Orest Keywan, Michael Snape and Ayako Saito – Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival

Image above: Orest Keywan  That Line 2023  steel  168 x 271 x 190cm

 

Congratulations to Orest Keywan, Michael Snape and Ayako Saito for their wins in the Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival!

Michael Snape – Winner of the Governor’s Prize

Orest Keywan – Winner of the Open Prize

Ayako Saito – Winner of the HSoA Gallery (Hampstead School of Art) Prize


Image above: Michael Snape  Copus 2024  corten steel  253cm wide x 235cm deep x 310 cm

 

Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival, presented by Sculpture in the Vineyards, is Australia’s longest-running regional outdoor sculpture exhibition. A Biennial Event, taking place across Wollombi and surrounds, this year’s festival ran 14 – 29 September and featured over 150 works by award-winning and international sculptors.

To learn more about the festival, see the Sculpture in the Vineyards website here

Image above: Ayako Saito  Dancing in the void 2021  painted steel  19 x 27 x 16.5cm

 

Orest Keywan’s upcoming exhibition ‘edges, limits and totalities’ opens at Australian Galleries in Sydney on October 8th, and will be showing until October 26th. Read more about the artist here

Michael Snape at the Stonevilla Wearable Art Prize

Celebrated sculptor Michael Snape was recently invited to present his work as part of the Stonevilla Wearable Art Prize (SWAP) closing event at Stonevilla Studios in Petersham, NSW.

‘All the works were made to celebrate The Indigenous Voice which continues to speak and to inform our lives.’


– Michael Snape, November 2023

Stills from a fabulous video of the artist presenting his works, which can be viewed in full here.

 

Video recorded by Stuart Purves, and Snape’s band, Terrible Music recorded the track to accompany the performance.
Michael Snape thanks band members Stephen Ralph and Nick Strike for their contribution.

To read more about Michael Snape and to view a selection of available works, click here.

Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prize Finalists announced

Lewis Miller  Self Portrait  2023  oil on linen  25.5 x 20.4 cm

 

Congratulations to Lewis Miller and Michelle Hiscock who have been selected as finalists in the 2023 Archibald Prize, Pippin Drysdale and Michael Snape who are finalists in the Wynne Prize and Glenn Morgan, finalist in the Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW.

The Archibald Prize for portrait painting is the country’s favourite and most significant art award. Since 1921, it has highlighted figures from all walks of life, from famous faces to local heroes, reflecting back to us the stories of our times. The Wynne Prize is awarded to the best landscape painting of Australian scenery, or figure sculpture, while the Sulman Prize is given to the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project in oil, acrylic, watercolour or mixed media. Each year, the trustees of the Art Gallery of NSW judge the Archibald and Wynne, and invite an artist to judge the Sulman.

Click here to read more about the exhibition and to plan your visit to the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes.

Winners announced:
5 May 2023

Exhibition dates:
6 May – 3 September 2023
Art Gallery of NSW

 

Archibald Prize Finalists

 

 

Michelle Hiscock  The songwriter  2023 oil on paper  38 x 29.4 cm

Sydney-based artist Michelle Hiscock has lived in France and Japan, and is most known for her detailed, refined landscapes. For this portrait, she chose a subject closer to home, painting musician Don Walker, a songwriter and founding member of legendary Australian rock band Cold Chisel.

‘I like to work from life, so I’m always on the lookout for interesting people who live nearby in the hope of more frequent sittings. I’d often seen Don coming and going from his terrace at the top of my street, and so many of his songs are set in Kings Cross, near my studio,’ says Hiscock, a first-time Archibald finalist.

‘When you paint people who are good at their craft, you also learn about your own. There’s pathos and humanity in Don’s songwriting, light and shade, realism and poetry: the same qualities that give truth to painting.

‘I knew he’d be hard to catch in the lead-up to the launch of his new solo album, so as soon as he arrived for a sitting, I launched into the portrait.

‘We talked about painting and writing. Each word in a song needs to evoke a world of sensations, feeling and experience; in a portrait, each stroke seeks to build a likeness, but also to suggest the boundless world within.’

Lewis Miller  Self Portrait  2023  oil on linen  25.5 x 20.4 cm

‘At least once a year, I will have a go at a self-portrait, like many painters I know,’ says Melbourne-based artist Lewis Miller. ‘This small one seemed to come out all right, so I decided to enter it in this year’s Archibald Prize.’

