, and support of regional art so we were excited by the opportunity that the commission provided.
We set about to prepare the commentary and to add extra voices to the piece we contacted some artists who have significant participation in regional arts awards. What follows is the article with the 4 page layout and photographs followed by the text, references and acknowledgements.
.
Imprint: Page 22+23
Imprint: Page 24+25
BEYOND THE CITY LIMITS:
Two regional art awards for artists’ books and works on paper
The art gallery is a place for presentation, display and the sharing of art. It is a space that orchestrates the development of cultural discourse by connecting the world of the artist with an art-interested audience including members of the public, art students, the artist’s peers, curators, critics and collectors. Big city art galleries can mount blockbuster national and international shows and also cover a diverse range of disciplines that regional galleries cannot ever hope to match. The regional gallery can however specialise in key areas of activity and collection by including in their programs discipline based national awards. These galleries also aren’t so constrained by orthodoxy and can open up the dialogue leading to more widespread changes. Through the awards they can push boundaries and help to define what is contemporary in various disciplines.
.
Two noteworthy regional galleries and their specialisations are Artspace Mackay (AM) has the Libris Awards: National Artists’ Book Award (Libris) and Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery (MPRG) has National Works on Paper Awards (NWOP). To ensure the currency of the entries both awards are offered biennially with a requirement that the works entered must have been completed within the preceding two years. Each gallery has a particular focus for their award.
The Libris Awards provide Artspace Mackay with: ‘an opportunity to become known as a centre for artists’ books; we develop/build meaningful relationships over many years with artists; the award attracts the latest and best works from artists in the field and introduces us to new artists; and provides us with a wonderful opportunity to acquire new artists’ books for our Art Collection by leading artists in the field’.[1]
At the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery the NWOP’s role ‘is to support and promote contemporary Australian artists working on or with paper. Works may be executed in any medium on or with paper… The paper must act as the main two or three-dimensional support of the work’.[2]
These Awards provide a testing ground for the new ideas, current aspects of technique and new/contemporary themes as well as many other art practice related opportunities. Sasha Grishin, in his ‘Judges Notes’ the 2016 Libris Awards commented that: ‘The contemporary artists book is characterised by boundless freedom’, and adds that: ‘… it has absorbed many conceptual frameworks, many art mediums and technologies and goes across the spectrum of the senses’.[3] Entries in the NWOP Awards also exhibit Grishin’s ‘boundless freedom’ as MPRG Director Jane Alexander states in the 2016 catalogue: ‘Through printing, drawing, folding, sculpting and collage, paper is at the forefront of artistic experimentation… increasingly we are seeing this practice pushed to new and exciting dimensions’.[4]
Much of an artist’s life can be isolated making it difficult to connect with a broader community of practice, which can also be fractured by physical distance and conceptual difference. Therefore artists see these awards as an opportunity to present their most recent work. They seek the recognition that comes from selection and being shown in the awards’ survey exhibitions. This acknowledgement also locates them in a review of contemporary practice specific to their discipline. Nationally respected printmaker and artist bookmaker Dianne Fogwell generously shared with us the three main reasons she entered awards: ‘1. To stay abreast of who is professionally working in my field and 2; so that my contemporaries know I am still working professionally in my field and 3; I can enter work that does not suit the gallery exhibition either through content or scale’.[5]
There is also the potential benefit of exposure, critical review and for some the financial reward of purchase or winning a major award. It should be noted that both the Libris and NWOP receive significant sponsorship and support from range of sources to make possible their awards[6]. Deanna Hitti won the 2008 Libris Award and the 2009 Books Beyond Words Award held by the East Gippsland Art Gallery. She comments that, ‘I am quite fortunate to have been the recipient of two major Australian artist book awards in consecutive years… My whole arts practice gained exposure and in a way it validated my work and presented a path to promote my work through’.[7]
The choice of appropriate judges for these awards is critical as through their decisions a continual review of the nation-wide practice of the award’s associated disciplines is carried out. The selected judges for the Libris and NWOP come from major collecting and exhibiting institutional backgrounds and are widely respected within their specific disciplines.[8] Other awards may have judges who are also acclaimed artists, art critics and teaching academics.
