Sculpere Newsletter: 2020

From the Immediate Past President

Gillian Govan

We held a successful AGM meeting via Zoom on 11th November 2020. Reports were tabled by the president and subcommittees

All positions were filled except for those of President and Vice president. It was great that several members have joined the committee. Holding meetings on Zoom has enabled country members to be involved and their contribution has been much appreciated..

In Discussion regarding the absence of a President there has been a proposal that we could perhaps form a Presidential subcommittee. This would mean that the role would be shared and covered by three or four members instead of one individual, thus easing the load. Below is the basic job description for the President.

Dates for 2021

Herring Island 16th January to 7 February - weekends and public holidays. “Against the Odds” followed by the Valley Potters Exhibition and then A4 Art Australia. The festival runs through until 5th April.

The February general members’ meeting will be a Zoom meeting on 10th February

Entries close for MIFGS Sculpture garden on 22nd February

2021 looks as if we have plenty of options for studio visits & activities. So stand by for the full program

"David Greybeard" Lisa Roet
for the Jane Goodall Institute
At Southbank

Melbourne is coming back to life

Social Media Group

In one of the Zoom meetings during Covid the use of social media as a means of promotion came up. A few members who were interested got together and we had a great presentation by Shae Isaac (our expert) on the use of Instagram and Facebook to promote events like art exhibitions.

After this meeting a few members formed a new working group- which was appropriately named; the social media working group (you can’t be creative all the time)

image courtesy Parks Victoria

Herring Island Gallery is the smallest venue used for ASV exhibitions. There is also the excitement of getting the work across the Yarra and up the hill to the gallery... it’s always an adventure and always worth it. Our show, “Against the Odds” is the first in the 2021 series and runs 16 January to 7 February weekends and public holidays 11:30 to 4:30 - the Island is a great place just to hang out. See you there!

Dear Sculptors,

2020 has been challenging for all of us but we are starting to see some glimmer of normalcy. I hope that you and your loved ones are well and have found creative ways to cope with the restrictions.

The dates for MIFGS 2021 have been set and we are now in the planning stages. COVID precautions and safe guards will be installed by IMG, managers of the show, to provide as safe an environment as possible.

Melbourne has an impressive number of sculptures on public display throughout the city. Just wander Melbourne’s city streets, gardens and laneways and you will undoubtedly find some magnificent public sculptures - from historical and religious icons to playful literary and social figures – all with rich historical weight. The book Sculptures of Melbourne explores major changes in the nature of public sculpture.

New Members

Welcome to new members

This month we welcome Kirsty Hussein and Branka Zarak

We look forward to meeting you and seeing your work in exhibitions.

Monica Mauer Jan Membership Officer

Exhibitions and News

GIPPSLAND SCULPTURE EXHIBITION

21 March - 9 May 2021 Sculpture Culture in Yinnar

Entries close February 1st 2021

Entries at www.gippslandsculptureexhibition.com

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Call for Proposals

Applications are now open to submit proposals for Rookwood General Cemetery's

HIDDEN Rookwood Sculptures 2021.

Join Australian and international artists for the opportunity to showcase your work in the largest and oldest active cemetery in the southern hemisphere.

All works selected for exhibition receive honorariums and are eligible for awards with a prize pool value of over $30,000. Additional support is available for works travelling over 200km to the exhibition.

Submit your proposals by 9 April 2021.

http://www.hiddeninrookwood.com.au/

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And we missed, unfortunately forever, the final exhibition at Lindengate Gallery. A retrospective of Ernst Fries work closed on the 12th December.

Depicted “Australian Dream” Ernst Fries.

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Lorne Sculpture Art Auction

Ticket bookings open Tuesday 8th December.

For tickets, downloadable event flyer and further information head to www.lornesculpture.com/artauction

Contact manager@lornesculpture.com for any queries.

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THE CONTEMPORARY ART SOCIETY OF VICTORIA Inc.

presents its.....

