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Amin Rehman, Hamra Abbas, Henna Nadeem, Hitesh Natalwala, Khadim Ali, Naeem Rana, Nusra Latif Qureshi, Tazeen Qayyum, Curated by Haema Sivanesan

Urban Myths, Modern Fables

20 JUN - 26 JUL 2008 : Opening 6pm 20 JUN
The exhibition brings together the work of artists of Indian and Pakistani background. Drawing on the notion of a myth, a perpetuating narrative featuring heroic or supernatural characters and events, or the idea of a fable, an aphoristic or instructive story, these artists use the narrative form to comment on the world. An ‘urban myth’ refers to a contemporary narrative describing human actions or occurrences which have a quality of believability, but which are typically founded in misconception or rumour. An urban myth reveals how the circulation of beliefs about culture in the contemporary world is socially mediated, partial, sensational and incomplete.

Image:
• Title: It suddenly struck her, fate had taken a turn for the worse
• Artist: Hitesh Natalwala
• Meduim: 2007, Paper collage, 29.8 x 21.2 cm

Kate Shaw

Visitant

20 JUN - 26 JUL 2008 : Opening 6pm 20 JUN
In “Visitant” Kate Shaw uses collage techniques to create optical illusions and metaphorical presentations that suggest the varied relationships that Australians have with the land. Inspired from a trip to the Northern Territory three years ago, Shaw was struck by the awesome physicality of the rock formations and shifting colours in the landscape. This inspired her to consider how the materiality of paint mimiced the forms of the natural world. Her work engages with the tension between pictorial space and material surface so that it operates on both abstract and representational levels.

Image:
• Title: Carbon Shadow
• Meduim: Acrylic and resin on board, 2007, 90x120cm

Robert Mariotti

His Master's Voice

20 JUN - 26 JUL 2008 : Opening 6pm 20 JUN
Mariotti’s work is influenced by the theme ‘Laudatur Temporis Acti’ (Let’s thank the action of time). Through this ‘action of time’, Mariotti systematically selects and blends the desirable attributes of the sea and the iconic symbol of Australian culture, the deck chair, referencing Charles Darwin’s evolution of species by natural selection.

Image:
• Title:His Master's Voice
• Medium: Installation

James Gulliver Hancock

Quiff & Hidden Talents#1

20 JUN - 26 JUL 2008 : Opening 6pm 20 JUN
Utilising lo-fi video techniques, Hancock explores moments of personal and subjective experience. Like a superhero discovering for the first time secret abilities such as xray vision or levitation, Hancock’s playful and mythical works declare the discovery of personal revelations.

Image:
• Title:Hidden Talent#1
• Medium: Video Still

Gary Lee

Maast Maast

2 AUG - 6 SEP 2008: Opening at 12noon 16 AUG
Lee’s photographic works explore notions of beauty, sometimes explicitly, sometimes innocently. Lee’s obsession with beauty began at an early age drawing ‘girlfriends’ for his primary school mates. This obsession has developed into an investigation, adoration of depictions of ‘male’ beauty and in particular Aboriginal male beauty.

Image:
• Title: Stephen20
• Medium: C-type print

Aftermath

Julie Gough

2 AUG - 6 SEP 2008: Opening at 12noon 16 AUG
‘Aftermath’ is an exhibition of new mixed-media works by Tasmanian artist Julie Gough that reflects on the legacies of colonial contact. Formed from indoor objects merged with materials from forests, beaches and underground, the works in ‘Aftermath’ pursue remnant, codified stories of cross cultural encounter from early 1800s Van Diemen’s Land.

Image:
• Title: Malahide, 2008
• Medium: coal, nylon, Midlands dropped deer antlers, Tasmanian oak
• image by Jack Bett

Big Eye

Curated by Jenny Fraser

2 AUG - 6 SEP 2008: Opening at 12noon 16 AUG
'Big Eye' showcases four Indigenous animators. Animation as an art form is considered a traditional media in mainstream Australian heritage. 'Big Eye' maintains a steadfast place and allows Aboriginal voices and perspectives from within ‘old world’ and ‘new world’ traditions, including stop-motion, 3D and other animation techniques.

Image:
• Title: Big Eye
• Medium: Video Still

Janice Murray, Melinda Getjin, Margaret Gamuti, Graham Badari, Curated by Felicity Green

Gatherings

2 AUG - 6 SEP 2008: Opening at 12noon 16 AUG
‘Gatherings’ is a selection of cast works from three NT remote Indigenous art centres. Presented by The Toga Group and Urban Art Projects, these works are the result of capacity building workshops supported by The Northern Territory Government and ANKAAA.

Image:
• Title: Small bird pattern
• Artist: Janice Murray
• Medium: Plasticine

Lisa Roet

Mugsy

2 SEP - 18 OCT 2008: Opening at 6pm 12 SEP
‘Mugsy’ is a series of works developed from photos taken in a small town outside of Toowoomba in central Queensland. Through images of a circus family, the clown, Charlie, his wife, Caroline and their Chimp Mugsy, Roet attempts to challenge some ideas and theories relating to evolution and creationism, language and communication, science and art and the question of what it is to be ‘human’.

Image:
• Title: Mugsy
• Medium: Photography

Mark Misic

Kundalini Tests

2 SEP - 18 OCT 2008: Opening at 6pm 12 SEP
‘Kundalini Tests’ playfully investigates the ‘trangressive’ and unifying symbolic notions of the Trickster and Hermaphrodite. Drawing on mythological, alchemical and psychological theories and adapting his own ‘left field’ theorizing, Misic redraws and re-tests the lines between the sacred and the perverse, the naïve and the heroic, the psychological and the spiritual.

Image:
• Title: Kundalini Tests
• Medium: ink on paper

Curated by Khai Hori, Manuporn Luengaram

Performativity_2: neo Intuition, Slight Repartee

2 SEP - 18 OCT 2008: Opening at 6pm 12 SEP
‘Neo Intuition, Slight Repartee’, is the theme for the second instalment of ‘Performativity’. Emerging artists from Southeast Asia working in various art fields (performance, visual arts, literature, music and design). Through a collection of video works that record performances by these artists, ‘Neo Intuition, Slight Repartee’ revealed the artists’ intuitive response to contemporary social crisis that have a direct impact on their personal lives.

Sarah Pirrie

Left Over Wreath

2 SEP - 18 OCT 2008: Opening at 6pm 12 SEP
Left Over Wreath (LOW) continues the life cycle of Sarah Pirrie’s ephemeral memorials.
In this exhibition the BOXSET Gallery becomes a precarious setting. Sustainability is in question and LOW hangs on the balance between preservation and complete annihilation. LOW moves through the gallery window to the market space beyond connecting interior and exterior spaces.

Image:
• Title: Left Over Wreath
• Medium: Paper, pigments, enamel paint, assorted plastic flowers and other floristry tools

Ka-Yin Kwok

Lessons

2 SEP - 18 OCT 2008: Opening at 6pm 12 SEP
‘Lessons’ documents the refresher driving lessons given to Ka-Yin Kwok by her father. With a ‘backseat’ position in the car, the audience observes the whole driving journey and also the father’s unique teaching method of using life analogies to explain driving etiquette to his daughter.

Image:
• Title: Lessons, 2005 (Video Still)
• Medium: DVD 14:12secs in loop