Regarding Retro by Blacktown Arts

Danny Abood Thierry Auriac Slim Barrie Elaine Campaner Clinton Cross Elvis Di Fazio Peter Fay Elizabeth Gower Ed Koumans Claudine Marzik Martin Mischkulnig Milena Quansah Luke Roberts Joan Ross Mona Ryder Glen Skien Trevor Spohr Christine Turner

Blacktown Arts Centre

76 Flushcombe Road Blacktown NSW 2148 Telephone: 02 9839 6558 Website: www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au Blacktown Arts Centre Coordinator: John Cheeseman Audience and Marketing Officer: Carmel Aiello Assistant Curator for Regarding Retro : Sophia Kouyoumdjian

Exhibition and Catalogue Curator: Ingrid Hoffmann Production editor: Claire Gerson Design: contempo_rare Exhibition Tour Manager: Museum and Gallery Services Queensland Text Copyright: BAC and Authors Images: Copyright of the artists Cover image: Clinton Cross Moving right along Alicia, all I want to do is go to Jenny Craig 2004 assemblage

Acknowledgements and thanks

Regarding Retro: Reanimations of the Preloved was initially supported by a seeding grant from the [then] Regional Galleries Association of Queensland and subsequently by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government Program supporting touring exhibitions by providing funding assistance for the development and touring of cultural material across Australia. Ingrid Hoffmann extends sincere thanks to Blacktown City Council, Blacktown Arts Centre staff, Harvey Bay Regional Gallery staff, Adnan Begic, Fiona Marshall and Museum and Galleries Services Queensland. To all the participating artists, Ingrid Hoffmann offers her gratitude and special regard, and to an earlier mentor, Alice-Anne Boylan, her enduring esteem.

Contents Foreword by John Cheeseman

Regarding Retro by Ingrid Hoffmann

Opportunity Costs... by Claire Gerson

Danny Abood

Thierry Auriac

Slim Barrie

Elaine Campaner

Clinton Cross

Elvis Di Fazio

Peter Fay

Elizabeth Gower

Ed Koumans

Claudine Marzik

Martin Mischkulnig

Milena Quansah

Luke Roberts

Joan Ross

Mona Ryder

Glen Skien

Trevor Spohr

Christine Turner

List of Works

Martin Mischkulnig Ken Neale and his tapa cloth collection 2004, c-type print, 485 x 625 cm

Foreword

Just as the social and economic profile of Western Sydney has developed and changed over the past decade, so too has its cultural face. The opening of Blacktown Arts Centre in October 2002 was symbolic of the growing confidence of the region – the development of the Centre was the result of the direct actions of the community in lobbying for appropriate cultural facilities and services. Cultural forms are diverse in Blacktown City, and since its inception the Centre’s physical space has provided the base for the spectrum of dance, music, new media, youth culture, traditional practice and contemporary art that is generated in Western Sydney. Having made a mark in the local community during its young life, the time has arrived to journey out into the world with a representation of the energy and fresh viewpoint that Western Sydney can inspire. With the Regarding Retro exhibition, audiences further afield can gauge how the work of artists – specifically works made by those re-animators of the discarded and overlooked – chimes with wider aesthetic positions held in other regions of Australia. Blacktown Arts Centre is proud to launch Regarding Retro as its first touring exhibition. The work of curator Ingrid Hoffmann in tapping into the networks of creativity along Australia’s eastern seaboard has brought a new dimension of connectivity to the Centre. A federal government Visions of Australia grant has made the development of this exhibition possible, while the ongoing support of the NSW Ministry for the Arts and Blacktown City Council ensures our cultural activities keep growing.

John Cheeseman Coordinator Blacktown Arts Centre REGARDING RETRO

Regarding Retro

* We flatter ourselves that we discover the object and conceive it as waiting there meekly to be discovered. But perhaps the cleverer party here is not the one we think. What if it were the object which discovered us in all this? What if it were the object that invented us? JEAN BAUDRILLARD, The Perfect Crime In the unfolding chronicles of popular culture there is clearly a moment when the prefix, retro-, is pressed into service by the worlds of fashion and design to suit a trend. These environments have added to ‘retro’ the subtle implication that the act of looking backwards is a valid and smart thing to do, since the archive of styles of the twentieth century alone is rich enough for everything old to appear – if knowingly treated – new again. The exhibition Regarding Retro: Reanimations of the Preloved is a demonstration of how artists sympathetic to preserving the face value or the mystique attaching to discarded objects, enshrine these qualities even while making new works of art. Some of the exhibition pieces relate quite closely to the stylistic concerns of fashion and design, while the majority of artworks present effects of the past transformed as new aesthetic arrangements. Wit attends much of the work, and at first glance the supposition might be that in this exhibition, the realms of retro and kitsch conspire by ‘smiling at the naivety of other periods and classes’.1 However, the premise of Regarding Retro is decidedly less playful. The main text of this catalogue examines the second-hand economy and the re-invention of opportunity shops as serious contributors to Australia’s social services sector. Artists are economic survivors par excellence, having long relied upon op shops as providers of affordable creative fuel. So too, collectors source from op shops multitudes of bargain collectables of the mass-produced variety, or more rarely, singular hand-made curiosities. In major cities this ‘entitlement’ is no longer a given: Claire Gerson’s essay surveys the ethical terrain faced by charities when prices are driven up by government imperatives, or worse, ideologies.

Regarding Retro celebrates the inventiveness of makers and collectors who salvage discarded, depleted and overlooked objects for use as primary material. Queensland’s coastal sweep from the tropical north to the Wide Bay region provides a concentration of artists (Clinton Cross, Ed Koumans, Claudine Marzik, Glen Skien, Trevor Spohr, Christine Turner) whose resourcefulness in reanimating discards reflects a

