Saturday, July 22, 2006

Sydney Biennale 2006


The Sydney Biennale is a veritable feast of artworks dotted around various Sydney venues. Some of the artists are relatively obscure, but there are a few more well-known names to help prevent one feeling completely ignorant. I have sampled a few over the past three weeks. The standout exhibit surely has to be Antony Gormley's 'Asian Field' 2003 which can be found at Pier 2/3, Walsh Bay. Occupying the upper level, a vast horde of small clay figurines gazes at the viewer. This field of figures is contained by a wall across the space which both contains and concentrates the effect of the mass upon the viewer. One does not have access into the field - in fact as is often the case an alarm sounds if one gets too close. The field is impressive and compelling, a sea of faces staring back at the viewer. The features are simplified but each is slightly different. Unusually, in the space next to this horde is a series of photographic portraits of the people who made this population - the inhabitants of XianXian Village, Guangzhou, China. Alongside each portrait are photographs of the figures they have made, each with their own quirks and interpretation of the basic structure. In a wry touch Gormley has added his own photo amongst this series.

Also at the pier is Adrian Paci's 'Noise of Light,' (2006) a huge chandelier powered by diesel generators. The quantity of electricity to supply this chandelier is not insignificant as the generators attest. The allusion to wasteful, opulent lifestyles is clear. Ironically the chandelier is so beautiful and incongruent in it's setting that one can't help feeling that the excessive consumption is somehow worth it for the aesthetic effect alone.

Another work that stood out is "Please do not step" by Hamra Abbas, in which artistic traditions of Christianity and Islam converge in the form of delicately painted panels with gothic style lettering and references to modern day religious politics. The work occupies a space in which the words "Please do not step" form a floor pattern in traditional Islamic style overlaid with glass.

I will return to the Biennale in another post to discuss John Reynold's "Cloud" at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Sharon Lockhart's photographs at the Australian Centre for Photography.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Welcome to Arcadia

Welcome to Arcadia, a space for my fine art commentary on the local art scene in New Zealand, Australia and beyond. I am an artist from New Zealand currently living in Auckland. Some of my works can be viewed online at www.celeste.nz

Arcadia: A region of ancient Greece in the Peloponnesus. Its inhabitants, relatively isolated from the rest of the known civilized world, proverbially lived a simple, pastoral life.

A few years ago I exhibited some paintings under the title "Arcadia." They were large abstracts of different hues with fine lines of metallic leaf embedded, forming vague structures and connections. I wanted to evoke a sense of another realm, an "Arcadian" space. It also seemed appropriate to reference ancient Greece given the influence of classicism in various forms throughout art history.

In this realm, the blog which only exists in cyberspace, like the Aracadia of the imagination, the focus is simple - art in it's many and varied forms.