Ocula Conversation Jess Johnson: Worlds Within Worlds Geometric patterns, anthropomorphic characters, architectural spatial environments, and relics of the ancient world appear throughout Jess Johnson's artworks.Johnson's solo art-ventures began in drawing, but her long-term collaborative relationship with animator Simon Ward brings her drawings to life in videos and virtual reality. The animator has...
Ocula Conversation Melati Suryodarmo: Performance Art as Trigger In 2012, Melati Suryodarmo opened Studio Plesungan in her native Surakarta, also known as Solo, the historic royal capital of the Mataram Empire of Java in Indonesia. Suryodarmo had returned to Indonesia from Germany, where she studied Butoh and choreography with Butoh dancer and choreographer Anzu Furukawa, time-based media with avantgarde...
Ocula Report Lagos Biennial 2019: Stories from Africa’s most Populous City 15 Nov 2019 : Jareh Das for Ocula Under the direction of Folakunle Oshun, the second edition of the Lagos Biennial (26 October–23 November 2019) includes works by over 40 Lagos-based and international artists, architects, and collectives. Curated by architect Tosin Oshinowo, curator and producer Oyindamola Fakeye, and assistant curator of photography at the Art Institute of...
Ocula Insight | Video Hans Hartung and Art Informel at Mazzoleni London (1 October 2019-18 January 2020) presents key works by the French-German painter while highlighting his connection with artists active in Paris during the 50s and 60s. In this video, writer and historian Alan Montgomery discusses Hartung's practice and its legacy.Born in Leipzig in 1904, Hans...
THIS IS NO FANTASY + dianne tanzer gallery was established in 2013 by Nicola Stein and Dianne Tanzer. Stein and Tanzer are dedicated to promoting and exhibiting outstanding contemporary artists in Australia and increasing their visibility internationally. This collaboration represents a select group of artists whose practices are defined by integrity, critical engagement and a strong personal aesthetic. Our dynamic annual program of solo shows, curated exhibitions and artist projects is complemented by our focus on off-site exhibitions and regular participation in international art fairs and public projects.
Ocula Insight Juan Ford: Artist of Seduction 10 April 2019 At Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong, the centrepiece of Juan Ford's recent solo exhibition Blank (15 March–20 April 2019) was Recollector (2018), a hyper-realistic portrait of a solo female figure standing against a clear blue sky, the painting cropped at her knee. She is costumed in white drapery, although fragments of red, blue, and yellow under her...
Ocula Conversation Vincent Namatjira Artist Vincent Namatjira relishes painting famous people who are humorously redeployed across vivid canvases and depicted in his community in remote Indulkana in South Australia. His powerful paintings are part portraiture and part caricature, in which politicians are placed side by side in wryly preposterous juxtapositions, such as Donald Trump and Kim...
Ocula Report Sydney Contemporary: Bridging the Gap 20 Sep 2018 : Anna Dickie for Ocula As far as art fair venues go, Sydney Contemporary (13–16 September 2018) has nailed it with Carriageworks, where the fair was once again staged. Formerly a rail yard and now a cultural centre, the space has retained its distinctive 19th-century industrial details, and it offered a striking light-filled backdrop to the fair's crisp white booths, the...
Ocula Photolog Sydney Contemporary 2018 14 September 2018 'With a thriving contemporary art scene, Sydney is a dynamic cultural destination with an international reputation for presenting the very best in visual art through its leading commercial galleries, public institutions, private museums, festivals and Biennale. Defined by the vibrancy of its host city, Sydney Contemporary provides collectors,...
Related Press The Births of Venus and Olympia Art Guide Australia : 25 September 2019 Animal masks, headless budgies and reptile skeletons are frequent sights in the photography of contemporary Australian artists Polixeni Papapetrou and Petrina Hicks. While each artist favours elements of the performative in their work, stylistically they are opposites. Papapetrou's images are resplendent with richly textured backdrops while Hicks...
Related Press Art Basel's buzziest exhibit makes fun of global despots Quartzy : 9 December 2018 It came as a serious shock to me when I rounded a corner at Art Basel Miami Beach, the world's largest contemporary art fair, and came face-to-face with Donald J. Trump.
Related Press Photos | Weapons for the Soldier exhibition opening at Hazelhurst The Leader : 15 November 2018 On New Year's Eve 1915, 31-year-old William Joseph Punch from North Queensland joined up and went to war.Sent to northern France he was wounded twice, finally ending up in a military hospital in Britain. There on August 29, 1917, he died from pneumonia.
Related Press 'Youngfellas': artists come to grips with legacy of Indigenous servicemen The Guardian : 9 November 2018 Vincent Namatjira and Kamurin Young are two of the "youngfellas" who belong to one of the most remote artistic collectives on earth, spanning a vast proportion of central Australia, larger than many European countries.