subtle opposition to high culture, while Brisbane-based artists Thierry Auriac and Luke Roberts deploy their personal collections of plastic fruit and 1980s camp fetishes, in assemblage and video respectively. Sydney artists in Regarding Retro sit companionably alongside their Queensland neighbours, with Danny Abood, Elaine Campaner, Elvis Di Fazio, Joan Ross and Mona Ryder each infusing their chosen nostalgia with edginess, while the work of outsider artists Slim Barrie and Peter Fay, is positioned well clear of the mainstream. The inclusion of Melbourne-based Elizabeth Gower stands as a special tribute not only to her formative work celebrating ‘the flotsam and jetsam of ordinary, commercial images and objects’2 but also to Gower’s past curatorial work in foregrounding artists as collectors. The exhibition she curated in 2000 at Melbourne’s Linden gallery, The Retrieved Object, is a fine collection of contemporary art in itself and an important achievement in tracking artists who Gower says, reference op shops to produce ‘icons of the vernacular’.3 A show within a show, Retro’s portrait series The collectors illuminates through photographer Martin Mischkulnig’s eye, the intriguing idea that far from representing merely an accumulation of spoils, collecting is an almost philosophical project. Possessions become an extension of persona. Milena Quansah’s short film widens the lens to embrace a community context for the collecting passion, and invites each of us to ‘own’ the widely unacknowledged impulse: I’d rather be op shopping. I hold the highest regard for the eighteen artists whose work constitutes this exhibition. Regarding Retro honours their imaginations, along with the eleven distinctive individuals who collect with verve and dedication (three artists-as-collectors overlap both groups: Peter Fay, Danny Abood and Thierry Auriac). My hope is that audiences in urban centres and in regional zones are amused and provoked by Retro’s propositions. If beyond this, viewers are persuaded to reflect upon the complexities of a secondhand economy which is supported by a nation-wide movement of volunteers, and by consumers who necessarily redefine the cost of living, and how in all this artists and collectors sparkle as the bowerbirds of providence, then Regarding Retro: Reanimation of the Preloved has hit its mark. Ingrid Hoffmann Curator NOTES: 1 Bloom, Philippe, To Have and to Hold: An Intimate History of Collectors and Collecting, Overlook, New York, 2002, p. 161. 2 O’Halloran, David, Lost to be Found, Beyond the everyday: the art of Elizabeth Gower, Glen Eira Council exhibition catalogue, 2000, p. 25. 3 Gower, Elizabeth, The Retrieved Object, Linden arts centre & gallery exhibition catalogue, 2000, Introduction.

REGARDING RETRO

Opportunity Costs...

In Australia we have opportunity shops, in Britain charity shops and in the USA thrift stores.

In the nineteenth century, charity and thrift were almost invariably accompanied by diligence, honesty, sobriety and knowing your station in life, virtues extolled by captains of industry, churches and of course politicians. These principles distinguished between the deserving and the undeserving poor and determined who received charity. Opportunity is a very different kettle of fish, free of such restraints. Indeed opportunity and serendipity often hitch a ride together on the wings of the bowerbird of providence. But opportunity costs? That’s another matter. Goodbye to all that You’re out of touch if opportunity shops conjure up rummaging in a jumble of linen and curtains, tightly packed racks of discarded clothes and fossicking through boxes of household objects. While the treasure troves one op shopper 1 called a “giant dress up box” full of things that “once had another life somewhere else” still exist, they’re a threatened species. In 2001, the NSW government amended occupational health and safety (OH&S) laws to clearly spell out requirements for small businesses. The irresistible combination of legal and commercial forces led to a widespread makeover for op shops. Walk into your local Vinnies, Salvos, Anglicare or The Smith Family and you will be greeted by clean, orderly ‘retail environments’ that look new, do not smell and have clothes sorted into women’s, men’s and children’s, often by colour and size. When Anglicare’s shop opened in Wollongong in July 2001, the NSW regional manager said it was “designed to provide customers with a high quality shopping environment that drew on modern marketing and industry quality standards” 2 . But a fundamental aspect of op shops remains unaffected by a coat of paint and new carpet: all these ‘retail environments’ depend upon volunteers or unpaid staff. Lifeline Southcoast’s op shops provide 50–60% of funding for the counselling service. “Without the op shops we’d have to close down. You could say we’re flying on the shops’ back.” A typical Lifeline shop employs a manager, a mixture of volunteers, people on government-funded training schemes and people doing unpaid work as part of work for the dole or community service orders. The doctrine of mutual obligation, compelling people to undertake unpaid work, has helped lower the average age of op shop workers in all but Vinnies, where they are still likely to be older women. In interviews, charity spokespeople describe their organisations as becoming more business-like and competitive. They are fluent in managementspeak and say “market research showed”, and they are “trying to do it smarter” to ensure their “stores” are “marketed” to reach “a greater customer base”. Hence the Salvation Army’s 2003 makeover with

print advertisements showing a young, flirty woman wearing the best in op-shop clothes and brandishing the slogan “Be surprised”. The Salvation Army Family Stores changed its name to Salvos Stores in 2003 after focus groups told an advertising agency that although The Salvation Army was a well-known brand name, the ‘family’ in Family Stores did not resonate with young people, single people and ‘empty nesters’ 3. But what’s happened to make op shops so newsworthy and image/brand conscious? The answer lies in retro chic coinciding with charities needing to raise more funds because of significant changes to welfare and social services. From rags to riches: fashion statements and fashion victims What film stars wear tends to trickle down and become suburban fashion, so it’s not surprising the popular love affair with retro fashion began in Hollywood at the start of the noughties and has percolated down from Julia Roberts in vintage Valentino at the Oscars to every celebrity tier, including our Nic. The brand culture that had created an army of teen clones marching in step in the global mall was now under assault from a desire for something old that could be bought from op shops and displayed personal style and fashion smarts. Op shops may have the edge when it comes to keep-it-real glamour; they are now vintage-savvy, and employ experts to sort the wheat from the chaff and price it accordingly. Retro chic has transformed the second-hand economyand made op shopping mainstream. Wearing discarded clothes is no longer a necessity or an admission of dire poverty; instead it’s an expression of freedom and individuality. But has the new clientele pushed up prices to the detriment of people in need? Although clothing is put aside for clients in extreme need some charities reserve top line clothing for the rack because they know their customers are often from well-off, middle-class families. The average op shop customer is no longer from the poorest suburb; they go to Kmart, or if they can’t afford that, they’ll go to Vinnies. SVDP’s profits go directly to help the very poorest of society without distinguishing between deserving or undeserving poor; it also provides approx $4.5 million worth of donated goods free to needy families. Other charities give to families in need, but anecdotal evidence suggests some favour the ‘deserving’ poor. Environmental concerns are also influential: many people regard buying goods from an op shop as giving something back to society. These are affluent times, consumerism is rampant, people change their furniture, household goods and clothes regularly, and op shops end up with more stock. Welfare on the cheap? Although Australian charities have long provided services to those less fortunate, from the 1940s governments became the main provider of health, education and welfare. By the late 1970s, rising costs led to a policy change and governments began to divest responsibility for providing welfare back on to charities. Now governments contract with non-profit organisations to deliver a specified service. Volunteers are central to the Coalition Government’s ‘social coalition’ policy of contracting out social services. Indeed the policy assumes more than 1.5 million volunteers 4, whose social and economic contribution is incalculable, will REGARDING RETRO

