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...
Gertrude Contemporary opened in 1985 in a large converted warehouse in Fitzroy, Melbourne and led the way as Australia’s first combined gallery and studio complex. It is today a leading centre for the development and presentation of contemporary art. With the artist placed firmly at the centre of the community, Gertrude Contemporary fosters a culture of risk, collaboration and critical-thinking to create innovative programs that engage audiences in cultural debate. It is now the oldest, continually running contemporary art centre in Australia.
Each year Gertrude Contemporary presents around 20 exhibitions featuring work by Australian and international artists across three gallery spaces with a focus on new work, commissions and expanding practice. Running alongside the exhibition program is the Gertrude Contemporary Studio Program, which consists of sixteen non-residential studios, available to artists in the first fifteen years of their professional practice and provided for two-year tenures. Gertrude Contemporary also has a residential studio for visiting international artists, curators and writers for residencies of between two-weeks to three-months.
In addition Gertrude produces: several international touring exhibitions each year; the Emerging Writers Program in collaboration with Art and Australia magazine and the Ian Potter Foundation; Visiting International Curators Program with Arts Victoria; the Emerging Curators Program with Next Wave Festival; our flagship exhibition series Octopus (established in 2000) with Proclaim Management Solutions as well as exhibitions and projects with Melbourne International Arts Festival, Melbourne Art Fair Foundation and numerous independent arts spaces internationally.