Making his debut in 1990, Miller has exhibited in the Archibald on 19 occasions. His own face has appeared in six of those paintings from 2000 until now, including in a portrait with artist Allan Mitelman in 2007, so regular visitors to the Archibald will have watched Miller aging gracefully over the years.

In 1998, Lewis won the Archibald with a portrait of Mitelman, and in 2000 he took home the Sporting Portrait Prize – held in conjunction with the Archibald – with a portrait of Aussie Rules legend Ron Barassi.

Wynne Prize Finalists

Pippin Drysdale  Wolfe Creek Crater installation  porcelain  17 parts  dimensions variable

The grandeur of remote Western Australia has been a source of inspiration to Pippin Drysdale for decades. In her recent work, her attention has shifted from the vastness of land, water and sky to the subtleties of nature’s small and wonderful details.

Drysdale was drawn to interpret Wolfe Creek Crater, or Kandimalal to the Jaru people, for its ecosystem, which has evolved over 120,000 years since the moment of meteorite impact. Containing seasonal water, the rocky crater is a habitat for precious wildlife, which Drysdale distils in her abstract sculptural forms.

‘Working collaboratively with my dear friend and thrower, Warrick Palmateer, I turned to my memories of Wolfe Creek,’ says the first-time Wynne finalist. ‘Within the crater are brown ringtail dragons, whose colours can range from orange to pale beige with yellow on the underbelly, and butterflies such as the Glasswing or Spotted Dusky Blue, with their fluttering, glistening wings. The elusive Major Mitchell cockatoos are residents of the crater and are a stunning sight in flight against a backdrop of red rocks and blue skies. All in all, it is a raw and rugged environment.’

 

Michael Snape  The Voice  2023  hardwood  206 x 130 x 52.5 cm

The Voice to Parliament proposes an independent, representative advisory body for First Nations people to the Australian parliament and government. Michael Snape, a second-time finalist in the Wynne, addresses the Voice in this work.

This is the sound of the Voice that has been speaking to me for nearly 250 years, nearly a quarter of a millennium.

I have been reluctant to listen, distracted by the task of finding myself in this place.

I have been reluctant to hear the Voice even while all that time the Voice was speaking, singing, waiting for me to hear it.

The Voice doesn’t shout. It draws you in, and, as you listen to it, you find yourself more at home. You may have run here, but from this place you will not need to run away.

This work is the shape of my listening.

– Michael Snape, 2023

 

Sir John Sulman Prize Finalist

Glenn Morgan Archie Roach honoured with ‘journey home’  2023  acrylic on board  50.3 x 122.1 cm

I was very saddened by the passing of the late, great Archie Roach in July 2022. I first heard Archie on his album Charcoal Lane (1990). The song ‘Took the children away’ would always make me tear up, and still does. It’s so sad and moving. As Archie’s career grew, he became a great educator through his songs and gentle storytelling. I had the privilege of seeing him perform on a number of occasions.

This painting is about how Archie was honoured by people standing on the highway in the cold and rain to pay their respects as his hearse was driven from Melbourne to Warrnambool, in Gunditjmara Country, for a private funeral on 22 August 2022. I would like to thank the Roach family for allowing me to enter this work into the Sulman Prize.

Glenn Morgan, 2023

The family of Archie Roach have kindly given permission for his name and image to be referenced in this artwork and displayed within this exhibition.

 

 

‘Sculpture by the Sea’ – on until 7 November

Image above: installation view, Camie Lyons  Impromptu Making and Shadow  steel, paint  350 x 250 x 190 cm.

Australian Galleries is pleased to share that several of the gallery’s represented and notable artists are currently showing in the latest iteration of Sculpture by the Sea. Now in its 24th year, this public outdoor sculpture exhibition – the largest of its kind in the world – is showcasing over 100 artworks by Australian and international sculptors.

Ayako Saito  Tomb of Atreus  2022  steel, painted  210 x 180 x 230 cm.

 “The geometry of the parts of this sculpture, through their relation, add up to a new thing.” – Ayako Saito

Ron Robertson-Swann  Pythagoras  1984  steel, painted  182 x 227 x 267 cm.

