Retrospect Galleries is thrilled to present an exhibition of works from Internationally acclaimed artist Emma Hack.

Emma's artwork is perhaps most instantly recognised in the stop animation body artwork video for Gotye's hit song "Somebody That I used To Know",  which, to date, has been viewed over 350 million times on youtube.

 Emma's process involves 3 distinct phases, she begins by elaborately painting a particular background, be it a detailed wall paper pattern, fine china design or comic book-scape and then painstakingly painting the body of her model in the same pattern so she then blends chameleon-like into the background. The final stage is to photograph the completed tableaux.

 Emma explains, "It can take up to 10 hours to paint a model in front of a background, and they're standing the whole time. I try not to worry about it because it would affect the work - but it's a fine line between being considerate about the models and getting the detailed work done!"

The success and exposure of the Goyte video gave people the opportunity to see that Emma's artworks are entirely handmade and not, as is often presumed, executed in photoshop. Although only briefly in the country Retrospect is thrilled to have secured Emma for an artist's talk about this elaborate process on Feb 2 at the gallery at ?pm.

Another recent project which gained the attention of the world press was  "Body Crash"  an extra-ordinary project for which she painted 17 people and then 'sculpted' them into position to create a crashed car for South Australia's Motor Accident Commission.

Works to be included in Retrospect Galleries exhibition include a series called "POP!" in which Emma explores her fascination with the pop art genre, Emma's is a fun, modern , however, day retake on the comic-inspired work of Roy Lichtenstein. Her heroines are not helpless romantics, but rather, they are strong feisty, sexy, superwomen. They are so impeccably integrated with their comic book surrounds, the viewer does a double take before realising the female figures are not caricatures but rather are real models.
 
We will also present Emma's most recent body of work, the stunning Blue and White series in which she focuses her attention on the fascinating journey of the ubiquitous blue and white patterned porcelain which evolved and mutated through centuries of trade between Asian and  Europe. The collection features designs from 5 countries, China, Holland, England, France and Portugal. Refined, intricate and subtle, these works are like the stylistic antithesis of the bold, primary coloured works of "POP!".

In a similar vein to The Blue and White series we will also be showing works from Emma's well known "Broadhurst" series in which the model was painted to blend into various beautiful elaborate Florence Broadhurst wallpaper patterns. The model distinguishing herself from the background courtesy of the exotic animal or bird she held in each photograph.

With 22yrs experience in the arena of body art/photography Emma Hack is now at the top of her field. The array of work to be exhibited here is in turn  bold, subtle, whimsical, and exquisite. Do not miss this opportunity to meet the artist and experience the work of an acclaimed internationally renowned artist.

See her work online here: http://www.retrospectgalleries.com/exhibition-detail/emma-hack-solo-show/3387/1

check out some of the links to her processes here

Native Mandala
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL156AEB99289E43ED&feature=plcp

Wallpaper Collection 2005-2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUBuZ3jgyzQ&feature=plcp

Voices in the Mirror
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4spIMc9UclM

Other projects:

Body Painting Film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9Z3qga_vKc&feature=plcp

Natura:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqnTbyW5Bg0

Guitar Festival
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI1f2BM57Lw
Interviews:

Gotye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY


Interviews:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBQmH7mIAng

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGyj_7zfN14

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgFpANlBcHA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVGaEM_-bNw

INTRICATE LINES
Fine Art Exhibition
Opens 6pm, 1st February at Retrospect Galleries, 52 Jonson St Byron Bay, NSW, 2481, Ph: (02) 6680 8825
Exhibition continues till February the 26th
Artists include: Carley Cornelissen, Courtney Brims, David Green, Heiko, Ieo Gek Ching, Lilly Piri, Lisa Rodden, Nicola Hooper, Wendy Powitt

Check out the images from the show here...

At Retrospect Galleries we believe that charm (and the devil!) resides in the details. Our first exhibition for 2013, Intricate Lines, showcases a group of artists who will explore their personal fascination with the intimacies of fine lines and minute details. This exhibition presents a diverse range of medias and styles revealing breathtaking complexity and substance. What these works have in common, be they drawn, painted, stitched or cut, is a love of a refined line, of technical prowess and honed skills and imaginations.

Contributing artist Courtney Brims offers a series of fine graphite drawings, she says of her process,
"I invest a lot of care into creating the intricate forms in my work, immersing myself in the delicate structures of both the natural and man-made world. Creeping vines, decaying wood, hair entangled around raw bones and fine lace. For me, these tiny, intricate elements are not simply ornamental but act as separate life forms connecting the pieces together within the work."
 As one of the prestigious 'Element Advocate Artists' Courtney's images now grace the shelves of Billabong, with many of her drawings appearing on a wide range of clothing. She has also been published in many national periodicals  including Frankie, Empty and Monsters Children.    

Emerging artist, Lilly Piri's work also crosses over to the design world. Her delightful creations were recently produced for a recent Oxfam campaign and appeared on television, billboards and buses. Featured in Asian Lifestyle, Frankie, and Little Things magazine her innocent worlds of rainbows, picnics, and girls in frocks and socks are created in a soft 1940's palette. Lilly likens her drawing process to the human body," with its layers - bone, muscle, nerves, skin - each line begins from the inside. The knowledge of structure makes the drawing a living and breathing organism, more than meets the eye, still waters that run deep."

 The artists' acute understanding of their personal motivation and passion for working in such fine detail adds to the excitement surrounding this exhibition.  Comprehending the inner world of these artists, allows us to enter a  two-dimension landscape where time slows down, convolutes or is suspended as our eyes and hearts traverse the fine lines, whorls and mappings of these artworks.

"Welcome to my world," writes artist David Green, whose fine technical ability is harnessed to the challenge of creating bold, surreal drawings where schools of exquisitely formed fish transform into sailing boats. David describes his drawing experience as "one where drawing is not subservient to any other art form, where the line is master of the whole story. A line that glistens and glides across the page, that dances between the dots; a line that journeys between the dark of night and the dazzling displays of daytime colour."

 Heiko Windisch's work also harkens to this almost mediative approach finding a peace in the rhythmic repetition of lines and negative spaces.
"My medium is the black line on white ground. Dark dancing with the light, day with night, knowledge with intuition, life with death, here with yonder... As the lines fill up the canvas and black finds its balance with the white, intricate lines fall into place to create forests, buildings and creatures, but only the mind can untangle the web and make sense of it."
  An award winning illustrator and designer, Heiko has worked with clients such as Salomon Sports, Logitech, Iron First, Graniph and Palmer Cash. His distinctive black lines with primary colour accents have appeared on paper, canvas, wood, installations and in animations, winning several industry prices and making many noted appearances at Illustration festivals.