ANNUAL EXHIBITION 2020

Artworks fresh from the artists' studios Steps Gallery, Carlton

LOCATION: 62 Lygon Street, Carlton
EXHIBITION DATES: 12 - 20 December 2020
GALLERY HOURS: 11am - 6pm daily (7 days)
JUDGE: Dale Hickey

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Flora is an exhibition that will take place from 25 March – 1 May across the City of Greater Dandenong, in various locations. Flora will explore and capture the importance, fragility and beauty of plants and nature. As part of the exhibition, we are putting an open call-out for people to submit artworks within the theme of flora to be exhibited at Heritage Hill Museum and Historic Gardens as part of the exhibition. Entry is free. Entry is through our website (scroll down to Flora applications) - https://greaterdandenong.com/document/32758/arts-opportunities

From the President

Gillian Govan President

It has been great to see so many of you at our zoom meetings. While we look forward to getting back together physically this way of meeting has had its advantages. Country members and people who do not like driving at night have been able to join us, and I noticed a few wine glasses being raised …. Mine included…. No drink driving!

AGM Zoom Meeting

AGM Zoom meeting

• Keep 7:30pm Wednesday 11th November clear

• See later in the newsletter for interesting presentations at the meeting

• BYO nibbles and drinks and some work to talk about

ASV Exhibitions 2021

Writing prior to achieving full Covid-normal is speculation - but the ASV intention is to run an exhibition program and adapt to the circumstances as creatively as we can. The first exhibition of the year will undoubtedly have Covid19 restrictions on visitor numbers, mask wearing and mixing of sculptors from different parts of the state. So for Herring Island at least we are unlikely to have our usual opening. We are looking at adapting by using our online exhibition capacity to present the work to a wider audience whilst still taking advantage of being in an exceptional space.

Here are the bones of our program - feel free to discuss with committee, each other and the coordinators.

Dear Sculptors,

2020 has been challenging for all of us but we are starting to see some glimmer of normalcy. I hope that you and your loved ones are well and have found creative ways to cope with the restrictions.

January 2021 will be the first physical exhibition since the same exhibition in 2020 - that’s a long time when usually we would have had MIFGS, the Annual and Awards Exhibition and Tesselaar in the interim.

Social Media

This is pretty exciting. We have been spending some time looking at the future direction for the ASV and the most important conclusion has been the necessity to set up a really good system for Social Media to cover all our exhibitions and the Association in general. To this end four of our members, Aukje van Vark, Andre Sardone, Chris Anderson and Sandie Wright have formed a team to make a plan and timetable to manage all of our social media. We really appreciate their generosity and enthusiasm. We will be posting updates about the progress and look forward to your support and at times your contribution with your thoughts and ideas and assistance.

In the meantime, I would like to thank Jenny Rickards, Elnaz Nourizadeh and Jenny Whiteside for their hitherto contribution.

Gillian Govan

Membership Matters

Thanks to all those who have paid their membership over the last few weeks. We have tried a new way to do it this year and it has been not without some issues.

The most oddly neglected artist....

The most oddly neglected artist in Australian history

The rock has a shiny polished surface with an olive-green marbled appearance. Sometimes it tends towards browns and blue hues. It has been called both limestone and Lilydale marble.

The figures range in size, from small elegant forms up to heights of 60cm, expressionist in character they were made in Warrandyte in the 1940’s and 50’s by someone once described as “the most oddly neglected artist in Australian history”. This artist was the vibrant and charismatic Russian refugee Danila Vassilieff.

A Random Selection of News

Your editor has a case of either covid19 brain or lockdown release - take your pick - so here is a random selection of the items that have crossed the screen.

Lorne looks forward to 2021

Well everyone. Another month has gone by and hopefully things are moving in the right direction.

We had a great Zoom session last month and hope to see you all again on the 14th October.

For the meeting we have a short video put together by Chris Anderson telling us how he makes his beautiful sculptured birds and also pictures of some unique sculptures sent to us by Marg Carey.

Next Zoom Meeting

Next zoom meeting

• Keep 7:30pm Wednesday 14th October clear

• See the president’s message for interesting presentations at the meeting

• BYO nibbles and drinks and some work to talk about

• A day or so before the meeting we’ll send out the “reminder” email which will have the link for you to join the meeting.

