Brenda May Gallery

▶ THE BRENDA MAY GALLERY BLOG HAS MOVED

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:41:00 +0000

The Gallery blog has moved to a new home. Please visit www.brendamaygallery.com.au/blog/ for all future updates. We will no longer publish new posts to this site so please update your bookmark to the new URL.

Thank you!

▶ WILL COLES ART AT NIGHT EVENT

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:34:00 +0000

We had a great turnout for our Art at Night event with Will Coles. Another big thanks goes to Will who organised a fabulous cocktail bar. We can't think of anything better than spending a Friday night surrounded by fantastic art with a cocktail in hand. Be sure to check out Will's body of new work in his show Nihilist archaeology on view until March 24th.

▶ BRENDA MAY GALLERY IS NOW ON TWITTER

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:20:00 +0000

▶ JAMES GUPPY PAINTING DEMONSTRATION

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 03:48:00 +0000

Last night, James Guppy gave a fantastic life painting demonstration for Art Month Sydney. The two hour demo featured both lighting and painting techniques with a live model. Throughout the evening, attendees were encouraged to ask questions and the intimate setting gave a glimpse into his working practice. A big thank you goes out to James and be sure to catch his current exhibition Anima Rising on view until the 24th of March.

▶ AN ANIMATED SCREENING CURATED BY TODD FULLER

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 03:24:00 +0000

▶ 'HELLO DOLLIES' INSTALLED AT PENRITH REGIONAL GALLERY

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 01:22:00 +0000

Work by Will Coles, Fiona Fenech and Janet Parker-Smith installed at the Hello Dollies exhibition at Penrith Regional Gallery

▶ WILL COLES ON ART MONTH SYDNEY BLOG

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 06:39:00 +0000

▶ SENDEN BLACKWOOD INSTALLED AT SCULPTURE ON THE EDGE

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 06:14:00 +0000

Senden Blackwood, 'baku' installed at Sculpture on the Edge 2012

▶ THE A TO Z OF CONTEMPORARY ART

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 04:35:00 +0000

Check out the weekend issue of the Sydney Morning Herald to learn everything you ever needed to know about Contemporary Art by Andrew Frost.

▶ LEZLIE TILLEY EXHIBITION INSTALL, PAGES FROM AN A-LESS NOVEL

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 03:05:00 +0000

Exhibition installation of Lezlie Tilley's 2012 solo show, Pages from an a-less novel with the late-afternoon light reflecting off the artwork.

▶ WILL COLES + JAMES GUPPY, OPENING 6 MARCH

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:26:00 +0000

New work by WILL COLES and JAMES GUPPY will be on view starting the 6th of March. Please join us for a drink with the Artists to celebrate the launch of their solo exhibitions on Saturday 10 March from 4-6pm. In conjunction with ART MONTH SYDNEY, the Gallery is also presenting several free events, listed below.

Left: James Guppy, 'The Miscreants Burden' 2012, acrylic on linen, 137 x 92cm
Right: Will Coles, 'Britney' 2012, resin with iron dust, edition of 1, 23 x 33 x 19.5cm

▶ Join us for a glimpse into the surreal world of James Guppy as he demonstrates life drawing, Thursday 8 March 7-9pm
Spaces are limited so please RSVP to the Gallery, info@brendamaygallery.com.au

▶ Art at Night, Drinks with Will Coles, Friday 9 March 6-8pm
RSVP required, info@brendamaygallery.com.au

▶ Will Coles Artist Talk, Saturday 10 March 2-2:30pm
No RSVP required, all welcome

▶ James Guppy Artist Talk, Saturday 10 March 2:30-3pm
No RSVP required, all welcome

▶JAMES GUPPY EXHIBITION AN ART MONTH HIGHLIGHT ON TIME OUT WEBSITE

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 02:01:00 +0000

▶ PRESS: WILL COLES IN ART MARKET REPORT

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 04:56:00 +0000

▶ AUSTRALIA COUNCIL REVIEW SURVEY

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 03:04:00 +0000

Last year hundreds of public submissions were received in response to the National Cultural Policy discussion paper.

As the Australia Council is such a significant channel in which the Australian Government delivers support to the arts and cultural sector, it was not surprising that many submissions discussed the role of the agency.

The Minister for the Arts announced an independent review into the Australia Council which will contribute to the development of the policy. Information on the Review’s Terms of Reference can be found HERE.

The Chairs of the Review, Mr Angus James and Ms Gabrielle Trainor, are very interested in your views about whether the original purpose of the Australia Council remains relevant today and what changes, if any, you would like to see made to the agency’s role and delivery of support to the sector.

Your confidential contribution to the Australia Council Review is valued.

This questionnaire should only take around 8-10 minutes and can only be completed in one sitting. The survey is being undertaken for the Review by TNS Social Research on behalf of the Australian Government’s Office for the Arts.

Take this opportunity to have your say.

