31 December, 2009

Happy New Year!




To all my readers and friends I wish you everything you desire in the new year.
May 2010 be a great year for the arts.

Last year I saw in the new year in Taiwan at the 101 building, the previous years in Amsterdam, and this year its Sydney again. In Amsterdam they combine cracker night with NYE and its like a war zone. There are huge fireworks displays in every major square in Amsterdam but my favourite spot to be is outside the church where Rembrandt was buried, see the video above.

Things have been quiet here in the past few months as I have been very busy in real life setting up my home and studio in Sydney. I resolve that 2010 will see an increase in posts to former levels, a continuing focus on the best in international art and a resumption of my own art practice. Look out for the next print exchanges and a Blakkbyrd exhibition in 2010.

all the best to you all

Blakkbyrd

30 December, 2009

Blek Le Rat in Melbourne



Blek le Rat needs no introduction. He's finally showing in Australia.

see exhibition at Metro in Melbourne
Metro Gallery presents a retrospective of Blek le Rat from December 9-24.

Article in the Age

"Blek, born Xavier Prou, is in Melbourne to open a retrospective of his work at Armadale's Metro Gallery. Yesterday, in recognition of Melbourne's vibrant street art culture, he left his mark in Hosier Lane with a stencil of his Man Who Walks Through Walls. A collaborative mural, it also drew on the talents of local artists Ha Ha, Vexta, Drew Funk and Reko Rennie."


Feature article on Bellebyrd (2006)
http://printaustralia.blogspot.com/2006/04/blek-le-rat.html

intro movie

blek's work

videos
of blek at work

first website http://bleklerat.free.fr/
second website http://blekmyvibe.free.fr/

Blek on Blakkbyrd
http://blakkbyrd.blogspot.com/search?q=blek+le+rat

Blek on Facebook

Blek Le Rat is a member of Print Australia

17 December, 2009

Plagiarism - a USA definition


The code defines plagiarism as, "...the representation of someone else’s words, ideas, or work as one’s own without attribution. Plagiarism may involve using someone else’s wording without using quotation marks—a distinctive name, a phrase, a sentence, or an entire passage or essay. Misrepresenting sources is another form of plagiarism. The issue of plagiarism applies to any type of work, including exams, papers, or other writing, computer programs, art, music, photography, video, and other media."

from
American University's Academic Integrity Code.


All students are governed by American University's Academic Integrity Code. The Academic Integrity Code details specific violations of ethical conduct that relate to academic integrity. By registering, you have acknowledged your awareness of the Academic Integrity Code, and you are obliged to become familiar with your rights and responsibilities as defined by the code. All of your work (whether oral or written) in any and all classes is governed by the provisions of the Academic Integrity Code. Academic violations include but are not limited to: plagiarism, inappropriate collaboration, dishonesty in examinations whether in class or take home, dishonesty in papers, work done for one course and submitted to another, deliberate falsification of data, interference with other students' work, and copyright violations. The adjudication process and possible penalties are listed in American University's Academic Integrity Code booklet, and is also available on the American University website. Being a member of this academic community entitles each of us to a wide degree of freedom and the pursuit of scholarly interests; with that freedom, however, comes a responsibility to uphold the high ethical standards of scholarly conduct.

The full code can be found at
http://www.american.edu/academics/integrity/code.htm

====================

I can name a number of sites and individuals guilty of plagiarising from the Print Australia sites. You know who you are.

There's also incidences where my work has been published online without attribution. The saying is that "imitiation is the most sincere form of flattery."


Le Cheile - touring SA

Le Cheile is a collaboration between artists from the Regional Print Centre,Wrexham,Wales and the Leinster Printmaking studio,Clane, Co. Kildare.

