MY ART HUB

Christmas surprise! Congratulations Jamie and Merry Christmas 🌲
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‘Born to live’, ‘Big Red’, ‘Interior 2’ and ‘Reproduction’ all off to a new home in Glenbrook, Lower Blue Mountains. Congratulations Julia and Ross. 🥰
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SOLD framed print of the Clock Hotel, from my series of iconic Surry Hills historic sites. Congratulations Richelle and Jamie.
Also popular today sales of my book ‘White Woman Black Art: My year on Elcho Island’. Enjoy reading the hard printed copy Karina and Richelle. Digital copies available on Amazon. 🤗
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In the distant summer of 1961, Brett is 22 years old and spending his days working in Europe, having won the Italian Government Travelling Art Scholarship in 1959. He is highly productive; soaking influences from everything he's exposed to – the works of the great masters are a particular source of great inspiration, both in technique and scale.

In 'Somewhere in summer' from 1961, seen in this post, Brett is still using the earthy tones of Australia but combining them with new perspectives. He uses a red paint he found in a barrel while in Florence, Italy and is employing techniques he learned from Lloyd Rees, like working with a rag to apply layers and create effects of light and transparency instead of flat colour.

The final composition of the work incorporates suggestions of the female body on some sort of landscape, but what really catches the eye is the actual size of the painting – it stands 1.86m high by 2.17m wide.

'Australia was very much caught in the easel size,' explains Wendy Whiteley of this shift in scale. 'While in Europe we were confronted with huge canvases made to be exhibited in big institutions'.

'Somewhere in summer' can be seen in the Studio right now, alongside other works Brett made in the early stages of his career. The free exhibition 'Chapters: 1959–69' looks at the period Brett lived abroad between 20 and 30 years of age, and is open Thursday – Sunday, 10am to 4pm. Come for a visit, and follow Brett's journey from novice to icon.

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Brett Whiteley 'Somewhere in summer' 1961, Brett Whiteley Studio Collection © Wendy Whiteley/Copyright Agency

Fun day during today’s Surry Hills Festival with many visitors to My Art Hub. Thank you Peter Wilson for the much appreciated cappuccino and delicious Bourke Street Bakery pastry. 🥰 www.myarthub.net

Opportunities to work in the wonderful world of art.

SOLD at Glebe Art Show, Tramsheds, Forest Lodge. Exhibition closes today at 5:00PM. Woohoo! 😁 www.myarthub.net

SOLD Congratulations Lisa on you new acquisition. 😊 www.myarthub.net

When Gough Whitlam announced the $1.3 million AUD purchase of Jackson Po***ck’s ‘Blue Poles’ on 25 September 1973, both the painting and its record-breaking price sparked enormous controversy. Today, it hangs in the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra as one of the world’s most iconic artworks and, as of 2022, is estimated to be worth over $508 million AUD.

Painted four years before Po***ck’s death in 1956, the large-scale Abstract Expressionist artwork set a world record for the most expensive American painting ever sold.

The acquisition of Blue Poles is in no small part thanks to inaugural NGA director James Mollison AO. After hearing that Jackson Po***ck’s Blue Poles might be up for sale, Mollison moved swiftly to acquire the painting. He travelled to New York and convinced its then-owner, art collector Ben Heller, to sell it to him.

The late Heller was a personal friend of Po***ck and had owned the painting since 1957, when he purchased it for $32,000. In a 2018 interview, Heller elaborated on his decision to sell the painting to Australia: “This place [Australia] was new, different, not likely to have a Po***ck.”

Thanks to the bold foresight of James Mollison and the Whitlam government, Australia came to possess one of the most important artworks of the 20th century, establishing our nation within the international art community.

If you’re visiting the National Gallery of Australia, be sure also to visit the National Archives of Australia to view Dedicated to the Dedicated: Whitlam, the Arts and Democracy. This touring exhibition from The Whitlam Institute showcases the 'Whitlams' Folio' – a collection of artworks gifted to Gough and Margaret Whitlam in 1979 – in recognition of their landmark support for the arts in Australia.

Dedicated to the Dedicated closes on 29 October.

Image: Gough Whitlam standing in front of Blue Poles in 1999, after the painting returned from its loan to MoMA in New York. The Age, Fairfax.

