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Edwina Preston is a Melbourne-based writer and musician. Preston is the author of a biography of Australian artist Howard Arkley, Not Just a Suburban Boy (2002), the novel The Inheritance of Ivorie Hammer (2012), and the novel Bad Art Mother (2022). Her writing and reviews have appeared in The Age, The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, Heat, Island, Griffith Review and The Conversation. Read the transcript for this interview here.
Architect Mark O'Dwyer, co-director of H2O Architects has established a reputation for bringing considerably more to even the most utilitarian building. H20's recent Genebank for grain storage, located in Horsham, is just one example. The colours of the surrounding landscape is beautifully integrated into the design. As memorable is H20's library, inspired by artist Howard Arkley. O'Dwyer looks outside the bounds of architecture and continually seeks inspiration in everything from fine art, theatre and fashion.
Popism, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1982 Lecture by Judy Annear The exhibition POPISM was held at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1982. At 24 years old, recent honours graduate and founder and editor of Art & Text magazine, Paul Taylor was invited to curate an exhibition of contemporary Australian art. The NGV was usually described as ‘the bunker’ with apparently little connection to the local art scene or experimental practice. POPISM came like a bolt from the blue, hard on the heels of the first five issues of Art &Text. This lecture will discuss the exhibition and the artists (Howard Arkley, David Chesworth, Ian Cox, Juan Davila, Richard Dunn, Paul Fletcher, Maria Kozic, Robert Rooney, Jane Stevenson, The Society for Other Photography, Imants Tillers, Peter Tyndall, Jenny Watson, and Tsk Tsk Tsk), provide some background and context to the ideas and practices, and the evolution of Taylor’s thinking and working. I will trace this through Taylor’s published writings, the various reactions to his activities, and the recollections and interpretations of his peers – then and now. Further information: acca.melbourne/series/defining-moments- popism/ Copyright ACCA and Judy Annear Produced by Gatherer Media Thank you to our partners: Presenting Partner Abercrombie & Kent; Research Partner Centre for Visual Art (CoVA); Event Partners Melbourne Gin Company, Capi and City of Melbourne; Media Partners Art Guide Australia, The Saturday Paper, 3RRR FM Image: POPISM 1982, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The ‘Australian Dream’ of a freestanding house on a quarter-acre block was popularised in the 1950s and iconised by Howard Arkley in Suburban Home (1993). However, for many people, that dream is no longer affordable, sustainable nor capable of supporting contemporary households. This panel looks at alternative models of housing that either provide, or have potential to provide, meaningful additions to a necessarily diversifying residential landscape. Having consideration for affordability, inclusion, location, safety, active ageing, diversity and identity, this discussion asks “What does housing mean to you, how has it shaped your sense of identity and belonging, and where do we go from here?” Developed in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Architects, Australian Institute of Landscape Architects and the Planning Institute of Australia.
Some paintings by contemporary Australian artists are worth millions of dollars. But what if what you see isn't always what you get? There are claims the art market is plagued with questionable works by Brett Whiteley, Howard Arkley, Charles Blackman and more. Hagar Cohen exposes question marks over three expensive artworks... and traces their origin back to one group of high-profile dealers in Melbourne's art market.
Architect Mark O'Dwyer, co-director of H2O Architects has established a reputation for bringing considerably more to even the most utilitarian building. H20's recent Genebank for grain storage, located in Horsham, is just one example. The colours of the surrounding landscape is beautifully integrated into the design. As memorable is H20's library, inspired by artist Howard Arkley.O'Dwyer looks outside the bounds of architecture and continually seeks inspiration in everything from fine art, theatre and fashion.
John Gregory and Ray Edgar discuss Arkley’s work The Proton Neutron, a highly patterned abstract work that fuses high art sources and the everyday in a complex, original way.
Curator Jason Smith talks with educator Susie May about the role of a curator at the NGV.