Before entering any awards the artist needs to consider their work in relation to the competition criteria and the judging process. In this evaluation some gritty questions tend to surface regarding how their work is to be considered by the selection committee and the awards audience. For example: How much is my art worth? Will the winner’s work need to appear comparable to the amount of prize money associated with the award? Will awards that favour the spectacular and immediately accessible works marginalise those that require time and focus? As the practice of book arts is very broad and varied, from book sculpture to fine press to zines—in rewarding a particular art form/s this could promote one form over many other worthy and incomparable works. If so this could narrow the potential for a variety of work to be accepted within the broader practice?
To address questions of diversity, the two awards discussed in this article attempt to provide opportunities to recognise different mediums and the stages of the artist’s career. Libris has in the past offered a separate award for Zines, and have always included a local artists award. This year they are featuring the altered book. Both the Libris and NWOP also include emerging artists’ awards along with a budget to acquire a variety of other works selected for the exhibition.
Another salient question for the artist to consider relates to the handling of the work and its display, particularly for unusual work, such as sculptural and installation works that are unframed. Many galleries may not have the capacity to appropriately display these works and still allow for quality public engagement. The Libris awards require that entrants include a document on how they would like work would be shown. This way the artist has to consider whether the work should be handled and how it will be placed in the gallery space.
Although an important part of an artists career awards should not define them and their creative work potential. Dianne Fogwell presents a grounded perspective on how the award should influence the artmaking process: ‘Being selected as a finalist or to be the people’s choice or winning the award or prize gives you heart as making art is a lonely thing and more so the longer you do it. Does it make a difference to the way I make my work, no, has it made a difference to who buys my work, I hope not, as it is the work that’s important in the end’.[9]
To build an archive and history of these important survey events both Libris and NWOP create records of their awards in the form of catalogues and online in accessible PDF versions.[10] Libris posted 2016 judge Sasha Grishin’s award notes[11] and an illustrated list of works.[12] NWOP has over the last two events, 2014 & 2016 published a physical catalogue and online versions as well.[13] Additionally AM and MPRG can be contacted for further information on historical records.
These archives add to the history of the award as well as a snapshot of the adjudicated contemporary practice in the disciplines at the time of the award and the value that collectors and the art market place on artworks. What may be interesting as an enhancement to any art award could be consideration for the creation of a democratic record of entry where all entries are listed in an online format to show the complete story of all artists who entered the award and their works.
CONCLUSION:
After the judgements have been made, the winners received recognition, the acquisitions completed and the remaining works returned, the exhibition may be over but the legacy of the awards lingers on. Through the initiative of the regional gallery, sponsor support and the contribution of artists, these awards create a fertile space where ongoing discourse can both challenge and shape the development of the art.
Prepared by Dr Victoria Cooper and Dr Doug Spowart
With thanks to: Tracey Heathwood Director Artspace Mackay and Narelle Russo MPRG Curator-Collections / Registrar.
Dr Lyn Ashby, Dianne Fogwell, Deanna Hitti, Johanna Kambourian, Dr Clyde McGill, Dr Felicity Rea.
[1] Correspondence received from Artspace Director Tracey Heathwood
[2] https://mprg.mornpen.vic.gov.au/Exhibitions/National-Works-on-Paper Viewed 10 April, 2018.
[3] http://www.artspacemackay.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/205398/2016_Libris_Awards_Artspace_Mackay.pdf Viewed 4 April, 2018
[4] Jane Alexander, 2016 NWOP Catalogue, p 3.
[5] Correspondence from Dianne Fogwell
[6] The Libris and NWOP offer significant monetary prizes: Libris—4 awards, 2 acquisitive) totalling $15,000, and the NWOP offers a major acquisitive award of $15,000. Both awards have acquisitive awards budgets – NWOP allocates a further $35,000.
[7] Correspondence from Dianna Hitti
[8] Judges for 2018 Libris: Roger Butler AM, Senior Curator Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Australia Helen Cole, former Coordinator Australian Library of Art
and the 2018 NWOP, Jane Alexander, MPRG Director;
Victoria Lynn, Director, TarraWarra Museum of Art;
Dr Kyla McFarlane, Curator of Academic Programs (Research) Ian Potter Museum of Art.