With the touring programme organised by Country Arts SA Le Chéile is reaching a wide audience as it travels throughout South Australia. The exposure in this substantial exhibition form adds to the central theme of the project, that of distant communication through printmaking; ideas flow between art work and exhibition viewer as individual and cultural connections are discovered and reinvented. The exhibition has been reviewed in Imprint, December 2009 edition.

full story

A group of artists from the Regional Print Centre, Wrexham and Leinster Print Studio, Clane responding collaboratively to the connections between Wales and Ireland.
See previous notes on Le Cheile,
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=161357008531
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=59044493531
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=59043893531

the official Blog Spot for information on the artists,
http://www.lecheileprintproject.blogspot.com/

info from the exhibition at Dublin Graphic Studio,
http://www.graphicstudiodublin.com/gsg/exhibitions/2009/03_le_cheile/index.html

Country Arts SA touring show,
http://www.countryarts.org.au/catalogs/whats-on/events/le-ch%C3%A9ile-223665.php

and the blog on a-n artists talking.
http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/432128


on facebook

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118814&id=43298646858

more info

here

Justseeds

Justseeds Artists' Cooperative is a decentralized community of artists who have banded together to both sell their work online in a central location and to collaborate with and support each other and social movements. Our website is not just a place to shop, but also a destination to find out about current events in radical art and culture. Our blog covers political printmaking, socially engaged street art, and culture related to social movements. We believe in the power of personal expression in concert with collective action to transform society.

http://justseeds.org/


History
Justseeds was originally started in 1998 by artist Josh MacPhee as a way to distribute his art and the Celebrate People's History poster series. He slowly expanded Justseeds to include the work of like-minded artists. In 2006, MacPhee reached out to a dozen like-minded artists and previous collaborators as well as the political street art blog Visual Resistance in order to re-envision Justseeds as a cooperative effort. Justseeds was transformed into Justseeds Artists' Cooperative, an artist/worker owned and run cooperative and blog, that launched in the summer of 2007.

http://justseeds.org/blog/

13 December, 2009

Blakkbyrd News



Festive Greetings

Its that time of year when you take stock of your achievements for the past twelve months and look ahead to the new year. Its just over twelve months since I packed up my Amsterdam studio and headed back down under via Asia. I was berating myself about how little art I had made this year until I started reviewing what I had actually done, living from a suitcase.

Four months in Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. The Taiwan and Singapore Biennales, Museums, exhibitions and meeting artists. Photoshoots, 'halls of fame' Taiwan, Hong Kong, Melbourne. Reviewing the Sydney and Melbourne art scenes. Conferences. Reviewing the Sydney real estate market, locating and purchasing new premises. Lawyers, conveyancing and removalists. Packing and shipping a full studio around the world.

I'm unpacking the old Sydney studio and its an interesting exercise. Its a snapshot in time, an art practice suspended for six years. So little of it relates to the new. Unpacking the Amsterdam studo with its new promises and new works.

Through it all the Aviary continues. 156 posts to Blakkbyrd, 200 posts to Bellebyrd, over 500,00 hits to both blogs. Over 300 posts to Lyrebyrd and significantly, Lyrebyrd will turn 10 in January. That's ten years of active participation, discussion exhibitions and art projects.

All very exciting. In terms of new art made, very little. In terms of building infrastructure and setting up a new practice, huge progress.

So now its time to take a festive rest and look ahead to what the new year holds.

Print Australia is undergoing a revival. New members, new impetus, new projects.

For my own art practice, new works and exhibitions forthcoming. Curators note, I brought back five year's worth of art works from Amsterdam, ready for exhibition in Australia.

Stay tuned.

Blakkbyrd

Subject Index - November 2009

The Aviary

Its been a very busy month establishing the new Studio Dalwood here in Sydney. The new year looks very exciting. Stay tuned for 2010.

Subject Index - October 2009

Editorial

Theory
the artists studio - Titian

Books
Animated Book - NZ

Artists/Exhibitions
John Kaldor - Interviews
Jenny Holzer - Basel
Tracy Emin - NY
Botticelli - Frankfurt
Stephanie Syjuco - Frieze Art Fair
Hanging Fire - NY

Printmaking
How to Engrave Video
Printing's alive
Daniel Kelly - Japan
IFPDA Print Fair - NY

Urban Art/graffiti
Guerilla Art - ABC2
asylum seekers - Melbourne

May's - Jumbo & Zap

Film
metagraffiti - film

Music
Dr D - Zoo Tv

30 November, 2009

Editorial

Print Australia is approaching its 10th Birthday. A new studio in Sydney. Over 15,000 email posts to the Lyrebyrd mailing list. Over 500,000 hits to the Bellebyrd and Blakkbyrd blogs.

And the 10th Anniversary print exchange is under way.