carry out a substantial portion of the work of welfare organisations. Federal and state governments praise and encourage volunteering to strengthen community values, but also because without them they would incur far greater costs in many areas. Critics say community-funding arrangements exploit volunteers and that governments are reneging on their responsibilities and shifting the costs for services from the state to private individuals. When the average period out of work was six weeks, poverty and inequality were well catered for by charities. But they are now struggling to provide adequate services, as many of the poor are casual workers with little job security, low wages and no paid sick leave who make up 27% of the workforce. By directing funds to charities and non-government organisations (NGOs) that rely on volunteers, governments have found a cheap way to respond to rising demands for help. At the same time, charities have had to cut costs to win government contracts. Blurring the line between commercial enterprise and charitable good nature – should we “be surprised”? The original justification for contracting out services was charities and NGOs were able to deliver services in a more flexible, innovative, cost-effective and user-friendly way, less encumbered by bureaucracy. But many organisations discovered government contracts imposed a burden of providing demographic profiles and measuring performance indicators and outcomes. These reporting systems so dear to bureaucrats demanded expertise and skills that were beyond many volunteers and required professional staff and an increasingly corporate attitude. All this has replicated a bureaucracy within the very organisations once touted as more cost-effective. Meanwhile many community-based NGOs are strapped for cash and competing for a share of inadequate funding. There is a tension between retaining a community focus and becoming corporate. Corporate is about making a profit, and community organisations are about helping people. As organisations have expanded, corporate-style leadership has shaped them in the image of big business. They have to be careful that in fulfilling obligations, ticking boxes and complying with legislation they don’t lose the heart of what they’re doing or stop responding to people’s needs. A more regulated and demanding world Charities and NGOs have more government contracts, deliver more services, employ more people and are struggling to manage more volunteers than ever before. Volunteers have to be screened, culled, managed, supported and meet training and accreditation requirements, which all take time and money. Training volunteers in IT and computers, funding regulations and understanding new insurance needs and ensuring managers and boards know about new legislation is a major undertaking. As demands on volunteers have grown, charities have looked to a new breed to complement, or even supplant, the altruistic amateur. The ‘new’ volunteer may be a semi-professional, seeking to update skills, or sent by a charity’s ‘business partner’ as part of a personal development or PR regime. Charities also provide unpaid work for unemployed people who want to enhance their job prospects or have to fulfill mutual obligation requirements.

Many employers value volunteer experience because it develops the capacity to empathise with a variety of people, teaches the fundamentals of project management and encourages self-motivation as volunteers have to turn their hands to many different jobs: envelope-stuffing one day and organising a black tie fundraiser the next. While retired Australians remain the backbone of the volunteer workforce involvement from people under 30 has increased, especially for counseling services and youth outreach programs. Younger volunteers only work for months rather than years (which used to be the norm) and may not be particularly loyal or able to commit a lot of time, but balancing this is a broader interest in volunteering, often as part of career development. As one seasoned observer put it: “Voluntary effort was seen as a noble cause in and of itself. What has changed and had to change was that not only do we want people that are well-intentioned, and compassionate in nature, but we want people who are competent.” Shifting gear: Hunter Gatherer Some veterans of community organisations think Australia is pursuing a retro version of volunteerism and missing the chance to debate what sort of community spirit we want to promote. Hunter Gatherer, the first charity fashion label, shows what’s possible. It’s a remarkable venture by the Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL), which combines second-hand fashion, ethical business, corporate social responsibility and employment creation. It started in 1991 when clothes sorter Dot noticed dealers buying truckloads of clothes that the people at the BSL warehouse thought were too old-fashioned and wouldn’t sell. Dot could see dollar signs for the Brotherhood and Hunter Gatherer was born. Her fine eye for picking gems from the hundreds of tonnes of donations came in handy as she began to stockpile enough to open a revolutionary vintage clothing shop. The shops opened in 1997, and once they were commercially sustainable BSL offered paid jobs to the volunteers from fashion and marketing at RMIT who were there from the start. HG now employs 11 people and offers traineeships in design. The two Hunter Gatherer shops on Melbourne’s Brunswick and Acland Streets, sell the choicest vintage clothes and a range of new clothing under the Hunter Gatherer label. The vintage stock comes from the top 5-6% of the 4,000,000 kilograms of clothing left in BSL’s 750 bins each year. In response to an increasing demand for a dwindling number of vintage clothes, BSL now manufactures affordable clothing inspired by elements of vintage clothing and Melbourne street culture, as well as uniforms and t-shirts for government agencies and other organisations. All new garments are made in Australia under employment conditions that support the labour rights of all workers (including homeworkers, printers and embroiderers) and are accredited with the “No SweatShop Label”. Claire Gerson NOTES Vanessa, an op shopper so dedicated she created a zine called Vinnies! Illawarra Mercury 19/7/2001 3 Illawarra Mercury 18/2/2003 4 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2002), Australian Social Trends, ABS Canberra 1 2

REGARDING RETRO

* 11

50s 60s 70s 12

* 13

REG ING REGARDING RETRO

* 13

ARD RETRO

REGARDING RETRO

ART ists

Martin Mischkulnig Danny Abood in his Eastwood garden 2004 c-type print, 485 x 625 cm

Abood

Danny

The life and times of Danny Abood make a big story. A quiet craft such as decoupage, however, seems a world away from Sydney’s Darlinghurst of the early 1970s, when his alter ego, Sylvia of Sylvia and the Synthetics, performed in drag as a forerunner of a newly outed era. The flamboyance attending Abood’s performance career travelled with him to New York where he lived for ten years from 1978. A photographic model there, Abood also collaborated with performers who broke away experimentally from the Actors’ Theatre. The thrift shops of New York supplied abundant wigs, hats and tat ― ingredients of the glamour styled by Abood for performers such as Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes, among many others. Collecting comes naturally to Abood and the aesthetics of modernism in textiles, furnishings, books and vintage clothes surround him. While travelling during the 1980s, the problem of storing his collections remained unresolved, although by making and selling clothes, bags and jewellery, much material could be transformed and divested. Decoupage has absorbed Abood since 1991. It came about as an offshoot of collecting; being unable to keep all his ‘fabulous finds’, he moved into imagery from old magazines. Cutting, gluing, varnishing: the primness of 19th century decoupage is not what Abood’s work delivers. Rather, his methodical practice veers into the realms of camp erotica. Decoupage, says Abood, suits his obsessional nature. IH REGARDING RETRO

* 15

It is a shame and certainly an irony for a nation otherwise so focussed on sport, body image and physical fitness.

REGARDING RETRO

* 17

Are we aiming to take the lead over the USA for the title of ‘Fattest Nation’ on earth? Or does it simply augur the continuing decadence of Western society?

Bon appétit 2005 assemblage (plastic), 140 x 120 x 12 cm

Thierry Auriac

Bon appétit addresses the problem of obesity within Australian society. Coming from Europe via Asia in 1976 it was one of the first things I noticed on my arrival in this country. Since then the situation has accelerated at an alarming rate. Whatever the reasons: fast food, junk food, over consumption of healthy food or simply gluttony, it is not a pretty sight.

Martin Mischkulnig Thierry Auriac in his Brisbane studio 2004 c-type print, 485 x 625 cm

Slim Barrie Slim Barrie, an artist in his sixties, was born and lived in the Riverina until 1997 when he moved to Lakes Entrance in Victoria. Slim and his mother Neta were a wellknown duo on the Riverina Country and Western circuit, writing and recording their own songs. In 2000 the son of artist and educator Nigel Lendon spotted a jewel-and-trinket encrusted cardboard boat in an op shop at Lakes Entrance. Nigel alerted Peter Fay, an artist and collector with a keen eye for outsider art. Championing Slim’s work transformed Peter into a distinctive independent curator. Fay’s passionate proposition is that social context can work against serious reception of the work and avant-garde artists may well find inspiration from outsiders. Over the next three years, Fay curated several solo shows in Sydney, Canberra and Wellington, N.Z. Slim was both a feature artist and opening performer for the National Gallery of Australia exhibition Home Sweet Home: Works from the Peter Fay Collection (October 2003–January 2004 and then travelling).