 For Nicola Hooper  tangled lines also play a primary part in her organic refined compositions which evoke a sense of victorian anatomy and botanical illustration in a modern context. Using watercolours, pigment inks and stitched threads, her "fine line works like a wrinkle on a face, describing a passage in time or an expression of a feeling."

Wendy Powitt also expresses her love of line with a needle and a thread, though for her it is an embroidery needle that creates her updated take on the exemplars of old with their stitched maxims and illustrations. She see's embroidery as "the most intimate of mark making. Each line formed from tiny stitches traversing across the surface, combining only at the very end to form with visual purpose."

 Just as a fine line can be drawn, or stitched, it can also be cut, as in the stunning, precise work of Lisa Rodden. Lisa concentrates on the space made from delicate incisions into paper, using these cuts to 'draw' fish, feathers and chrysanthemums of astounding beauty and purity. Slicing, layering, painting and folding to create 3D wonders where shadows and colours appear and disappear as the viewer moves around the work.

Last but certainly not least we are thrilled to introduce Byron Bay to the work of Singapore artist Ieo Gek Ching. Leo draws her menagerie of painstakingly detailed hybrid creatures with a fine line art pen, creating strangely appealing, haunting beasts that are often up to 150cm in height. For her they are a response to a world that is " full of strange and unusual things. The hunger for discovering new things never slows down…Some animal’s hybrids are born in the wild due to the environmental factors, while humans for profit or scientific curiosity breed others. For me, I do it to fill up my curiosity and desire."

Full of wonderment and delicate excitement this exhibition is a celebration above all else of line, of its beauty elegance and complexity as it traverses the chosen surface and transforms it into a multitude of worlds. Intimate and playful these artists invite the viewer to investigate a labyrinth beyond the surface of their work and examine the artistic and microscopic possibilities of INTRICATE LINES.

Friday 1st Feb to 26th Feb 2013

Opens 6pm, 1st February

Retrospect Galleries is delighted to present its annual exhibition of miniature works, Petits Travaux.

 

Art Melbourne

May 24th- 27th May

Royal Exhibition Building

Carlton, Melbourne, VIC

 

If anyone is in Singapore or knows someone who is, come and visit us at Stand J2 - F1 Pit Building, No. 1 Republic Boulevard, Singapore 038975

Friday 18th - Sunday 20th November, 2011

The Drawing Group is Rene Bolten, Michelle Dawson, Hilary Herrmann, Kellie O'Dempsey and James Cruickshank. As a group of practicing artists they are endlessly grateful for the casual collision of circumstances two years ago that conspired to bring them together on a fortnightly basis. Drawn Together is a cross section of the work they have produced within these meetings.

See images from the exhibition here...

The Drawing Group sees this exhibition as a great opportunity to share the creative fun and explorations had over this time. What has naturally evolved in these sessions is a propensity to work in turn on each others artwork or to work collectively on one piece of work. Their combined skills have coalsced in such a way that defies dissection into who did what and in this way the finished artworks have come to have their own identity.  It is as though the five very different ways of seeing and mark making have created a 6th artist, or as Rene puts it, " 5 is more than 5, 5 is one"

The diversity of their individual practices is perhaps the key to the success of their collaboration. Such a collaborative process is a fine blend of respect, trust, and let go, of not worrying about the outcome or being too attached to individual mark making.  They all concur that what they do in these meetings feeds back into their individual practice.  James, never one to mince words reflects " While there is the simple pleasure of their company and working without  expectation... but what I really love  about working with these seasoned campaigners is I get to see how they solve problems and then steal their ideas for my own." For Kellie "drawing together resets my compass." And for Hilary it is, "fun, inspiring and reassuring..." Michelle simply speaks of it as "a tonic'

Each meeting is facilitated by a different artist who sets the exercise, be it a still life of apples or fish or the old surrealist game of "the Exquisite Corpse." The element of chance has become an important factor. The works from the series "Lucky Dip Words" involved pulling a word out of a paper bag and drawing it before passing it to the next person who drew a new word out and had to incorporate an image of that word into the existing picture, this process was continued until the drawings had gone full circle. These are the most narrative of the works produced by the group.

Over Christmas when the group scattered across the globe, they hit upon a game to keep them connected until meetings could resume. Each artist sent out 4 postcards they had altered in some way. The recipients in turn responded to the change and sent the card on to a new recipient who did likewise. The results of this process are the small artworks in the show entitled "Missing You".

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

In keeping with the spirit of their fortnightly meetings the Drawing Group drew names out of a hat  and took on the task of encapsulating what each member brings to these fortnightly Wednesday meetings.
Of each other they have this to say:

Hilary Herrmann
" Intrinsic and instinctual with a complexity that belies their primal execution, Hilary paints a world , her world with a stroke that can break you heart..."

Rene Bolten
"Whether drawing on the heritage of Rembrandt or the honesty of scratching  shoe polish across paper Rene Bolten’s work is always considered , mercurial  and tender."

Kellie O'Dempsey
 "a visual collision of line and energy."

Michelle Dawson
 "Michelle the artist is as Michelle the person, gentle, concerned, amusing." 

James Cruickshank
By emoting every mark he makes, be it with frustration, doubt, passion or pure joy, James constantly reminds us of the vulnerability, excitement and struggle of what we do.

The simple truth and affection of their responses perhaps best illustrates why they work so well together and why Rene Bolten sums up what The Drawing Group means to him by saying 'wish it was Wednesday."

 

(Image: (L-R) Artist Melitta Perry, Artist Fiona Kennedy-Altoft, Retrospect Galleries Owner Bree Delian)

One of our favourite magazines, Ocean Road Magazine came along to the latest exhibition opening at our Broadbeach gallery on Friday night for Fiona Kennedy-Altoft and Melitta Perry. 

A great night was had by all and we thank them for sharing their images with us.

Click here for link to story and photos of the opening night from Ocean Road Magazine.

Opening tonight at 6pm Little Picture. The show looks amazing! Please join us for a wine and nibblies and some really fantastic art here at Retrospect Galleries.

Click here to see a preview of the show...

Friday 2 December to Wednesday 21 December

Opening 6pm Friday December 2

Friday 19 August to Thursday 1 September

Opening 6pm Friday August 19

 

El Duelo, or 'The Duel' is intended as a metaphor for the struggle between human ambition and our infinite quest towards perfectionism. In this new series of photographs by Alberto Sanchez, circus acrobats are layered with juxtaposed backgrounds, mirroring this deeper challenge. The perfection and beauty of the human figure is captured by Alberto’s bold and arresting photographs and then magnified by his hand colouring. As paint drips and dribbles – the figures maintain a powerfully elegant composure.

