The Extraordinary Tourist
The Big Picture and other Art.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Road Trip Day 6: 28th May 2007
Rose has so much on her must see list that we decided to stay another two nights in Broken Hill. Unfortunately our motel couldn't extend our booking so our first job was to pack everything back in the car. The town has plenty of choice for motels so we left finding a new motel room for the end of the day.
Today and tomorrow is all about galleries. Broken Hill is famous for it's art scene and this was actually the main reason for our trip here. Some of Australia's leading artists are based in this region, Pro Hart and Jack Absalom to name two (though we'll be visiting their galleries tomorrow).
First up was a trip to 'The Art Directory'. A good first stop on any art tour in this town. The Art Directory is a gallery that exhibits samples of work from a good percentage of artists in the region. Each artwork is given a number that links it to a map of how to get to that artists gallery or studio. Just pick the artists that catch your eye and grab a map and your away. A great idea.
Just up the road was 'The Silver City Art Centre'. This is a MUST if you want to see the worlds biggest painting on canvas. Known as 'The Big Picture', by artist Peter Anderson, it is 100 metres long and over 12 metres high at its highest point.
What makes this artwork special (apart from the size) is that it is an artwork 'in the round'. That is you walk into a circular room and the artwork surrounds you (or more precisely surrounds the viewing platform which is a kind of 'look out' that frames the view). It is literally like walking into a painting. As it depicts a good slice of the local landscape in panorama format it really is like being in a painted version of the real environment.
From there we drove to the main street for look in the Broken Hill Regional Gallery. This is a great place to see a range of local contemporary art as well as some impressive classical art from the the later part of the nineteenth century (I think).
 The main street does have a few galleries. Rose and I stopped to look in another two before heading up to the Visitor Information Centre/Cafe and Minors Memorial that sits on top of the 'broken hill' that the town is named after. From here you can see spectacular 360 degree views of the entire region and enjoy a very good lunch or dinner. Rose and I had a very enjoyable late lunch.
Our intention had been to look through all the galleries today but time once again got away from us. So we settled for the first one on our list, Howard Steer.
Howard's gallery is also his studio and as luck would have it Howard was in and more than willing to discuss his work (and give advice to an emerging artist such as myself). If you've not seen Howard's art he paints mostly in oils and is known for his quirky bush humor. You may know about his 'Flying Doctor' artworks in which he paints a black suited doctor with with fairy wings flying around the bush delivering all manor of medical help.
Rose is a big fan of his art and asked if he was putting out a book. The good news is that he is. The bad news is that it's not available yet. Still in the process.
Howard is a self taught artist and he gives this advice to artists that have been to art school - "Whatever they told you at art school, do the opposite". Which is to say that he doesn't have much faith in art teachers as he explained. "If they knew what to do they wouldn't be teaching."
Our day ended with finding new accommodation. Our first pick was The Duke of Cornwall Inn. We had no trouble getting a room in this two storey heritage building. Carting our luggage up stairs to the room looked like it was going to be fun. Fortunately the motel staff were more than willing to lend a hand.
I'm currently writing this from the balcony of the motel which gives you a nice view down the main street on a rather pleasant evening. Tomorrow is our last full day in town. We'll be up early...we have to be...breakfast is between 7am and 8am - it comes included in the price of the room so we're having breakfast! A few more art galleries and then Wednesday we'll be on the road again.Labels: art, artist, Broken Hill, gallery, Jack Absalom, places, Pro Hart, road trip 2007, travel
Mad Max Four and Silverton.
Road Trip Day 5: 27th May 2007 (Afternoon)
The town of Silverton, just north of Broken Hill, is one of the most filmed towns in Australia. Most known for Mad Max 2 (just on the outskirts of town was the location of the film's fortress) other films shot here include, Dirty Deeds, Razorback, A Town Like Alice, The Craic and more.
In particular, the Silverton Hotel has not only been featured in many films but also appeared in many TV commercials. It's name has been changed so many times it must be hard for locals to keep track of when visitors arrive; "Can you tell me where the Mundi Mundi Hotel is?". If you ever visit the Silverton Hotel, there is a list on the wall telling you all the names and for which film or commercial the name was used for.
It's not just the exterior of the hotel that has been filmed either. The interior is 'classic' Aussie Pub too. Perhaps that's why it's been used in a number of beer commercials?
If you want to know exactly what Silverton's film history is just visit the Hotel and browse the film memorabilia on the walls. There's photos of Mel Gibson and the Mad Max crew actually in the Pub.
An interesting newspaper article pinned to one wall from 2002 talks about Mel Gibson's production company, Icon Pictures making Mad Max Four in Africa because they were unable to get studio space in Australia (at the time most of our major studios were booked out with the second Star Wars Trilogy). I don't know what became of Mad Max Four. Never heard of it going into production but I hope it does some day.
 I know the focus has been on Mad Max (what can I say I'm a fan of those films - especially number 2) but, just before I change topic, I can't not mention the replica of Max's car in film number 2 that is permanently parked out the front of the pub. The car looks like it has seen better days and one could almost believe it is the, some what beaten up, car from the film.
Silverton, whilst being a very empty town with a population between 62-82 people depending on which brochure you read, is home to a number of Australian artists including, John Dynon and Pete Browne. Rose and I visited both artists galleries.
