PLANt/LIFE (2022)

Plants are essential to life.
We respond to plants with all our senses.
We use them to symbolise our emotions, to mark significant occasions, and even as signifiers of place, strength and age.
We bring plants inside, transforming our domestic spaces into natural oases.
While plants are specific to particular geographic locations, they are also universal.

A profusion of flowers, plants and trees, greenery and brilliant colour, PLANT/LIFE brings together a group of eleven contemporary artists, including Arts Project studio artists, who are inspired by the beauty and diversity of the natural world. From over-scaled sunflowers to soft-sculpture succulents, along with drawings, paintings and ceramics, this exhibition presents a celebration of the plant life that surrounds us.

“In the context of our fast-paced and increasingly screen-based lives, the natural world provides something of an antidote, offering an environment that simultaneously provides calm and solace, as well as stimulating our senses”, says curator Kirsty Grant.

Included APA artists are Anthony Romagnano, Brigid Hanrahan, Chris O’Brien, Georgia Szmerling, Lygin Ang, Philip Truett, Robert Brown and Rosie O’Brien who are joined by Emily Ferretti, Yvonne Kendall and Christopher Langton.

CIRCLEWORKS (2022)

Circleworks uses the formal aesthetics of the hand-drawn or handmade circle as a departure point to explore artistic processes, perspectives, experiences and stories. The exhibition and publication features artworks by Arts Project Australia artists Fulli Andrinopoulos and Julian Martin, alongside works by Mimili-based artist Linda Puna and Louise Bourgeois. Each artist has produced their artworks within specific contexts–culturally, geographically and materially–yet they connect through the formal repetition of their circle-like motifs. This visual connection allows for the chance to closely consider the particularity of each artist’s visual sensibility. Circleworks aims to celebrate these relations while acknowledging cultural differences.

SINCERELY YOURS ZINE (2022)

Curated by Sophia Cai, Sincerely Yours was a group exhibition across two neighbouring galleries at Collingwood Yards: Arts Project Australia and West Space. The exhibition brought together a wide range of contemporary artists, including Arts Project studio artists, exploring fandom theory and the different ways artists and audiences engage with objects or subjects that inspire fannish love and devotion.

Sincerely Yours brought together artists whose work speaks to the deep, earth-shattering passion for popular culture. We all have desires that keep us grounded, even when the world around us feels like it’s falling apart. Exhibiting artists include Alanna Dodd, Amy Meng, Ari Tampubolon, Carly Snoswell, Daniel Pace, Danny Lyons, Dylan Goh, Jenny Ngo, Mel Dixon, Miles Howard-Wilks, Nick Capaldo, and Raquel Caballero. 

To coincide with the exhibition, Sophia commissioned four fan fiction texts by writers Natasha Hertanto, Jinghua Qian, Diego Ramirez and Sunanda Sachatrakul. These fictions, along with a curatorial essay by Sophia, made up a limited edition zine (produced in a print run of 200) featuring a risograph cover printed by Helio Press. A digital version of the zine can be downloaded here.

Sophia Cai is a curator and arts writer based in Naarm/Melbourne. She currently teaches as a sessional lecturer in Critical and Theoretical Studies at the Victorian College of Arts, University of Melbourne, while also maintaining an independent curating and writing practice. Sophia is particularly interested in Asian art histories, the intersections between contemporary art and craft, and feminist curatorial methodologies and community-building as forms of political resistance.

ART ET AL. BROADSHEET  (ISSUE 1 DECEMBER 2021)

Art et al. is an inclusive, curated international art platform that commissions and presents collaborations between artists from supported studios, artist peers and arts professionals. Art et al. elevates diverse voices and creative practices.

In 2020, founding partners, Arts Project Australia, Slominski Projects, and Jennifer Lauren Gallery, identified a need for more inclusive programming and access in the contemporary arts for neurodivergent, intellectually, and learning disabled artists to be seen, heard, and participate. As a result, they formed Art et al. – an international platform that connects artists from supported studios with international peers, arts professionals, and audiences. Art et al.’s global collaborations and partnerships result in commissioned critical writing, exhibitions, and original multi-media content. 

At the end of 2021, Art et al. published their first broadsheet which can be downloaded here.

ANTIDOTE (2021)

Art et al.’s Curating Collections commissions artists working from supported studios to curate projects with artworks from an established international collection.