Rosalie Gascoigne

In 1943 a housewife living near the Mount Stromlo observatory in Canberra began exploring the local landscape. It was very different to the lush green of her native New Zealand, - sparse, dry, speaking it’s own language. She began to collect things, rusted tin, weathered plastic dolls, abandoned hive boxes. She would listen to them, arrange them, seeking a feeling, a sense of something. Assemblies would form from her hands, a box of weathered plastic dolls heads, sheets of floating rusted iron, fluid animal vertebrae, old fence posts leaning against a wall. This is Rosalie Gascoigne.

ASV Exhibitions 2021

Writing prior to the road map to Covid-normal is speculation - but the ASV intention is to run an exhibition program and adapt to the circumstances as creatively as we can.

The first exhibition of the year will undoubtedly have Covid19 restrictions on visitor numbers, mask wearing and mixing of sculptors from different parts of the state. So for Herring Island at least we are unlikely to have our usual opening. We are looking at adapting by using our online exhibition capacity to present the work to a wider audience whilst still taking advantage of being in an exceptional space.

Here are the bones of our program - feel free to discuss with committee, each other and the coordinators.

ASV Membership News

Welcome to the notices that relate to membership - including the notice from our president that a new official needs to be found....

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Membership

Thanks to all those who have paid their membership over the last few weeks. We have tried a new way to do it this year and it has been not without some issues. First for reasons beyond my understanding our email server decided that it would designate many of the emails as spam and block sending them. That is now solved. Second, the credit card payment process required people to login to the website and that had issues if your user name was not your email address. That also has been sorted out. Just to make sure, if you have not got around to paying we will be following up over the few weeks.

NAVA and ArtsHub

NAVA Survey & Strategic Plan

So much has changed since NAVA launched its Strategic Plan 2018-2020 – an incredible amount happening in the last 9 months alone! We have many priorities to rethink as NAVA embarks on developing its next strategic plan. Importantly, NAVA launched a survey a couple of days ago to hear from you – our Members and subscribers – about what you want from NAVA and the best role we can play to address the challenges and opportunities facing the sector more broadly.

Exhibitions both physical and virtual

2020 is a challenging year - so the exhibitions here are the ones we know about - if you can add to our knowledge please let us know - in the meantime here is an offering to enjoy....

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Hi All.

Another month with time on our hands, but sometimes difficult to get motivated. However, I hope you can find some inspiration and energy. Whether we are hobby sculptors working for the pleasure or professional sculptors, we need a challenge, a target, a purpose. We hope next year we are able to provide all of those because we have some interesting exhibitions and activities to look forward to. We have three exhibitions in the planning stage at the moment. Just to whet your appetite Herring Island Arts Festival starts in January. Then we have booked the Victorian Artist Society Galleries for our Annual and Awards exhibition in June. In November one of our country members is enthusiastically planning a very exciting exhibition at Sale. Who knows we may even have an Exhibition at Tesselaar. That is still in negotiation. But even so it is already looking like a great year ahead so we are looking forward to seeing some of your new or older works for Gippsland and some new exciting works for our other Exhibitions. We also have a few activities on the drawing board. We can tell you more when we meet you on our next Zoom.

Happy Sculpting and best wishes to all

Gillian

September Online Meeting

Many Luddite sculptors braved the technology last month and met in each others screens.

We saw 22 sculptors on Zoom for our August meeting.

Let’s do it again in September and hope that more of us will have the evening free to chat.

So:

• Keep 7:30pm Wednesday 9th September clear

Membership Renewals

Normally we send out Membership Renewals in July but as a few people have observed they have not received one yet. The reason for this is we are upgrading the way we do it so that we can include the option of paying online with a credit card. This option will be part of the Renewal Notice - all you will need to do is select the credit card option, you will be prompted for card details and will receive a receipt for the payment by email.

ASV News

ASV Exhibitions 2021

Writing prior to the road map to Covid-normal is speculation - but the ASV intention is to run an exhibition program and adapt to the circumstances as creatively as we can.

Here are the bones of our program - feel free to discuss with committee, each other and the coordinators:

From NAVA and Arts Hub

What is NAVA doing in these changing times?