Blakkbyrd


27 November, 2009

the artists studio - Titian


As a major new exhibition of Titian's work opens at the National Gallery in February 2003, BBC TWO will journey back to the 16th century to recreate the studio in which Titian composed the masterpieces that cemented his reputation as the greatest painter of the Venetian School. The Artist's Studio explores the engine room of creativity at the very heart of the artistic process, taking a fresh look at the life and work of Titian from within his own world. A team of experts in the fields of conservation, art history and architecture gather together clues, fragments and forensic evidence to physically reconstruct a replica of Titian's working environment. To this, the easels, canvases, props, and models that Titian would have used are added; and the intriguing and often messy practicalities of Titian's techniques demonstrated - from how he made his paints, to the secrets of his brushwork.


video from account of the sun (go here for the other parts)
http://www.youtube.com/user/AccountOfTheSun#p/u/2/hvAkBKy8h6Y



part 1

22 November, 2009

John Kaldor - Interviews




John Kaldor and Anthony Bond in conversation at COFA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_L6-xOSWgw


================

CELEBRITY TALK in association with 40 years: Kaldor Public Art Projects
John Kaldor, director of Kaldor Public Art Projects, in conversation with Fenella Kernebone, ABC TV Sunday Arts presenter .

John Kaldor is a committed supporter and patron of international contemporary art in Australia. In 1969 he invited artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude to Australia and coordinated Wrapped Coast, their first major landscape work, and the first of a series of art projects realised by Kaldor, which continues to this day with the current Tatzu Nishi installation out the front of the Art Gallery of NSW.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aaSjtvyZ50


Jenny Holzer - Basel




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlfShcpuM6g



http://www.vernissage.tv | More info: http://vernissage.tv/blog/2009/11/04/...

Jenny Holzer is considered as one of the most popular contemporary artists. Holzer is known for her use of words and ideas in public space. In 1982 she publicised her statements and aphorisms (truisms) on one of Times Squares gigantic LED billboards, in 2008 she created a site-specific light projection for the newly renovated facade of the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum in New York.

Fondation Beyeler in Riehen near Basel, Switzerland, is now presenting Jenny Holzers first large sale exhibition in a Swiss museum. The focus is on recent works, some of which have never before been shown in Europe. On display are Jenny Holzers famous LED installations, combining poetic, socio-critical, and political texts and visual effects, as welll as paintings and sculptures. The exhibition is supplemented by a selection of works the artist has chosen from the Beyeler Collection (Giacometti, Picasso, Malevich, Bacon).

The presentation of Jenny Holzers work is not confined to the museum space. The show extends outdoors to the public space. Jenny Holzer conceived light projections on key buildings and sites in Basel and Zürich. These will only be on view on special nights.

The exhibition has been conceived in close cooperation with the artist and the MCA, Chicago, and curated by Elizabeth A. T. Smith and Philippe Büttner. The exhibition at Fondation Beyeler runs until January 24, 2010.

Jenny Holzer at Fondation Beyeler in Riehen / Switzerland. Opening reception, October 31, 2009.

Tracy Emin - NY




James Kalm is slumming on the Lower East Side when he comes across this opening. Tracey Emin is a founding member of the YBAs (Young British Artists) and represented Great Britain in the 2007 Venice Biennial. Featuring over 53 works in neon, film, sculpture, embroideries and monoprints, this extensive show continues the artists exploration and objectification of her own sexuality, lust, longing and desire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHEruOXyFyc


check out the animation

Botticelli - Frankfurt





With a selection of portraits, mythological allegories and depictions of the Virgin – altogether some eighty works by Botticelli, his workshop and his contemporaries – the Städel Museum is presenting the first exhibition ever to be devoted to the oeuvre of this great Italian Renaissance master in German-speaking lands.

All in all, it will be possible to show more than 80 works by Botticelli, his workshop, and some of his contemporaries like Filippino Lippi or Andrea del Verrocchio.

view video (in german)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxbSB0MCpKc

download audio guides and view another video
(with english subtitles).
Download

more info

http://www.staedelmuseum.de/sm/index.php?StoryID=724&websiteLang=en

13 November, 2009

Stephanie Syjuco - Frieze Art Fair




======
This is an interview with San Francisco-based artist Stephanie Syjuco. Stephanie Syjuco has conceived a project for this year’s Projects program of Frieze Art Fair. Her project called Copystand: an autonomous manufacturing zone is a workshop in which a small group of artists are making bootleg copies of other works exhibited in the fair, and an adjacent gallery stand where these works are presented for sale.