 

Friday 11 November to Wednesday 23 November

Opening 6pm Friday November 11

 

Michelle's work invariably includes animals, although of late the creatures have begun to cross breed and hybridize into strange beasts. Her current predilections include; Tasmanian tigers, dodos, big cats, hyenas, crows, wings,(on anything), fairy-tales, halos, pomegranates, Velasques ruffs, putti, stormy skies, and monsters. She lives and works in a converted church near the coast in rural Australia.

 

DOUG BARTLETT : Double Extra Super -

OPENING – 6pm FRIDAY 25 February 2011

Opened by Special Guest Matt Hoy

Exhibition runs through to March 10

These days everyone wants double everything and extra everything on super everything.  Bigger cars, bigger TVs, Bigger coffees, bigger burgers, bigger houses, bigger toys, bigger egos, more coverage, more angles....well, you get the picture.

 
‘Doug Bartlett’ is a collaboration between artists Nick Morris and Dave Bowers. But is it Collaborative production, or collaborative consumption•  Collaborative Consumption describes the rapid explosion in swapping, sharing, bartering, trading and renting being reinvented through the latest technologies and peer-to-peer marketplaces in ways and on a scale never possible before.  Morris and Bowers have used a combination of sharing, bartering and annihilation to produce works that seem to visually demonstrate the pace and style with which we currently live.  

Morris and Bowers throw enough colour and action into the works, to satisfy even the greediest 21st century consumer, but are they dredging up the trash and treasures that the insatiable population have already digested and discarded. Doug regurgitates the debris of 20th century pop culture and delivers it back in ferocious technicolour to an eager audience.

A combination of found imagery, silkscreen, photography, wild freehand and quotes from celebrities, B grade pulp media and even junk mail all go in to Doug Bartlett’s blender and come out as a pop art thick shake with meat. Finalists in the Doug Moran Painting Prize 2010, invited to illustrate the cover of the Hoodoo Gurus latest album, fresh from recent shows in France, New York and India, Doug is coming out swinging Double Extra Super.

The creative process is raw, free and unplanned. They slap down slabs of colour and layer images at random.

Much of the initial work doesn’t survive because the rule between the pair is: ‘Paint over anything, and the other one can’t protest’.  Whole vistas appear and disappear. Hours of work are swept away with one sweep of a brush. This process of creation and elimination continues until they agree the painting is finished. This represents an exceptional way of working which, quite frankly, would be violently upsetting to the vast majority of working artists today.  


The canvases are a free-flowing exchange of random images and themes using stencils, spray paint, silkscreen, acrylic, oil stick and collage. The subject matter is gleaned from popular culture, including quotes from spam, advertising and gossip magazines.

Bowers writes, “I’m mesmerized by what I call incidental urban micro landscapes. The patterns of road repairs. Chewing gum on the footpath. The machinery and byproducts of human endeavour. The unintentional poetry of everyday life”.

Morris explains “Our rule of painting over anything you want creates art with no boundaries, free from clinging and being too precious, the creative process is accelerated as we bounce off each other.”

This balance of chaos and control, careful creation and ruthless obliteration creates the tension that justifies Doug Bartlett’s irresistible appeal.

Due to unforeseeable technical difficulties, we temporarily cannot upload images to our artist profile or exhibition schedule. So to give you a preview of our exciting new show Hairjacked, we have uploaded a preview of works to this blog site.

Keep scrolling down to see all works in the exhibition. Feel free to call the gallery for more information on the show on (02) 66808825 or email staff at admin@retrospectgalleries.com

Christie & Kelly Turner

Bio: "Our names are Christie and Kelly Turner and we are identical twins that create fine art and graphic design on the Gold Coast. Painting together, each artwork we produce is created through the combination of both our efforts. We challenge each other through mistakes. A mistake by one can be transformed into a master piece by the other.
We have received numerous awards throughout our schooling: Certificate from the Education Minister's Awards for Excellence in Art, Marymount College Academic Award for Visual Art yr 12 along with a Certificate of Merit for Rivers Art Award.  In 2008 we attended a graphic design course where we received a Diploma of Printing & Graphic Art, including a Student of the Year Award -for excellence in all aspects of the course and achieving the highest grades."

"Our main focus was on hair for the pure fun of taking something lifeless and giving it a life of its own. A personality/character through splashes of colour and lines, spontaneous and free in contrast to an unenthusiastic face. The hair is an extension of them, their inner world of expression bursting out into a dance of colour. Unveiling a hidden world of emotion, imagination and creativity, normally masked by a plain face. Lines and colour create their own rhythm and beat, each picture revealing the person's own unique melody. A bird, leaves, and flowers all establish a connection with nature.

Creating the hair as music played in the background we were able to forget about structure and just let the paint and brush dance together."

Title:'Mi'
Retail Price $690.00 including frame
Size: 760mm x 570mm (framed size 950mm x 750mm in a beautiful white box frame)
Medium: Ink and gouche on Stonehenge paper

Title:'Fa-So'
Retail Price $690.00 including frame
Size: 760mm x 570mm (framed size 950mm x 750mm in a beautiful white box frame)
Medium: Ink and gouche on Stonehenge paper

Title:'La'
Retail Price $690.00 including frame
Size: 760mm x 570mm (framed size 950mm x 750mm in a beautiful white box frame)
Medium: Ink and gouche on Stonehenge paper

Title:'Ti-Do'
Retail Price $690.00 including frame
Size: 610mm x 570mm
Medium: Ink and gouche on Stonehenge paper

Title: 'Do-Re'
Price $690.00 including frame
Size: 760mm x 570mm (framed size 950mm x 750mm in a beautiful white box frame)
Medium: Ink and gouche on Stonehenge paper

Title: Orange Cherry
Retail Price $550.00
Size: 500mm x 500mm
Medium: Ink and gouche on canvas with a white box frame

Title: Purple Cherry
Retail Price $550.00 Size: 500mm x 500mm
Medium: Ink and gouche on canvas with a white box frame

 

Title: Red Cherry
Retail Price $550.00 Size: 500mm x 500mm
Medium: Ink and gouche on canvas with a white box frame

 

 