Art et al.’s first iteration was a collaboration between artist Michael Camakaris and the Cranford Collection. Michael Camakaris is a multi-disciplinary artist from Arts Project Australia. Cranford Collection is one of Europe’s most significant private collections of contemporary art. Featuring over 500 works, it was founded by Freddy and Muriel Salem in 1999 and their curator in Anne Pontgnie. Through zoom discussions and digital access to the Cranford Collection, Camakaris selected 20 works by artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Ugo Rondninone and Kai Althoff. Titled Antidote, he also wrote a text exploring the themes of his selection and connecting it to his experience of Covid-19. Art et al. produced an online exhibition, catalogue, and a recorded curatorial discussion between Camakaris and Anne Pontgnie as part of Curating Collections.

Download the Antidote catalogue here.

REACHING POTENTIAL (2021 REPORT)

Commissioned by the Limb Family Foundation.

Young people should all have the chance to pursue lives of their choosing – lives that are rich with opportunities to learn, work, connect with others and engage in the community. This should not be different for young people with intellectual disabilities. Yet these young people face barriers to accessing the support, services and experiences they deserve, driving inequities in health, education, social and economic participation outcomes. Commissioned by the Limb Family Foundation, Reaching Potential: Experiences of young people with significant intellectual disability presents various life journeys of young people from across Australia. It identifies system gaps that are driving challenging experiences and opens a conversation about what is required to improve outcomes for them.

Download the full or easy read versions of the Reaching Potential Report here.

Where the art is (2021)

This catalogue documents the first exhibition presented at APA’s gallery at Collingwood Yards as well the first public showing of art following the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020.  Reflecting on the joy of opening after these challenges, the inaugural exhibition Where the Art Is ruminates on the year that was, while firmly looking forward to a new future. Where the Art Is catalogue showcases the exhibition’s collection of thought-provoking work by ten artists: nostalgic ceramic sculptures by Alan Constable and Lisa Reid, a video installation by Chris O’Brien, COVID-19 lockdown drawings and paintings by Cathy Staughton, Adrian Lazzaro, and Samantha Ashdown, text-based work by Boris Cipusev and Mark Smith, archway paintings by Warren O’Brien, and iconic pastel drawings by Julian Martin. The catalogue also features exhibition essay by Dr Marion Piper Words Make Worlds. 

Download the Where the Art Is catalogue here (this link will redirect to a PDF).

A sense of place (2003)

A Sense of Place was produced in 2003 to commemorate the move into Arts Project Australia’s new building at 24 High Street, Northcote. Including a reflective essay and a timeline of achievements, the substantial catalogue presents comprehensive and rare documentation of works by artists of this period, many of whom are still practising in the studio, thus offering insight into the early development of their oeuvre some 17 years ago.

Artists featured include Alan Constable, Alvaro Alverez, Anne Lynch, Chris Mason, Dorothy Berry, Johanna Hilgendor, John Northe,  Julian Martin, Leo Cussen, Lisa Reid, Lynette Gibbs, Phoebe McBrien, Timothy Williams, Valerio Ciccone, Andy Suzuki, Barbara Veheary, Brigid Hanrahan, Cathy Staughton, Chris O’Brien, Cuong Trong Chi, David Waterhouse, Fiona Longhurst, Fulli Andrinopoulos, Harold (Jimmy) Fuller, Ivan Turnham, John Bates, Kelvin Heffernan, Li Tan, Martin Forster, Mary Warman, Miles Howard Wilks, Paul Hodges, Perri Mitronatsios, Robyn Kirkpatrick, Shirley Warke, Simone Dragomine, Steven Ajzenberg, Steven Perrette, Steven Worrell and Wayne Marnell. 

Readers are advised that this catalogue may contain language used at the time which is now regarded as offensive. Such language has been removed from the audio recording below. 

Enjoy the ebook above or download a copy of A Sense of Place (this link will redirect to a PDF). Please note this copy will be updated at a later date.

Listen to The Significance of Space, The Meaning of Place by Dr Cheryl Daye and Kitty Ginter (read by Arts Project Australia communications coordinator Tahney Fosdike).