In keeping with 2020’s theme of change and expecting the unexpected, the NAVA team has a new profile and a new home – be assured though: we are focused on these turbulent times, the commitments we’ve made, and navigating the best outcomes we can for our Members and the sector.

Exhibitions happening in 2020

This is not a definitive list - best to check Arts Hub and Art Almanac

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Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2020 finalists announced

Gillian at work

Hi All.
How are you going?
I don’t know about you but despite the fact that we are creative and can get on with things what I miss most is communication with like-minded people. No Meetings or exhibitions when we so enjoy meeting fellow sculptors. The best we can do is Zoom. That is better than nothing so we have organised a Zoom session at 7.30pm on Wednesday 12th August which would be our normal meeting night.

In the ASV - including a meeting!

Do you remember when we used to have meetings? Studio visits, demonstrations, show and tell beside Gillian’s open fire? Way back before I thought the picture of an open fire might be triggering for us?

September 2019 -
demonstration from Carl Lutz

2020 has not been kind. The ASV committee has had to learn to make their own pizza and organise exhibitions online... So who amongst us had even heard of Zoom six months ago?

Blacksmith at Mont Delancy
September 2018
image Betty Knight

As Gillian has said we are going to get together via Zoom for our August meeting.

Word from NAVA

A plug for Arts Hub:
The ArtsHub newsletters provide you up-to-date industry news, what's on and access to the latest jobs. Whether you're looking for suitable opportunities in the Arts or simply interested in the ArtsHub, make sure you're subscribed to these bulletins.
The newsletter that you can sign up for gives you a lot of free content - premium content must be pretty awesome because what you can catch on the free newsletter is very useful.
https://www.artshub.com.au

Dear neighbours,

As parts of Victoria lock down and borders close, we wanted to write and say hi, and how are you, and we really hope that you’re doing ok.

News and Opportunities that we know about...

At this stage it is difficult to know which exhibitions are going ahead and which not... Best to watch Art Almanac and the various websites.

Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival

The Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival Committee is very pleased to announce the dates for 2020. The Festival will run from 17th October to the 1st November. The 16 day festival will run over three weekends with a preview night on 16th October and the official opening night on the 17th.

Patricia Puccinini

The teenager was feeling particularly bad about school as she trudged the morning pilgrimage. So bad in fact that she walked right past the school grounds and walked and walked and kept on walking. Kilometers later she found herself at the doorstep of the National Gallery of Australia. She felt so much better as she walked inside. Here was a world of ideas, of intrigue...she was awestruck and inspired, if even a little intimidated. At that moment she knew this was her place. That better feeling served her well through the months and the years. Strange creatures began to evolve through her work - melancholy pig-humans, a whale balloon with ten loping breasts - each the size of a minibus, two moped bikes challenging each other like stag bulls rutting in mating season.This is the intriguing world of Melbourne artist Patricia Puccinini.

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From the President

Hi All,

Gillian Govan President

Another month. And what a month. Thanks to all those who entered the online exhibition and to those who made it happen.

I know things are not easy in the art world at the moment but it is so reassuring that the Association is so important to its members. We are already looking towards post Covid times when we can organise exhibitions again and join together for meetings.

"Edward the Eagle" Chris Anderson

The inaugural Association of Sculptures of Victoria (ASV) virtual sculpture exhibition, the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show,

Garden Sculpture On-Line.

We’ve paraphrased from Paul’s letter to the committee.

Antony Gormley

A crow’s call evaporates in the heat, a shimmering horizon beckons you forward, the white sands of the salt lake crisp under your feet. There in the distance, a form, human but other-worldly, - a dissolved figure, somehow touching a sense of humanity in this land of alienation. This is number twenty-six, there are another twenty-five to see spread over the ten square kilometers of the white sands of Lake Ballard in Western Australia. Welcome to the world of British sculptor Antony Gormley.

From ASV Members

Apart from running the online garden sculpture exhibition ASV members have been active adapting to 2020 as we find it - day by day and week by week.... read on....

Opportunities

At this stage it is difficult to know which exhibitions are going ahead and which not... Best to watch Art Almanac and the various websites.

How do you keep visual art visual? The Association of Sculptors Victoria had more that 130 sculptures ready to exhibit in the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. What happened when that was cancelled due to COVID 19….... not visual art anymore!