Diddy Purple
$220.00
250mm x 250mm Framed
Ink and gouche on Stonehenge paper

Diddy Red
$220.00
250mm x 250mm Framed
Ink and gouche on Stonehenge paper

Do
$220.00
250mm x 250mm Framed
Ink and gouche on Stonehenge paper

Dum
$220.00
250mm x 250mm Framed
Ink and gouche on Stonehenge paper

Singing
$220.00
250mm x 250mm Framed
Ink and gouche on Stonehenge paper

Courtney Brimms

Bio:  Courtney Brims is a Brisbane-based artist who graduated with a degree in interior design before turning her attention to illustration in 2008. Her drawings are influenced by Victoriana, ghost stories, old photographs, daydreams and nightmares. Working with pencils, Courtney creates dreamy worlds of lost girls and bewildering creatures, focusing on the beauty of nature and its dominance over time. Courtney had her first solo exhibition at Sydney’s Monster Children Gallery in 2008 as winner of the Mooks Artspace competition. Since then she has had solo shows at LA’s Black Maria Gallery and most recently at Brisbane’s Nine Lives Gallery as well as numerous group shows across Australia. Artist Statement

When people view my drawings I like to think I fill them with a sense of curiosity and a feeling of nostalgia. Drawing is my way of storytelling where I can take the viewer off the winding path and into the deep woods reminiscent of a fairytale. I primarily focus on themes of displacement, abandonment and loss of self, telling tales of neglected creatures trying to find their place in the world.

Title: Darkness Creeps
Retail Price: $ 750
Size: 430mm x 400mm Framed
Medium: Graphite and coloured pencil on paper
Description: This piece centres around the idea of dark versus light, of something sinister arising from something innocent. The animals and objects tangled within her hair bring to light the inner workings of her mind. What lies behind the innocent facade is quite unexpected.

Title: The Bowerbird
Retail Price: $ 500
Size: 330mm x 370mm Framed
Medium: Graphite and coloured pencil on paper
Description: I've always been fascinated by bowerbirds and the lengths they go to to make their nests look exceptional and attractive in the hope of luring a mate.  I find this is a reflection of human nature in the way that we preen ourselves and obsess over our appearance.

Title: The Gothic
Retail Price: $ 700
Size: 300mm x 350mm Framed
Medium: Graphite and coloured pencil on paper
Description: Inspired by the Victorian age, "The Gothic" is a reflection of the beautiful details of gothic architecture.

Title: The Naturalist
Retail Price: $ 700
Size: 300mm x 350mm Framed
Medium: Graphite and coloured pencil on paper
Description: "The Naturalist" is inspired by the Victorian age when people were becoming increasingly curious about life across the seas and were discovering new species of fauna and flora around the world.

Michelle Dawson

Bio:  Born in New Zealand, Michelle moved to Australia in 1985. She has been working as a professional artist since 1996 and has studied both in Australia and the UK at the UCL Slade Art School.

Michelle has been shortlisted for several major art prizes including the Bendigo drawing Prize and the Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize. She has twice represented Australia at the Intercontinental Biennale of Small Graphics in Romania and is currently shortlisted for the CBCA 2009 Crichton Award for Best New Illustrator.

 

Hare-do 80cmx100cm
$1700.00
Charcoal and watercolour on paper. Framed

The Wreck of the Hesperus
34cmx39cm
$450.00
Gelatine print and mixed media on paper. Framed

Size: print size 270 mm x 200mm, frame size 370 mm x 300mm
Markings: Titled, Signed & Numbered by the Artist
Matt/Mount: White
Edition: 30
Medium: Giclee print on 290gsm Moab Entrada 100% cotton Archival fine art paper.

$90.00 print only, $190.00 each Framed.

There is a special price for the set of three prints Framed only $500.00

Size: print size 270 mm x 200mm, frame size 370 mm x 300mm
Markings: Titled, Signed & Numbered by the Artist
Matt/Mount: White
Edition: 30
Medium: Giclee print on 290gsm Moab Entrada 100% cotton Archival fine art paper.

$90.00 print only, $190.00 each Framed.

There is a special price for the set of three prints Framed only $500.00

Size: print size 270 mm x 200mm, frame size 370 mm x 300mm
Markings: Titled, Signed & Numbered by the Artist
Matt/Mount: White
Edition: 30
Medium: Giclee print on 290gsm Moab Entrada 100% cotton Archival fine art paper.

$90.00 print only, $190.00 each Framed.

There is a special price for the set of three prints Framed only $500.00

 

Braidy Hughes

Bio: Braidy Hughes is a young self taught artist and has been painting since the age of 15.
Born in Mackay in the early 80's, she has spent most of her life living in the country while dreaming of big cities. She currently lives and works in Brisbane, and hopes to one day move to New York.
Though her current day job is completely removed from all things creative, she finds sanity in her days off, which she religiously spends in front of her easel.  To her art, in it's simplest form, is a like a movie condensed down into one moment, in one image a story of a hundred pages can be told. This is how her passion for art has formed, through the ability to provide the world with another escape into a altered experience.  Her work is held in many private collections across Australia, California and New York.

"From a symbol of the feminine, to a belief formed from religion, hair splits down the path to many ideals. It can structure the telling in a story, & the flow in the wave of a curl can expel a harsh overtone and entwine an image in an emotion.

Personally as an artist, hair is a major tool in implementing the soft feminine nature of the girls that I paint. I find it interesting how we view a woman's softness. The elements of her outside appearance -  the length and the movement of a woman's hair in an image can greatly lend to the overall feeling of a work, telling a story of who she is without any words. This is where I work from, my painting's concentrate on the way we perceive softness and innocence through a physical image.

The symbolic nature of hair is a great story teller in so many ways."

Title: Clementine Dressed in Orchids
Retail Price: $500
Size: 760mm x 760mm
Medium: Acrylic and ink on canvas

Title: He Called Her the Girl of the Sea
Retail Price: $500
Size: 760mm x 760mm
Medium: Acrylic and ink on canvas

Title: Penny in the Moonlight
Retail Price: $600
Size: 1020mm x 1020mm
Medium: Acrylic and ink on canvas

Title: The Healer
Retail Price: $650
Size: 1210mm x 910mm
Medium: Acrylic and ink on canvas

Claire Kurzmann

Bio: Claire Kurzmann is a young practicing painter and illustrator hailing from Brisbane, Australia.  Having no formal artistic education, Kurzmann has developed a large body of works all featuring her unique and quirky characters. Influenced strongly by her companions and the intricacy of the human form and mind, the artworks never stray from the human form.
Kurzmann has exhibited in various group exhibitions and sold works throughout galleries in the Gold Coast and Brisbane region. She is constantly partaking in artistic projects; working with fashion labels, online developments and government funded projects.

"We can devote hours of attention to it and spend hundreds of dollars altering it.  Sometimes we cannot control it; a bad hair day results in a bad mood.  It's so important to most that when we loose it, we spend more on replacing it. We tear at it when in greif or when stressed. It gets in our food, on our clothes and always in our eyes. It's too hot during the summertime and the plumber hates pulling it out of the blocked drain. It's much more practical to be bald."