Art from the Heart Open up your heart

Very affordably inmate art at Boomgate Gallery, Long Bay Goal
https://www.nsw.gov.au/arts-and-culture/boom-gate-gallery

The Grace Cossington Smith Gallery and Abbotsleigh invite submissions from Australian artists for the 2024 Grace Cossington Smith biennial art award for any two dimensional media in response to the theme Making Connections.
Entries close: 2 September 2023

$15,000 acquisitive, awarded to the winner
$2,500 awarded to an early career artist
$2,500 awarded to a local artist from Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai area

Exhibition 27 January - 24 February 2024
https://www.gcsgallery.com.au/news/postitem/187

We at Flying Arts are delighted to be announcing that our much-anticipated annual signature event, the Queensland Regional Art Awards (QRAA), will open for entries on 11 August 2023! We are thrilled that this years QRAA will have a record prize pool of over $140,000 across the 10 award categories.
We are excited to be able to say that the increase to the prize pool elevates the awards to one of the most valuable art awards in Australia for regional artists. The prizes include substantial non-acquisitive cash prizes together with in-kind prizes, such as residencies and solo exhibition opportunities. These opportunities will give our regional artists valuable avenues to engage in professional development.

Among the awards offered in the 2023 QRAA are the Art for Life Award with a total prize pool of $40,000, the Mervyn Moriarty landscape Award with a total prize pool of $28,900, and prize pools of $15,000 for each of four award categories - the First Nations Artist Award, the Remote Artist Award, Emerging Artist Award and Environmental Art Award.

This year the theme is “Perspective”, inviting artists to consider the concept in its many facets, viewpoints and nuances. The theme plays on a term familiar in the visual arts, and central to our modern society, reflecting different individual and collective viewpoints and opinions, stemming from varying life-experiences, perceptions, understandings, memories and emotions.

We look forward to receiving your entries! https://buff.ly/3Kwjdq3

Thank you to our sponsors including:

Wonderful to have many overseas visitors call in today. 🤗
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Happy with a few sales today.
Thank you, Kaitlin, Sonny, Antony & Robert. Enjoy your new acquisitions. 🤗
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Join us Sat, 1 July, (11:00-4:00), for My Art Hub's first ever CLEARANCE SALE with 20% off the marked price on all art works.

In addition, NO REASONABLE OFFER will be refused. If you've had your eye on a piece now is the time to buy. To browse art works please visit www.myarthub.net

Drawing workshops are back at the Studio – and we've added an extra class on Thursdays!

Our popular Saturday workshops will return in a month with Life Drawing classes and Follow the Curve experimental drawing classes both beginning six-week courses from 22 July.

From 20 July, we're also offering Thursday classes that combine still life and life drawing into one workshop delivered over six weeks. These sessions are catered for all skill levels focusing on observational techniques and working with a range of media.

Find out more about all classes and book now: https://bit.ly/3qPRxpp

Course dates and fees:

🔵 Thursday Sessions (Life drawing + Still life):
Thursdays, 10:30am – 12:30pm
20th July – 31st August
(No class on 17th August)
Cost: $305

🔵 Life Drawing:
Saturdays, 10:30am – 12:30pm
22nd July – 2nd September
(No class on 19th August)
Cost: $330

🔵 Follow the Curve:
Saturdays, 1:30pm – 3:30pm
22nd July – 2nd September
(No class on 19th August)
$295

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Image: Photo by Amy Scully

‘Whitsunday Plantae’ by Art Whitsunday

Whitsunday Plantae is a collaboration by Art Whitsunday Incorporated artists, highlighting their viewpoints on the part which plant life plays in their lives.

Depicting the imaginary or unique vision of the solitary artist, each artist interprets their Whitsunday botanical genre of their immediate natural environment, portraying native and introduced species.

Inspired by microforms to giants of the tropical Whitsunday plant habitats, the artists also visually feature aesthetic shapes, forms, colours and textures of their interwoven plantae panoramas, representing coastal terrain and islands, to beneath the Coral Sea.

Artworks will include prints, photographs, paintings,
works on paper, ceramics and artist books.

This exhibition is on display in the Lagoons Gallery within the Botanic Gardens Café from Wednesday, May 31 to Sunday, June 25. The café and gallery is open Wednesday to Friday, 9am to 2pm and Weekends, 8am to 3pm (closed Mondays and Tuesdays and public holidays).

For more information, contact the gardens on phone 07 4952 7300.

🎉 VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITY 🎉

Georges River Council is seeking Expressions of Interest from volunteers to assist with the Un[contained] Arts Festival, returning to Kogarah in June 2023.