So we have set up this virtual exhibition that will be seen online from 1st June.

We are sculptors not IT experts or photographers but on a huge learning curve we have done it.... A GREAT EXHIBITION OF SCULPTURES has become visual.

Garden Sculpture Online

The inaugural Association of Sculptures of Victoria (ASV) virtual sculpture exhibition, the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show,

Garden Sculpture On-Line.

We’ve paraphrased from Paul’s letter to exhibitors - work continues up to the final minute to get the show online.

Andy Goldsworthy

At our recent exhibition Ebb & Flow on Herring Island, if you took a moment to wander, you would have come across a beautifully shaped cairn made from Castlemaine slate. This piece (titled Cairn) is the work of British sculptor and photographer Andy Goldsworthy. Andy’s work is unique in its use of natural settings and media to create temporary or lasting sculptures that reflect a sense of deep connection with nature.

Cairn - GailLeenstra / CC BY-SA
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

Information

Sculpture Tasmania
We received a great newsletter from Sculpture Tasmania Inc. They intend to publish bi-monthly - and a useful and informative newsletter it looks too.
See more at https://sculpturetasmania.com/

A plug for Arts Hub.
The ArtsHub newsletters provide you up-to-date industry news, what's on and access to the latest jobs. Whether you're looking for suitable opportunities in the Arts or simply interested in the ArtsHub, make sure you're subscribed to these bulletins.
The newsletter that you can sign up for gives you a lot of free content - premium content must be pretty awesome because what you can catch on the free newsletter is very useful.
https://www.artshub.com.au/

Member's News
See elnaz.com.au

Opportunities

At this stage it is difficult to know which exhibitions are going ahead and which not... Best to watch Art Almanac and the various websites.

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REGISTRATIONS OF INTEREST NOW OPEN

We are pleased to announce that registrations of interest are open for the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2020 & Awards.
Click here to go to our website where you can register your interest to receive information when it becomes available.

With thanks,

Melbourne Prize Trust

Hi All,

How are you all going? Its great having the extra time to do our creating but soooo difficult to be motivated in these uncertain times. But it is a good time to ponder on new ideas, do drawings or even change direction.

The committee has been meeting on Zoom every 2 weeks to get the online MIFGS exhibition up and running. All very new experiences for all of us.

Now Jenny has switched her thoughts to the newsletter. We have been very grateful for Michael Adenay’s contribution with his very interesting articles over the past few months. If you can contribute to the newsletter please contact us: Information, ideas, new techniques or even links to You Tubes that you have found useful or interesting.

If you have any concerns, problems or ideas feel free to call any of the committee. Our Mobile numbers are on the end of the newsletter.

Keep safe.

Gillian Govan President

Diary Dates... and that Urgent Call Again

Yes well - we are meeting in virtual reality... The ASV committee has had to forego awesome pizza nights of wine and song and resorted to the cool comforts of Zoom meetings. The work is still being done - albeit with physical distancing. We will keep you informed. Please note that a number of galleries - local and international - are running virtual exhibitions. Check them out!

TO ALL MEMBERS – URGENT
I have now been President for 8 years with a year break after the first 4 years Our constitution states that a president’s term is 4 years. Please would you start considering who you would like to nominate as your president for next year.

Thank you Gillian Govan

MIFGS Online

The new section of the ASV website is well underway. Sculptors are preparing material for their sculpture pages and the whole enterprise is making solid progress. So let’s “walk” through the exhibition:

In Memoriam

The ASV mourns the recent passing of some of our senior sculptors. Thanks to Michael Adeney and Gillian Govan for these obituaries.

Marija Patterson "Letting Go"

Marija Patterson had an exhibition at Tacit Gallery that opened just as restrictions on gatherings came into force - many of us were keeping our distance already and missed the opening. Fortunately there were some early sales - and also fortunately the exhibition has an illustrated catalogue - you can see it here

Exhibitions and Opportunities

At this stage it is difficult to know which exhibitions are going ahead and which not... Best to watch Art Almanac and the various websites. However here are some interesting items that have come to hand.

