Archive for January, 2011
Stormy Weather at the NGV
Harry Nankin, Great Western Tears, from the Rain series The term “landscape photography” will often have the effect of glazing over my students’ eyes. It seems so middle-aged, so remote from our urban/suburban lives. The exhibition Stormy Weather at the NGV shows that the contemplation of nature through photography does not have to be just […]
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Tags: Great Western Tears, Harry Nankin, Stormy Weather NGV
Unnerved at the NGV
Ann Noble, Ruby’s Room #06 Unnerved is an exhibition of New Zealand art with a distinctively dark mood. It features notable NZ photo media artists, Ann Noble, Yvonne Todd, Lawrence Aberhart and many others. The work has “a darkness and distinctive edginess that characterises this particular trend in New Zealand contemporary art. ( NGV) Some […]
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Tags: Ann Noble, New Zealand Gothic, Unnerved NGV, Yvonne Todd
Luminous Cities at the NGV
Wolfgang Sievers, Old Frankfurt before its destruction in World War II, 1937 Luminous Cities looks at the photography of cities since the early days of the medium. Each picture acts as a signpost along a timeline, punctuating a period’s significant approach to the representation of cities. There are some very fine, unfamiliar pictures, for example […]
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Tags: Luminous Cities, Mark Strizic, NGV, Old Frankfurt, Wolfgang Sievers
Endless Present at the NGV
Robert Rooney, N.E.W.S., 1975 I have a theory that the medium of photography needs seriality to make it’s point. Unlike in painting, a photographic idea is often mute or incomplete in one picture, and needs the reinforcement of other photographs in a series. Endless Present, an exhibition at the NGV of conceptual photography from the […]
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Tags: conceptual art, Ed Ruscha, Endless Present NGV, Robert Rooney, serial photographs
The Sartorialist
The Sartorialist, Scott Schuman, has posted a short video documentary about his work and it’s worth having a look at to see how he does it. The image above is a still from the video showing him at work. Below is the photograph he had just taken. Schuman’s very successful blog, thesartorialist.blogspot.com, is simply photographs […]
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Kane enabled
Last night I saw Citizen Kane again. Like many film lovers of my generation, it has a special place in the heart, a dream of perfect cinema. The thrill is always a little different and last night it was the electrifying originality, the daring, the showmanship that struck me. It’s a film of shocks: you […]
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Tags: Citizen Kane, deep focus cinematography, Eastman Super XX film, Gregg Toland, Patrick Ogle
Weston’s Daybooks
Edward Weston in 1937 I’ve been re-reading Edward Weston’s Daybooks after 25 years, an inspiring narrative that shows you how hard a serious artist works. I’ve discovered some poignant facts. In 1930 he sold his prints for $12.50! According to Dollar Times that is worth about $150 in 2010 money. They would be 10″x8″ exhibition […]
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Tags: Daybooks Aperure, Edward Weston, Edward Westons Daybooks, Galka Scheyer, Kandinsky lithographs