the art life

Of all of Australia's small press publications, one of the most exciting is the fully independent and downright eccentric TRUNK. Promoted here in the lead up to its first handsome publication, TRUNK #1 was themed on Hair, and invited writers, artists, poets, designers and any creative person with a wish to get involved to submit material for the launch issue. Now in bookshops and available online, TRUNK is calling for contributions to issue 2, themed around Blood. As their website explains:

Blood is a fluid, living tissue—a complex mix of platelets and plasma. Far more than a physical and chemical solution of red and white cells, haemoglobin and protein, blood is the most ubiquitous and profound symbol for the deepest of human concerns: life, death, love and sex.

We seek writing and art that explores the fascinating cultural, medical, geographical, historical, religious and social aspects of this abundant bodily fluid. Submissions must be accessible, curious, entertaining and stimulating.

We encourage fiction, poetry, art, photography, recipes, essays, photo-essays and interviews about all things bloody—see the list below for a comprehensive list of suggestions.

The deadline for material is October 30, 2009. Click here for the submission guidelines, or visit the webiste.

Labels: art magazines, art projects, books

______ is an arts journalist and writer who is based in Sydney...

______ is an assistant curator of photography and contemporary art...

______ is a Melbourne-based curator and writer...

______ is a lecturer in visual arts and an artist...

______is a writer, curator, broadcaster, and acting director of the IMA, Brisbane...

______is an artist and writer and senior lecturer in Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington...

______is a curator and lecturer and an artist...

______is a graduate architect, sculptor and writer who is currently building a hybrid sculptural-architectural practice...

______is a writer, curator and broadcaster based in Melbourne...

______ is a freelance writer with a particular interest in ethics and culture...

______ is a freelance arts writer and researcher...

______ is a Melbourne-based curator, art critic and historian...

______ is an arts and design writer with a special interest in Japanese pop culture and console gaming...

______is an arts writer, curator, valuer and art consultant from Orange...

______is an Adelaide-based independent writer and curator...

______is an independent curator, writer and lecturer...

______is an arts writer, curator and gallery manager...

______ is an artist, writer and the author of the book Stargazing: Memoirs of A Young Lighthouse Keeper.

______ is a photographer specialising in portraiture and travel...

______is writer, curator, artist, auction room specialist and amateur ornithologist with a keen interest in jazz and pre-war ceramics...

Labels: art magazines, is and

Just when you thought it was all over, Art Monthly puts out a theme issue on art and censorship and uses an image of a naked 6 year old girl by Polixeni Papapetrou on its cover...

In the latest row over the depiction of nude children, Morris Iemma and the state Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, are so offended by the nude pictures of a young girl they want the magazine that published them stripped of federal funding. Kevin Rudd said he could not stand them.

But the girl says the picture is her favourite image and still hangs in the house.

"She just enjoys it. It's acting. She just loves it," said the 11-year-old girl's father, Robert Nelson. "Poli [Polixeni Papapetrou, the girl's mother] wrote a doctoral thesis on this. It's a highly researched body of work."

The images, part of a practice in which Papapetrou works with her daughter, were reproduced in an edition of the magazine that explores the storm over the Bill Henson photographs that were to be shown in Sydney in May.

In scenes that mirrored the political response to Henson's images of a nude 13-year-old, Mr Iemma described Ms Papapetrou's pictures as a "cheap, sick stunt" and threatened to bar the magazine from future grants.

New storm over nude child picture, Sydney Morning Herald.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he can't stand artwork that depicts naked children.

Mr Rudd on Sunday said work such as that shown in this month's edition of Art Monthly Australia did the opposite of restoring dignity to the debate over depictions of children in art.

The taxpayer-funded magazine used a picture of a naked six-year-old girl on the cover of its July edition in protest against the treatment of artist Bill Henson.

Angered by the "hysteria" over Henson's pictures of a 13-year-old girl, the magazine also has a number of highly sexualised images inside, according to the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

Art Monthly editor Maurice O'Riordan said he hoped the July edition would restore some "dignity to the debate".

Mr Rudd was asked if the picture restored dignity.

"If you ask for my personal view, no it doesn't. It does the reverse," he told ABC television. "My view hasn't changed on this. We're talking about the innocence of little children here. A little child cannot answer for themselves about whether they wish to be depicted in this way. I have very deep, strong, personal views on this, which is that we should be on about maximising the protection of children. I don't think this is a step in the right direction at all."

Mr Rudd said he had no idea what the motivation for the Art Monthly pictures was.

"But I've got to say my interest and the interest of many Australians, I think most Australians, is to protect little children and restore some innocence to childhood," he said. "Frankly, I can't stand this stuff."