Hi All

Well this is a very difficult time for us all and it has been very disappointing that all the exhibitions and opportunities have been cancelled. But we do have one thing to be grateful for and that is that we are creative. There is always something we can do. We may need a bit of encouragement at times and inspiration but we can keep occupied.

There are other sculptors we can turn to, YouTube to help with sticky problems and we may even get around to reading some of the art books that have been sitting on our coffee tables.

Was the cancellation of the 2020 MIFGS a huge disappointment? It was a necessary measure and we are now waiting to see if the measures will be enough to flatten the infection curve and keep our health workers and ourselves safe.

The loss of exhibition opportunity is a blow - we can’t bank on a sale - but we can hope - now that hope has been dashed. The expectation of meeting fellow sculptors, of engaging with the public, of seeing our work professionally presented and of having a judge on site to encourage, critique and urge us on have all evaporated.

Diary Dates and more...

Dates for Your Diary
Yes well - we are meeting in virtual reality... The ASV committee has had to forego awesome pizza nights of wine and song and resorted to the cool comforts of Zoom meetings. The work is still being done - albeit with physical distancing. We will keep you informed. Please note that a number of galleries - local and international - are running virtual exhibitions. Check them out!

TO ALL MEMBERS – URGENT

Deborah Halpern Sculptor

Deborah Halpern

Mali Art piece in Deborah's studio

Smoke from the wood heater hangs lightly above the valley, the forest silence broken only by the occasional screech of a cockatoo or a kookaburra sharing a bawdy joke. The earthen presence of eucalypt and wet grass liven the nostril and the Birrarung Marr (Yarra River) winds an ancient course past gum, rock and bend singing its watery chorus to the hills. An Autumn shower approaches the hand built studio where a father patiently instructs his daughter in glazing technique - “just a little, not too much, one colour is best”...but the young hand is adventurous with brush and stroke. Searching out some bright disused glaze hiding on a shelf, a myriad of colours appear, then on the outside of the pot - eyes, nose, teeth - colourful, whimsical, unusual…

News, alerts, possible opportunities...

We do not know which exhibitions and opportunities are still available. We recommend artists check the websites and contact the organisers.

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Vale - again

It has been a tough beginning for 2020. Australia has endured fire, flood and ongoing coronavirus - and this is March. We are also sad to acknowledge the passing of sculptors who made significant contributions to art and to the ASV. In future editions we may be able to give an overview of their works - in the meantime we extend condolences to bereaved family and friends.

Rod Sanders

5 March 2020

Ernst Fries

21 December 1934 - 3 March 2020

Leopoldine Mimovich OAM 1920 - 2019

The Association of Sculptors of Victoria pays tribute to its long standing member, Leo Mimovich. She was a respected, full-time, professional sculptor who made many significant commissions and was a regular exhibitor for many years.

Next Monthly Meeting - 11th March 2020

Art is a wonderful means of communication and throughout history it has recorded and reflected our culture, state of human society and the natural world.
Now as we experience some of the most devastating effects of climate change, art can communicate the events, and our reactions to them, how we can help make a difference and our hopes for the future. While we want to see our politicians acting, we as individuals can play our part. Sometimes art has been the catalyst for change, both visual and performing Arts

I am sure many of you will want to attend our meeting in March when we are privileged to have Guy Abrahams as our guest speaker.

TO ALL MEMBERS – URGENT!

I have now been President for 8 years with a year break after the first 4 years Our constitution states that a president’s term is 4 years. Please would you start considering who you would like to nominate as your president for next year.

Thank you Gillian Govan

Dates for Your Diary

11 March at 7:30pm Monthly Meeting Guy Abrahams is our guest speaker in the Mayors Room at Hawthorn Arts Centre 360 Burwood Road Hawthorn.
25th to 29th March MIFGS exhibition site A77 Carlton Gardens

MIFGS Update

Those of you who have entered for the MIFGS exhibition know that preparations are well in hand.

VENUES FOR THE ANNUAL AND AWARDS EXHIBITION

Your Exhibition Coordinators have already been out and about searching for a venue for our Annual Exhibition without success due to the fact that many city venues are undergoing renovations and most of the local galleries are booked at least a year in advance. We would appreciate if you have any suggestions. As we have tried many places it would be great if you would refer ideas to us as we would not wish to double up with enquiries.