Valerio Ciccone: Peripheral observer (2012)

This catalogue coincides with the major survey exhibition of Valerio Ciccone decades-long career, Peripheral Observer (2011). Valerio Ciccone (b 1970, Melbourne) is a figurative artist working primarily with a variety of mediums on paper. He employs his idiosyncratic and fluid style to depict a range of subject matter and has worked in the Arts Project studio since 1984.Sponsored by Leonard Joel Auctioneers, the catalogue features Ciccone’s artwork as well as essays on his oeuvre and other musings by John Albrecht, Jonah Jones, Glenn Barkley and Cheryl Daye.

Enjoy the ebook above or download a copy of the book (this link will redirect to a PDF).

Listen to Peripheral Observer catalogue essay ‘This is me – some thoughts on the art of Valerio Ciccone’ by curator Glenn Barkley pp. 8-10 (read by Arts Project Australia communications coordinator Tahney Fosdike). 

Video Doctor (2013)

Curated by Geoff Newton of Neon Parc, Video Doctor worked toward producing, “an acute sense of the virtual self – a projection of emotion, a scene from a dream.” The exhibition opened at Arts Project Australia in 2013 to showcase 13 Arts Project and international artists from Electronic Arts Intermix, New York.  The catalogue features documentation of works included in the exhibition as well as a thought-provoking essay by Geoff Newton.

Video Doctor featured Cory Arcangel Nicholas Capaldo, Valerio Ciccone, Boris Cipusev, Leo Cussen, Wendy Dawson, Paul Hodges, Adrian Lazzaro, Jodie Noble, Steven Perrette, Daniel Pace, Paper Rad, Rebecca Scibilia, Catherine Staughton and Timothy Williams.

Enjoy the ebook above or download a Video Doctor (this link will redirect to a PDF).

So Far… eight artists / eight stories (2014)

IT TAKES MORE THAN 140 CHARACTERS TO WRITE A NOVEL (2015)

It takes more than 140 characters to write a novel was a 2015 exhibition curated by Dr Vincent Alessi, Senior Lecturer of Creative Arts at La Trobe University exploring the use of digital technologies and the photographic image, paintings, drawings and ceramic objects. The exhibition featured works by both artists who attend the Arts Project studio, and external artists, including Alvaro Alvarez, Justin Andrews, Peter Ben, Erica Berechree, Alan Constable, Chris O’Brien, Simon Finn, and Darren Wardle.

Enjoy the e-book above or download a PDF copy.  

Listen to the exhibition essay by curator Dr Vincent Alessi (read by by Arts Project Australia communications coordinator Tahney Fosdike). 

AUTO BODY WORKS (2018)

Auto Body Works (2018) brought together artists from Arts Project Australia and elsewhere whose work to consider human beings in their object-ness in many different ways: figuration, masking, cloth, anthropomorphism, automation, internal systems, limbs, organic forms and more.

The exhibition explored bodies and skin as a boundary between inside and outside and the accompanying catalogue featured an essay by curator Patrice Sharkey, Director of West Space Sharkey and imagery of included works by Fiona Abicare, Tully Arnot, Kara Baldwin, Georgina Cue, Emily Dober, Saskia Doherty, Lewis Fidock and Joshua Petherick, Bronwyn Hack, Miles Howard-Wilks, Spencer Lai, Chris Mason, Tim Noble, Chris O’Brien, Lillian Palser Barto, Steven Perrette, Jason Phu, Lisa Reid, Ander Rennick and Terry Williams.

Enjoy the e-book above or download a PDF copy.  

FEM-aFFINITY (2019)

Curated by contemporary artist and academic Dr Catherine Bell, FEM-aFFINITY brings together female artists from Arts Project and wider Victoria whose work share an affinity of subject and process. By situating female Arts Project studio artists alongside other female contemporary artists, the exhibition seeks to uncover shared perspectives and variations on female identity. The exhibition opened at Arts Project Australia in July 2019 and is set to tour Australia over the next two years. The catalogue includes images of artworks as well as words by Ellen Wignell, Sue Roff, Sim Luttin, Catherine Bell and Jacqueline Millner. Supported by NETS Victoria, The Australia Council for the Arts, and The Limb Family Foundation.

Enjoy the ebook above or download a PDF copy.  

Listen to FEM-aFFINITY catalogue essay If Collaboration is the Method, Activism is the Intention by curator Dr Catherine Bell pp. 19-24 (read by by Arts Project Australia communications coordinator Tahney Fosdike).