 John paints bright Australian landscape images that are spectacular to say the least. He seems to have quite a sense of humor too, which is reflected in the exterior of his studio where a prominent, occupied, out door 'dunny' greets you at the gate.
Pete Browne has a wicked sense of humor too and appeals more to my taste. His work is cartoonish and illustrative but definitively 'Aussie'. He's developed a particular type of emu character that recurs throughout his cartoons, oil paintings and sculptures. Outside his studio you can see and old volkswagon decorated with the 'Pete Browne Emu' (see photo)
Whilst his paintings and sculptures are the centre of attention in his gallery there are the occasional panels with Pete Browne quotes that enhance his off beat humor. One such panel reports that he has lost his space ship and if found please return it so Pete can go home.
The rest of Silverton is equally interesting. There is the Old Gaol Museum, The Coin Carvery, Horizon Gallery and a very nice cafe where Rose and I stopped for a late lunch.
We finished our day by heading out to the Mundi Mundi Lookout (otherwise known as the Mad Max lookout). From this lookout you can see the site of the Mad Max fortress (though not much remains since they blew it up). What is more impressive is that you can see the horizon for such a wide expanse that you can actually notice the curvature of the earth.
Silverton is easily a day trip if you don't want to rush seeing everything. It's far from the 'ghost town' that the brochures describe but it's about as close to a ghost town as you can get with people still living there.
As a failed mining town, with many of its original buildings either falling down or having been transported to Broken Hill years ago, it feels isolated and forgotten. However, as a tourist attraction, the locals are working hard to keep the town alive.
It really is a town with something for everyone.Labels: art, artist, film, gallery, Hotel, John Dynon, Mad Max, Mel Gibson, Pete Browne, places, road trip 2007, Silverton, travel
Hazel Dooney: Inspiration for Independence.
Friday, May 04, 2007
 I don't care much for Hazel Dooney's Art - at least not her recent artistic style of lead pencil, ink and watercolour that she's presented since 2006. I think it's important that I mention this as a preface for this article.
It's not the dark themes or graphic, sexual content of some of these works that turns me off. I really have no problem with this kind of subject matter. What bugs me is that, as one artist looking at another's work, her current style just looks too easy.
Which is not to suggest it is easy at all. It just looks that way. It looks like experimental works ripped out of her visual diary and called 'finished art'. They look like paintings still in the planning stages.
Ordinarily I'd go for her more expressive style in other lesser known artists. Usually this style is a break from the monotony of landscapes and rural settings I see in the various regional community galleries. Someone who isn't inspired by yet another tree with sheep grazing in the distance. However Hazel is something of an Australian icon. Perhaps I expect to see something more... 'crafted'.
Excuse me while I choke on the word 'crafted' (a word more obscene than anything Hazel creates and calls 'art').
Now that I've finished this lengthy preface lets get to the point of this article. I aspire to achieve something like what Hazel has achieved with her career. Independence.
Independence from galleries, art dealers, and the whole traditional career path that chokes the life out of many emerging artists before they even get a start. It's said that artists are the last people that should promote and sell their art but look at Hazel... she's doing alright.
In an interview she gave to penseyeview.com Hazel revealed some very scathing opinions about traditional galleries and their system of promoting art...
I think one reason why I've worked so hard to be free of the traditional, institutional and gallery system is that I have always viewed it as a parasitic business that eventually leeches not only artists' souls but also their independence. I felt I'd sold my soul when I first exhibited.
I've exhibited in galleries many times since, but my relationships with them nowadays tend to be one-off and always at arms length. I have been very, very successful without them, handling my own sales, inventory management, client and public relations, and so on. These days, I almost resent paying even the modest commissions I negotiate with my exhibiting galleries: I look at it as renting space. I don't think they do much else for me. They don't have a clue about actually selling.
I loathe the environments of most commercial galleries and nearly all art institutions and museums: most are so sterile, too similar to one another, and badly laid out. I like my shows to be multi-dimensional, like a good, non-stop party – I hate the pseudo-reverence that most galleries try to foster towards art.
Hazel also threw a few punches at Australian Galleries and the Australian art scene...
Australia is parochial, mean-spirited and most of its publicly acclaimed or awarded contemporary works are knock-offs of far more original overseas works. Australian institutions and galleries also lack a deal of originality – and certainly they are more interested in having control of artists than nurturing and encouraging them. In the context of Australia's suburban homogeneity – it defines what Americans refer to as 'white bread' – any kind of risk, but especially creative risk and originality, are actively discouraged. And we haven't inherited our Anglo-Irish forebear’s tolerance of eccentricity.
I'm reluctantly subscribed to Hazel's online newsletter. I really don't care for her art but I admire her determination to get to where she is today. Whilst I probably wouldn't agree 100% with her views on galleries (I think she goes a little too extreme in her summations) they do reflect my own thoughts about why I have no interest in being represented in galleries.
My ego thinks that galleries would be falling over themselves to represent me if I would only show some interest. The reality is, my art is probably too 'crafted'. Not only that but people think I'm more of an 'illustrator'. My work should be in children's books. Which means it probably lacks personal expression and is too accessible (like you lot have any clue about art!).
If Hazel Dooney can do it then so can I. So can you. If you're an artist then read her interview, visit her web site and subscribe to her newsletter.
I can't guarantee you'll learn a a lot but so long as you know Hazel is still being independently successful, you'll always have someone to inspire you to do the same.Labels: art, artist, gallery, Hazel Dooney, inspiration
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