Title: Like wild swans, out of control!
Retail Price: $280
Size: 450 x 300
Medium: ink illustration on paper, Framed
Description: Sometimes it got so out of hand, so uncontrollable. He could've sworn there were wild animals living amongst it.

Title: Wisdom is in the beard, and sometimes the head.
Retail Price: $780
Size: 900mm x 600mm
Medium: Acrylic, ink, watercolour, spraypaint on board.
Description: Whether he be wise or not, there is nothing more intelligent looking then a man stroking his beard while deep in thought. Foolishness can easily be covered by the facial hair facade.

 

Nick Simpson

Bio:  Nick Simpson moved to Melbourne after living in Brisbane for most of his life. He showed at a number of galleries and exhibitions in Brisbane (after completing a Diploma of Visual Arts) including Nine Lives, Joshua Levi, and the popular, annual I Used To Skate Once. The illustrations are character based and completely unbiased. Screenshots from imaginary movies featuring fuck-ups, weirdos, dwarfs, accountants, models, Germans and jockeys. It's not powerful, nor deeply moving, but it has humour and is rooted in real life.

Title: HAIRlip
Retail Price: $ 90
Size: 210mm x 150mm
Medium: Pen on paper, Framed
Description: I've got a strange fascination when it comes to harelips. Not sure why. Ever since reading Rules of Attraction where a boy has a thing for other boys with harelips...

 

Title: The Bassett Hound
Retail Price: $ 120
Size: 290mm x 210mm
Medium: Pen on paper, Framed
Description: When I grow up I'm going to buy a Bassett Hound and take him everywhere with me.

Title: Princess
Retail Price: $ 140
Size: 290mm x 210mm
Medium: Pen on paper, Framed
Description: The words sexual fetishism mean sexual attraction to objects, body parts or situations not conventionally viewed as being sexual in nature.

Title: Zanzabar
Retail Price: $ 140
Size: 290mm x 210mm
Media: Pen on paper, Framed
Description: You get one hair in your mouth and you pull and face, do your best to extract it quickly. Imagine that times one thousand.

Rachael Bartram

Bio:  Rachael Bartram was born and raised on the Gold Coast and completed a Bachelor of Visual Media (major in Fine Art) degree at Q.C.A on the Gold Coast, in 2008. In 2009 she was accepted into the B.V.A honours program and achieved a first class nomination. Rachael’s work has been exhibited in a number of different group shows since July 2009, including Tales from the Cold Ghost III at 19Karen and B.E.A.F at the White Canvas Gallery. In the first half of 2010, her work was also selected by Brisbane City Council to be printed on vinyl and installed at King George Square in conjunction with Youth Week and she was a finalist in the Lethbridge 10000 award in May. Rachael’s current practice principally employs two-dimensional assemblage or collage as well as an intuitive style of drawing and mark making. The collection of materials specifically images, books and small objects is a key element within her work. Whilst consistently referencing identity, family history and memory - Rachael is also engaged with notions of visual narrative and story telling. ‘What excitements me about books and found images are the countless narrative possibilities, titles and conclusions that can be drawn from a re-contextualised illustration or segment of text.’

"For me hair always seems to resonate with a bound feminine relevance. Hair makes up such a significant part of our identity and self image and in turn, I think this becomes entrenched in sensory memory. The feeling of a friend running their fingers through it in the assembly line up at school, the stiff saltiness of it after swimming at the beach etc etc. In a way, the aesthetic character of hair often reminds me of water and wind. In contrast, the series of two-dimensional assemblages I produced for the Hair-Jacked exhibition, appropriate and reinterpret the female protagonist/narrative archetype in juxtaposition with animal furs and feathers. Whilst making these pieces I grew interested in the different types of hair, fur and hides in the animal world. There was parallel drawn between the sumptuous tactility of an animal's fur with a woman's beauty and self image. Whilst at the same time (as with the Hair-Jacked I piece) maternal/daughter roles are compared with the nestling, encircling warmth of a pouch or nest. Nevertheless, to get back to what hair means - one the whole I would place it within the context of identity and the feminine psyche."

Title: Hair-Jacked I - Venetian Beading Girls with Crimped Hair
Retail Price: $195
Size/dimensions: 190 mm x 230 mm, Framed
Medium: Collage
Description:  This first piece hair and fur represent a symbolic intersection of maternal instincts - both animalistic and humanistic.  A mother from the animal world grooms her offspring’s fur or feathers in the nest. The Venetian woman encircled by fur and tails, crimps her daughter’s hair as she arranges beads for a necklace.

 

Title: Hair-Jacked III - Number One Guy
Retail Price: $185
Size/dimensions: 140 mm x 175 mm, Framed
Medium: Collage
Description: I recently found a pile of young girl’s graphic novels dating from around the 1970s/1980s all of which contained hollow stories referencing disco championships, stereotypical female occupations (i.e. secretary, typist etc) and exotic locations. I decided to take the mickey out of the clichés inherent in the Number One Guy comic by cutting away the smug 1970s hairstyles of the two lovers on the front cover and replacing them with Turkey feathers and Beaver fur.

Title: Hair-Jacked IV - Ten Faced Brunette
Retail Price: $195
Size/dimensions: 155mm x 240 mm, Framed
Medium: Collage
Description: This last piece in the Hair-Jacked series, like Number One Guy, also derives its imagery from a 1970s girl’s comic.  The multiple faces of the raven-haired protagonist were found in a story called ‘It started in Central Park’. What struck me about ‘It started in Central Park’ was that, out of all the comics I’d found it was the only one that did not revolve around a blonde, happy-go-lucky woman. Rather it’s central character was a dark haired single mother who spent most of the story throwing tantrums, crying and coming to terms with her rocky past. Ten Faced Brunette thus playfully exaggerates the visual metaphor of dark hair connoting a dark/emotional character.

Troy Archer

Bio:  Northern NSW resident, Troy Archer is a self taught fine artist. His intricately detailed works are a reflection of his passion for capturing the essence of human emotion, fuelled by a need to escape the realities of life. Among other subject matter and styles, Troy ironically spends countless hours creating works depicting reality; real life situations showcasing bustling lives, confusion, stress and love.
Although a trained graphic designer, and inspired by most genres, his work is void of traditional or academically trained art styles, choosing to focus his energy of the creation of an objective and the release from everyday life.