Many of the works in these exhibitions have autobiographical references, depicting the musicians and band members from his singing career and, most poignantly, commemorating his mother’s life. Slim’s early boats, a response to the excitement of moving from the inland to the coast and seeing the sea for the first time, were made to float, but became ‘masterworks’ for exhibition. These fantastically painted boats are then decorated with figures, trinkets and memorabilia. While Slim has always worked in a range of media (including pokerwork and carved ostrich eggs) and themes (such as his observations on birds and bush), his free-standing piled-up cardboard assemblages are totemic, a response to the material. Assemblage remains the consistent feature of all his works whether decorative or minimal, figurative or non-figurative. These days Slim calls each work a masterpiece. Through these works Slim tells the story of his creativity and transforms the forms and structures of objects and paintings into his own autobiography. Of his own thoughts on Barrie, Fay says ‘What I saw in Slim was a man whose life contains one thing and that’s art. There’s nothing else.’

Jo Holder with thanks to Peter Fay and Nigel Lendon

Reprinted with the kind permission of Jo Holder, from the SLIM BARRIE: EVERY WORK A MASTERPIECE EXHIBITION, 4 –13 December 2003, The Cross Art Projects, a space for independent art & curatorial studies.

Masterpiece (ballerina girls) 2001 assemblage of found objects, 66 x 45 x 12 cm Collection of Peter Fay Photograph: Brenton McGeachie

REGARDING RETRO

* 19

Elaine Campaner Mice and Fine China These six images are part of a larger series of work made with mice, toys and fine china. In this series I am interested in the implied narrative that occurs when found objects are placed together. I am interested in how ‘retro’ objects can invoke a strange regression based on childhood associations, and why this is a form of aesthetic sensation – often the involuntary aesthetic pleasure of jouissance.1

What does it mean to reuse existing objects? What does it mean to take objects already imbued with personal and cultural signifiers? The objects become like words in a poem, flickering with meaning, connotation, strange nuance; indication. The subjective response is both personal and of the wider culture. With whom do we identify? Are we eating or being eaten? Are we small clandestine interlopers into an adult world or engaged in desperate escape? And where do we stand on questions of ‘good taste’? Are mice tasty? Or is gold lace print florid? Is it good manners to serve mice? Do we acknowledge our borderline 2 desire for ‘retro’ sensation? Perhaps in ‘retro’ we can experience the recycling of objects once cast out as dated and ‘tasteless’, now reinstated through some powerful desire to replay the primal aesthetic hardwiring of our early associations. Replaying the ‘real’ world in the imaginary, the sense of something partially remembered, the sensation of estrangement and the once familiar revisited are all part of our experience of visual pleasure. NOTES Julia Kristeva, Proust and the Sense of Time. Introduction by Stephen Bann Columbia University Press, NY, 1993. 2 Julia Kristeva, Desire in Language, A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art. Columbia Press, NY, 1980. Preface. 1

* 21 20 REGARDING RETRO

Pounce 2004 digital photographic print, 76.4 x 104.5 x 3.5 cm

Clinton Cross

Of the many Australian artists who reanimated the cheap and tacky from the 1980s onwards, Clinton Cross most admires Peter Tully, whom he dubs ‘the king of kitsch’. Self-taught and raised in Bundaberg, Cross’ creative path developed when he began mining his childhood and, later, his suburban family circumstances for the narrative content of his drawings, paintings, collages and assemblages. Though relying on periodical stimulation in Brisbane and Sydney, Cross is unable to resist fossicking regularly in the Wide Bay region’s op shops, which provide the stock for his work: wallpaper, trays, ornaments, plastic ware, textiles and much more, with seventies material predominating. Domestic discards represent abundant bargains in the region. Additionally, with the collecting habit entrenched, Cross accumulates ornaments of the collectible variety for his personal displays, notably salt and pepper shakers and biscuit barrels, which fill numerous cabinets. The ‘smiley’ symbol is a recurrent motif in Cross’ work and as banal and hackneyed as it may be perceived, it is integrated formally in Cross’ collations of the kitsch he so celebrates. The result, he says, are works that ‘just keep smiling back at you’. IH

Moving right along Alicia, all I want to do is go to Jenny Craig 2004 assemblage, 87 x 116 x 6 cm

REGARDING RETRO

* 23

Elvis Di Fazio A 21–year–old Sydneysider, Elvis launched his own self-titled label at the end of 2002. He has since seen it picked up by stores like Crazy Horse in Newtown and Darlinghurst, and Fox Studio’s Vavavoom. He’s also sold T–shirts to stores in Paris, Milan and Russia. “I love doing what I do. I used to work in fashion retail, so I’ve always had an interest in fashion, but seeing people wearing and appreciating my own designs is pretty cool.” A fine arts graduate and already an accomplished artist, Elvis admits he took some convincing that the T-shirt industry was the right avenue for his creative juices. “People always say that if you’re an artist, you risk losing credibility by getting involved in the fashion industry, but I see Tshirts as another canvas for my art.”

That art is based mainly around 1960s themes – a take on pop art à la Andy Warhol – and has an edgy style. “I really did fall into this. I was taking my portfolio of work around and the owners of Crazy Horse loved what I did. They asked me if I wanted to try putting some of my art onto material to be used for their change room curtains and that was my start in textiles.” And while Elvis ‘might be getting into caps’, he says he’s still got a long way to go as far as textiles are concerned. “I’m not a fashion designer and that’s why T-shirts are such a great start. It’s less about the fashion, and more about the art.” Lisa Hall First published in the Jetstar Inflight magazine article, Get Shirty, August/September 2004. Reprinted with permission.

Nude T-shirt 2005 acrylic on cotton, 28 x 34 cm

REGARDING RETRO

* 25

Peter Fay

I was driving towards Marseilles when suddenly there it was. And it immediately spoke to me as white plastic. The work was instantly done â&#x20AC;Ś in a second. It was meant to be.

Laughter pain freak show fun of the fair slice blind creation pin the tail The child will laugh The Adult will cry.

Mont Sainte-Victoire (after CĂŠzanne) 2000 assemblage, dimensions variable

oposite page Martin Mischkulnig Peter Fay and his collection of soft toys 2004 c-type print, 485 x 625 cm

REGARDING RETRO

* 27

Elizabeth Gower

All the images in my work for the past 20 years, whether drawn, traced or cut out, have come directly from discarded magazines and secondhand books scoured from op shops and garage sales. It is unusual for me to walk out of an op shop empty handed. I like the thrill of the search, the limitations of size and quantity of images, the stimulation of chance findings, the accessibility of massproduced multiple images, the practicality of finding another use for cultural detritus and the economics of buying art materials in bulk. The collages, images for the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Generaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; series, were cut out of junk mail catalogues and advertising brochures collected from my letter box, department stores and op shops in London, New York, Barcelona and Melbourne.

