Ocula Report ‘An Opera for Animals’ at Rockbund Art Museum 19 Jul 2019 : Penny Liu for Ocula An Opera for Animals was first staged at Para Site in Hong Kong between 23 March and 2 June 2019, with works by over 48 artists and collectives that use opera as a metaphor for modes of contemporary, cross-disciplinary art-making. The exhibition's second iteration takes up a large portion of the Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) in Shanghai (22 June–25...
Ocula Conversation Mandy El-Sayegh: Productive Ambiguity Moving across installation, painting, drawing, and writing, Malaysia-born and London-based artist Mandy El-Sayegh explores the political, social, and economic complexities of humanity, using a mosaic of information—from advertising slogans and pornographic imagery to newspaper articles—that she subjects to processes of layering,...
Ocula Report Get Up, Stand Up Now: Generations of Black Creative Pioneers at Somerset House 5 Jul 2019 : Jareh Das for Ocula Get Up Stand Up Now: Generations of Black Creative Pioneers at Somerset House in London (12 June–15 September 2019) surveys more than half a century of black creativity in Britain and beyond across the fields of art, film, photography, music, design, fashion, and literature.Curated by Zak Ové, works by approximately 100 intergenerational black...
Exploring beyond the expectations of conventional medium techniques, Sami uses the possibilities inherent in the painted process—colour, form and material—to create uniquely handled artworks made with synthetic polymer paint. His persistent practice of experimentation shows in Chroma, as he is able to present the idea of deconstructing the process and substance of painting. As the title Chroma suggests freedom from dilution, the paintings also draw parallel in experimenting with the freedom of the medium.
Sami proposes painting as both subject and medium in Chroma. His paintings invite the viewer to assess and interpret the surface to open up potential readings and perceptual possibilities. These particular works explore painting as a performative process, dealing with the physicality of the medium, expanded fields, supports and surface. And the different blend of hues in each work are able to show chroma or the purity of each colour combination. Chroma presents the physical and tactile nature of painting for Sami and also reveals a preoccupation with exploring the spatial qualities of painting and pictorial space that encourages unlimited orientation and extension.
Without losing his presence in the process, Sami takes control of the element of chance that embodies the idea of experimentation and examines different aspects of time and action.
Sydney based artist Huseyin Sami (b. 1979) is known for his multi-disciplinary practice engaging with painting, sculpture and installation to explore aspects of time, action and process. Examining the possibilities inherent in the painted process—colour, form and material—he deconstructs the process and substance of painting in order to formulate what he calls "a unique material language of painting."
Sami has been exhibited both in Australia and internationally, including at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sarah Cottier Gallery and Artspace in Sydney, Sophie Gannon Gallery in Melbourne, Taubert Contemporary Berlin, Germany, Bell Street Project Space in Austria, and Zenshi Gallery in Japan. He received several awards for his work including the Janet Holmes à Court Artist's' Grant, an Australia Council New Work Grant and the CCA Contemporary Arts Centre Scholarships.
His works are held in many public collections, including: Art Gallery of Western Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Artbank, Australia; Saatchi & Saatchi, New Zealand, and many private collections in Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan and the United States.