[9] Correspondence from Dianne Fogwell
[10] http://www.artspacemackay.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/204955/2016LibrisAwards_IllustratedListofWorks.pdf Viewed 7 April, 2018
[11] http://www.artspacemackay.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/205398/2016_Libris_Awards_Artspace_Mackay.pdf Viewed 7 April, 2018
[12] http://www.artspacemackay.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/204955/2016LibrisAwards_IllustratedListofWorks.pdf Viewed 7 April, 2018
[13] https://mprg.mornpen.vic.gov.au/Exhibitions/National-Works-on-Paper Viewed 7 April, 2018
SOME OTHER AUSTRALIAN – PRINTMAKING + ARTISTS’ BOOK AWARDS @ March 2018
Manly Artists Book Award—Bi-yearly, next 2019
https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/arts-and-culture/manly-artists-book-award
Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award—Bi-yearly, next 2019
Gippsland Print Award—Bi-yearly, next 2019
http://www.gippslandartgallery.com/prizes/gippsland-print-award/
Swan Hill Print & Drawing Acquisitive Awards—Bi-yearly, current 2018
https://gallery.swanhill.vic.gov.au/2018/03/print-drawing-finalists/
2017 Geelong Aquisitive Print Awards
http://www.geelonggallery.org.au/cms_uploads/docs/2017-geelong-acquisitive-print-awards_online.pdf
Banyule Award for Works on Paper—Hatch Contemporary Arts Space
https://www.banyule.vic.gov.au/Arts-and-Events/Banyule-Award-for-Works-on-Paper
.
.
.
.
.
ADVANCE NOTICE: WORLD PHOTOBOOK DAY Brisbane Event
WPBD Header
To mark the 175th anniversary of what is recognised as the first photobook – Anna Atkins’ ‘Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions‘ we invite photobook lovers/collectors/makers to a Brisbane celebration of World Photobook Day 2018.
.
Green Anna Logo
.
.
This year the theme of the WPBD is ‘Anna goes green’ and is intended to focus on the concerns of:
– Global warming
– Environmental change and destruction
– Books about natural history topics including plants and nature
– Books with links to planet earth
The theme originates from Atkins’ activities as a scientific illustrator of flora and other specimens.
.
.
.
.
At this year’s event you will have the opportunity to:
- HEAR: Special guest speaker: Dr Paolo Magagnoli from the UQ School of Communications and Arts
- VIEW: Photobooks from the Fryer Library collection
- DISCUSS: “My favourite photobook”
- BRING: Along your favourite photobook to share.
VENUE: Fryer Library University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus from 11.00 am Saturday the 13th of October.
.
David Symons
.
This event is being coordinated by David Symons – we thank David for taking on this task while we are away in Tasmania.
We also wish to acknowledge that the World Photobook Day has been set up as a collaboration between the organizers of Photobook Club Madrid and Matt Johnston the founder of the Photobook Club network.
PLEASE NOTE: World Photobook Day is October 14 – This event is scheduled on the 13th due to the availability of the venue.
.
FOR MORE DETAILS & TO REGISTER>>> https://www.facebook.com/events/247464655970747/
.
.
Photobook Club Logo
CYANOTYPE IN AUSTRALIA @ MGA – An exhibition & Workshop
We are excited to announce an exhibition of the work of Australian cyanotype practitioners for World Cyanotype Day 2018 has now opened.
Over the last month we’ve been working with Stephanie Richter and Gillian Jones of Monash Gallery of Art in Melbourne to bring together the cyanotype works by artists from north Queensland to Tasmania to exhibit in the MGA’s ATRIUM GALLERY.
We also presented a one day masterclass on the cyanotype and the book.
