June 2012 Issue 250
1 Shoot for the head: IAN MILLISS
The Green Ban Art Walks, 2011, sponsored by Performance Space and organised by The Cross Art Projects and BigFag Press, Sydney, celebrated the cultural activism of the Green Ban movement while being cultural activism in their own right. www.greenbans.net.au/index.php shows Jim Donovan, former Secretary of the Woolloomooloo Residents Action Group, and also former secretary of the Waterside Workers Federation (Sydney Branch). Donovan (like Milliss) was one of the speakers on the walks. There was a long term history of working class and union activism in Woolloomooloo; Jim was born and lived there most of his life until finally forced out in the late 70s. Photos by Louise Anderson
2 The Language of Beauty: a position for art criticism: JACQUELINE MILLNER
Collection: Tasmanian Museum a nd Art Gallery, Hobart; purchased with funds from the Ruth Komo n Bequest works in this image are from the exhibition Theatre of the World, curated by Jean-Hubert Martin from the collections of the Museum of Old and New Art and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, and showing at MONA 23 June to 8 April 2013. The exhibition comprises around 500 works from these two key collections, along with works on loan from other Australian and international collections, and specially commissioned works including a 21st century recreation of Italian philosopher Giulio Camillo’s 16th century ‘ Memory Theatre’, constructed for King Francois I (1497-1547). www.mona.net.au
(left) Brent Harris, Borrowed Plumage #2 (Stranger), 2007, oil on linen, 89 x 66cm. (right) Julie Rrap, Horse's Tale, 1999, C-type photograph, 160 x 130cm. Image courtesy Detached Cultural Organisation and MONA Museum of Old and New Art, HobarT
3 Articulating care: writing, curating and the forces of art: ZSUZSI SOBOSLAY
Kachina Koyemshi Mask, 1900-1950, Hopi or Navaho, cotton, earth, feathers, 47 x 33 x 33cm. Image courtesy Musee du quai Branly, ©National Museum of Ethnology Leiden
4 The art of art criticism: ALEXANDER McPHEE-BROWNE
DANIE MELLOR, AN ELYSIAN CITY (OF PICTURESQUE LANDSCAPES AND MEMORY) , 2010, PASTEL, PENCIL AND WASH WITH GLITTER AND Swarovski crystal on Saunders Waterford paper. Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; currently showing in unDisclosed, the National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 11 May to 22 July 20 12
5 Zombie Thoughts from the Past: Writing & the Public Sphere: ANDREW FROST
Laith McGregor, Tete (Grey), 2011, oil paint, glass, modelling clay, 33 x 18 x 18cm. Image courtesy the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
6 Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder: ERNESTO MALLEY
PETER HILL, MADE IN PALESTINE/MADE IN ISRAEL, ‘ARTWORLD FAN CLUB’ POSTCARDS. A throw of the dice decides nationality: 2,4 and 6 = Palestinian; 1, 3 and 5 = Israeli.. All images this article courtesy Peter Hill
7 Montalto: OMAR MUSA
Christabel Wigley, Fingers Crossed, 2012, cypress, gel medium, pigment, MSA varnish, 7700 x 100 x 100cm. All images this article courtesy the artists; photos by Will Salter
8 To the person who said feminism is over as though she was right: VIRGINIA FRASER
Linsey Gosper, Furie, 2011, c-type print, 90 x 107cm; from the solo exhibition Object Love, Stills Gallery, Sydney 1 to 25 February 2012. Image courtesy the artist and Stills Gallery, Sydney
9 Travelling from Utopia: DJON MUNDINE
Cirque Robinson, poster, undated. Image courtesy MusОe du quai Branly, Paris, © Groupe de recherche Achac, Paris/coll. part / DR
10 The Air-Conditioned Desert: curating Aboriginal art: ADAM GECZY
Adam Hill, Unwelcome Mat (Flinders), 2009, computer graphic for printing onto ‘welcome’ mats and installed as a set of three; Unwelcome Mat (Straitened) not pictured (in the colours of the Torres Strait Islander flag)
11 Bodyscape: Renegotiating feminist ideals in Indonesian visual arts: WULAN DIRGANTORO
Lelyana Kurniawati, Bout her fly (story), 2009, acrylic on canvas, 180 x 120cm, (tryptich). Image courtesy of the artist
12 Modern Women: Daughters and lovers 1850-1918, drawings from the Musée d’Orsay: SASHA GRISHIN
Marie Bashkirtseff, Portrait of Mme X, c.1894, pastel and charcoal drawing, 56 x 46.5cm. PURCHASED 1885; COLLECTION: MUSEE D’ORSAY, PARIS; PHOTOGRAPH: © RMN (MUSEE D’ORSAY) / HERVE LEWANDOWSKI
13 I Speak To Cover The Mouth of Silence: FIONA FOLEY
Fiona Foley, Let a hundred flowers bloom, 2010, detail; 3 opium pipes, stool, packing case, sketchbook, 36 brass opium poppy sculptures, and 34 photographs on inkjet print; all images this article of work by Fiona Foley; image courtesy and © the artist, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane, and Niagara Galleries, Melbourne.