"Hair, what does hair mean to me• That's actually a question I was hoping I'd never be asked. Thing is, hair confuses me, I mean, I fully understand what role it plays, but i'm confused because I have always hated hair, and now I spend countless hours drawing the damn stuff. Truth be told, i've hated hair for a long time, my first memory of hating it is of me at about 12 years old, enjoying my weet-bix only to be sabotaged by a stray hair, it got half way down my neck and i've never forgotten it. I'm super haunted by hair, which could be a result of that scene in Trading Places, where Dan Akroyd is dressed as Santa Clause and he eats a raw fish that's caught up in his beard, it's f**king disgusting. Above all, my personal life is riddled with it, Mum malts, my wife leaves her disgusting brush around the place, my chest is like a persian rug which is hell bent on setting the trend for the rest of me, it's everywhere, toes and all. At least, I guess, i've been able to take a positive away from all this by using it as a theme in my art."

Title: 'Invention of Dying'
Price $
Size:
Medium:

Title: Anita Avocado
Price $ 150.00
Size: 250mm x 250mm framed
Medium: Pen and pencil on paper

 

Title: Mary Mushroom
Price $ 150.00
Size: 250mm x 250 mm framed
Medium: Pen and pencil on paper

Title: Georgina Grapes
Price $ 150.00
Size: 250mm x 250 mm framed
Medium: Pen and pencil on paper

Title: Party Girl
Price $ 690.00
Size: 710mm x 910mm framed
Medium: 

Title: Four
Price $ 690.00
Size: 710mm x 910mm framed
Medium:

 

Due to unforeseeable technical difficulties, we temporarily cannot upload images to our artist profile or exhibition schedule. So to give you a preview of the wonderful contemporary landscape exhibition You Are Here, we have uploaded a preview of works to this blog site.

Keep scrolling down to see all works in the exhibition. Feel free to call the gallery for more information on the show on (02) 66808825.

Kelly Sullivan

Title: War On Everything
Retail Price: $550.00
Size: 1010 x 760mm
Media: Mixed Media

Title: You Are Here / Automapa
Retail Price: $450.00 (2 panels)
Size: each panel is 600 x 300 mm
Media: Acrylics & collage on canvas

Title: We Are All Beautiful Monkeys
Retail Price: $450.00
Size: 600x600mm Media: Acrylic & Oil on Canvas

Title: Us Vs. Them
Retail Price: $450.00
Size: 910 x 460 mm
Media: Mixed Media

Title: Girt By Sea
Retail Price: $400.00
Size: 610 x 500 mm
Media: Mixed Media

Stephen Phibbs

Storm Rider 2 140cmw-120cmh oil on canvas $3600

Wangannui 100cmw-120cmh oil on canvas  $2950

The Neon Forest
150cmw-100cmh oil on canvas $3400

Sandon River
120cmw-110cmh   oil on canvas   $3200

Cherry Venture oil on canvas  120cmw-140cmh
$3600

Mirror of the sun
120cmw-140cmh oil on canvas $3900

Pacifica-Northern Rivers
140cmw-120cmh oil on canvas $3800

Yurigar Rockpools 75cmw-100cmh oil on canvas $2200

Cappodocia 90cmw-100cmh oil on canvas $2800

Broken Head
62cmw-76cmh oil on canvas
$1600

Sandon Beach Midden 62cmw-76cmh oil on canvas
$1600

Austral Horizon
62cmw-76cmh oil on canvas $1600

Where Oceans Meet
120cmw-140cmh oil on canvas $3700

Pacific Antipodes 94cmw - 120cmh oil on canvas $2950

Adrian Doyle

The Heads 2010
100 x 190 cm
Mixed media on Canvas
$ 5500.00

Untitled Landscape 2010
110 x 80 cm
Mixed media on Canvas
$ 2,500.00

Juan Fernandez

At Sunset
Size:  320mm x 510mm
Media:  Oil on wood
$220.00

Beloved Size: 300mm x 400mm
Media: Oil on canvas
$220.00

Brother Size: 1200mm x 600mm
Media: Oil on wood
$680.00

The Caldera Track
Size: 900mm x 600mm
Media:  Oil on canvas
$650.00

Hanging Rock
Size: 610mm x 460mm
Media: Oil on canvas
$390.00

Kullburri
Size: 510mm x 760mm
Media: Oil on canvas
$490.00

Landing
Size: 560mm x 880mm
Media: Oil on canvas
$590.00

Mirror
Size: 530mm x 840mm
Media: Oil on canvas
$590.00

Taipan Wall Size: 760mm x 1020mm
Media: Oil on canvas
$790.00

The Look Out Size: 460mm x 460mm
Media: Oil on canvas
$350.00

Karen Jennings

Dry Run
$600.00
Size: 550mm x 160mm x 50mm each, Group of three
Media: Hi-fire clay and glaze

Sea Change I
$340.00
Size: 560mm x 200mm x60mm
Media: Hi-fire clay and glaze

Blu Bay
$650.00
Size: 500mm diameter x 150mm deep
Media: Hi-fire clay and glaze

Opening this Friday- The magic faraway tree
Okay, I confess, I am an addicted reader. And over the years it’s become clear that many of our artists are bookworms too.  In this group show we have invited selected artists to share work that has been inspired by literature, from light hearted children’s stories to the darkest grown up tales. We hope that you will join us for this fascinating collection of artworks, including Sarah Harvey’s beautiful lithographs exploring the fictional world of rabbits, and Michelle Dawson’s oil paintings inspired by literal interpretations of real animal names. Plus there will be works by local artists Dolores Cupcake, Zom Osborne, John Smith and Michael Taylor; Sydney based artist Karena Zerefos; and award winning Melbourne author and illustrator Shaun Tan.

See their works in our upcoming show The Magic Faraway Tree...

THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE, AT HARVEST CAFÉ…
Saturday July 31 from 6.30pm

Retrospect Galleries and Harvest Café are proud to present another great Retrospect Party at Harvest, this time focusing on the theme literature and art.

In the lead up to Byron’s famous literary festival, we have invited four local artists to join us for an evening of art and discussion, plus a preview of our upcoming exhibition, The Magic Faraway Tree.

Join Byron Bay printmaker Sarah Harvey, to hear about her works exploring the fictional life of rabbits, inspired by author Richard Adams, and his book Watership Down; 

Goonengerry’s Zom Osborne, who will share thoughts on her obsession with journaling, and how words jotted in a notebook in the early hours of the morning, help her capture the beauty of otherworldliness and the dreamlike state;

Visual Arts Course Coordinator at Southern Cross University, John Smith who has had more than thirty solo exhibitions and his work is held in many major public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, work explores markmaking and text;

And Bangalow artist Michelle Dawson, who was last year shortlisted by the Children's Book Council of Australia’s Crichton Award for Best New Illustrator, on the letters that inspired the detailed pencil drawings of hybrid animals in the art/children’s publication, "How weird is that...".