Curator Jason Smith offers an overview of the Howard Arkley exhibition and the artist’s work.
Conservator Candida Baskcomb discusses her role with Educator Jane Strickland, focusing on her treatment of a large-scale work on paper by Howard Arkley entitled Primitive (1981).
Artist Kathy Temin talks with Curator Jason Smith about Arkley's use of patterning and how the viewer of Arkley's works can have individual relationships to the content.
Artist Kathy Temin talks to Curator Jason Smith about exhibiting with Howard Arkley in England
Artist Kathy Temin talks to Curator Jason Smith about meeting Arkley for the first time and her response to Arkley's work at this time.
Andrew McDonald talks to Curator Jason Smith about stencil artists and Arkley's painting Tattooed head.
Andrew McDonald talks to Curator Jason Smith about discovering Arkley's work as a youth and his influence on street artists in Melbourne.
Curator Jason Smith shares with Educator Susie May some thoughts he would like exhibition visitors to take away with them and muses on the most satisfying aspects of being a curator.
Curator Jason Smith talks with Educator Susie May about how his role changes once the exhibition opens to the public, and why he believes Howard Arkley’s work is uniquely Australian.
Curator Jason Smith talks with Educator Susie May about the design of the Howard Arkley exhibition and how each component was developed.
Curator Jason Smith talks with Educator Susie May about Howard Arkley’s work Primitive (1981), explaining why it is a pivotal work in the development of his style and technique.
Curator Jason Smith talks with Educator Susie May about how the Howard Arkley exhibition originated and how it was planned, organised and constructed.
Curator Jason Smith and artist Kathy Temin deconstruct Arkley’s work Deluxe Setting, examining the formal aspects of the work and feelings it evokes in the viewer.
John Gregory talks about Arkley’s interest in pattern making and his manipulation of space and depth to create playful optical illusions.
Ray Edgar and Ashley Crawford sing the praises of this portrait which conjures so many sides of the singer Nick Cave.
Ray Edgar and Ashley Crawford wonder whether Arkley's painting Shadow Factories, inspired by a Peter Carey story, is a celebration or condemnation of its subject.
John Gregory, Ray Edgar and Chris McAuliffe discuss Arkley’s interest in abstraction and the everyday as well as his experimentation with the air brush as seen in the work Inventory.
Ashley Crawford suggests that the anarchy in Primitive is what gives the work its life and energy but the control in Fabricated Rooms proves Arkley has become a master artist.
Andy McDonald sheds some light on Arkley’s work Superb and Solid.
When most people think of Arkley’s suburbs, this painting is it. Ray Edgar and John Gregory discuss Suburban Exterior, and delve into the work’s darker undercurrents.
Chris McAuliffe uses Frank Stella’s work as a starting point to discuss The Cacti Succulents which challenges expectations about the boundary between cool abstraction and lurid decoration.
Ray Edgar and John Gregory regard Suburban Interior as an example of the beginnings of Arkley’s suburban theme which he was so famous for in later years.
Ray Edgar and Chris McAuliffe ponder the source of inspiration for Arkley’s work Suicide, an image that can be read in several ways.
Arkley is well known for his abstract works but he was also interested in figurative imagery. John Gregory and Ray Edgar explore this aspect of his work in Tattooed head.
Realising he had struck upon creative gold with Primitive, Arkley set about making it again, says Ray Edgar, this time realising the work in gold as well as a companion piece in silver.
Ashley Crawford and Ray Edgar consider Arkley’s work Primitive which demonstrates Arkley’s extraordinary skill as a draftsman as well as his penchant for masking tape.
Ray Edgar and Chris McAuliffe shed some light on Arkley’s Musak Mural, a series of repetitive, brightly coloured paintings incorporating disco dots, strange chairs and linoleum.
The suburbs are Arkley’s master stroke. Ray Edgar and Chris McAuliffe consider Indoors/Outdoors where patterns normally associated with suburban interiors get an airing outside.