Category Archives: Australian Art

September 08

Fake or Fortune: The Life and Times of Brett and Wendy Whiteley

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My lawyer friend sent me the divorce settlement of Brett and Wendy Whiteley. Everyone should have at least one lawyer friend. The law intrigues me (artistically speaking), offering us a strange portrait of society and what it considers important. Maxine, as a small child, asked her Daddy: ‘when will Mum learn the law?’ Brett and […]

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August 31

Modes of Non-Curatorship: An Artist as Curator Statement / Manifesto

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If you’re an artist wanting to make a new friend, choose a curator to be best mates with. Sure, art collectors make good new friends too, but artists love to exhibit their art most. I wrote this some years back. One of the few luxuries of maintaining an arts practice is that you get to […]

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August 18

TV Moore: A Night on the Tiles; ACCA

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Timothy Vernon Moore seems to love nothing more than a night on the tiles. He convinced ACCA to invest in his hedonism too and it’s undergone an expansive floor to ceiling refurb for his show, With Love and Squalor. TV has literally rolled out the red carpet for himself and ACCA’s Dulux Paint sponsorship deal has also copped […]

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August 07

“Trust me. I’m an Expert” Art Prizes: and the Winner Is…. ; Keith and Elizabeth Murdoch Travelling Fellowship; VCA

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Art prizes are only any good if you win. The judges are only any good if they pick you. Judges are only any good if I’m a judge. Art prizes are only as good as the judges. Otherwise, they’re a bunch of mugs who confuse Judy Watson with Jenny Watson. Jon Campbell with Glen Campbell. […]

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August 05

Julie Rrap: Remaking the World; Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne University

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Thank god someone is using their creative ‘museum time’ to imagine the world as a better place. This makeover, the making over of the world, is a big, ambitious job. The world is presently in one god-awful mess; a mess so extreme it’s easier to list what doesn’t need remaking than what does. We’ve outdone […]

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July 14

A week in Queensland

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I grew up in Brisbane and last week, ventured back to the Sunshine State to celebrate Mum’s 70th Birthday. The best thing about moving away from home is going back later and seeing it  with fresh eyes. The worst thing is that it can also mess with your brain. Your home isn’t your home anymore; […]

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June 26

The Politics of Art: (Part 3)

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Research is creative and political. Research is like curating: you decide what to put in and what to leave out. What’s important and what’s not important. The presentation of research reveals the philosophy of the researcher as exhibitions reveal the politics of curators. Research is art as much as thinking is art. And art (like […]

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June 19

The Politics of Private Art Philanthropy

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Two of the options to pick up the shortfall as Australian Government funding for the arts ‘tapers off’ is private art philanthropy and Corporate sponsorship of the Arts. As more and more Australians struggle to pay their power bills, money has never before been more valuable. Let us consider the politics of private arts philanthropy. […]

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June 13

Australian Art and Politics: Part 1

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The Australian Liberal Parties Arts Policy is based on Pretty Woman. The businessman character, on which all Liberal Party policies are based, bunny hops a high-end sports car into town. Cars and Real Estate (the commodities that currently form the basis of the world’s economic growth) are recurring mainstream success motifs. The businessman will be […]

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June 04

Ryan Gander: Read Only

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Ryan Gander once pretended to be Minister for the Department of Skills and Education in Britain. He took the job very seriously, commissioning an advertising company to Imagineer an ad to promote British Culture, an export Ryan had proudly identified as Britain’s most significant. Film, art, fashion, music, from Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber down to […]

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