In this interview, Stephanie Syjuco talks about the idea behind her work Copystand, how it is received by the audience and gallerists, and her work in general.

For the group show “1969“, a large scale exhibition at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York that opens on Sunday 25, 20009, Stephanie Syjuco is reproducing two iconic works from MoMA’s collection: Joseph Beuys’ “Sled” and Robert Morris’s “Untitled” felt work, which will be presented at P.S.1 in lieu of the originals.

Frieze Projects is a programme of artists’ commissions realised annually at Frieze Art Fair. It is curated by Neville Wakefield and includes seven new projects as well as The Cartier Award and collaborations with this year’s partner institutions CAC Vilnius (Lithuania) and Arte Contempo (Portugal).

The seven artists commissioned to create site-specific work for Frieze Art Fair 2009 are Mike Bouchet, Kim Coleman & Jenny Hogarth, Ruth Ewan, Ryan Gander, Per-Oskar Leu, Monika Sosnowska and Stephanie Syjuc

from Vernissage TV

07 November, 2009

Hanging Fire - NY



Hanging Fire:
Contemporary Art from Pakistan

10 September 2009
- 3 January 2010



New York's "Hanging Fire" exhibition presented by the Asia Society and curated by acclaimed scholar Salima Hashmi is an important and ambitious raising of the curtain on what is an entire cabaret of Pakistani artists, both established and emerging, that are making their way onto the international stage. Artists investigating the fracturing of traditions and ideologies, as well and the spectre of terror; artists who personally and creatively must contend with an influential past and an especially uncertain future. Showcasing fifteen leading artists - Zahoor ul Akhlaq, Imran Qureshi, Anwar Saeed, Rashid Rana, Naiza Khan, Huma Mulji, Hamra Abbas, Bani Abidi, Asma Mundrawala, Ayaz Jhokio, Ali Raza, Mahreen Zuberi, Adeela Suleman, Arif Mahmood and Faiza Butt - this prestigious exhibition gives viewers a taste of Pakistan's rich expressive potential. All these artists have drawn on issues which move and shake them daily. Their responses - often subtle, humorous, theatrical - can be described as a kind of defence mechanism from within a politically and culturally charged creative space.

full article

http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas/articles/2009/hanging_fire

images

http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas/articles/2009/hanging_fire/img

How to Engrave Video

Video - how to engrave and print copperplate.

Ridsmueum - The Brilliant Line

- watch video of engraving process

http://www.risdmuseum.org/thebrilliantline/


Museum of Art Rhode Island
exhibition Sept 09 - Jan 10

03 November, 2009

Daniel Kelly - Japan




Daniel Kelly - HIGHFIRE - A documentary film by John Wells about the making of Kelly's 2008 woodblock print.

view video here

02 November, 2009

IFPDA Print Fair - NY

The International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) will present its annual Print Fair from Thursday, November 5 - Sunday, November 8 at New York's celebrated Park Avenue Armory. This year's Fair features an international roster of eighty-four IFPDA member dealers.

The crown jewel of New York Fine Art Print Week, also coordinated by the IFPDA, the Fair will open on Wednesday, November 4th, with a Gala Preview Party offering ticket-holders a first look at important masterworks and new contemporary projects. The evening's festivities will feature a Treasure Hunt organized by the IFPDA's newly launched paper/ink committee (PIC) as a creative way to explore the wide spectrum of artists' works on view.