Byron Bay Writers Festival Director, Jeni Caffin, will also be joining us, to share her reflections on the visual language of books.

The evening begins at 6.30pm at Harvest Café, with a preview exhibition of artworks by the featured artists, followed by great food, wine, artist presentations and discussion, plus fabulous music by local musicians Anna Squared.

Tickets cost $45, which includes a delicious two-course meal.  We recommend booking early as there are limited seats available and this event is sure to sell out. Phone 6687 2644, or email goodtimes@harvestcafe.com.au

This event is being held in conjunction with The Magic Faraway Tree exhibition opening at Retrospect Galleries, from 6pm Thursday August 5.

The show takes a journey into literature through the eyes of the artist, featuring works by Sarah Harvey, Zom Osborne, Michelle Dawson, Michael Taylor, Dolores Cupcake, Kareena Zerefos, Susan Gourley, John Smith and renowned author / illustrator Shaun Tan. For directions to Harvest Café in Newrybar, go to www.harvestcafe.com.au

 

 

Come and celebrate our annual urban art exhibition Revolution of Art, featuring cutting edge works from around the globe. This year we’re also presenting an additional show focusing on youth culture, showcasing ink on the skin in a new exhibition called Tattooed.

Opening 6pm Friday July 16, with a live tattoo demo by renowned custom artist Millie (Camilla) Zavattaro from Rock of Ages Tattoo Parlour in Lennox Head. Sponsored by Stone and Wood.

View the exhibition here..

 

This week Retrospect is off to Melbourne, to join in the fun at one of the biggest and best art fairs in the country! Three of our team - Bree, Michelle and Kitty, are excitedly packing their bags ready for the adventure, and we’ve already sent off a truckload of fantastic new works that we’re sure Melbournians are going to adore.  If you’re in the Garden State over Anzac weekend, drop in and check out some of what’s on offer - from John Cottrell’s abstracts to Lisa Lee’s urban street scenes, Kellie O’Dempsey’s motion drawings, Hilary Hermann’s dreamy fairytales, Jan Van Dijk’s portraits, Shane Martin’s metal sheets of love, and more… We still have a few Art Melbourne tickets left for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so email us asap and get some freebies put aside.

Check out the exhibition here...

Artist Kellie O’Dempsey says she started drawing and painting in public because she wanted to make contemporary art more accessible to a large general audience. Over the past decade she has popped up everywhere from Byron Bay to Melbourne, Brisbane, Berlin, London and Shanghai, capturing musicians, dancers, burlesque performers and passengers on the tube.  See her in action at Retrospect from 10 till 11am Sunday April 4, presenting her live drawing performance in collaboration with musicians The Knie. Or check out her exhibition of new works and some favourite highlights, from local and international music festivals she has visited since 2005.  Easter weekend until April 13.

Check out her exhibition here...

 

This Friday night February 26, Retrospect Galleries heads out to Harvest Café.

We’re taking a preview of our upcoming surf art show, El Mar Mi Alma (The Sea My Soul) and have invited local surf artists, James McMillan and Alberto Sanchez to share a bit about their work. 

There will also be a presentation by local filmmakers, Stephen Jones and Tatiana Velasco, about their new surf film release, and J’aimee Skippon-Volke from Byron Bay Film Festival talks about her 2010 program of surf related flicks. Plus great food (buffet style BBQ) and music by acclaimed singer/songwriter Danny Ross. Starts 6.30pm, Harvest Cafe, 18 Old Pacific Highway, Newrybar.  Tickets, $35. Bookings, 02 6687 2644.

This is one of the new works by Alberto Sanchez who will discussing his new ways of combining with photography and fine art and his love and inspiration of all things surf.

Remember to check out this fantastic exhibition.

Opening at Retrospect Galleries this week, The Inbetween is an exhibition of new finely detailed and colourful works on wood by two exceptional young Australian artist/designers with a passion for life, surf and the environment.

On Saturday morning they will also present a free talk and demonstration on how to turn an old wooden box or timber panel into a stunning original artwork.

Luke Taaffe’s beautiful flowing detailed work represents a life living by the ocean and its surrounding environment. Waves, boats, whales and octopus all make regular appearances on his colourful panels, usually taken from weathered old wooden boxes.

Taaffe says the eroded and often-found materials he paints on reflect the salt-decaying effects of oceanside living and how it impacts on man’s desire for development and progress.

In contrast, the vibrant colours and ink detail he uses show the fun and privilege one has to be raised on Australia’s coastline.

“There is always a lot of colour within my work and that is because the coast is like a wonderland to me, ever changing and always beautiful,” he said.

“I try to capture this beauty and the power and terror that the ocean can bring to our lives, which in turn is showing my respect for it. I feel there is a constant struggle of balance between man and the environment and I try and express this through these isolated and almost dark scenes.”

Originally from the tiny central coast town of Wamberal, he moved to the surf mecca of Torquay, Victoria, last year to take up a dream graphic design position with Australian label, Roxy.

Like Taaffe, Mia Taninaka juggles a successful design career with her personal art practice and surf habit. 

By day she supplies quirky illustrations and designs for clients such as Channel V, Volcom and Mambo, whilst at night she likes to draw and paint on found wooden objects and panels, creating stunning colourful imaginative works inspired by her Japanese heritage.

“From an early age, I was lucky enough to do a lot of overseas travelling with my family,” she says.

“Which opened up my eyes to a very enchanting world of different cultures, colours and customs.  

“Travelling through South-East Asia in particular, I became aware of how detached from the natural world we are here in the west.

“Eastern cultures seem to have a more holistic approach to life and the role we play in the universe. They believe in the soul and spirit and have a deep respect and dignity for all creatures of the animal and plant kingdoms.

 “My parents taught me to appreciate and connect with the universe and its energy. To a lot of people a leaf is simply a leaf, but I like to look a little deeper.

“When I’m painting, everything has to connect. All the elements have a purpose and important significance.”

 Taaffe says the title of their new show, The InBetween, refers to the diverse lives that he and Taninaka lead, incorporating art, fashion and graphics, and the challenge of trying to find the balance with everything else that comes with being a young creative.

The exhibition opens 6pm Friday February 12 at Retrospect Galleries, 52 Jonson Street, Byron Bay, everyone welcome.

Or come along at 11am on Saturday for a free talk and demonstration and find out how to turn that old box or panel of wood in the shed into something new and beautiful.

Retrospect Galleries is thrilled to announce that we have recently published a new full colour 140 page book introducing 34 our fantastic artists.