14 Contemporary Aboriginal art in America: CAROL SCHWARZMAN
Richard Bell, Blackfella’s Guide to New York, 2011, video still. Image courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane
15 ‘In my new robe, this morning – someone else’ Some thoughts on the cultural underpinnings of critical discourse in Asia: ALISON CARROLL
Simryn Gill, Untitled (Drawing C), 2011, collage and graphite on paper, 195 x 109cm. Image courtesy the artist and Breenspace, Sydney; from the gro up show The Drawing Room, 20 January to 18 February 2012. Sydney-based Gill will represent Australia at the 55th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale 2013, with an exhibition curated by Catherine de Zegher
16 Bernard Smith 1916–2011 Marxism and Politics: PETER BEILHARZ
Albert Tucker, Bernard Smith, 1985, oil on board, 60 x 75cm. Collection: National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. Photo by David Reid. An image of this portrait graces the cover of the John Spencer and Peter Wright edited publication, The Writings of Bernard Smith, Bibliography 1938 - 1998, Power Publications, Sydney, 2000
17 January: the dignity of objects: STEPHANIE RADOK
Henri Fantin-Latour, Still Life, 1866, oil on canvas, 62 x 74.8cm. Chester Dale Collection; National Gallery of Art, Washington
18 Critical lens: Reflecting, and looking forward: BOB BROWN
Spring at Liffey, 1981. ‘The track up Taytitikitheeker (Drys Bluff, 1340m) goes past my house – so I have a sign on the gate: ‘Trespassers Welcome.’ This photo is the only one taken from a tripod. All images of work by Bob Brown; image courtesy the artist
19 Who would be an art critic?: MARGOT OSBORNE
Amy Joy Watson, Pair, 2011, balsa wood, watercolour, polyester thread, 80 x 65 x 35cm; showing in No Place, Adelaide Central School of Art Gallery, 8 June to 21 July; image courtesy the artist
20 Artists blogging: ROB McKENZIE
Taslima Ahmed, Echo Bodies, 2011, plastic, blades, silicon, nail jewels, plaster, 180 x 90 x 10 cm each; image courtesy the artist
21 Parallel Collisions: 2012 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: SARA WHITE
Installation views 12th Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide: works by Rosemary Laing, Jonathan Jones and Nicholas Folland
22 Art Monthly Australia: in-between the covers
First issue: Londoner Peter Townsend, editor of Art Monthly UK, launches Art Monthly Australia in June 1987; the publisher is Sam Ure Smith of Fine Arts Press Ltd, Sydney, (also publisher of Art & Australia). For the time being, Townsend uses the UK Art Monthly logo with the text ‘Australian and International’ above. Issue 2 acknowledges Australia Council for the Arts funding.
COVER IMAGE: PADDY JUMBAJI, UNTITLED, NATURAL EARTH PIGMENTS ON HARDBOARD, 82 X 102CM
23 Landscapist for Mu Xin: JOHN MATEER
Image of Mu Xin work from Luke Fidler’s ‘Powerslice’ blog; powerslice.blogspot.com.au
24 The Tate Gallery at South Reen, Ireland: JOHN KELLY
South Reen, County Cork, Ireland. All images this article court esy John Kelly and The Tate Modern, South Reen