2009 exhibitors

Alice Adam Ltd. | Chicago, IL
Advanced Graphics London | London, United Kingdom
Allinson Gallery, Inc. | Storrs, CT
E.H. Ariëns Kappers Master Prints | Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Arion Press | San Francisco, CA
Ars Libri Ltd. | Boston, MA
The Art of Japan | Medina, WA
James A. Bergquist | Newton Centre, MA
Joel R. Bergquist Fine Art | Stanford, CA
C.G. Boerner | New York, NY
Robert Brown Gallery | Washington, DC
Catherine E. Burns | Oakland, CA
Galerie André Candillier | Paris, France
Eric G. Carlson Fine Prints & Drawings | New York, NY
Childs Gallery | Boston, MA
Alan Cristea Gallery | London, United Kingdom
Crown Point Press | San Francisco, CA
Davidson Galleries | Seattle, WA
Dolan/Maxwell | Philadelphia, PA
Durham Press, Inc. | Durham, PA
Egenolf Gallery Japanese Prints | Burbank, CA
G. W. Einstein Company, Inc. | New York, NY
The Fine Art Society | London, United Kingdom
Fitch-Febvrel Gallery | Croton, NY
Thomas French Fine Art | Fairlawn, OH
Galerie St. Etienne | New York, NY
Pia Gallo | New York, NY
Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl | New York, NY
Israel Goldman | London, United Kingdom
C. & J. Goodfriend Drawings & Prints | New York, NY
Goya Contemporary | Baltimore, MD
Graphicstudio/USF | Tampa, FL
Galerie Grillon | Paris, France
Hill-Stone, Inc. | New York, NY
Hirschl & Adler Galleries | New York, NY
Jan Johnson, Old Master & Modern Prints, Inc. | Chambly, Canada
R.S. Johnson Fine Art | Chicago, IL
Barbara Krakow Gallery | Boston, MA
August Laube Buch - und Kunstantiquariat | Zurich, Switzerland
Daniela Laube Fine Art | New York, NY
R. E. Lewis & Daughter Original Prints | San Rafael, CA
Jörg Maass Kunsthandel | Berlin, Germany
Ian Mackenzie Fine Art Ltd. | London, United Kingdom
Marlborough Graphics | New York, NY
A & D Martinez | Paris, France
Paul McCarron Fine Prints & Drawings | New York, NY
Mixografía® | Los Angeles, CA
Carolina Nitsch Contemporary Art | New York, NY
The Old Print Shop, Inc. | New York, NY
Osborne Samuel Ltd | London, United Kingdom
Pace Prints | New York, NY
Paramour Fine Arts | Franklin, MI
Paulson Press | Berkeley, CA
Edward T. Pollack Fine Arts | Portland, ME
Pratt Contemporary | Kent, United Kingdom
Paul Prouté S.A. | Paris, France
Redfern Gallery, Ltd. | London, United Kingdom
H. H. Rumbler, Kunsthandel | Frankfurt, Germany
Mary Ryan Gallery| New York, NY
Senior & Shopmaker Gallery | New York, NY
Shark's Ink. | Lyons, CO
Susan Sheehan Gallery | New York, NY
Keith Sheridan Inc. | Brooklyn, NY
Sims Reed Gallery | London, United Kingdom
Sragow Gallery | New York, NY
Stewart & Stewart | Bloomfield Hills, MI
Paul Stolper| London, United Kingdom
John Szoke Editions | New York, NY
Tandem Press | Madison, WI
Susan Teller Gallery | New York, NY
The Tolman Collection | New York, NY
Theobald Jennings Ltd. | London, United Kingdom
David Tunick, Inc. | New York, NY
Two Palms | New York, NY
Universal Limited Art Editions | Bay Shore, NY
Ursus Books & Prints Ltd. | New York, NY
Riverhouse Editions/ van Straaten Gallery | Denver, CO
Verne Collection, Inc. | Cleveland, OH
Diane Villani Editions | New York, NY
William Weston Gallery | London, United Kingdom
Weyhe Gallery | Mt. Desert, ME
Works on Paper | Philadelphia, PA
Worthington Gallery | Chicago, IL


more info

01 November, 2009

Guerilla Art - ABC2



Its interesting to note that the ABC is now finally starting to cover the art that I have been reporting on for the last five years. Aunty is starting to catch up, or maybe they just read my blogs. Most of the artists in this documentary have already been featured on Blakkbyrd blog.
BLAKKBYRD

===================
ABC2 link

A new generation of international street artists are the latest hot property for galleries, art collectors and big advertising brands.

Filmed in New York, London, Paris, Sao Paulo and Tokyo, it introduces the graffiti-inspired street art pioneers Futura 2000, Ramm:ell:zee, Os Gemeos, Space Invader, Blek le Rat, Miss Van and Eine, some whose art is now celebrated among the trendy and wealthy of New York and London.