Georges River Council held the successful second Un[contained] Arts Festival in June 2022 which attracted over 38,000 people. The festival will once again enliven Belgrave Street, Kogarah and increase the cultural vibrancy of the area, disrupt what people think of as ‘art’, spark curiosity and a sense of play in the community, bring new contemporary artists to the area, and give a platform for local artists to showcase their works.

This opportunity would suit those who have a keen interest in art and/or culture, event management and enjoys interacting with the general public.

Please visit Georges River Council's 'Public Art' page to apply: https://www.georgesriver.nsw.gov.au/Community/Art-and-Culture/Public-Art

Applications close at midnight on Friday 9 June, 2023.

For further information regarding this opportunity please email our Hurstville Museum & Gallery team or contact (02) 9330 6444.

Image credit: Un[contained] Arts Festival 2022.

[Image description: A street scene featuring a mechanical octopus located in Belgrave Street, Kogarah.]

An emotional exhibition of of Jackyln Wagner’s 100 photographs of the brave and resilient survivors of the devastating Lismore’s catastrophic flood. Currently on display at NSW Parliament House.🥰

⭐️ ATTENTION ALL NIMBIN ARTISTS ⭐️

Nimbin artists are invited to submit an Expression of Interest for the development and delivery of artwork for the Nimbin Rainbow Road Walking Track.

The artwork for this project will be permanent and aims to enhance the track by adding something that's inspiring, thought-provoking, and appealing to both locals and visitors.

If you are an artist or a collaboration of artists with a strong connection to Nimbin, Lismore City Council wants to hear from you!

To be considered for this project, please submit an Expression of Interest which must include:

⭐️ Your artist CV
⭐️ Examples of your previous work
⭐️ Your proposed ideas and concepts for the Nimbin Rainbow Road Walking Track
⭐️ An indicative budget.

This is a fantastic opportunity for local artists to showcase their talents and contribute to the Nimbin community. To submit your Expression of Interest, please visit the Your Say page https://yoursay.lismore.nsw.gov.au/expression-of-interest-public-artwork-for-nimbin-rainbow-road

Expressions of Interest close on Friday, 5 May.

The Nimbin Rainbow Road Walking Track project is funded under the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Package, which is co-funded by the Australian and NSW governments.

Please direct all enquires through the Your Say page.

Thank you Steven Alderton for your beautiful rendition. 😥

The National Art School is deeply saddened by the loss of John Olsen AO OBE, esteemed alumnus and NAS Fellow who first studied then taught at the School, and one of Australia’s greatest and most respected artists. It was a privilege to be closely connected to John and his family, and to present the last major exhibition of John’s work in 2021, 'John Olsen: Goya’s Dog', which opened in the NAS Gallery in June 2021.

Featuring more than 50 major works, sketchbooks and drawings, many not seen in public for generations, Goya’s Dog was a celebration and re-evaluation of John’s position as a seminal Australian artist. It followed his creative awakening in Spain in the 1950s through to his extraordinary development as a painter over decades, and the contrasts of darkness and light in his practice and personally in the course of his long career and life.

In an interview in 2021, John described his fascination with Spanish culture on his first trip there. “It was a remarkable experience because Spain was completely isolated from the modishness of the 20th century, it was still the essential heart of Europe. And then as I began to study, I became aware that even though Spain is a bright and sunny country, that its principle painting lay on the basis of tone – Velazquez, Goya, Murrillo – and somehow those earthy tones reverberated the soul of Spain. It was very profound … rather than thinking outwards, it made you think inwards. Still in Australia today, they like the sunny side of the world, whereas the Spanish like the shadow side of the world. I found that very intriguing.”

'John Olsen: Goya’s Dog' was curated by Steven Alderton, Director and CEO of the National Art School, who was honoured to spend time with the artist in his studio. John was a master of conversation and hospitality as well as the paintbrush.

Alderton said: “Australia has lost one of our truly remarkable and emblematic artists. John redefined the way we see ourselves, our landscapes, our country and our shared identity. He was also a big part of the National Art School over many decades. Recently he said again to me of his love of NAS and faith in the bright future for artists who train at NAS. Working on John’s last exhibition, Goya’s Dog, with John and his son Tim was an absolute pleasure. John spoke of the Spanish influence and of interpreting the peaks and troughs of the human condition. He was a poet of the Australian landscape, an author of Sydney Harbour, a storyteller of our country and a lyricist of humanity. Forever and eternally an artist who shaped our stories. We send our sincere condolences to Tim, Louise and the family.”

