ArtExpress Turns 30 – That’s MUCH Older Than its Artists

Tags

Archibald Prize, Art, Art Express, Art Gallery NSW, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australian art, creativity, Exhibition, Higher School Certificate, New South Wales, Painting, Sulman, Sydney, Visual Art, Wynne Prize

‘Love the Home You’re In’ by Lochlan Howard
St Francis Xavier’s College
(Image from here)

Arguably, the Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in the Australian art scene. Along with the Wynne (best landscape painting of Australian scenery, or figure sculpture), and Sulman (best subject painting, genre painting or mural project in oil, acrylic, watercolour or mixed media) Prizes, the Art Gallery NSW is currently exhibiting the entrants for 2013. It’s almost un-Australian not to go.

Well, even though I am not an Australian, I tootled along to see the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman. I go every year. All good. But, what I was really looking forward to was ArtExpress…

Regular readers may recall my post from last year on ArtExpress 2012 (here). ArtExpress is an annual exhibition featuring a selection of outstanding student artworks developed for the art making component of our Higher School Certificate examination in Visual Arts in New South Wales. It includes a broad range of approaches and expressive forms, including ceramics, collection of works, documented forms, drawing, graphic design, painting, photomedia, printmaking, sculpture, textiles and fibre, and time-based forms. And it is
A M A Z I N G. What these students achieve is mind-blowing, and this year was no exception (although I think 2012 just nudged ahead for me).

‘Double Think’ by Aoife Coleman-Clarke
Rose Bay Secondary College
(Image from here)

‘Babel’ by Rachel Cronin
Loreto Kirribilli
(Image from here)

‘Sweet Simplicity’ by Milli Wheeler
Oak Flats High School
(Image from here)

‘Conscience Vote’ by India Gates
Wenona School
(Image from here)

‘After Leonardo’ by Alexis O’Connor
Wenona School (a cracking year for Wenona School!)
(Image from here)

2013 marks the 30th anniversary of ArtExpress at the Art Gallery of NSW. If you haven’t yet made it to the exhibition, you have a few more days to do so. If you’re not in NSW, you can check out the works here.

Gillie and Marc Like to Challenge and Amuse…

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animals, Archibald Prize, Art, Australia Zoo, Dogs, Florence Biennale, Gillie and Marc, Marc, Painting, Sculpture, Sculpture by the Sea, Steve Irwin, Sydney, The Crocodile Hunter

‘It Takes Two’ by Gillie and Marc
Bronze
Acquired by Woollahra Council for permanent display in Paddington, Sydney.
This sculpture is installed on the corner of Glenmore Road and Cascade Street 
(Image from Gillie and Marc)

It feels like the world has sort of been conspiring to get me to investigate Gillie and Marc’s sculptures since I posted about the 2012 Sculpture by the Sea exhibition and their entry for this year held pole position. Just in case you need a nudge to remember it, here it is…

‘The Travellers Have Arrived’ by Gillie and Marc
Bronze Paint, fibreglass
Featuring in this years 2012 Sculptures By the Sea, Bondi
(Image by TSL)

So, I saw the Travellers and posted its image, then received lots of comments about the work AND then, LM and I went to Paddington for lunch over the weekend and drove past ‘It Takes Two’ (top). I went for a wee ferret and this is what I learned about the artists…

As husband and wife, Gillie and Marc Schattner collaborate to create art as one, applying the now iconic imagery of the dog/human hybrid to celebrate the powerful spiritual relationship that exists between man and animal. So far so god, me-thinks!

Gillie and Marc reference their own love story in their works, perpetuating a pursuit of happiness and encouraging us to challenge the status quo and the perceived safety of societal convention. They say their love is the cornerstone of what they are and of what they create.

They apparently met in Hong Kong. According to their bio, “She was a nurse from England and he, a boy from the ‘burbs’ of Melbourne. They wanted only to find a soul-mate with which to share their passions for art, travel and adventure, seven days later they were married at the foothills of Mount Everest.  They not only share an unsurpassed dedication to their art but also love for their two children, whom Gillie describes as their ‘best friends’ – along with their mutt, Moby, of course.” Have to admit, just the weeniest bit schmaltzy for this cynical Kiwi, but I do kinda’ like their kooky animal hybrids… (LM always accuses me of anthropomorphising Bella.)

Initially, Gillie and Marc painted and designed, but they have now become very interested in sculpture. They produce sculptures in a variety of mediums including bronze, brass, steel, wood, fibreglass and polyresin.

In 2006 they were Archibald Prize finalists. Their ‘He’ll never be famous but he doesn’t give a damn, he’s a musician’ painting (below), earned them first prize at the 2009 Chianciano Biennale, set in Tuscany. This work features a Dalmatian dog/man hybrid, playing guitar.

‘He’ll never be famous but he doesn’t give a damn, he’s a musician’
By Gillie and Marc
Acrylic on Canvas
Winner of 2009 Biennale di Chianciano, Tuscany, Italy
(Image from Gillie and Marc)

Their life-like fibreglass sculptural piece, Bondi Coffee Dog, appeared in the Florence Biennale in the same year. Stretching controversy further is their work, If Jesus was alive today he would be a skateboarder, which featured in the inaugural 2009 Blake Prize Director’s Cut, an online exhibition.

And, if that’s not enough, Gillie and Marc have been commissioned by a number of zoos in Australia and New Zealand to create sculptural works. Their latest can be seen below…

Crikey means gee whiz, wow! (Steve Irwin)

‘Run For Your Life’ by Gillie and Marc
Bronze
For permanent installation at Australia Zoo, Queensland. This massive bronze crocodile was created in memory of Steve Irwin to be unveiled on Steve Irwin Day, November 15, 2012 – a day for remembering the Crocodile Hunter
(Image from Gillie and Marc)

If you’d like to see more of Gillie and Marc’s work, check out their website here.