First printed in The Retrieved Object catalogue, Linden arts centre & gallery exhibition catalogue, 2000.

From Genera series 1996-2000 (ongoing) paper on drafting film, each 45 x 45 cm Collection of the artist

REGARDING RETRO

* 29

Koumans oposite page Phonecard pendants 1999 mixed media, dimensions variable Photograph: Brenton McGeachie

An inveterate op shopper, Ed Koumans’ acute eye scans a spectrum of bric-a-brac from the mementos of Tropical North Queensland to religious and tribal paraphernalia. Koumans has been based in Cairns since the mid-1980s. The prevalence of souvenirs for tourists – artefacts included – spurred Koumans to reassign versions of souvenirs as personal talismans. His jewellery and tribal figure series, the latter ongoing since 1993, interpret a style of flamboyant adornment associated with the tropical Pacific. The revenge of an ex-Catholic schoolboy is often expressed by flaunting religious iconography. A passion for fashion: something to wear to the Vatican, for example, is a vest made from a found painting on canvas, which bears a reproduction of a High Renaissance descent-from-the-cross scene, and its title was conceived at the time Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of Christ was released. Koumans’ work as an assemblage artist is widely known in north Queensland, where its reference to the darker secrets of the region, such as the hypocrisies of its colonising past, are also recognised. IH

REGARDING RETRO

* 31

Claudine

Marzik oposite page Better save them (installation detail) 2003 resin and sharp objects, dimensions variable Photograph: Michael Marzik

Governments have directed for security reasons, all knives, sharp objects or cutting implements of any kind and any length whether made of metal or other material and some sporting goods, must be packed in your checked luggage. They cannot be carried in your cabin baggage or on your person. If deemed dangerous, these articles will need to be surrendered. Whilst doing her regular op shop rounds in Cairns, Claudine Marzik noticed that by the end of 2001, boxes and baskets full of nail-files, scissors and small knives had turned up in large quantities. Her enquiries into the reason for this led to ‘passenger security’. The installation Better save them first appeared at Cairns Airport’s Domestic Terminal Passenger Lounge, after Marzik proposed an exhibition of the sharp objects she had trapped in resin and moulded as multiple attaché cases. Agreeing for educational as much as for aesthetic purposes, the Cairns Port Authority hosted and co-sponsored the project.

Better save them was made because of a convergence of time, place and op shops. Through her transparent cabin baggage, Marzik reflects the shift in atmosphere, not only in the airport environment but also in global politics, since September 11, 2001. IH

REGARDING RETRO

* 33

Martin Mischkulnig The Collectors The collector is someone who, having found a second example of something, is condemned to seek a third. TOM PHILLIPS* Fascination for others’ amassed treasures, carefully displayed or even stored under beds and on top of cupboards, is widely held. Gripped by reverence and admiration for their objects, collectors can pursue anything from a harmless pastime to a dangerous passion. Photographer Martin Mischkulnig’s approach to recording eleven eclectic collectors was less to probe psyches than to invite a natural empathy for the very human desire to possess. The collectors’ objects of desire are composed by Mischkulnig to fit like comfortable extensions of their personal spaces, but objects never outweigh the presence of each personality. The spectrum of keepers of the rare and precious spans Anne Schofield with her antique jewellery, to devotee of the very ordinary, Peter Fay, and his collection of soft (and often misshapen) toys 1. Theorists have made much of the psychological and philosophical dimensions of collecting, among them Walter Benjamin, himself an addicted bibliophile. Writer Philippe Blom ‘… sees in collectors a lonely fantasy life that’s almost autistic, and an odd, unsatisfying mixture of ancestor worship and lust for immortality’. Happily, Mischkulnig’s images are celebratory in spirit and my invitation to these collectors to participate in the project was motivated by a curatorial sympathy with their own version of selecting, keeping and ordering, according to individual logic. Nor is there a bias toward excess; Mischkulnig’s series reflects what I suspect is a particularly Australian attitude, a casual subversion of the precious that’s consciously not aligned with tradition.

Op shop hunters and collectors Danny Abood, Thierry Auriac, Colin Baker, Megan Card, Peter Fay, Michael Winer and Judith Taylor, in addition to Ken Neale, sourcing tapa cloth across the Pacific, Stephen Dunn’s international quest for immortal autographs, and finally antique specialists Rosie Nice and Anne Schofield – all are collaborators with me in a quiet scheme, made visible by Mischkulnig’s understanding eye. IH NOTES *Review of To Have and to Hold by Philippe Blom, August 3, 2002, The Guardian. 2 1

Hicks, Dylan, review of To Have and to Hold by Philippe Blom in CITY PAGES.COM, The Online News & Arts Weekly of the Twin Cities.

oposite page Rosie Nice and her collection of electric jugs 2004 c-type print, 485 x 625 cm

REGARDING RETRO

* 35

Martin Mischkulnig Stephen Dunn and his photographic collection of opera stars 2004 c-type print, 485 x 625 cm

Anne Schofield in her store, Anne Schofield Antiques 2004 c-type print, 485 x 625 cm

REGARDING RETRO

* 37

Martin Mischkulnig

Milena Quansah Look and you will find it – what is unsought will go undetected. SOPHOCLES

It could be the search for the perfect ‘new’ thing, exploring the past or simply a driving passion for a particular era, object or fashion. The ‘thrill of the chase’ is a wonderfully creative process of discovery and learning. And the ultimate find of what is often ‘undetectable’, overlooked or just plain unfashionable suddenly is reinvigorated, transformed – cool, a must have and back in style. The passion that drives the collectors and artists in the film invites us to look again, refocus, review, redefine. I have always been fascinated by the imaginative and witty spirit that propels the search for the unique, unusual and the beautiful. The passion that drives the collectors, artists and bargain-hunters in the film invites us to look again, refocus and redifine... as fashion and art become indistinguishable.

oposite page Back in Style 2005 image of Elvis De Fazio from short digital film

REGARDING RETRO

* 39

Living Arthur Street On Time* –he’s waiting in the wings He speaks of senseless things His script is you and me, boy Time –in Quaaludes and red wine Demanding billy dolls, And other friends of mine

We pass through Time. Time doesn’t pass through us nor pass us by. Time is a dimension. This film is a kind of celluloid aspic from which I’ve emerged not unscathed. Aspects of my current practice can be seen inadequately glimpsed, fermenting and growing out of it – a carapace remnant of witness – a wunderkammer world – curiousier and curiousier. It remains as it is – a time capsule – improperly documenting a bohemian house on the Fortitude Valley/New Farm border in Brisbane during institutionalised cultural neglect and social and sexual repression in the state of Queensland. The viewer catches limited access to my private world then and hears snatches of my worldview as an artist, which, despite clunky syntax, resonates twenty years later in referencing Fame, Kitsch, Genetics, the Creative Force and may I add, Her Divine Holiness Pope Alice. The sniper in the brain, regurgitating drain, Incestuous and vain, and many other last names

Film, this film, in itself is a small miracle. Shot on Super8 stock, a reasonably expensive medium and not readily accessible in 1983, it preceded the ready availability of domestic video cameras and the later digital revolution. Super8 was an exclusive/excluding means of documentation. Movies influence most of us. I hungered for the credibility film can provide as witness. Those of us who were silenced looked for other means to be heard or even remembered. Unlike Bacon, my screaming pope is not from the silent era. You – are not a victim You – just scream with boredom You – are not evicting time

However, ‘Living Arthur Street On’ represents the end of a glittering epoch–love among the ruins–Belle Reve–StayingOn a record of a lifestyle all but passed, now seen edging towards a Miss Havisham-style stagnation, with time forced into a corner.

