Tag: sculpture
White Rabbit: Laozi’s Furnace
Monday, October 14th, 2024 Art Column,Transformation is a fundamental goal of art – base materials are transformed into things of beauty, dull objects become receptacles for daring ideas. This process extends from the work to the audience itself. As the poet, Rilke said, the work of art commands us: “You must change your life.” I’m not sure anyone will be […]
Nicholas Mangan: A World Undone
Saturday, May 11th, 2024 Art Column,Few artists are so well informed as Nicholas Mangan in diverse fields of knowledge. In Mangan’s survey exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, A World Undone, one can’t help but be impressed by the breadth of his interests and the thoroughness with which he pursues them. In the first essay in the catalogue, Amelia […]
Ann Thomson & Ian Gentle
Saturday, February 3rd, 2024 Art Column,Reaching the age of 90 and remaining young is reason enough for us to celebrate Ann Thomson, but for Terence Maloon, curator of the artist’s survey at the S.H. Ervin Gallery, it’s not just a sentimental occasion. He argues forcefully that Thomson’s work “has never stood still, never lost its momentum or intensity, and has […]
Elmgreen & Dragset
Friday, December 22nd, 2023 Blog,Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset met in a Copenhagen nightclub in 1994. Elmgreen, a Dane, was writing and performing poetry, while Dragset, a Norwegian, was involved in the theatre. Somehow, they decided to combine forces and make art. (“It’s can be good not to learn how to do things in a ‘correct’ way,” says Dragset.) […]
Louise Bourgeois
Monday, December 11th, 2023 Art Column,It’s only taken a year, but Sydney Modern is hosting its first genuine exhibition. Until now, all we’ve had in this much-hyped building are rearrangements of the permanent collection, but Louise Bourgeois: Has the Day Invaded the Night or Has the Night Invaded the Day? is a most elaborate first venture. Australia has seen Bourgeois’s […]
Jordan Wolfson: Body Sculpture
Sunday, December 10th, 2023 Blog,Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Jordan Wolfson’s Body Sculpture goes through an elaborate range of gestures in a half hour cycle, from the sexually suggestive to the suicidal. The National Gallery of Australia has invested $6.67 million in this work and waited five-and-a-half years for it to be delivered. Conscious of the magnitude of the gamble […]
Sculpture by the Sea 2023
Wednesday, October 25th, 2023 Art Column,As a looming El Nino system promises a hot, dry summer, Sculpture by the Seahas once again demonstrated its magical powers as a bringer of rain. Threatened by droughts and bushfires, perhaps we should abandon the unreliable science of meteorology and organise outdoor sculpture exhibitions in the driest parts of the country. Last week, as […]
Laurence Edwards: A Gathering of Uncertainties
Tuesday, February 21st, 2023 Art Column, Other Writing,Laurence Edwards might not be a familiar name to local audiences, but he is one of the leading sculptors in Britain today. It may come as a surprise to find a show by a major British artist when most public galleries are tempering their overseas ambitions. They’ll tell you that revenue is down, the cost […]
Sculpture by the Sea 2022
Tuesday, October 25th, 2022 Art Column,There may be no better indicator that Sydney has shaken off its COVID-19 anxieties than a new installment of Sculpture by the Sea. This wildly popular event went missing during the pandemic, but is set for a triumphant return, as crowds gather on the foreshores between Bondi and Tamarama to pick up where they left […]
Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail
Tuesday, May 24th, 2022 Art Column,It’s said there are distinct personality differences between those who prefer the mountains or the seashore. While it would be hard to argue all beach lovers are extroverts while mountain people are introverts, it’s probably true that most of us harbour an innate preference for one or the other. For Sculpture by the Sea, the […]