The movement started in the late ‘70s when hip hop and the spray can emerged from the lanes and backstreets and spread like a virus across the urban landscapes of the rest of the world. Art patron Agnes B and art curator Jerome Sans comment on the early days of Keith Haring and Jean Michel Basquiat, when graffiti changed the streets of New York and then of other cities around the planet.

It reveals how these artists have developed a unique system of economic survival, from selling limited-edition prints to clothing designs for streetwear labels and creating record labels and logos for youth brands.

Guerilla Art will be repeated on ABC1 – Sunday, November 08 at 3:00pm

asylum seekers - Melbourne




The art in Hosier Lane, Melbourne is constantly changing. This is one of the last photos I took in my recent visit to Melbourne. The work was freshly installed. The name of the artist is not known, but I suspect from the size of the hands that it is a female.

Sticky tape sculpture is not new in street art, but what I liked about this piece was its timeliness with respect to the asylum seeker debate currently ongoing in the media. Street art is inherently political.

For me, a measure of success of street art is that it must work in relation to its installed position. If you move it and it loses its context, then its good street art. This piece fulfills that criteria. The reading of the art lies in its relation to the iron bars from behind which the fragile and nameless hands entreat.

Well done.

Blakkbyrd

29 October, 2009

Pøbel and Dolk - Norway

A time lapse animation of how to cut and paint a very large stencil in-situ. I first encountered Dolk's work in Berlin in 2006 and have also photographed it in Amsterdam. The artists here are Pøbel and Dolk.

Blakkbyrd



"In the video 'Øde Dekor', we are presented with a theme that is well known in Northern Norwegian art and has become something of a cliché; The decaying house. From the 1970's counter-culture, to music, theater plays and the media in general, it is a symbol of emigration and centralization in the North. The theme is however presented in a new and refreshing way in this video.
The artists chose ten houses in Vestvågøy and decorated them in urban graffiti, in a way that brings new life in these sad monuments."
-Bodø Arts Center

Screenings:
Lofoten International Arts Festival 2006
Nordnorsken 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-AIUu94AhM

Intellectual Property Colloquium Podcasts

An online audio program devoted to intellectual property topics. From the USA, therefore USA law applies.

for more info and to listen

http://www.ipcolloquium.com/about.html

26 October, 2009

Blakkbyrd - Interview


There's a new interview with Australian artist Blakkbyrd on Whohub; see
http://www.whohub.com/blakkbyrd?noed=1#






Editorial- half a million hits


Dear Readers

I'm currently in Melbourne taking in the art museums, galleries and attending exhibition openings. I'm not posting much because the internet connection  here is very slow and keeps dropping out and its almost impossible to work online, especially where videos are concerned.
Things should return to normal next week.
The hit count for Bellbyrd is now over 419,000 and for Blakkbyrd 91,000, which means collectively we are up to 510,000 hits. Wow, we've passed the half million mark!  Thankyou for your support.


Blakkbyrd

23 October, 2009

De Appel - Amsterdam

De Appel is pleased to announce that, commencing in February 2010, it will be making use of a new exhibition space at the Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat 59 (tram 3, 12 or 25, stop Ferdinand Bolstraat). This will mark the end of de Appel’s temporary ‘disembodiment’ in 2009 - a year in which the regular, additional programme of performances, projects, lectures, ‘informances’ and publications came to the fore in various locations in the city, with the Frascati and Stadsschouwburg theatres as institutional partners. This emphasis on text, (spoken) word and gesture will shift in 2010 back again to object and image with a series of exhibitions. De Appel’s intrinsic line and its ambition to remain progressive and ‘unusual’ on the basis of its long past history is thus being continued.

Having been housed on the Brouwersgracht, Prinseneiland and the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat, de Appel has manifested itself in very different ways since 1975. Now, through this relocation, de Appel is cropping up again at an unexpected spot in Amsterdam. The building on the Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat was built at the end of the nineteenth century as a ‘3rd class’ public primary school for boys, in what was then the rapidly burgeoning district known as De Pijp on the edge of Amsterdam. After that it had different functions, from music library to a training school for midwives. Because of its historical character and its central location in a striking and lively ambiance, a stone’s throw from the Museumplein and de Ateliers, it offers de Appel an exquisite place for resuming its exhibition programme in full swing.