“Pythagoras knew a thing or 2.” – Ron Robertson-Swann

Front and back views: Richard Tipping  The Sanctuary of Distance  2020/2022  edition 7  reflective tape, aluminium sheet, galvanised pole  70 x 90 x 5 cm.

“This work is comprised of four different signs, each double-sided with ‘Oh No’ on one side, and ‘Oh Yes’ on the other. It brings the template of the “Danger” sign into new use both as a cry of distress (‘Oh No’) and as a space for resolution and repair (‘Oh Yes’).”

“The sanctuary of distance is declared; and sculpture’s contemplative nature is announced.” – Richard Tipping

Richard Goodwin  Turbulence  aluminium  stainless steel, mild steel, plastic, concrete  441 x 225 x 225 cm.

“This work speaks to the park and dramatises the site. It is both tree-like and a furious seaweed cluster under water. The audience is left to draw the wind in their minds as the turbulence builds.” – Richard Goodwin

Michael Le Grand  Global Minuet  2020  painted steel  240 x 410 x 200 cm.

Michael Snape  Slow Turn  2020  steel  240 x 300 x 240 cm.

“Eighteen lines drawn, eighteen lines cut, bent eighteen times, obtuse or acute, making a Slow Turn.” – Michael Snape

Greg Johns  Horizon Figure  2018-2020  edition 3  corten steel  310 x 400 x 80 cm.

“This work is from a series which explores connection with the Australian landscape. This organic and complex work references the broken stone forms of our unique, weathered landscape.” – Greg Johns

Camie Lyons  Impromptu Making and Shadow  2019  steel, paint  350 x 250 x 190 cm.

“I picked up discarded wire and coaxed it into form. I found beauty in the tangled landscape. These works are those experiments blown up. The challenge was to remain true to the original continuous line work and resist the temptation to redirect.” – Camie Lyons

Jock Clutterbuck  The Orange Tree  2020  fabricated and cast aluminium  210 x 130 x 47 cm.

“The Orange Tree is the title of an early poem by John Shaw Neilson who grew up and worked as a labourer in the Western Wimmera region of Victoria where I also grew up.” – Jock Clutterbuck

James Parrett  M-fifty  2022  stainless steel  230 x 310 x 230 cm.

“M-fifty is primarily inspired by the aesthetic potential of the circular form and what can be achieved through the dissection and reconfiguration of radial arcs.” – James Parrett

Sculpture by the Sea continues until 7 November.

Sculpture by the Sea: 24th Exhibition
Bondi to Tamarama Beach
21 October – 7 November 2022

‘Sculpture Inside’

‘Sculpture Inside’, the small sculpture exhibition component of Sculpture by the Sea is now showing at Marquee, Mark’s Park, Tamarama – on the Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi exhibition trail until 7 November.

The beautiful works below by Jimmy Rix, Camie Lyons, Ayako Saito and Ron Robertson-Swann are part of this dynamic exhibition of small scale pieces.

“Sculpture Inside’ is our free to the public indoor exhibition located in a pop-up marquee in Marks Park on the exhibition trail, showcasing small artwork by Sculpture by the Sea exhibiting artists.

We welcome visitors to come in and marvel at the presentation of sculpture on a small scale, displaying the diversity of the artist’s practice.
‘Sculpture Inside’ also provides a unique opportunity to purchase sculpture by emerging, mid-career and established Australian and International artists.”

 Above: Jimmy Rix The Sleeping Gypsy (after Rousseau)  bronze  edition of 9  21 x 33 x 25 cm

 

Above: Camie Lyons  Whirlpool  2021  bronze  46 x 49 x 44 cm

Above: Ayako Saito

 

Above:RonRobertson-Swann

 

‘Sculpture in the Vineyards 2022’ – Ron Robertson-Swann, Ayako Saito, Michael Snape, David Horton and Harrie Fasher

Image above: Ron Robertson-Swann  Nijinsky  2020  steel, painted  195 x 215 x 215 cm, seen with the artist. Image courtesy of the artist.

 

We are pleased to share that Australian Galleries artists Ron Robertson-Swann, Ayako Saito, Michael Snape, David Horton and Harrie Fasher were chosen to participate in this year’s Sculpture in the Vineyards, Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival. Showing annually since 2002, this regional sculpture festival is the longest running one of its kind in New South Wales.