Luke

Roberts

Just a month or so later it was all over – all gone – vanished, dispersed. Staging the unfilmed sequel ‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore’ was well under way.The very words I wanted painted large across the front roof of 35 Arthur Street as an artwork and defiant farewell to the life that might have been… Breaking up is hard, but keeping dark is hateful I had so many dreams, I had so many breakthroughs But you, my love, were kind, but love has left you dreamless

Around the end of that year (1983), Flo Bjelke-Petersen appeared on the front cover of a brand-new magazine, Brisbane Living. My scorn was palpable. To me this title represented the many oxymorons Queensland has been capable of unleashing, along with the many cultural and intellectual refugees it created. We spent a graet deal of the time living on Arthur Street at the airport farewelling friends. The door to dreams was closed, your park was real dreamless Perhaps you’re smiling now, smiling through this darkness But all I had to give was the guilt for dreaming

The following year my self-imposed exile began in Europe. Had I too been unleashed on an unsuspecting world? I look at my watch it say 9:25 and I think oh God I’m still alive We should be on by now We should be on by now. * Time, by David Bowie, 1993 Copyright permition sought

Interview text from the film ‘Living Arthur Street On’ Luke Roberts interviewed by Janelle Hurst, 1983

Image from Living Artur Street On 1983

LR. I say I’m a famous person – it’s just that not many people know about me. What do I mean by that? Well, I have the embryonic possibilities of fame. I feel no different to any other person on this earth who’s ever been famous; I don’t know how they felt of course, but I can be famous. JH. How does Pope Alice fare in the notoriety stakes? LR. Well she’s very notorious, but I don’t know. She’s ... she’s off in Pixieland I suppose. She thinks she’s infallible. She thinks she’s the Spiritual Leader of Artists. She believes in all these things and that’s all you have to do is believe. You’ve got to believe in yourself.

REGARDING RETRO

* 41

JH. Does the ...The spirituality thing, the Spiritual Leader of Artists, does that suggest a sense of tradition? LR. Oh certainly, tradition. Everything’s tradition. Tradition is not the handing out of fancy medals or the marching past of legions of armies ... or ... whatever ... jewels in cupboards. Within sculpture and painting there are genes so that ... The Muse, the Creator, the Creative Force, Our Great-Great Godly Grandmother has handed down the genes to every artist. The priesthood of artists carries on the traditions of sculpture, paintingand music. The germ for everything is within the family. JH. Why this frenetic coveting of the kitsch? LR. Kitsch is my, or has been in the past, my substitute for love; the things I wanted to have as a child but didn’t have. I wanted to be ... It’s my way of being the princess or the prince in Sideshow Alley. It’s my desire to come to terms with my environment; the kitsch that we are sort of inundated with. So I’ve decided there’s good kitsch and bad kitsch... Arthur Street Archive (work in progress) These lists represent the beginning of an archive and are by no means comprehensive. I welcome any contributions that add relative detail to this history. Owners of the house: 35 Arthur Street, New Farm1 Rosamund Vidgen aka Rozita Tequila and Luke Roberts aka Pope Alice/Alice Jitterbug bought the house from the Doggett family in 1976. Their ancestor had built it himself circa 1880. Mary’s room was added later near the kitchen, to accommodate the maid when one of the Doggetts became an alderman. Rosamund was living elsewhere by the end of 1982, the year before this film was made. Residents and house guests at various times (1976-1983) Margie West, Pam Easton, Stephen Preston, Ed Koumans, Jane Ulrick, Athol Young, Pierre Rival, Christina Youhanna, Nick Swainson, Jeffrey Patrick, Gina Gorshus, Wayne Jones, Alby Timmerman. Visitors (1976-1983) Caroline Greenway, Larry Strange, Mark Bayly, Gary Carsley, Ross Wallace, Georgina Pope, Alin Herd, Scott Redford, Janelle Hirst, Jay Younger, Mark Hirst/Natalia von Helm, Michael Lane, Des Lourigan, David Buchhiolz, Chris Burns, Paul Cruise, Nadia and Michael Hooper, Megan Henderson, Jan Power, Maryanne Murphy, John Montgomery, Marie/Connie Lingus, Nigel Rice, Ivan Lazarou, Chris Berlyn, Sheldri Weston, Ingrid from Melbourne, Lyn Julian, Maya, Kathleen Miller, Colin Millar, Marshall Malouf, Maybelle and Nicky, Susie McCubbery, John

Goldsmith, Warwick Vere, James McCrea, Wayne Jones, Tony Lester, Dick Bryan, Maggie, Bryan, Tony Phelan, Mic Conway, Carol Skinner, Rhana Devenport and her sister Maxine, Blair Edmunds, Rainee Skinner, Kathy Mount, Jade Mount, Tarn Mount, Richard Michaels, Michael McCaffrey, Duncan Wise, Jane Pike, Claudia Connolly, Gerry Connolly, Margie and Jeremy Ward, David Pyle, Helen Josephson, Grahame Davis, Bob Riddell, Alison Bruce, Helen Hoey, Joyce Vidgen, Andrea Stewart, Eleanor Douglas, Helen Carberry, Richard Dearden, Polly Watson, Maxine McNamara, Cernak, Robert White, Thomas Vale-Slattery, Kim Lynch, Barry Weston, Michael Carman, Christian from Nice, Anne Walker, Tom Malouf, Adrian Rawlins, Jac Vidgen, David Vowels, Rowe Freeny, Di Eden, Malcolm Enright, John Amalric, Lydia Pierson, Robin Islet, Greg Wells, Leigh Cholakos and David, Pasi Ihalainen, Kim Skcanlon.