Image: Louise Olsen, Steven Alderton and John Olsen at the opening night of 'John Olsen: Goya's Dog' in 2021. Photo: Caterina Pacialeo

Frivolities at My Art Hub during Surry Hills Crown Street’s festive day. 🎉🎈

Finished, framed and ready for Saturday’s Artists of Surry Hills (ASH) studio stroll on 1 April. 4 new framed small abstracts and a large abstract landscape. Please drop in to view 'Mighty Red: Uluṟu Aspect', ‘River of Dreams’, ‘Colloquy’, ‘Lovesong’ & ‘Reverie’. Enjoying stepping outside the comfortable and challenging myself. 🤗
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artistsofsurryhills

Mark you diary… Saturday, 1 April, ARTISTS OF SURRY HILLS open day AND the Surry Hills Fair. Stroll along Crown Street to visit artists studios, visit art stalls at the SH Markets, at the SH’s Neighbourhood Centre and the Village Voices Laneways. FUN FUN FUN!

SOLD! Congratulations Andrew on your astute acquisitions. 🤗
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What next!
‘Controversial Marilyn Monroe Sculpture Returns to Court – A California court of appeals has reinstated a lawsuit filed by a group of Palm Springs residents against the city over artist Seward Johnson’s “sexist” 26-foot-tall Forever Marilyn (2011) sculpture. The residents seek to relocate the work, which allows passersby ‘disrespectful’ views of the actress’s underwear from below. It was installed in 2021.’

Drop in this Saturday 4/3, to see NO MORE, a bold impressive sculpture by Derek Morgan. On display in the courtyard. My Art Hub will be open to the public till 4:00pm. 🤗
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Anyone looking for a job in the Visual Arts?

WORK WITH US!

We are currently recruiting for the following positions:

🖥️ Casual Museum Assistant - In this role you will contribute to the Hurstville Museum & Gallery’s vision by providing an efficient, high quality and customer-focused service. You will also deliver and design public programs, assist with exhibition development and collection management tasks, and assist with the day-to-day running of the Museum & Gallery.

🖥️ Public Arts Officer - This is a key role which will lead the successful delivery of Council's Public Art Program, working collaboratively across Council and with key community stakeholders to ensure the cultural strategy is integrated at all levels.

For more information or to apply visit 'Open opportunities' page on the Georges River Council website: https://www.georgesriver.nsw.gov.au/Council/Careers/Open-Opportunities

Applications close 6 March 2023.

My Art Hub is open to the public today till 4:00 pm. 🤗
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'If one of the purposes of life is to know oneself, then a great deal of the time is spent investigating things…'

— Brett Whiteley, 1965

The free exhibition 'Brett Whiteley: Eternity is now' is currently on display at the Studio and features Brett's self-portraits, his journeys in self-expression, and a focus on his lifelong love of music.

You can visit from 10am Thursday–Sunday to experience these works and sounds in person, or take a virtual visit right now to the exhibition online, including an audio guide with narration by Wendy Whiteley: https://bit.ly/3ILS02v

🔷 Please note: With our Sydney Festival 'Studio Sessions' events taking place over the next three weeks, the Studio will close slightly earlier, at 3pm on Sat 14, 21 & 28 January.

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Image: 'Installation view, 'Eternity is now' at the . Photo © AGNSW, Diana Panuccio. Virtual visit supported by patrons of the Brett Whiteley Studio philanthropic initiative.

A world of Pop Art exclusively at HOTA We searched high and low but couldn’t find what you’re looking for. Let’s find a better place for you to go.

https://www.artshub.com.au/news/news/your-2022-2023-summer-exhibition-planner-2592073/?fbclid=IwAR1lx6d2YLunlPMST3222eiaSdaKyg4Plr_fZd0M7_gl9A7S1rcqXTa7t5o_aem_AZRZ2VcKrHPylyEcGHNaLPktqWXcXvZ_rNYF5fU34s9yRYajNhdv8Dr9xZVb-ywyENRfQh8CwBi4OZN7lRQMua3iCSzMz6UEtFaPWIltrxkkXD36WEXqx4c32oMmakYqKX4

Your 2022-2023 summer exhibition planner ArtsHub’s offers 20 must see picks for everyone putting together their summer exhibition planner across Australia.