In Anna’s Garden: Poster
The exhibitors are:
Adele Outteridge, Ann Vardanega, Chris Byrnes, Christina Harding, Danielle Minette, David Symons, Dawne Fahey, Deanna Hitti, Felicity Rea, Gael E Phillips, Gail Neumann, Jan Ramsay, Janis House, Kate Golding, LeAnne Vincent, Linsey Walker, Lloyd Godman, Lynette Zeeng, Mark Lourensz, Mel Brackstone, Mollie Bosworth, Raimond De Weerdt, Renata Buziak, Robyn Campbell, Shane Booth, Silvi Glattauer, Sue Clisby, Thomas Oliver, Trevor Foon, Stephanie Richter, Victoria Cooper and Doug Spowart.
the ‘In Anna’s Garden’ catalogue
A copy of the exhibition catalogue can be dowloaded ‘In Anna’s Garden’ CATALOGUE
A video of the gallery installation can be seen here…
.
THE STORY OF THE EXHIBITION from Victoria Cooper + Doug Spowart
For around 2 years we have been members of the World Cyanotype Day Facebook page and have followed the work and comments made by cyanotypists from all over the world. When the call went out about the 2018 World Cyanotype Day (WCD) we shared the post on our Facebook page with the message, ‘wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could have an exhibition of practitioners from Australia to celebrate WCD’. Within minutes our Facebook Friends started responding with supporting comments like, ‘WOW, I’d like to be a part of that!’ Within 24 hours about 20 ‘Likes’ and comments appeared – we then thought about how we could make it possible.
In September we were scheduled to be in Melbourne so we made some enquiries with a few contacts about the possibility of an exhibition space that we could consider for the project. Things went quiet for a while and we sent out a few follow up messages. Then came a response from Stephanie Richter, the Monash Gallery of Art’s Education & Public Programs Coordinator, that the Community Access space at MGA could be available. After consultation with the Director Anouska Phizacklea and the MGA team the go ahead was granted to mount the exhibition and present a masterclass in the process. An event team was formed consisting of Stephanie, Gillian Jones – a recent Master of Arts and Cultural Management student from Melbourne University with Vicky and myself.
A Facebook Group was established and people who we knew were practising cyanotypists were invited to join. Through our contacts in alternative and traditional photography we enquired about other cyanotype workers that we should be aware of to extend to them an invitation to contribute to the show.
In time documents outlining the project, conditions of submission and important aspects of the venue and the audience were generated and made available online. Some invitees were contacted via email, as they were not Facebook users.
The closing dates for submissions, delivery to the gallery and installation all had tight deadlines. The FB group was able to provide a rapid distribution of information, an ability to respond to questions and circulate the answers back to the group. Behind the scenes the event team connected via Facebook Messenger to plan, resolve and prepare the way for the exhibition. Early in September the works were received at the gallery and a 3-day installation took place by the event team supported by artist Deanna Hitti. The exhibition was opened on the 15th of September and will remain on show until the 21st of October.
In Anna’s Garden presents a diverse and vibrant community of cyanotype artists and photographers working in Australia. Although the exhibition is not a complete survey, it does represent a beginning in recognizing the practice of this process in Australia. Also planned is the continuation of an openly accessible ‘The Cyanotype in Australia’ Facebook page to provide a place for networking and the sharing of concepts, techniques and images with the local, national and international communities.
The growing popularity of this early photographic process could seem strange at a time when instant perfection is so easily achieved through digital technologies. Perhaps the allure for the cyanotype lies in its hand-made working methods and technologies along with the potential for capricious results that inevitably lead to an excitement in the discovery new ways of seeing. For many the emotional power of the cyanotype’s blue image continues to create new perceptions through visual expression and storytelling 176 years beyond its first discovery.
.
SOME IMAGES FROM THE EXHIBITION
.
.
.
.
.
A BOOK, A COLLABORATION & TIME – #19 Artist Survey Book
#19 Artists Survey Book
.
The story of the Centre for Regional Arts Practice’s #19 Artist Survey Book
Between December 2013 until April 2015 Elysha Rei was working on a Masters of Business Administration project to develop an artist in residence program at Sam Rit in rural north-eastern Thailand. We had known Elysha for some time as an artist and director of Made Creative Space in Toowoomba. The Sam Rit project meant that she and son Kairo moved to Thailand for over 2 years and we followed Elysha’s activities on Facebook with interest on how her project was progressing.
.
In August 2014 Elysha made a Facebook post in which the comments made seemed to indicate she was missing Toowoomba and her friends. We got in contact and suggested that we collaborate on a mail art project – something that connected her experiences in regional Thailand with the familiar space of Toowoomba, Queensland Australia.