Child protection campaigner Hetty Johnston hopes community outrage over the picture will lead to laws banning such photos.

Bravehearts executive director Mrs Johnston branded it "sexual exploitation of children. I don't know if they are trying to get some notoriety on the back of Bill Henson but it is irresponsible," Mrs Johnston said. "It is not the normal state of affairs. Yes it is natural and beautiful (a naked child) but it is also private. This child is six and cannot possibly give consent but this photo is taken at the whims and benefits of adults. Children won't be buying it. Adults will. It's not in the best interest of children."

Mrs Johnston is heartened by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's opposition to the photo and said his response and community outrage would help her push for laws banning such photos.

She said the prime minister has made his view "very, very clear" and she had never felt more confident of the direction Australia was taking on child protection, during her 11 years of campaigning.

Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop is concerned a child has been exploited to make a political point.

"I support artistic freedom, freedom of expression, but I am concerned if there's exploitation of children," the Opposition's workplace spokeswoman told Sky News.

"Unfortunately, this sounds as if a child has been exploited for the purposes of making a political point.

"There are other ways of making a point in support of freedom of expression and artistic expression particularly."

NineMSN

Labels: art magazines, fake controversies

You've been wasting a lot of time browsing... which usually means you want to spend more time browsing. It's a vicious cycle. Happily we're here to help...



We've updated with some new artist's links. Incessant scribbler Gosia Wlodarczak has launched a new site that showcases her inter-disciplinary practice from drawing, installation and performance to some exquisitely produced DVDs. Another beautifully designed site is Stereopresence, the web site of Dr. Ross Rudesch Harley, another multi-disciplinary artist with archived audio, video and text and a blog featuring info on his collaborative projects with Elvis Richardson. Harley, a veteran of the on-line world, has another site he shares with his partner Maria Fernanda Cardoso and a site dedicated to his Aviopolis project. We've also linked to Jai McKenzie's website which has photos and info and some videos that are "comming". We're not quite sure what that means but we'll definitely be going back to find out.

It's not often that a brand new art magazine arrives and it's with unabashed excitement we note the debut issue of Artist Profile, launched last week at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The angle [we're told] is the magazine features interviews with artists by artists, or just with artists - no market bs, no gallery profiles - just artists, artists, artists all the way. The first issue features articles on young up and comers like Sidney Nolan, John Hoyland and that painter of exquisite big heads Alan Jones. The issue also excitedly proclaims the arrival of Reg Mombassa to the publication. Hoorah. Welcome to the world Artist Profile.

We receive a lot of emails. Most are welcome, but a lot of it is spam. For reasons unknown to us, Martina Hughes has been sending us information on Tantric Blossoming Workshops, where women may find not just the goddess inside but the sacred prostitute as well. Writes Martina:

"Why use the term sacred sexuality? Sacred sexuality is a path to increased awareness through becoming more responsive to your feeling body and using your energy to connect more deeply with your lover. Opening to greater pleasure, feeling and sensation provides the doorway to increased intimacy whereby lovers begin to call on the divine in each other, and can move towards ecstatic highs in the sexual relating. I have written an article in Inner Self magazine, due out this month, about Sexual Union for Transformation - if you are in NSW or QLD keep an eye out for it in the local health shops."

We're not certain if we're the right er... target audience for this steamy material but hey, keep it "comming".

If you'd like to have your web site included on our list, or alert us to any of your other activities, note that the address for all correspondence to The Art Life is via our Hotmail address theartlife[..]hotmail.com and not via the mailing list sign up address.

Labels: art magazines, site news, web sites

"The title, Handle With Care", explains Felicity Fenner, curator of the 2008 Adelaide Biennial "came from removal boxes that I've been packing lately because we're moving house. But the idea came some time ago, when I noticed that increasingly artists are taking on volatile ecological, political and social issues ... things like immigration, Indigenous affairs, the sometimes precarious social environments and the very fragile natural environment in which we live. The work in the exhibition will be politically focussed, but not in a didactic way. I'm interested in art that doesn't just reflect cultural trends, but that locates itself at the vanguard of current issues and ideas."

Handle With Care, COFA, Issue 18, Summer 2007.

