The f Word, Sale comes to a close

The f Word, Sale, has come to a close. Please have a look at some of the exhibition documentation below.

All images courtesy of Clare Rae.

The Ararat Advertiser, September 9, 2014

Ararat Regional Art Gallery hosts ‘f Word’ exhibition

Sept. 9, 2014, midnight

Inez de Vega, still from the video Dying Not to Be 2013.

Ararat Regional Art Gallery’s current exhibition, ‘The f Word: Contemporary Feminist Art in Australia’ opened last month.

The day’s proceedings began with talks by five of the artists represented in the exhibition.

These artists spoke about their diverse and fascinating work which extends from Inez de Vega’s emotive video art, Lyndal Walker’s mysteriously provocative scarves, Eliza-Jane Gilchrist’s curious cicada sculpture and Laurene Dietrich’s documentation of feminist art actions.

Maryborough artist Georgia MacGuire spoke at the opening about her sculptures which evoke the female body and are intriguingly made from paperbark and tulle.

A winner at last year’s Victorian Indigenous Art Awards, like many of the artists represented in this exhibition, Georgia is responding to the history of textiles in a fascinating new way.

Following the artists’ talks the exhibition was officially opened with remarks by the exhibition’s curator, Caroline Phillips, and Professor Julie McLeod, Deputy Director of the Melbourne Social Equity Institute.

‘The f Word’ is the second exhibition to be presented as part of a larger project which has seen women artists from across Victoria meet and make new art in a dialogue about the legacy of feminism in the visual arts.

One of the strengths of the project is the inclusion of both Melbourne-based artists, including some with very big reputations, alongside lesser known and emerging artists, including regional artists from Warrnambool, Maryborough and Castlemaine.

The exhibition was well attended with people travelling from across Victoria to Ararat for the day and staying overnight.

It will be interesting to see how the project develops in the coming years.

To learn more about ‘The f Word’ you can visit the blog: http://www.thefwordaus.wordpress.com

Anthony Camm

Director

Ararat Regional Art Gallery

The f Word, Ararat, artist talks and opening

The f Word, Ararat opened on Saturday, August 30 with a wonderful group of artists’ talks.

Lyndal Walker, Eliza-Jane Gilchrist, Georgia MacGuire, Laurene Dietrich, Inez de Vega and Karen Buczynski-Lee enthralled the audience with their insights and passionate ideas about feminism and art.

This second iteration of The f Word project explores a range of issues surrounding personal subjectivity, cultural identity, trauma and the environment. The show includes a number of regional artists as well as a focus on craft and materiality, in response to the Ararat Regional Art Gallery’s strong fibre collection.

The f Word, Ararat continues until October 12.

Curator, Caroline Phillips, introducing Lyndal Walker

Georgia MacGuire speaking in front of her work Ill-fitting Uniform, 2014

Laurene Dietrich discusses her new work Old Age is no place for sissies; the f word bit

Uncovering the secrets of Lyndal Walker’s silk scarves

Inez de Vega with Eliza-Jane Gilchrist’s work Mutare

Photos courtesy of Eliza-Jane Gilchrist

In the news…..

‘Times-Spectator’, Gippsland, Friday, 18 July, 2014.

The f Word, Sale, Opening Event and Artist Talks

Please join us at Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale for the opening event of The f Word.

On Friday, July 18 at 5pm there will be artists talks by:

Jill Orr,

Catherine Bell,

Clare Rae and

Filomena Coppola

Followed by the official exhibition opening at 6pm

Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale

Port of Sale Civic Centre

68-70 Foster St

Sale

t 03 5142 3372

w http://www.gippslandartgallery.com

Catherine Bell, Flower Tower, 2012-13

The ties between political and cultural practices are strong. Within the feminist movement of the seventies female artists used their work to challenge prevailing norms and voice new ways of looking at the world. The f Word, Sale, is the first in a two part project exploring the current resurgence in contemporary feminist art that once again seeks to make voices heard. For the seven artists in this exhibition those voices come from the past and the present, joining together to re-imagine a feminist future.

Please click here for the The F Word Sale, Gippsland Art Gallery Catalogue

The f Word Exhibitions announced

The f Word

Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale

July 19 – September 7 2014

Seven contemporary artists explore community, engagement and activism to reconfigure contemporary feminist art practices.

Artists include:

Catherine Bell

Penny Byrne

Filomena Coppola

Kate Just

Jill Orr

Clare Rae

Elvis Richardson

Penny Byrne, Free Pussy Riot!, 2013, Wooden Matrypshka dolls, PVA, Acrylic paint 16x38x7cm

Courtesy Fehily Contemporary

The f Word

Ararat Regional Art Gallery

August 28 – October 12 2014

A range of craft based, sculptural, video and photographic works by twelve emerging and established artists open up ideas of contemporary feminist identity and visibility.

Artists include:

Kate Beynon

Karen Buczynski-Lee

Destiny Deacon

Laurene Dietrich

Eliza-Jane Gilchrist

Janice Gobey

Georgia MacGuire

Robyn Massey

Caroline Phillips

Louise Saxton

Inez de Vega

Lyndal Walker

Lyndal Walker, l-r, Embraces uncovered for me, Undressed for you tonight, Amorous nude in bed, 2013, 60x60cm each, archival pigment print on Habotai silk

Curated by Caroline Phillips

Dot Kett on the bus….

Here’s the transcript of Dott’s fantastic presentation on the Technopia Tours Feminist Art Bus

Please use this link to find more of Dott’s great work!

Speech for Feminist Art Bus Tour

My view on Feminism today, both within and outside of the visual arts, is a critical one. In my eyes, “contemporary” feminism is not all that different from second-wave feminism. In many ways, this lack of change is understandable, as women are still fighting for the same things as they were forty years ago, such as wage equality and to break free from domestic idolization. However, this does not excuse the continuing lack of intersectionality within feminism. Feminism continues to be centered on white, cis, and able-bodied women. We need a change in Feminism, and we need a Feminist art practice that reflects that.

An ideal feminist art practice today would be a community-wide venture to support all women artists, and to create spaces that will allow them to thrive. Commercial galleries and artist-run spaces that are readily accessible to and geared toward disabled women. Working together as a community to provide opportunities for women in detention centers to make and exhibit art about their experiences.

Feminist icons such as Judy Chicago and Naomi Wolfe have led me to believe that the basis of my artistic practice stems from my vagina. My art does not come from my vagina, nor from my body itself, but from my experiences within my body. In saying that women’s creativity stems from their vaginas, Wolfe and Chicago are, in fact, reinforcing a Feminism that works against and excludes trans women and women who do not have vaginas. This is the feminism that is still practiced today.

Feminism itself must be reevaluated and drastically changed from how it is today; a movement that works against women of colour, trans women and disabled women. Feminism within the visual arts must actively create spaces for these women and the art they create. As we are a bus full of mostly white, cis and able bodied women, this is our mission. This needs to be our Feminist art practice.

Dot Kett, Melbourne, March 2014