.
FB-Message 14 August 2014
.
Elysha said “That would be amazing count me in!” And the project was underway…
Ideas were exchanged and the project began with making photographs of our different everyday surroundings and the thought that they would be presented as comparative pairs.
Since 2007 we had made little Artists Survey books as part of our activities in the entity we founded – Centre for Regional Arts Practice (acronym C.R.A.P.). So the project that we were undertaking would be published as edition #19. A story on earlier C.R.A.P. editions and an event celebrating the Artist Surveys can be found HERE.
. Artists Flash Mob
2015
When Elysha returned briefly to Brisbane in January 2015 we worked through the progress to date in a meeting room at the State Library of Queensland. Images were ‘paired’ and other images, yet to be taken, were identified as well as other project discussions around other project details.
.
Elysha, Victoria and Doug in a planning meeting January 2016
Discussing photographs January 2016
.
2016-7
Our lives became busy with work and travel so continuing work the #19 Artist Survey book lapsed although a design was developed by Elysha for the extended cover of the book. Elysha also coordinated the Thai translations for the text. And Vicky and Doug developed the design of the book. Occasional connections were made to keep the project alive but at no time was there any thought that it would not reach its conclusion.
.
World map cover illustration
World map cover (in development)
Colophon texts with Thai translation
2018
Not daunted by huge issues at the beginning of the year Elysha connected with us to finalise the project. Final text and colour corrections were made to the InDesign document and the file was sent off to MomentoPro in Sydney for the pages to be printed. The cover was printed separately in Brisbane by us.
On the 28th of July we met again in a meeting room at the State Library of Queensland to collate, fold, sew and sign the 30 copies of the book.
Making the 30 copies of the #19 Artist Survey book
#19 Artist Survey Book – The Thai/Toowoomba exchange
.
Elysha, Victoria and Doug with the finished #19 Artist Survey book
.
Some pages from the #19 Artist Survey book
Breakfast – Toowoomba/Thai exchange
Into the studio – Toowoomba/Thai exchange
View from my studio window – Toowoomba/Thai exchange
Local art gallery – Toowoomba/Thai exchange
Where I sleep – Toowoomba/Thai exchange
.
.
A limited number of the books are available for purchase for $25+pack&post – contact us if you would like to order a copy.
.
.
.
4 PHOTOBOOK EVENTS – Brisbane August 3, 4 &5 2018
Australian + New Zealand Photobook of the Year Finalists
.
PLEASE NOTE THESE EVENTS HAVE NOW COMPLETED
FRIDAY August 3, 2018 evening
Event 1 – VIEW THE BEST PHOTOBOOKS from Australia & New Zealand
.
SATURDAY August 4, 2018 ALL DAY
Event 2 – HEAR CONTEMPORARY PHOTOBOOK people talking about the medium
Both events are FREE though registration/booking is essential
.
SUNDAY August 5 – Two NEW Sessions
(See Eventbrite links for session details, fees and booking details)
.
Event 3 – HAVE A PHOTOBOOK REVIEW with the Doctors – Doug+Vicky
Event 4 – DESIGNING & MAKING CONCERTINA FOLD BOOKS – with Doug+Vicky
.
EVENT 1: FRIDAY – August 3
An evening presentation the very best of contemporary photobooks from Australia and New Zealand from the recent Photobook of the Year Awards.
- Meet Libby Jeffery from the Award’s Patron MOMENTO PRO.
- Come in and look at the books from 5.30–8.00pm and Saturday 10.30–3.30pm.
- Location: MAUD GALLERY – 6 Maud Street, Newstead, Brisbane.
TO BOOK this event do so on this Facebook page: PHOTOBOOK FRIDAY FACEBOOK EVENT
ANZ Photobook Awards at Maud Gallery
Event 2: TALKING BOOKS SYMPOSIUM (free)
- SATURDAY August 4 – 10.30am – 4.00pm
- 6 speakers on the contemporary photobook
- Location: MAUD GALLERY – 6 Maud Street, Newstead, Brisbane.
.
Eventbrite Logo
AS SEATING IS LIMITED – ….“CLICK” THE EVENTBRITE LINK BELOW.
