AGNSW security upgrade

Seems their ain't gunna be no way some chancer will walk away with another painting from the gallery .
They are spending $2 million upgrading security . New security cameras everywhere and a upgraded key cardsystem part of the features currently being put in place .

Quirky shows

GBK Chris Fox is his name 'Salon Jetpack' the name of the show very quirky and worth a chuckle or too . opening from the 26 th of may .
Alasdair MacIntyre's work at Sullivan and Strumpf fits into this catergory as well very quirky . Nice little social commentary and so laboured over ,the detail is fantastic !
I may add MacIntyre is popular with astute and keen collector's . Making me bold enough to predict he will be big player in the next few years .
Question why is it when it comes to quirky you come up with so names of artists whose work is sculpture !
Honestly if someone asked you to come up with a list of artists whose work is quirky I wouldn't be suprised if you came up with a list containing a high no. of sculpture based work .Yet this medium would be in the minority when compared to others . Often you hear of a much smaller market for sculpure.
Does this in turn mean no one is in the market for quirky .
I think the gallerists at GBK and S and S would disagree!

SSShhh! Emerging artist to watch out for- Floria Tosca

There's a talented young artist by the name of Floria Tosca she's with Flinders St gallery in Sydney .
A trained doctor before going to art school . She's one to watch her last show sold out partly because they all were so well constructed partly because they were priced to sell!
So want to fulfill that itch to buy some art but only have limited funds -
Floria Tosca - here's your warning before she ain't so affordable .
See this proves i'm not greedy and willing to share !

James Powditch's new show

Personally I'm a fan. James Powditch can bring together the familiar the unloved the old the unique and put together an assemblage that not only looks great but has some deeper context behind it . He flawlessly puts things together that make them appeart appear as one,
new !!
Super Power is the name of his new show at Australian galleries .Opening this Thursday May 21 it's a great show . If you can't check it out go to jamespowditch.com and check out his work there .
For mine his re-use of materials and objects makes him a very relevant artist let alone his ability to put a deeper context to his art .
So if you wanna see a good interesting show pop along to Glenmore St Paddington .

Art goss

Apparently Legge gallery and Watters are going to amalgamate . Twas described to me as though Legge was disolving.
Also Tim Storrier has left Tim Olsen before he even got to show with them . By all accounts Storrier is now representing himself . .
Where's Arthouse gallery gone ?? They changed all the windows revamped the interior .The place looks ready to go yet they ain't nowhere to be seen . There is still building work going on in the area ,they may be waiting for that to clear .Or could it be that they became jilted when their star Martine Emdur left the fold ,with little financial incentive to continue ??? We shall wait and see ...
Here's a poser for you which Archibald finalist is looking to dump his Sydney gallery ?

Doing it tough

Make no mistake galleryland ain't no joyride at he moment! Galleries are doing it tough!
I won't be suprised if more galleries close their doors before the year is out .
I have really been suprised in the last week or too at the depth of the gloom .
Personally I'm ticking over quite nicely it's only when I sit back and look at what activity is going on do I realise sh.. they're struggling, really struggling!!!
The funny thing is the small galleries with lower costs and lower priced art may well be in the driving seat to see their way through the storm .
Now don't get me wrong some quality shows are turning over big numbers. In Qld ,William Robinsons show is said to have made sales of 4 million !!
But the fact is the show has to be a corker , and the price point right . Consequently smaller pieces are often the first to go leaving the larger pieces unsold .
So say a prayer for your favorite gallery and hope it's one of the lucky ones .
ciao

Mitjilli Gibson and Samson and Delilah

Here's a bit of trivial facts for you that might add up to something .
Mitjilli Napangandi (spelling may be wrong )[It's taken me 10 years to spell Woollahra correctly] Gibson is having her latest show at Gallery Gondwana in their Dank St gallery .
What you may not also know is that Mitjilli features in the new Warwick Thorntan film ,Samson and Deliliah ,as the geandmother of Delilah.
In fact Mitjilli actually the grandmother of the girl ,Marissa Gibson ,in real life .
Mitjilli's art also feautres in the cannes bound film . .
Given the French's liking for Aboriginal art it poses some interesting questions .
HHHmm join the dots!

Integrity

Some days the Art world can make you feel dirty . Today was one of those days .There are certain people who use art as a ultra commodity . We'll call them art day traders .
Yes they bring sales to galleries in a flat market but quick as look at you that same artwork is back on the market for a quick profit .
Trust me the inner mechanisms are ugly and really no-one concerned is really under any illusion as to the end result. Yet it all still goes down . Capitalism ?! Market forces ?sheesh I dunno but for me it stinks .
Integrity v's A sale !
Anyone wanna buy a used car!?

G'day, here we go ,told ye all I was going to set up a blog and here it is .
For those of you that don't know me, I deliver and install Art around Sydney .So what ? Well maybe !
But my unique position means I get to see whats happening around the place ,great shows ,hot artists ,and the like .
I work with many of the leading galleries, framers,artists and institutions ( I was going to name them ,but upon reading it back it appeared a little naff!!)
On a daily basis i get around ,i see alot of what's happening ,so here's my chance to share here a little of what I see and think .
The first point I would like to tackle is the strain being placed on Galleries ,Artists and framers.
It's real and many are doing it tough .
A real suprise has been to hear of Gallery Gondwana closing it's Sydney gallery to just concentrate on it's Alice Springs"mothership".
It's a real shame, the folk at Gondwana are a really nice crowd .So i would personally like to say thank you especially to Tess and Lorrainne for the work and support they have given me .
Truly Sydney is loosing agreat Gallery here . A gallery that operates with integrity in an area of the market that's often queried .

On a positive note not all is lost in the art market Rex Irwin has done very well with the latest Nicholas Harding oils and drawings.
So too Richard Martin with Gordan Richards show.
2 shows comparitively priced yet eons apart . An intriging comparison into what's still selling .

There is an interesting group show coming up at Chalkhorse gallery Surry hills . Tim Moore's offering's are especiallly of note . Very quirky . Indeed so is he . Get to the opening and meet him and the other's .Chalkhorse's opening's are low key unptrentious affairs .

Finally whilst on low key you've got to check out Oh Really Gallery on Enmore Rd Enmore. Generally street art ,crazy caricatures ,stencils. completed by young artists often with whatever materials they have at hand to paint on . The gallery is manned by volunteers but don't be mistaken they're serious (I'm told there's a serious strike against a volunteers name if they don't turn up on time or turn on the lights )
They have 'culture jamming' nights once a month with live music and live art if your feeling young and uber hip .Well mabe not so uber( they would hate that ) but hip .
.
Oh Really Gallery and Oh really cheap! oops sorry affordable!

tis all