Yvonne Monik and Gillian Govan asv_aae@sculptorsvictoria.asn.au

Welcome to new members

Welcome to David Barclay and Maxine Wain
we look forward to meeting you and seeing your works in exhibitions.

Monica Mauer Jan, Membership officer

Vale Leopoldine Mimovich OAM 1920 - 2019

The Association of Sculptors of Victoria pays tribute to its long standing member, Leopoldine Mimovich. She was a respected, full-time, professional sculptor who made many significant commissions and was a regular exhibitor for many years.

More next month.

Opportunities, Exhibitions and News

This section contains quite a list of interesting opportunities, exhibitions and news items - but it's not exclusive - best to keep an eye on the Art Almanac and Arts Hub for more news of value....

Robert Klippel at Tarrawarra Museum of Art

On Thursday February 13 a group of us will visit the Robert Klippel exhibition at Tarrawarra Museum of Art. We are hoping for a guided tour - but this may not be realised. We meet at 11am at the gallery. Please contact Gillian Govan 0412 122 884 if you are going to be there so that you can be kept up to date with the arrangements.

Robert Klippel (Untitled) 1949
pen and brush and ink and gouache on paper
30.8 x 23.4 cm irreg.
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of James Mollison, 1981 © Andrew Klippel.
Courtesy of The Robert Klippel Estate,
represented by Annette Larkin Fine Art,
Sydney and Galerie Gmurzynska, Zurich /
Copyright Agency, 2019

The following article was written by Michael Adeney and the images and captions supplied by Tarrawarra Museum of Art.

Robert Klippel (1920-2001) has been described as one of Australia’s most significant sculptors. His creative output, spanning over sixty years, produced some 1,300 sculptures and 5,000 drawings. The intensity of his works explore the relationship between the human-made and the natural world, with works in wood, stone, metal and plastic. His technique has been described as assemblage rather than sculpture and he loved using the inner workings of machines - cogs, sprockets and rods to create organic-machine-like forms. He pursued his work with single minded intensity, often rejecting established style in favour of exploring the new. His journey was a path of struggle and persistence, slowly progressing over decades from Australian art establishment sneer in the 50’s to a Federal Government funded public sculpture commission for the opening of the National Gallery of Australia by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982. In addition to sculpture, he wrote and drew extensively, searching for a sculptural alphabet, language and storey and ultimately a connection to the spiritual.

MIFGS 2020: 25 to 29 March

Hi everyone,

MIFGS is approaching quickly. Entries close on the 24th February so please be mindful of the time. This year will be the 25th anniversary of MIFGS so IMG is planning to make it the best and biggest show ever. We have been moved to a new site. This offers us the opportunity to improve on what we have been doing. This year we will have a new printed marquee, a new layout for the sculptures and some trompe l’oeil-3D street art. We are hoping that some of the estate pieces will be suitable to install as entrance pieces.

call for entries

The ASV on Herring Island

Herring Island Summer Arts Festival “Ebb and Flow” 18 Jan to 9 Feb 2020

In the end we have 48 works in the gallery and a fine showing it is. We have four weekends this year and an additional non public holiday Friday. We had been hoping to attract school groups, tour groups and other such business hours operations but the unprecedented fire weather and general sense of uncertainty has played against us.

Ever the optimist I am still hoping for a different turn out on 7th February - but time will tell.

Our opening went well with opener Graeme Williams OAM speaking of the opportunities that exhibiting societies such as our give both artists and the public.

News, Opportunities and More

This section is even bigger than usual and hence full of amazing things... plenty of bushfire response and there are probably more... plus exhibitions that are on now or coming up... read on

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Art in the Vines – Sculpture in Motion 26 October 2019 – 23 February 2020

This is an exhibition of kinetic sculpture. We’re talking art that is made of various mediums but that depends on motion for its effect.

But this is far from your ordinary display of sculptures that simply move in the wind - to set this exhibition apart, some artists have accepted our challenge to address the possibilities and limitations posed by having to mount their work on three-metre high poles.

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