Ron Robertson-Swann has presented two works at the Festival, notably his work Nijinsky, located at Laguna Hall, which has received the Governor’s Prize. Offered for the first time this year, this prize chooses one sculpture to be exhibited at the Government House sculpture garden for up to one year after the conclusion of the Festival. Nearby in the Old Fireshed Gallery, Robertson-Swann has his work Entwined on show.

Ron Robertson-Swann  Nijinsky  2020  steel, painted  195 x 215 x 215 cm.

Ron Robertson-Swann  Entwined  2021  steel, painted  18 x 54 x 54 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

Ayako Saito  Step x Step II  steel  200 x 231 x 121 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

 

Ayako Saito similarly featured in the Sculpture Festival with her work Step x Step II, seen in Wollombi Village. In the nearby Wollombi Community Hall, another work by Saito can be seen on display, Caravan 2021 (painted steel, 16 x 17.5 x 19 cm). Of Step x Step II, Saito says: “This sculpture is like sailing through our lives. It is constructed with elements whose shapes play in concert with each other. They hold and direct space within and the character of the sculpture declares itself.”

Michael Snape  The Wave  steel  150 x 320 x 70 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

 

Also in Wollombi Village is Michael Snape‘s The Wave. Snape says of this work: “We imagine ourselves as individuals. We are that. We are also one of many. Each of us is part of the whole picture of humanity, here on the beach, assembled.”

Michael Snape is currently showing several sculptures in his exhibition Here, Australian Galleries Sydney, 15 September – 2 October 2022.

David Horton  Early one Evening  2019  210 x 600 (variable) x 400 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

 

David Horton also features in Wollombi Village with his work Early one Evening, which he explains is, “a triptych of three elements using arches as the galvanising theme.”

Harrie Fasher  Voices at Dawn  bronze, steel, concrete  250 x 115 x 115 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

 

Lastly, Harrie Fasher presents Voices at Dawn in the Laguna Hall, for which she says: “Voices at Dawn stands between figuration and abstraction. A bronze female bust is held aloft by an abstract arrangement of steel and concrete line and volume. Derived from the central woman in the mythology surrounding the Morai and our mortality, her role is open for interpretation.”

 

 

Sculpture in the Vineyards – Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival
Wollombi, NSW
10 – 25 September 2022

 

 

Michael Snape – St. Andrews College Commission

Above Image:  Agatha Gothe-Snape and Michael Snape  Become The Part  2022  200 x 100 x 300 cm

Congratulations to sculptor Michael Snape who, in collaboration with daughter and artist Agatha Gothe-Snape have launched “Become The Part”  outside St. Andrews College, Sydney University, on the corner of Missenden Road and Carillon Avenue, Camperdown.

This sculpture marks the first collaboration between the father and daughter duo.  The cross-generational influence engaged the atmosphere of the college, emphasising the importance of growing communities and familial bonds. The large sculpture replaces the former brick wall which, in a previous time closed off St Andrews college from the public.  The large sculpture is molded and manipulated to respond to the body, inviting passers by to relax within the sculpture and reflect on the indigenous heritage of the site.

 

 

“We are at a time when a singular pursuit has been found to be mostly problematic, destructive even in the wider world. From the singular pursuit of profit and gain we have seen the world come to a perilous place. Safe from danger is elsewhere in our thinking. We have to work together.

– Michael Snape

 

Above Image:  Agatha Gothe-Snape and Michael Snape  Become The Part  2022  200 x 100 x 300 cm

 

We are beginning to register the Indigenous voice that shows us how listening can be more productive than speaking. Listening occupies a shared space.

Sydney University is ready to open its arms to the world, not to hide behind its hallowed walls, but be more transparent. The new opening is the lungs through which the university can breathe new air.

– Michael Snape

Above Image:  Agatha Gothe-Snape and Michael Snape  Become The Part  2022  200 x 100 x 300 cm

From whichever perspective the words can be read, the already large words expand. They are wrought here from molten earth and through the letters you can walk, or rest, or take shelter. The walls of steel blend with the shapes of stone walls of the college, bringing the background forward into the shared space.”

– Michael Snape

Above Image:  Agatha Gothe-Snape and Michael Snape  Become The Part  2022  200 x 100 x 300 cm