▶ LEZLIE TILLEY + MAJOR ARTISTS, MAJOR WORKS, CLOSING 3 MARCH

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:52:00 +0000

A gentle reminder to visit the solo exhibition by LEZLIE TILLEY and the group show MAJOR ARTISTS, MAJOR WORKS before they both close on Saturday 3 March.

The angular and abstracted forms of Lezlie Tilley's current exhibition were created by connecting the 'a's' on a page from a novel. The shapes have then been laser cut in predominantly bright red, coloured acrylic which makes for an amazingly dynamic show. Due to the ongoing nature of the concept of the 'a-less novel', further works can also be commissioned in a wide range of materials including timber, metal and ply.

From Senden Blackwood's sensual, one tonne basalt sculpture to the minute watercolour figures, deftly hidden in Mylyn Nguyen's found chairs, the Major Artists, Major Works exhibition highlights the diversity of talent present in the Gallery's stable of artists.

Our next exhibitions during Art Month, will feature work by represented artists, James Guppy and Will Coles, from Tuesday March 6. If you are already on our notification list, we will send you an email as soon as the work arrives in the Gallery.

▶ NOW ACCEPTING PROPOSALS FOR 'CHIAROSCURO'

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:25:00 +0000

Brenda May Gallery is currently accepting proposals from professional practising artists in Australia and New Zealand for the following group exhibition scheduled for 2012.

'Chiaroscuro' - July 2012

Chiaroscuro is the treatment of light and shade for dramatic effect in drawing, painting and printmaking. It is the effect of contrasted light and shadow created by light falling unevenly or from a particular direction, on something or someone. Chiaroscuro is thought to have originated before the Renaissance; this exhibition seeks to show the work of contemporary artists using this traditional practice.
Proposals for this show must be received by Friday 6 April 2012.

Submissions should be posted directly to the Gallery (email submissions and proposals sent by registered post will not be accepted) and should include a CD of recent work and images in support of the proposal, an up to date C/V and a single page outline stating which exhibition you are submitting for and the nature of the work you are proposing.

James Guppy, 'African Wild Dogs' 2010, acrylic on linen, 30.5 x 76cm

▶ TODD FULLER: 'ONE AND ONLY'

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

A gift for you on valentines day, from Todd Fuller and Abby Smith.

Feel free to share it with those you love.

▶ JIM CROKE IN 'SCULPTURE 2012'

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:49:00 +0000

Jim Croke, 'The Short' 2011, steel, 14 x 60 x 3cm
Jim Croke, 'Freeze' 2011, steel, 14 x 51 x 5cm
Jim Croke, 'The Long' 2011, steel, 14 x 61 x 3cm
Jim Croke, 'Deco' 2011, steel, 61 x 14 x 3cm

"Relief sculpture is very different to sculpture in the round. It must sit on the wall and interact with it not simply be a "piece of jewellery" decorating the wall. It must have a undeniable presence in the space while not actually occupying much of it.

A series of sculptures of a similar theme and scale can help each other tell the story of the work." - Jim Croke, 2011

▶ TODD FULLER IN 'SCULPTURE AT SCENIC WORLD'

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:55:00 +0000

Image courtesy of Sculpture at Scenic World

Todd Fuller has a new artwork installed in the inaugural Sculpture at Scenic World which will open on February 16 and run until the 11th of March.

▶ LEZLIE TILLEY + MAJOR ARTISTS, MAJOR WORKS, OPENING 14 FEBRUARY

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:33:00 +0000

A solo exhibition by LEZLIE TILLEY and a group exhibition of our REPRESENTED ARTISTS will be on view starting Tuesday 14 February. Please join the Gallery and Artists for a celebratory drink on Saturday 18 February from 4-6pm.

Lezlie Tilley, 'Preface' 2011, laser cut acrylic

Lezlie Tilley's new exhibition Pages from an A-less Novel, is a strictly methodical body of work that exemplifies the labour-intensive process that is central to her practice. The series began with Tilley cutting out and then tracing each letter 'a' from a novel. She then replicates the dots exactly onto large sheets of paper, connecting them to create abstract geometric shapes that are laser cut in acrylic. This body of work started with Tilley designing and facilitating a mural project with the Newcastle Art School where her students worked freehand to reproduce compositions from this series onto large hoarding panels.

Robert Boynes, 'Night & Day' 2012, acrylic on canvas, timber - triptych, 120 x 244cm

Major Artists, Major Works will feature a significant artwork by each of the fourteen artists represented by the Gallery. Size is relative - for some, major may simply mean bigger than a shoebox, whereas for others it can entail the removal of the Gallery doors!

▶ BENJAMIN STORCH, 'THROUGH THE CENTRE'

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:16:00 +0000

Benjamin Storch, 'Through the Centre' 2007, hand-hammered copper, 90 x 90 x 30cm

Opening, unfolding space -
One loop traversing another,
Continuous and dynamic, responsive to influence.

This is only the second sculpture exhibited in Australia by the British artist Benjamin Storch. 'Through the Centre' will be on view as part of Sculpture 2012 until Saturday 11 February.