 In Retrospect 10 comprises Q & A style interviews and three full pages of images for each of the featured artists:

 - Locals Alberto Sanchez, Anna Nordstrom, Cornelia Burless, Daniel Clemmett, Dolores Cupcake, Erika Mayer, Fiona Kennedy-Altoft, Hilary Herrmann, James McMillan, John Cottrell, Michelle Dawson, Nikky Morgan Smith, Noel Hart, Rick Shearman, Sarah Harvey and Stephen Phibbs;

- Sydneysiders Bennett, Johnny Romeo, Kareem Rizk, Kareena Zerefos, Luke Taaffe, Kevin Tran and Mia Taninaka;

- Queenslanders Jan Van Dijk, Nic Plowman, Simon DeGroot and Troy Archer;

- Victorians Dave Bowers, Doug Bartlett, James Looker, Laura Skerlj and Nick Morris;

- Adelaide’s Dennis Ropar; and

- American artists Fawn Gehweiler and Kelsey Brookes.

We have curated, edited and published the book ourselves, with some great art direction from local artist/designer Rick Shearman.

 Please join us on Saturday December 12, to celebrate its launch, in conjunction with our second birthday bash, the opening of our end of year show and the announcement of our 2010 exhibition and events program!!

 We’re offering a special book launch special of two copies for $25 (usually $20 each), exclusively available to launch attendees.

 

We are very excited to come to Art Sydney this year. The exhibition opens from October 22nd-24th and we are proud to showcase some of our most exciting artists. We will be at stand F11 and we would love to see you come and visit us. We do have some day passes and 10 VIP passes to the opening night to give away. If you would like to come please send us an email to admin@retrospectgalleries.com and express interest in the giveaway tickets. It's first in best dressed. We hope to see all our fantastic Sydney clients there...

 

Coinciding with and inspired by Global Boom, some of the Northern Rivers most successful artists have tried their hand as part of a team. One + One is a preview show of stunning new collaborative pieces by: Hilary Herrmann + Michelle Dawson, Noel Hart + Helene Sheean, Christian Morrow + Karen Preston, Mia Taniaka + Luke Taaffe and Alberto Sanchez + Rick Shearman.

One + One Dinner Show at award winning Harvest café, Newrybar Sept 12

What happens when you ask one talented individual artist to pair up with another-

Find out with the first in a series of Art Parties at Harvest Café. Michelle Dawson + Hilary Herrmann and Helene Sheean + Noel Hart, talk about the joys and challenges of working as a collaborative team. See the preview of works created by these exciting duos as well as solo pieces from the individual artists. Tickets are $60 and include constant flowing delicious canapés from Harvest and organic wine from Thistle Hill + Rosnay. Simon Durrington + Dan Brown AKA Red Bamboo will be providing the music. Don’t miss out! Bookings essential. Ph (02) 66872644

THE ART OF COLLABORATION

Two rising stars of the contemporary art world are on their way to Byron Bay to share their secrets of success and the story behind their unique collaborative working arrangement.

Working side by side, artists Nick Morris and Dave Bowers regularly paint over each other’s work, trashing hours, days or weeks worth of the other’s compositions.  The only explanation required is the phrase, “Doug has entered the building”.  Then they just move on, to the next idea or inspiration that takes them.

The Doug that they’re referring to is the almighty Doug Bartlett, who Morris and Bowers credit with ‘continually forcing their creativity’. Despite being somewhat of a hard taskmaster, the two artists agree that he is the commanding voice who keeps them on track, driving them well beyond the need to pander to each other’s egos.

Doug in fact is a construct, the holy grail of artist pseudonyms, and much more in addition. He’s a star on the Doug Bartlett website, oft referenced, quoted and even photographed - a mustachioed playboy with a certain 70s style, surrounded by a bevy of beautiful naked women.

 

If this all sounds like just a quirky bit of fun, then you should check out how Doug’s work is selling.

 

Whilst Nick Morris and Dave Bowers are both established artists in their own right, it’s their collaborative work that’s most regularly in demand by buyers in Australia and internationally.

 

Bree Delian from Retrospect Galleries, Byron Bay represents the guys in NSW and says they are by far the Galleries best seller.

 

“We must have sold over 60 of their works in the past six months, which is quite incredible given the price bracket their art fits into,” Delian comments.  “And in this time, the value of their canvases has more than tripled, which makes them very popular with collectors.”

 

Morris and Bowers describe their Doug Bartlett works as “a free-flowing exchange of random images and themes”, where individual contributions intertwine and overlap in a chaotic dance that they say reflects “the constant barrage from global mass media”.

 

They are known to work on up to 40 canvases at a time, using a mix of stencils, spray paint, silkscreen and freehand drawings.  Words, phrases, full sentences appear on the canvas too, all gleaned from popular culture.

 

The pair studied together at Monash Uni in the 80s and then spent the early days of their careers working for iconic Australian street and surf brands such Mambo, Quicksilver, Mossimo and Stussy.

 

Old friends, they eventually started working together when they discovered they were based in the same neighbourhood, along the surf coast of Victoria.

 

Although they have similar backgrounds, their individual styles and techniques are quite different, but they both agree that Doug Bartlett rules, with his radical code and philosophy. 

 

As Morris describes it, “Our rule of painting over anything you want creates art with no boundaries, free from clinging and being too precious, and the creative process is accelerated as we bounce off each other.”

 

Bowers agrees, saying that he gets a huge kick out of sharing canvases because of the chaotic momentum. “Working alone you can sometimes labour over a detail for hours, but with a shared canvas, someone else – usually Doug, will just boldly paint right over it and I'll think what a bloody relief.”

 

Coming up soon, Doug Bartlett will be appearing ‘In Conversation’ at Why Not Café on Thursday September 24^th, to talk about their inspiration, their unique code and their boom or bust experience of the contemporary arts industry.

 

There’s limited tickets available at $40 a head, including a two course meal and glass of wine.  After the talk, guests will be invited back to Retrospect Galleries for an exclusive preview of their new Doug Bartlett exhibition, Global Boom, opening Friday September 25th.

This is part of fantastic series of artist talks being launched by our tireless team here at Retrospect Galleries, an intimate evening with fantastic conversation and food. Perfect for the collector, student and art- lover alike, these talks give you a greater insight into the artistic process of the featured artists and also encourage questions from the audience. These talks are inspirational, educational, exciting and definitely not to be missed!

 

September 24, 2009, 6pm-9.30 pm

Nick Morris and Dave Bowers talk about the joys and challenges of working in collaboration, and reveal the inspiration behind their images and unique working arrangement. Fantastic two course meal & glass of wine at Why Not, Tickets $40 a head. There are limited tickets available and we are already selling them fast, avoid disappointment, book early to secure your seat!