Art Wank

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What an incredible collection! Gary and I visited their fantastic terrace house in Erskineville, where every wall is adorned with art. Tune in now to discover how they built their collection, the day jobs that support their passion, how they select each piece, and what they hope their legacy will be. It’s a great conversation with two fascinating individuals—thank you, Gordon and Michael!
'The Elliott Eyes Collection (TEEC) of contemporary art is housed in a private Victorian terrace house in Erskineville, Sydney NSW.

The collection of approximately 400 works (sculpture, painting and ceramics) focuses mainly on Australian and New Zealand art, but also includes work by German, Belgium, American, South African and English artists, all of which are on display. Four major outdoor sculptures extend the collection beyond the usual interior walls, tables, mantels and, in our case, even the floor of the house.

The decision to open tEEC to public tours was prompted by a visit to Terry Stringer’s sculpture park “Zealandia” north of Auckland and by our inclusion in Skadi Heckmueller’s book, “Private: A Guide to Personal Art Collections in Australia and New Zealand” (Dott Publishing, 2015). It also follows the opening of the Lyon Housemusem and the Justin Art House Museum in Melbourne; both exceptional collections and buildings well worth a visit.

It is also motivated by the realization that once works become part of a private collection they can easily be ‘lost’ to public view. Sharing these works, and listening to other people’s comments and responses adds immensely to the pleasure we are lucky to experience as we engage with and enjoy the collection on a daily basis.

The wonderful experience provided by the recent trend of house museums, is that each venue is truly individual and unique; expressing the personal interests and character of the owners/collectors. Allen Weiss in "The Grain of the Clay" (Reaction Books,2016) has described collecting, or a collection, as an autobiographical statement. Unencumbered by the boundaries, rules and bureaucracy of public galleries, the house musem displays the passion of the collector – individualistic, subjective, imaginative and zany.

It is important to say that we live permanently with our collection. We are not a museum or a gallery. Artworks are displayed and incorporated into the everyday spaces of our house, working around the normal aspects and tasks of a standard household. We find ourselves drying off in the shower, trying to avoid knocking over Jim Cooper’s large ceramic flower and duck or, in quieter moments, spending endless hours trying to decipher just what is going on in Mark Whalon’s mysterious and deliciously perverse paintings. Some works are functional – Michael Snape’s security door - while others are more traditional, decorative pieces, acquired and admired simply because they are beautiful or significant works in contemporary (Australian) art history.

While our collection is constantly growing, sometimes in divergent, unexpected directions, it’s central focus is on the figure in the landscape. This theme is only loosely adhered to, so an outlier work of art can easily capture our attention and find it’s way into the collection. Some works are ‘serious’ (e.g. our obsession with the 1950s and 1960s paintings by James Gleeson) and others are just ‘fun’ (e.g. Madeleine Child’s ceramic popcorn).'

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Amanda Penrose Hart is an artist, represented by King Street Gallery, Sydney, Phillp Bacon in Brisbane and Yallingup Gallery in WA. Thanks for talking to us and for the wonderful lunch at your place!
'Brisbane born artist Amanda Penrose Hart is predominantly a landscape painter. Penrose Hart graduated from Queensland College of Art in 1983 with a Diploma of Fine Art, and then again from Griffith University in 1991, with a Bachelor of Visual Arts.

Travelling, and en plein air practice is intrinsic to Amanda’s work; she extrapolates the significance of a place through her work. Dr Andrew Frost suggests she evokes a familiarity with landscapes unseen, by connecting the audiences personal experience with her interpretations of (to date) Australian and European landscapes.

Penrose Hart has featured in numerous selective group exhibitions, more often than not following artist trip’s or artist-run projects such as Your Friend the Enemy, and Salient (both commemorative exhibitions of the Great War), and River on the Brink: Inside the Murray Darling Basin, which aimed to raise awareness for the impacts of drought and climate change in Australia.

