Blockbuster gallery openings in Brisbane are like…well, I guess they’re like big gallery opening nights everywhere – glamorous events chock full of socialites and celebrities of varying importance, all there for the free booze and the exposure in the weekend’s … Continue reading David Lynch: Between Two Worlds
“One realized all sorts of things. The value of an illusion, for instance, and that the shadow can be more important than the substance.” Jean Rhys, Quartet Back in November, I took my mother for a walk around Desire, Judith Wright’s … Continue reading The Value of Shadows: Judith Wright’s Desire
Oh, blerg. It’s ‘fashion as art’ season again. This happens every few years – the major public galleries around the country throw their doors and wallets open and devote their main exhibition spaces to blockbuster fashion shows. There was Vivienne Westwood at the National Gallery of Australia a decade ago, the Valentino retrospective at GoMA in 2010, and I vaguely recall an Yves Saint Laurent one happening during a Sydney trip in the heady 1980s (Pixie Skase and Eileen Bond must have been all over that). Right now, we have no less than three fashion exhibitions running concurrently across the country. Everywhere … Continue reading Fashion as Art…so…FART?
Wowsers, I’ve just read probably the most mean spirited review on an artist’s work ever, by Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones (you can read it here if you haven’t had your daily dose of bitterness yet). Now, Jones unquestionably knows more of art’s historical movements and awkward stages than I do, but I’m not sure that necessarily qualifies him to go on the attack the way he did in reviewing Maggi Hambling’s new show at the National Gallery in London. I didn’t actually know who she was when I read his review (though her face was familiar to me once … Continue reading Maggi Hambling is okay by me
You know what’s great about Australia’s handling of our refugee ‘crisis’? It’s that no matter how long you take to write about it, it never gets old. I’ve been faffing around since April last year trying to write about refugees and, rather than being out of date, it’s still current. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s even more current now than it was then. That never happens. It’s like journalistic manna from heaven! The issue of asylum seekers is hard to write about without sounding like a massive bleeding heart. Thirteen years ago, with the images of … Continue reading Hope & Love: through the eyes of refugees
It’s very hard to separate all the facets that make up the area collectively known as The Arts. In fact I’d go so far as to say it’s impossible to. I don’t know anyone involved in any form of creative practice who operates within one area alone, devoid of inspiration and input from any other field. As a writer, I require art and theatre and music in order to remain engaged with my writing. I need my head full of historical references as much as I need it focused on the present. And I need to be around people with some … Continue reading John Aslanidis – the art of science
Here’s something I never expected to find myself doing late on a Tuesday night – standing in a vacant, candlelit block high up on a hill in Brisbane’s West End, reading a book by torchlight with a bunch of strangers, while fruit bats circled above us and a cold breeze turned the trees in to scary dancing spirits. I quite sincerely thought I was going to die. But these are the things I am willing to do for my friends, particularly treasures like my mate Pete Foley. When Pete first told me about his concept for The New Pantheon, I reacted … Continue reading Pete Foley: The New Pantheon
No one gets through childhood unscathed. Even those of us lucky enough to have good, loving families and stable home lives drag the weight of something unresolved to adulthood. For me it’s memories of school and being intimately connected with a large group of people with whom I wasn’t comfortable. It’s years ago now, but those wounds still occasionally flare up. Putting all your teenage energy in to ‘fitting in’ leaves a scar or two. The weird thing is that I appear to be remembered for my individuality, so I guess there’s truth in the saying that the harder you try to … Continue reading Lindy Lee: The Dark of Absolute Freedom
It’s a little-known fact that art galleries and museums have in their calendars a season known as Meh. It’s little-known because…well…I just made it up, but it’s true nonetheless. Meh usually falls just after a large blockbuster exhibition closes and … Continue reading Harvest: A Conflict
A while back I read Roman Payne’s novel Rooftop Soliloquy, a story that was a bit too florid and verbose for me to enjoy, but one that contained a quote I quite liked: “All forms of madness, bizarre habits, awkwardness in society, general clumsiness, are justified in the person who creates good art.” It’s a line that holds true for all creative types. It doesn’t matter how eccentric, loopy, slightly odd or downright insane you are, if you can parlay those quirks into something beautiful you can get away with anything. Now I’m in no position to judge anyone on … Continue reading McLean Edwards’ Local Heroes
CULTURAL FLANERIE 
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