Ocula Conversation Thao Nguyen Phan: Dangerous Optimism Tessa Moldan, Brussels With Monsoon Melody on view at WIELS, Brussels, her largest solo exhibition to date, Thao Nguyen Phan discusses her transition to film to explore colonial legacies and ecological destruction in Vietnam.
Ocula Report Frieze Los Angeles: Shows to See Tessa Moldan, Los Angeles Los Angeles' art scene has a lot to offer during Frieze Los Angeles, with galleries, non-profits, and museums gearing up for the fair's second edition between 14 and 17 February 2020. In this Ocula Lowdown, Tessa Moldan lists a selection of the city's must-see shows.
Ocula Insight Jaki Irvine's Manifesto on Life at Kerlin Gallery, Dublin Apoorva Rajagopal, Dublin Ack Ro' , Jaki Irvine's reflection on the fragility of life at Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, is an 'ambitious, holistic installation' staged like a 'wild disarray of interconnected yet fragmented pieces'.
Bartley + Company Art, established in 2009 by its current director Alison Bartley, is a leading contemporary art gallery that presents and distributes the work of established and emerging New Zealand artists. Operating out of an intimate space in the Cuba Street art quarter at the centre of Wellington, the gallery’s ethos is to treat art as a social activity and form of communication.
Read MoreWith an art history background and 20 years of experience in the art world, accompanied by an approach based around productive dialogue with artists, from the outset Bartley has worked with prominent New Zealand names for many year; her opening exhibition was to present work by Brett Graham and Rachael Rakena from their installation for the Venice Biennale, closely followed by an exhibition by prominent public artist Mary-Louise Browne.
Ocula Report Melbourne Art Fair: ‘finding its political and global footing’ Carol Que, Melbourne The fifteenth edition of the biennial Melbourne Art Fair (MAF) (2–5 August 2018), which returned after skipping its 2016 edition, was understated in its ground-level presentation. Forty participating galleries from across Australia, with the exception of eight spaces from New Zealand (including Two Rooms, Michael Lett and Bartley + Company Art )...
Ocula Conversation Ann Shelton Casey Carsel and Laura Thomson Through a wide range of photographic investigations, Wellington-based artist Ann Shelton has, over her 20-year career, explored the construction of narratives that surround social, political and historical contexts. A selection of Shelton's prolific practice has been brought together in her review exhibition, Dark Matter , at Auckland Art...
Ocula Conversation Judy Millar Kate Brettkelly-Chalmers, Auckland New Zealand artist Judy Millar has long been concerned with art’s relationship to the phenomenal and sensorial world. Her ambitious works test both the limitations and possibilities of traditional painting and sculpture. More than simply referencing art history, Millar’s captivating paintings and ‘space works’ invite the...
Ocula Conversation Julia Morison Priscilla Pitts, Wellington Two thousand and fifteen marks the 40th anniversary of New Zealand artist Julia Morison’s first exhibition. Morison studied graphic design at Wellington Polytechnic in 1970-2 and painting at the University of Canterbury in 1973-5. After showing a number of severely formalist paintings she took a break from exhibiting: from this came two very...
Related Press STUDIO INVESTIGATIONS | A DAY IN THE LIFE OF PAINTER JUDY MILLAR 13 October 2018, Verve Magazine Having just had the Guardian list her latest UK show at Fold Gallery as one of the top five in London, Judy Millar is undoubtedly one of New Zealand's most successful international painters. Her work is part of Australasia's compendium of contemporary painters and is scattered throughout museums, galleries and private collections worldwide.
Related Press Three Judy Millar Paintings 19 April 2018, EyeContact 'Gesture' and 'gestural' are vastly overused words in talking about abstract painting but remain unavoidable in talking about Judy Millar's work. As Kundera intimates above, perhaps gestures perform us, rather than the other way around, memes proliferating like living things. Perhaps art is merely a long war to determine who is in charge.
Related Press Judy Millar: The Sinew of Space 12 February 2018, Contemporary HUM It's frustrating to her, Judy Millar tells me from the West Coast of Auckland as we discuss her exhibition in Zurich, Swallowed in Space, that people are so rarely asking 'what does painting do to us?' [1] . An affective painting, after all, is something we want to go and see, and revisit, and make part of our wider experience. I wholeheartedly...
Related Press Artist's New Year honour: 'We don’t value the arts highly enough' 30 December 2017, Stuff Julia Morison didn't need to give much thought to whether or not to accept her latest accolade. The Christchurch artist has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year Honours, arguably the highest recognition of a 40-year career. 'Anything that promotes the arts is a really good thing,' she said. 'We have so much...