Labels: art magazines, Biennales, curators, exhibitions

Latest issue, not related

Back in March 2004 we ran a short piece on the break up of Craftsman House and the sale of their titles Art Asia Pacific and Art & Australia. To be frank, we had completely forgotten about the piece and hadn’t given Art Asia Pacific another thought until earlier this year we received an email from a guy named Jose Mejia who works for the AAP PR firm Julia Joern Communications based in New York City. Mejia was asking if we’d like a copy of AAP to review and we said sure. We waited by the post box but the issue never came. Then last week we received another email from Mejia who said:

I'm writing on behalf of our client Art Asia Pacific. The 'new' Art Asia Pacific, which, coincidentally, is not the same 'new' Art Asia Pacific you reviewed recently- what you reviewed was one of the final issues by AAP's old publisher and editor. However, AAP is now being published by Simon Winchester, and has an excellent new editor by the name of Elaine Ng. We'd really, really like to clarify this, as it's managed to reflect back on Simon and Elaine, when they had nothing at all to do with the copy of the magazine you reviewed.

We had to search back through the archives to find our original story to refresh our memories. We had said that Gang Zhao was the publisher - as was noted on the AAP web site at the time - but we accept that the magazine we reviewed has nothing to do with the current team behind the current magazine. We hope that clears up any misunderstanding and our [belated] apologies.

Labels: apologies, art magazines, site news

The collapse of Craftsman House saw the sale of its two prime mastheads, Art Asia Pacific and Art & Australia . AAP went offshore to New York while Art & Australia stayed at home. With both magazines now out with relaunch issues, it makes for interesting comparative reading.

The new Art Asia Pacific,if only on the evidence of its first issue, is simply terrible. Reading more like a student effort and featuring obvious choices like Takashi Murikami (issue one cover) and Yoshitomo Narra (on the cover of issue two), the text is double spaced to take up more room and the writing is decidedly amatuerish.

Interestingly, the new publisher, Gang Zhao, has an eclectic range of Australian contributors including Felicity Fenner, ‘editor-at-large’ Adam Geczy and Charles Merewether. Even more curiouser is the inclusion on the masthead of “Associate Editor Benjamin Gennochio", former art critic for The Australian and partner to the recently relocated Melissa Chiu, herself a former contributor and guest editor at AAP, former director of Gallery 4A and now the toast of New York It’s good to see that all bridges haven't been burnt.

A&A, meanwhile, was sold to new publisher Eleonora Triguboff who drafted in the services of former AAP editorial assistant Claire Armstrong as the new editor.

Judging by their first efforts, it’s business as usual at the longest running art magazine in the country. With a slight design rejig and a new logo (lower case art, upper case Australia, ampersand & in-between) the latest edition has a handsome cover by Cherry Hood. Inside, academic articles on artists, some reviews, boring book reviews (by the insufferable Andrea Stretton) and advertising by the good, the bad and the fugly of the Australian gallery scene.

In her first editor’s letter, Armstrong informs her readers that the new A&A will continue the grand tradition of the Australian art world’s “journal of record”.

At a time when much visual arts writing is focused on the monetary value of art, Art & Australia is dedicated to publishing rigorous, informed essays, articles about art that engages, inspires, overwhelms, challenges and provokes…

What an odd thing to say – “focused on the monetary value of art” ? Whatever can she mean? Especially when the magazine carries a 12 page section dedicated to the art market with collector profiles, articles by art market veteran Terry Ingram and another one of Roger Dedman’s insightful analyses of the secondary market?

The fact that is being skirted here is that A&A has been in strife ever since the arrival of Australian Art Collector onto the art magazine publishing scene. Slicing up the already limited art advertising dollar meant that the two magazines would inevitably go head to head.

A&A blinked first, introducing collector profiles as AAC’s hold on the advertising dollar started to tell, and the venerable institution tried to lure back many readers who had only ever been buying A&A for the pictures. It cost them a talented editor too, Hanna Fink reportedly resigning rather than stoop to copying AAC’s formula. Sadly for A&A, their parent company Craftsman House was already on the chopping block, outstanding writer’s fees making for juicy art world gossip stories in the Sydney Morning Herald (here's a good example of their woes, reported back in 2002 when Rhonda Fitzsimmons bought Craftsman House and Fine Art Press.)

While we’re totally in support of A&A and hope for them nothing but the best (it being the journal of record and all), we can’t help but wonder if this isn't going to end in tears – from a purely pragmatic business point of view, isn’t the ‘new’ format just a repeat of the very format that lost Craftsman House money? And while we’re asking the tough questions, isn’t it just a little disingenuous to suggest that rival magazines are “focused on the monetary value of art” when they are doing exactly that in their art market section? Just because you hive off the mention of dirty commerce to a 12 page section printed on different coloured paper – away from all the apparently ‘proper’ writing on art – doesn’t mean that you aren’t actually doing it yourself.

Anyway, we wish them luck.

Labels: art magazines, art market, art politics