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/talking-books-photobook-club-brisbane-event-tickets-37573180394
.
Libby Jeffery – MomentoPro
At 11.00am
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Libby Jeffery from MomentoPro
Libby will talk about the Antipodean experience of self publishing a photo book – from purpose through to publicity
including:
- Purpose
- Budget/Funding
- Self/Publish
- Edit/Design
- Format/Print
- Sell/Distribute
- Launch/Publicise
From 1.00-4.00pm
MEET SOME LOCAL PHOTOBOOK MAKERS & THEIR BOOKS
Tammy Law and her book Permission to Belong being developed in conjunction with Yumi Goto and the Reminders Photography Stronghold workshop
TAMMY LAW documents stories that are reflective of her experiences of being a child of Chinese migrants, and the bubble of Asian/Australianness within which she lives. Her travels through Asia—mostly in Japan, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Burma—and the differences between Asia and the West propel her to focus on concepts of migration, home and belonging.
Tammy’s book ‘Permission to Belong’, explores themes of migration, home and belonging through the everyday lives of refugee families from Myanmar. Living against the backdrop of decades of repressive rule and civil war, countless families live between a place of home and homelessness, belonging and unbelonging. The negotiation and renegotiation of identities is as complex as the history and future of Myanmar.
Ana Paula Estrada and 2 spreads from her book Memorandum
ANA PAULA ESTRADA: I am a Mexican–Australian artist based in Brisbane. For the last seven years my art practice has focused mainly on the documentation of life stories of older Australians by combining photography, oral history, and the artist book. I am currently undertaking my Master of Visual Arts by research degree at the Queensland College of Art.
In 2016, I self-published an artist book called Memorandum in an edition of 200, which was recognized and exhibited broadly nationally and internationally. My current project consists of publishing a two-volume artist book that tells the life stories of Kevin and Esta, two participants aged over eighty, with whom I have been collaborating. Merging the fields of documentary practice, oral history and fine arts, and influenced by visual poetry, my books explore the combination of text, image and the blank space of the page.
Jan Ramsay and her book Toaster, and another book showing her fine binding skills
JAN RAMSAY: Being inspired by creative parents and grandparents, After a few career changes including dental nurse/radiographer, fashion design and working with special needs people using braille & sign language Jan started a professional photography business, Eye on Photography in 1996. In photography Jan found expression for her creative spirit.
Jan’s books are mix of creative play and exploration of ideas where the form of the book becomes an important opportunity to push boundaries, making mistakes and having fun. Her books are hand bound featuring artists’ book techniques and are usually published in singular editions.
Raphaela Rosella and her book We met a little early, but I get to love you longer
Raphaela Rosella is an Australian based artist working in the tradition of long-form documentary storytelling. She has spent the past decade highlighting the lived experience of women in her life as they grapple with the complexities and cyclical nature of social disadvantage in Australia. Her artistic practice draws heavily on relational exchanges and a collaborative ethos to challenge tropes of victimhood and poverty.
When my teenage twin sister told me she was pregnant, I was angry. I called her a ‘slut’ and told her to get an abortion. I thought she could have a ‘better life’. But what is a better life? It was a path we were all expected to take. For many of my friends, becoming a parent young was not a ‘failure of planning’, but a tacit response to the choices and opportunities available to us. My book ‘We met a little early, but I get to love you longer‘ documents women in my life; my twin, my-step sister, and new and old friends as they grapple with the complexities of motherhood and the turbulent and uncertain environments around them.
HEAR ABOUT RECENT PHOTOBOOK EVENTS ACTIVITIES IN New Zealand & Bangkok
Tammy Law will talk about her experiences at the PHOTO BANGKOK event.
Libby Jeffery will talk about her experiences as an observer of the PBNZ Masterclass in Wellington last August..
Doug Spowart’s A Compendium of AuNz Photobooks
Doug Spowart will talk about his latest edition of A Compendium of Australian and New Zealand Photobooks.
The Symposium will conclude at 4.00pm
.
Maud Gallery sign
Thank You Maud Gallery for supporting this Photobook Club Brisbane event.
These events are coordinated by Doug Spowart and Victoria Cooper
.
.
.
.
.