Favourite music and singers: Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Nina Simone, the Shirelles, (Divine Ms M) Bette Midler, Nico, Yoko Ono, Frances Faye, Captain Matchbox, Nina Hagen, Nana Mouskouri, Sophie Tucker, Adam Ant, various Kabuki soundtracks, Baltimore by Nina Simone. Books and writers: Gertrude Stein, Alice B Toklas, Yukio Mishima, Collette, Scott F Fitzgerald, Zelda, Bruce Chatwin, Michael Ondaatje, Harold Nicholson, Carson McCullers, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Everybody Who Was Anybody, In Patagonia, Confessions of a Mask, The Little Red Schoolbook, Maasai, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Our shops: 454 Upper Edward Street, Spring Hill 1976-1979, Lilies. My shop: Shop 23, Brisbane Arcade, Brisbane 1979-1982, Heartbreak Hotel, Peppermint Lounge, Luke’s, The shop with no name, Cargo Cult. It became an artwork to choose a different name for it each day. Meeting places: La Boite, Avalon Theatre, Metro Theatre, Rowes Arcade, Silver Dollar, Queens Ball, Nundah RSL, Maria’s Room, Hacienda, Terminus, La Grange, Pinnochio’s, The Beat, Cockatoo Bar. Artists: Jim Dine, Andy Warhol, Gustav Klimt. Artworks in the house: Paintings by Luke Roberts, Ross Wallace, Cernak, Jolly Interment by Vincent Brown (now in the collection of the Queensland Art Gallery), Vincent Brown etching, various Map of God details, including The Little White Cloud That Cried (now in the collection of the Queensland Art Gallery). Drawings: by Lindsay Kemp, Gary Carsley, Mark Bayly, Luke Roberts, New Guinea artists. Prints: Angelica Kaufmann, Gustav Klimt. Installations by Luke Roberts: The Birth of Venus at Broadbeach, Objects for a Museum, Aloha Hawaiian Shirts hung as painting. Objects/furniture in the house: Bells Brothers dressing table, Art Deco dining room suite in Russian birds-eye maple/camphor/Laurel root, shop mannequins from Stewarts Department Store, Stone’s Corner (Brisbane), collection of New Guinea arrows, Maasai and Zulu beadwork, Susi Cooper coffee set, vaseline glass desert bowls, Clarice Cliff china. Dreaming places: Shelly Beach, Coloundra, Stradbroke Island, Mt Glorious, Scone, New England Tableland, Pink Poodle Motel, Alpha, New Farm Park, Albert Park, New York, Amsterdam, Egypt. Cats: Marmalade, Samba, Charleston, Greige, Cactus Fruit Bat, Cleo. Cockatoo: Seymour. Cars: Mini Moke, Karman Ghia. NOTES 1

(Technically the house is on the border of Fortitude Valley, but as the Philip Bacon Gallery across Arthur Street, and therefore further into the

‘Valley of Death’, listed itself as a New Farm business, we took our lead.)

REGARDING RETRO

* 43

Joan

oss

Joan Rossâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deeply evocative and intriguing works on paper are a wild mix of collage and ink drawing that career from pathos to humour with deadpan wit, acerbic observation and superb facility. With a simple, almost child-like line that betrays the immediacy and directness of her process, her figures enact the vulnerability and wistfulness we all encounter in the course of human interaction. Her drawings are intense evocations of everyday neurosis: the difficulty of facing up to ourself, fears and foibles, the struggle for intimacy with others. The playfulness of the work disarms the viewer whilst evoking feelings and memories that we tend to repress in order to go about our daily lives: jealousy, possessiveness, insecurity, loneliness, an unseemly hunger for love and approval. Many of her chosen materials denote a certain suburban domesticity, in particular, a kind of interior dĂŠcor that smacks of artifice, even kitsch: nylon negligĂŠes, plastic, synthetic lace curtains, fur, and wood veneer. Yet Ross never treats kitsch ironically. Rather, she feels a genuine affection for and empathy with it, for its ingenuous attempts to be cheerful and bright, for its sentimentality. Like her feelings for kitsch, her feelings for the artificial are tender, as if she recognises in fake materials a deep yearning for the nature that we have irredeemably lost. Edited from an essay on Joan Ross by Jacqueline Millner

I was wearing the red rose necklace 2005 drawing and collage, 74.5 x 55 x 3.5 cm

Flower vamp 2004 drawing and collage, 59 x 35 x 3.5 cm

Strewth (Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s truth) 2005 fabric and resin, 45 x 180 x 7 cm

Photographs: Brenton McGeachie REGARDING RETRO

* 45

Mona

Ryder

Over the past ten years I have been exploring materials for my sculptures that are a form of skin, have light components and form parts of larger installations. Redheads, the human and dog heads, are made from dyed red sensuous nylon, stitched and stuffed. The hide pieces, stretched and sewn with found objects, are from The corporate body series. They are permutations narrating the crossover of closely lived lives in different contexts. These skins, red stockings and stretched hide suggest the bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s veneer and the difficulty in decoding psychological states. When I was meticulously constructing the redheads and stretching and stitching the hide, time rolled by; the conscious and unconscious played a pivotal role in shaping and moulding what was known, imagined, suspected or unspoken. The mute redheads, human and animal heads with their trailing stockings, communicate emotively. Was this a life pricked by another, or a

lonely figure with only dogs for comfort in a theatrical set from another era? Did these abandoned props lose their context when the show was over? My work has always explored dark themes through humour and satire.

The corporate body works in contrast, play with text and found objects, especially the tie. These are outcomes of my investigation of the impact of corporate membership in modern life. Corporations rarely acknowledge the repercussions of their actions on those outside their immediate world. The tie as a business symbol and the use of animal fur, which has many readings, sets up the paradox of warm sensuality and the fear reaction provoked by wild animals. Crossed 2004 mixed media triptych, 30 x 63 x 5 cm Photograph: Brenton McGeachie

Pricked

Red and lthe animals 2004 mixed media, dimensions variable Photograph: Brenton McGeachie

REGARDING RETRO

* 47

Glen

Skien

Assemblages made by Glen Skien preserve the intimate qualities of old postcards, stamp collections and faded messages on the inside covers of books. His work also suggests secret dreams kept undisturbed in antiquated boxes. Suddenly uncovered, the symbols and mysterious meanings of dreams are laid bare. Living in the coastal environment of Mackay, Skien’s close observations of the natural world in microcosm have been recorded in his works on paper over recent years. Similar detail and delicacy mark his Series of Dreams. Skien names this genre ‘box work’, in which mixed media include his own etchings, concertina artist books, bound book pages and book spines.

Series of Dreams is one of seven pieces inspired by the Bob Dylan song of the same title. Each box can be viewed as a vignette, which reflects upon the nature of dreams.