▶ PRESS: 'SCULPTURE 2012' IN SMH

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:30:00 +0000

▶ LEZLIE TILLEY: NEVER A DAY WITHOUT A LINE

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0000

To view the new work of Lezlie Tilley is to enter into a Euclidian world, where we become conscious of an order that not only respects a geometry with which we think we are familiar, but at another level we are dealing with the aftermath of a process that is almost cabalistic in nature. Tilley has begun with a simple and playful idea where she deconstructs a novel by eliminating for example all the letter “a”s from a page by punching a set of cards to represent these vacancies, thus setting up a randomness that fights to be controlled – a choice has been made without the consequences having been previously known.

This serendipitous event becomes for Tilley synonymous with her ever present attention to the demands of drawing and it is here that she speaks of “a world of line that describes pathways, meeting places and a documenting of time.” Her clarity of thinking is ever present, the aesthetic is “tight” while the materiality of the works describes a space that becomes architectural in its command of our visual field. Her use of media forces one to acknowledge its linear crispness and clarity, thus reinforcing a way of thinking about drawing. Here no time is wasted on flamboyance or the unnecessary gestural mark.

Lezlie Tilley, 'Preface' 2011

As in previous works Tilley recognises the great debt that must be paid to the work of countless unknown craftswomen who made lace, patchwork and weavings. Tilley has always drawn inspiration from these predecessors. It is therefore not unprecedented to learn that she has also looked at some of the earliest forms of punchcard weaving where industrial weaving was simplified when the Jacquard loom was invented. These looms are controlled by a series of punched cards with each card representing a corresponding row in the design. There is also a link to our earliest forms of computer programming and Tilley recounts some of her early employment experiences using punched tape, then used for type setting.

Tilley’s works are generative, beginning as a series of punched templates and resulting in a matrix which is notable for being both complex and simple at the one viewing. A matrix affords one the ability to have many views at once and it is therefore no accident that these works fuse both figure and ground providing the viewer with a complex range of responses to lines, shapes and spaces that seem to shift, describing a slightly disorienting, ephemeral space. Here one experiences a unity of vision, or in the words of Eckhart Tolle, the Canadian writer, “a great silent space (that ) holds all of nature in its embrace. It also holds you.”1

Patricia Wilson-Adams/ Jan 2012
Conjoint Senior Lecturer
The University of Newcastle

1. Eckhart Tolle Stillness Speaks: meditative thoughts New World Library, Novato Ca and Namaste Publishing Vancouver, 2003

▶ EMILY MCINTOSH + MARCUS DILLON, 'VEDUTA (CITYSCAPE)'

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

As artists who work with glass we are very aware of how our art practices can have adverse effects on the environment. Rethinking the ways we make our work can substantially minimise its impact on the environment and is integral to our work practice. We recycle materials whenever possible and are mindful of the use of consumables and their effects on the environment. This work titled 'Veduta (cityscape)' embodies these practices and is the first installation that we have not produced any of the glass components via traditional methods ourselves; instead we are have re-claimed used clear glass jars and bottles from neighbours and friends.

Emily McIntosh + Marcus Dillon, 'Veduta (cityscape)' 2012, reclaimed and cold worked glass jars + bottles, 27 x 140 x 30cm (variable)

Glass requires high temperatures to facilitate its creation from sand and mineral elements, until it finally has the ability to be worked into its final form. It can take hundreds of years for glass to break down naturally but it can be entirely recycled using substantially less energy than is required during its original process of creation.

'Veduta (cityscape)' is a glass installation made up of around 200 re-claimed glass jars and bottles. These vessels will be cut, carved and repolished to remove the utilitarian history while still permitting us a hand in shaping each form in a way that is much kinder to the environment than producing each of from scratch. The installation once exhibited is able to be entirely recycled again.

'Veduta (cityscape)' illuminated by late afternoon sunlight

The glowing city scape of amassed glass jars is representative of any built up urban environment. City scapes are an intricate network of infrastructure, buildings, organizations and communities that reside within them. Being part of any environment requires responsible, thoughtful and careful practices to ensure environmental stability and sustainability.

-Emily McIntosh + Marcus Dillon, 2011

'Veduta (cityscape)' will be on view at the Gallery as part of Sculpture 2012 until Saturday February 11th.

▶ SCULPTURE 2012, CLOSING 11 FEBRUARY

noreply@blogger.com (Brenda May Gallery) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:43:00 +0000

We are delighted to report that we've had an overwhelming response to our first exhibition of the year, Sculpture 2012. So if you haven't managed to drop by, this is a friendly reminder that there is only a week left as the show closes at 6pm on Saturday February 11. Don't miss the big green polar bear by Jon Cox or the engaging suspended mirrors by Vanessa Stanley, both big hits with the littlest gallery goers.

Our next exhibitions include a solo exhibition by Lezlie Tilley and a group show featuring major work from our Represented Artists - both shows will be on view from Tuesday February 14.