A brief pick from what will be presented in 2010. In February 2010 we will be opening with the group exhibition “For the blind man in the dark room looking for the black cat that isn’t there”, produced in collaboration with the Saint Louis Museum (Saint Louis, USA), ICA (London) and Kulturgest (Lisbon), which focuses on the ‘enigma’ of contemporary art and presents ‘non-understanding’ as a positive attitude. Among the artists included are Marcel Broodthaers, Eric Duyckaerts, Peter Fischli & David Weiss and Frances Stark. With solo exhibitions by Rod Bianco/Bjarne Melgaard (AUS/USA), Valérie Mannaerts (BE), Matt Mullican (USA), Mika Rottenberg (ARG/USA) and Emily Wardill (GB), de Appel will, as in previous years, be exploring the idiolects, personal mythologies and private preoccupations of a number of young and more established artists.

The exhibition space on the Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat, from now on named ‘de Appel-Boys' School’, will be used as de Appel's exhibition space during 2010 and 2011. At the end of 2011 de Appel will permanently 'settle' at 142 Prins Hendrikkade in Amsterdam, in a building traditionally known as the Zeemanshoop. Officially commissioned by the City of Amsterdam - the building on the Prins Hendrikkade is being renovated. Architectural offices were assigned in August this year and a selection was made in September. The winning office is the Nieuwe Generatie (www.denieuwegeneratie.nu) in collaboration with ADP (www.adp-architecten.nl), an excellent combination of enthusiasm and expertise. The definitive design and the building application should be ready before the end of the year.
 

21 October, 2009

John Ryrie - Melbourne





JOHN RYRIE has just been awarded the Grand Prize in the 2009 Silk Cut Award. Ryrie won the prize with his linocut. 'The Moon's Refection II'.
A selection of Ryrie's works will be exhibited at Chrysalis Gallery in a special celebratory exhibition:

CELEBRATING JOHN RYRIE
Opening 6-8pm, Tuesday 27th October.

27 October - 21 November, 2009 
Chrysalis Gallery
179 Gipps st, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002 





John Ryrie was one of the founding members of Print Australia and his work is featured on the original Print Australia website.
Congratulations  from Blakkbyrd


15 October, 2009

OHS - Studio safety

LONDON (Reuters) - A school in eastern England was ordered to pay 19,000 pounds ($30,140) Monday after a 16-year-old girl lost nearly all her fingers when she put her hands in a bucket of plaster of Paris during an art lesson.
The teen-ager was attempting to make a sculpture of her own hands during a lesson in January 2007 when the accident happened, Boston Magistrates' Court in Lincolnshire heard.
The plaster set around her hands and neither staff nor paramedics could get it off during the lesson at Giles School, in Boston.
The court was told that temperatures up to 60C can be generated in large quantities of plaster and the girl, who was not named in court, suffered terrible burns.
After a series of 12 operations, she was left with no fingers on one hand and just two on the other.
The school's governing body admitted breaching health and safety regulations and also failing to report the incident to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The court was told the HSE was never informed by the school about what had happened and only found out six weeks after the accident from the girl's plastic surgeon.
The school was fined a total of 16,500 pounds and ordered to pay 2,500 pounds in legal costs, the Press Association reported.
The girl's lawyer Stephen Hill said outside court the injuries his client, now 18, had suffered were "truly horrific" and she also had severe scars all over her body where the plastic surgeons had taken skin for grafts.
However, Hill said she was now doing "remarkably well."
"She is a very determined, self sufficient character but she is now only left with one forefinger and an index finger," he said.
"Teachers have a responsibility to ensure when children are using chemicals they are used safely."

12 October, 2009

Romantic Prints - AGNSW




Printmaking in the Age of Romanticism
6 August - 25 October 2009
Project gallery, Ground Level

Romanticism emerged in the closing years of the 18th century as a powerful force in the development of European music, literature and painting. It also found strong expression in the graphic arts. Major Romantic artists, such as Blake and Turner in England and Géricault and Delacroix in France, all turned to printmaking for its unique possibilities to produce aesthetic effects unrealizable in other media. This exhibition, featuring over 100 prints, also includes the works of many less well known artists such as Gustave Doré, Rodolphe Bresdin and Charles Meryon, who rejected painting in pursuit of strange and original visions in the field of printmaking.