Series of Dreams I 2004 mixed media box work, 20 x 26 x 3.5 cm

REGARDING RETRO

* 49

Trevor

Spohr

The teapots with cups and saucers made by Maryborough-based potter, Trevor Spohr, reflect his research into the design and glaze styles of the mid-twentieth century. Spohr was influenced by European pottery, then characterised by simple decoration and nickel oxide glazing on high-fired stoneware. Glazes available fifty years ago were more limited than today, with natural oxides prevailing, and Spohr achieved the mustard colour which breaks into rust to typify the look of the time. These hues offset his bold forms, which also derive from the modernist design influence upon ceramics. Spohrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s linear decoration quietly references retro textile patterns and the overall look and feel of his functional teapots and tea sets recalls confidence and optimism from another time. IH

Tea pots 2005 high-fired stoneware, nickel oxide glaze, dimensions variable Photograph: Andrew Freeman

REGARDING RETRO

* 51

Christine

Turner

I am an artist working from Bundaberg in regional Queensland. My art practice began in 1988 and is largely driven by the fact that I have a self-directed art education. In 1994, I commenced working in assemblage. At that time, I was captivated by the powerful imagery of Christian iconography. I wanted to assimilate the formal elements that gave the works their strength. To that end, I continued my practice of reworking masterpieces as well as developing my own unique assemblages and installation pieces: works that were often iconoclastic in nature. I adopted the role of creatorâ&#x20AC;Ś in my studio, my world, I can be god. The Board Games are significant among the works I produced from 1997. The format of large-framed pegboards upon which I could suspend objects on pegboard hooks alowed me to develop a piece, document it, and strip the board down in order to create new works over and over again. Objects such as cooking tins, trays, biscuit tins, advertisements and sequin panels are among the materials I used to develop my three-dimensional board games. These were significantly influenced by the work of MC Escher, particularly his Metamorphosis. The work constitutes an exercise in patterning and developed ideas reflecting my readings of literature of a spiritual and philosophical nature.

Board game for Van Gogh 2004 mixed media assemblage, 150 x 150 x 10 cm Photograph: Christine Turner

REGARDING RETRO

* 53

LIST OF WORKS

Danny ABOOD

Camel table 2005 decoupage 35 x 35 x 35 cm

Eclectic chair 2005 decoupage 60 x 30 x 30 cm Handbag of tricks 2005 decoupage 20 x 20 x 10 cm Thierry AURIAC

Bon Apètite 2005 plastic assemblage 120 x 140 x 13 cm Slim BARRIE

Masterpiece (ballerina girls) 2001 assemblage of found objects 66 x 45 x 12 cm Collection of Peter Fay

Pounce 2004 digital photographic print 76.4 x 104.5 x 3.5

Into the spaceship 2004 digital photographic print 76.4 x 104.5 x 3.5 Potting 2004 digital photographic print 76.4 x 104.5 x 3.5 Clinton CROSS

Moving right along Alicia, all I want to do is go to Jenny Craig 2004 mixed media assemblage 90 x 118 x 10 cm Just another child 2004 mixed media assemblage 70 x 90 x 10 cm The way they were 2004 mixed media assemblage 70 x 90 x 10 cm

Split (homage to Eadweard Muybridge) 2004 assemblage dimensions variable Let’s dance 2005 assemblage of found objects dimensions variable Elvis DI FAZIO

Garments and mannequins 2005 mixed media dimensions variable Elizabeth GOWER

Genera series 1996-2000 (ongoing) paper on drafting film each 45 x 45 cm Ed KOUMANS

Peter FAY

A passion for fashion, something to wear to the Vatican 2004 vest constructed of found canvas, found object jewellery 65 x 45 x 45 cm

Mont Sainte-Victoire (after Cézanne) 2000 assemblage dimensions variable

Phonecard pendants 1999 mixed media dimensions variable Private collections Claudine MARZIK

Elaine CAMPANER

Mediterranean sky 2000 two stacks of Tupperware containers dimensions variable

Absinthe 2004 digital photographic print 76.4 x 104.5 x 3.5

Olympia (after Manet) 2005 assemblage dimensions variable

Marzipan 2004 digital photographic print 76.4 x 104.5 x 3.5

First lady forward, second lady back 2004 assemblage dimensions variable

Savory 2004 digital photographic print 76.4 x 104.5 x 3.5

Show pony 2004 assemblage dimensions variable

Masterpiece (box for Peter) 2001 assemblage of found objects 42 x 26 x 11 cm Collection of Peter Fay Masterpiece 2001 assemblage of found objects 20 x 15 x 12 cm Collection of Peter Fay

Better save them 2004 installation of resin, sharp objects,attaché cases dimensions variable Martin MISCHKULNIG

The collectors 2004 c-type prints– 11 images 485 x 625 Milena QUANSAH Back in Style 2005 short film, DVD format

Luke ROBERTS

Mona RYDER

Living Arthur Street on 1983 / 2005 Super8 film (digital format)

Red and lthe animals 2004 mixed media installation dimensions variable

Joan ROSS

You must have misunderstood my directions 2004 mixed media triptych dimensions variable

Strewth 2005 fabric and resin 45 x 180 x 7 cm The guy from Coles, Katoomba (Pillman) 2004 drawing and collage 59 x 35 x 3.5 cm Janeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s streaked underarm hair 2005 drawing and collage 59 x 35 x 3.5 cm Flower vamp 2004 drawing and collage 59 x 35 x 3.5 cm

Crossed 2004 mixed media triptych 30 x 63 x 5 cm Pricked 2004 mixed media installation dimensions variable Vital signs 2004 mixed media diptych 30 x 42 x 5 cm Glen SKIEN

Thank you, thank you very much 2005 drawing and collage 59 x 35 x 3.5 cm

Hommage to Della Francesca 2002 mixed media box 16 x 2 x 11 x 3.5 cm

It brought me to tears 2004 drawing and collage 59 x 35 x 3.5 cm

Diary box 2004 mixed media box 19.5 x 11.2 x 3.8 cm

Do I look all right in this? 2005 drawing and collage 59 x 35 x 3.5 cm

Origin of the Species 2004 mixed media box with draws 9.5 x 15.7 x 10.8 cm

Geraldineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outfit 2005 drawing and collage 59 x 35 x 3.5 cm

Series of Dreams I 2004 mixed media box 20 x 26.5 x 3.5 cm

I was wearing the red rose necklace 2005 drawing and collage 74.5 x 55 x 3.5 cm

Series of Dreams II 2004 mixed media box 20 x 26.5 x 3.5 cm

A skirt for any occasion 2005 drawing and collage 74.5 x 55 x 3.5 cm

Trevor SPOHR

The miner 2005 drawing and collage 38 x 28.5 Those last few weeks have been really hard 2005 drawing and collage 38 x 28.5

Board game for Van Gogh 2004 150 x 150 x 10 cm

Tea sets 2005 high fired stonewere, nickle oxide glaze dimensions variable Christine TURNER

Mother 2004 mixed media assemblage 190 x 125 x 40 cm

Clinton Cross is represented by Gallery 482, Brisbane and A-space on Cleveland, Sydney. Elizabeth Gower is represented by Bellas Milani Gallery, Brisbane and Sutton Gallery, Melbourne. Luke Roberts is represented by Bellas Milani Gallery, Brisbane and Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide. Joan Ross is represented by Gallery Barry Keldoulis, Sydney. Christine Turner is represented by Gallery 482, Brisbane and Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide. REGARDING RETRO

* 55

sign

contempo_rare