ASV News & Forthcoming Exhibitions

Our exhibition venue at dawn  at Carlton Gardens

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW 2011

The ASV sculpture exhibition at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show Carlton Gardens – Royal Exhibition Building, was open Wednesday, 30 March to Sunday, 3 April 2011. This year’s ASV MIFGS Sculpture Exhibition was for the fi rst time located at The Boulevard in the Carlton Gardens, which is a high-profile site to exhibit three-dimensional works. As a result, the exhibition was a resounding success with tens of thousands of people streaming through the site and viewing the wide range of works on display. As a consequence of the large viewing numbers through the site, sculptors were provided a unique opportunity to present and showcase their works before thousands and thousands of people.
There were a total of 71 exhibits across the three categories of entry produced by 45 sculptors. Of these, eight works, worth $20,000, were sold during the course of the exhibition. Congratulations to those sculptors.
The judge, Malcolm Thomson (curator at the Clement Meadmore Gallery, Australian Academy of Design), was suitably impressed by the quality and high-standard of work on display, and made very favourable mention of the variety of subjects presented and media
utilised, as well as the different treatments displayed. He stated in his report, “In judging this year’s exhibition I have considered each work carefully and have been impressed by the aesthetic, the quality and technical expertise of the sculptors exhibiting their works.” In coming to his decisions about the six principal prize-winners the judge also commended the works of many of the exhibitors.
The prize-winners were:

Andrew Bryant, Moods 4, on stainless steel base,
limestone, unique
Photography: Jenny Rickards

Mary Currin, Powerful Owl, granite, unique

Kevin Free Arabasque, Angaston marble
on metal base, unique

Section 1 – Carved Work:
First Prize - Andrew Bryant (‘Moods 4’);
Second Prize – Mary Currin (‘Powerful Owl’)
Commendations in this section were awarded to:
Betty Collier (‘The Cluster #2’), Kevin Free (‘Arabesque’) and Anthony Kim (‘Head’).

Grant Finck, Binary Code                                                        resin and fibreglass, edition: unique

Maria Coyle, Children Chatting
ceramic with metal patina, edition: unique

Zoe Ellenberg Fishbone Ferns, bronze, on
redgum base, edition: unique

Section 2 – Formed Work:
First Prize – Grant Finck (‘Binary Code’);
Second Prize – Maria Coyle (‘Children Chatting’)
Commendations in this section were awarded to: Zoe Ellenberg (‘Fishbone Ferns’), Eva Ermer (‘At Peace’), Gillian Govan (‘William the Second’) and Janice McCarthy (‘Bruce’)

Damiean Vick, Kokeshi Doll
welded mild steel, edition: 1 of 3

Betty Collier, Wings of the Field
powder coated mild steel, edition: unique

Wings of the Field
powder coated mild steel, edition: unique

Section 3 – Fabricated Work:
First Prize – Damian Vick (‘Kokeshi Doll’);

John Bishop Guardian, limestone, unique

Rachel Boymal Circus Frieze, bronze,
edition: 1 of 3

Second Prize – Betty Collier (‘Wings of the Field’)
Commendations in this section were awarded to: Lindsay Butcher (‘Scrupulous Ways’), Mark Cowie (‘Navigation’), Jim Howson (‘Trojan Toy’), Rudi Jass (‘Ribbon 3’), Wayne Robbie (‘Left at the Altar’) and Diane Thompson (‘Untitled’)
The ASV is indebted to its sponsors for their generous support of this year’s exhibition. The sponsors were:
International Management Group,
Association of Sculptors of Victoria,
Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC OBE,
Bulleen Art and Garden – Meredith Plain,
The Forged Garden – Mark Cowie, and
Art Exhibition Services – Mark Cowie
The People’s Choice Award proved to be very popular among visitors to the exhibition, with more than 8,200 votes being lodged. The winner of the $500 PCA was Rudi Jass with his delightful and elegant kinetic work ‘Silver Leaves 3’, which clearly captured the imagination of the viewing public. Second place in the PCA went to Pat O’Connell for his appealing work, ‘Hiding in the Grass’, and Maria Coyle placed third for her engaging work, ‘Children Chatting’.
The carving demonstrations are an important component of the exhibition, with appeal and interest among the public continuing to grow. I would like to convey my thanks to Kevin Free and his cheery and dedicated band of carving demonstrators (Jenny Whiteside, John Bishop, Meredith Plain, Richard Kloester, Bronwyn Culshaw and Kay Salehi) for kindly and generously providing their time and expertise. Individually and collectively these artists created such a wonderful opportunity for visitors to see sculpting and carving first hand.
My thanks also to those exhibitors who kindly volunteered their time to sit the exhibition. Your efforts, energy and enthusiasm all contributed to engaging the public more closely with the works on display over the course of the fi ve days of the exhibition. I would like to convey my appreciation to Jenny Rickards, Michael Meszaros and John Ride for their assistance and unwavering support, particularly during the lead-up to the opening of the exhibition.
The International Management Group, the organisers of the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, are to be thanked for their sponsorship of our exhibition and for their support of sculpture and ongoing encouragement for the Association to be part of the annual Show. They have generously and professionally facilitated an opportunity for sculpture to be brought to the forefront of a prominent public event.

Mark Cowie
Curator, ASV MIFGS Sculpture Exhibition

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ASV MEMBERS MEETING

Hi all members. I am going overseas for 7 weeks from May until July and have been pretty busy lately, I therefore have not had time to organise activities of interest for our monthly meetings. I also was not going to continue that role this year but somehow I’m still here.... Any volunteers? In the meantime the following things have been organised:

11th MAY - all welcome especially new members for a social evening at our club rooms in Hawthorn. Bring a piece of your work and enjoy meeting other sculptors to talk over a glass of wine and some nibbles. In the past this has been great fun and a good way to find out about other work and about the Association.

10th AUGUST - we are going to visit the Bayside Sculpture Studios. This should prove to be a very informative and interesting evening. Many Of our members belong to this group.

9th SEPTEMBER - we will meet at our rooms where Geoffrey Ricardo will come and tell us about his work. I will tell you more a little closer to the date.
In the meantime if anyone has any ideas about activities or has a studio that would be interesting to visit please let me know.
Also let me know if anyone is interested in taking on this Job .....
Kay Salehi will book Zen Japanese restaurant 388 Burwood Road, Hawthorn for dinner for interested members before the next meeting on Wednesday 11 May. Please advise Kay on kays27@tpg.com.au by Monday 9 May if you would like to join in the dinner.

Gillian Govan

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MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR

Are you interested in becoming more involved in the Association? There is a great opportunity to work with the Membership Secretary for a couple of months to learn about how the Membership data is kept up to date, how to use Excel to output records, and produce Membership Renewal forms. You will also become more aware of the workings of the ASV website. Please contact Kay Salehi on 9808 4056 or send her an email on kays27@tpg.com if you are interested. She will be sending out 130 renewals by early June and desperately needs your assistance as she will be away for 6 weeks after 8th June. Hope to hear from an interested member soon.

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WANTED - STUDIO SPACE FOR WORKING SCULPTOR

LOCATION: INNER EAST/SOUTH EAST PREFERRED, WILL COMMUTE IN METRO AREA MATERIALS: STONE AND TIMBER
AMENITIES: ELECTRICITY AND WATER
SPACE: OPEN WITH VEHICLE ACCESS, SHADE COVER PREFERRED, ABLE TO SHARE AND TOLERATE DUST AND NOISE
SIZE: OPEN
TEL: 9822 4031
MOB: 0405 832 433
EMAIL: faustas@iprimus.com.au