Amanda won the Gallipoli Art Prize in 2017 and the Clayton Utz Award in 2019. Amanda has also been a finalist in the Tattersalls Landscape Prize, Kings School Art Prize, the Salon des Refusés and NSW Parliament en Plein air, as well as the Portia Geach Memorial Award, the Kedumba Drawing Award, Muswellbrook Art Prize, and the Kilgour Art Prize.' - Amandas website

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Abdul Abdullah is one of Australia's leading artists and we were lucky enough to meet and interview him at his studio in St. Leonards, shortly before he moves to Bangkok, Thailand.
'Abdul Abdullah is an Australian multi-disciplinary artist. As a self-described ‘outsider amongst outsiders’ with a post-9/11 mindset, his practice is primarily concerned with the experience of the ‘other’. Abdullah’s projects have engaged with different marginalized minority groups and he is particularly interested in the disjuncture between perception/projection of identity and the reality of lived experience. Identifying as a Muslim and having both Malay/Indonesian and convict/settler Australian heritage, Abdullah occupies a precarious space in the political discourse that puts him at odds with popular definitions. He sees himself as an artist working in the peripheries of a peripheral city, in a peripheral country, orbiting a world on the brink. His work has been censored by politicians who have accused him of attacking Australian culture, and once a member of the Christian Democratic party wrote that he wants to “convert young Australians” and that he “worships a moon god”.'
Abdul is represented at Yavuz Gallery, Sydney, and internationally.
Thanks, Abdul for your time, we really appreciate it.

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Thank you to Fiona Chandler for a fabulous chat about her art practise and running the Northern Beach's Sydney Road Gallery.

You can see Fiona's work on her website with links to Sydney Road Gallery http://sydneyroadgallery.com
https://fionakate.com.au
Links for topics mentioned in this weeks episode
The artist residency we talked about can be seen at https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/arts-and-culture
Fiona tells us about the surface of her paintings - she talked of a surface called Clayboard - you can find it at https://www.thesydneyartstore.com.au/product-group/831-ampersand-clay-boards/category/248-boards-panels?gclid=CjwKCAjwp-X0BRAFEiwAheRui4BnIaw03xBh45aoOhzKV3ztJ1a7eLfdSVoxtOc_5AoS1aIFaOpCwRoC3y4QAvD_BwE
We talked about the Artist Nick Hall his work can be seen at Wagner Contemporary http://www.wagnercontemporary.com.au/artists/nick-hall
Learn all about the gallery Sydney Road that started in 2017 at their website and have a look at their online gallery with the Black and White show that is currently on display. Check out each of the artists on their website and then follow the instagram accounts.
http://sydneyroadgallery.com
Fiona is involved into with the Creative Women's Circle that she works with Saffron Craig you can find out about this at
https://www.facebook.com/SaffronCraig/
https://www.creativewomenscircle.com.auhttps://www.creativewomenscircle.com.au/events-list/creative-women-in-conversation-cw3m8
Fiona's advise for getting PR is to write articles and pitch ideas and to give it a go you can see the press that she has on her website.
So jump onto instagram to snaffle a Fiona Chandler artwork at 9am every Thursday but be quick as they sell fast.
Fiona answered our new questions via email on Favourite art tool and why ? A big fluffy non branded brush I have lived with forever. I had to buy tweezers just so I could pull the hair off the painting that it leaves behind. Throw it out. Never.
Live or dead artist you would love to have a tour of their studio? How to choose? I am thinking all things close to home at the moment. I would love to see Julian Meagher's space and process.
If you could go anywhere in the world right now where would it be and why?
Katherine Gorge - I have always wanted to paint and camp out there. The landscape looks incredible. A long car ride there is very appealing also.
We finished the episode with a Whats occurring? This segment discusses what we have been watching listening to and keeping us amused whilst in Covid -19 lockdown.
Check out the production on offer at National Theatre in UK. http://nationaltheatre.org.uk
Julie's recommendation is to check out Manly library on line https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=manly+library&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Damien Hurst on his instagram is being interviewed ch

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We interviewed Tony Twigg, artist, who has been running Slot Window Gallery for 25 years! We had a great chat with Tony about his art practice, running the gallery and the art world. The current exhibition at Slot is a collaboration between tony and artist Alfredo Aquilizan which runs until 5th July 2024.
Thanks Tony, we appreciate your time.