Last works for WAYS OF BEING

“Blue and green should never be seen”, or so the saying goes. Nevertheless, these are the final two works completed for Ways of Being, my upcoming solo exhibition at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery in Melbourne. On the worktable, L-R are Horned Poppy and A Book by its Cover, both 2024, acrylic on canvas board, 30.5 x 30.5 cm. The origins of the tattoo iconography will be discussed in a future post.

Shortly after this photo was taken, the paintings were documented by our long-term photographer, Tim Gresham, before delivery to the superlative framers at Creative Framing Gallery in Ballarat. It’s hard to believe the end is in sight, especially as I expected to be working right up to the finish line with this show. 

For those who have been kind enough to ask in advance for dates, the exhibition will be Stephen McLaughlan Gallery’s last cab off the rank for 2025, running from December 4-21, with an opening event on Saturday December 7 from 2-4 pm. 

Further details are below. It’s a notoriously busy time of year, so do note the dates in your diary. 

Images 1-6 below: sequential progress views of Horned Poppy.

Images 1-5 below: sequential progress views of A Book by its Cover 

OTHER

Pictured above and below: preliminary views of Other, 2024, linocut, 15 x 10 cm, edition 40. The work is part of Ways of Being, my impending solo exhibition at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne, running from December 4-21. 

Photo credit image 1: Tim Gresham.

WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND 2024: Opening Night

Top: pictured alongside my linocut I Wished on the Moon at last night’s lively opening of WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND 2024, an exhibition of 25 women artists at One Star Gallery, Melbourne.

Curated by Mariella Del Conte and Katy Beale, the exhibition’s point of departure is the 1968 song standard The Windmills of Your Mind. This is their third women’s group show as co-curators (the others were INTO ME SEE, 2021 and BLUE PERIOD, 2023) and the third one I’ve been part of.

What a fine way to end the working week. It was great catching up with many old friends and the exhibition is terrific. Thank you for having us, Katy and Mariella. 

WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND 2024 continues to October 19.

For further information, including a list of participating artists, scroll down to my previous post 

WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND 2024

Deborah Klein, I Wished on the Moon, 2022, hand-coloured linocut, 34.5 x 26.8 cm, ed. 20

Printed by Simon White at the Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne. 

Photo credit: Tim Gresham

My linocut I Wished on the Moon has been included in the upcoming exhibition Windmills of Your Mind 2024 at One Star Gallery, Melbourne. I’m delighted to be exhibiting with such a stellar group of artists and warmly thank its curators, Mariella Del Conte and Katy Beale, for inviting me to be part of it.

WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND 2024

A themed group exhibition by 25 women artists curated by Mariella Del Conte and Katy Beale*

AMANDA FLORENCE, ANDRÉE VAN SCHAIK, ANN HOLT, ANNA WHITE, CAMILLE HANNAH, DEBORAH KLEIN, DINAH MACLAREN, DONNA MCRAE, DONNA WALSH, ELVIS RICHARDSON, JANE BURTON, JESSICA KRITZER, KALINDA VARY, KATRINA BEALE, MARION HARPER, MELODY WOODNUTT, MELYNDA VON WAYWARD, MOYA DELANY, PATTIE BEERENS, RHONDA DREDGE, SARAH FAULKNER, STEPHANIE JOOK, TIFFANY TITSHALL, VICTORIA HARTCUP, VIOLETTA DEL CONTE-RACE, WENDY JOY MORRISSEY

OPENING FRIDAY OCTOBER 4th,  6pm - 8 pm

One Star Gallery

301-303 Victoria St, West Melbourne 3003

All welcome

Exhibition dates: 3rd - 19th October 2024 

*’’The curators took inspiration from the classic song The Windmills of Your Mind to create an exhibition which delves into the labyrinth of thoughts, dreams, memories, and emotions that shape our consciousness: the internal life on the edges of words, thinking and the senses, which is often best expressed in art by the surreal, the abstract, psychological landscape, symbolism and magic realism.

Artists have been invited to interpret the theme in a way that resonates with their unique creative vision and their own inner workings.” 

The Windmills of Your Mind (Excerpt)

Round, like a circle in a spiral 

Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever-spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain
Or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that's burning
Running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
As the images unwind
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind…                           

- M.Bergman/A. Bergman/M.Legrand

WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND 2024

3rd - 19th October 2024 

One Star Gallery

301-303 Victoria St, West Melbourne 3003

Gallery hours: Thur-Fri 3-7pm, Sat 1-7pm, Sun 1-5pm

Or by appointment: Ph. 0432357537

https://www.instagram.com/onestarlounge/

https://www.facebook.com/onestarloungeandgallery

Title page for an artist book

 

Process views of the lino block for the title page of Decorated Women, a small artist book that has been in development since 2023. For additional views and information, visit our sister blog, Moth Woman Press HERE. 

Revealing REVEAL

 

Yesterday afternoon I was briefly reunited, after heaven knows how many years, with my oil pastel Red Gown, 2003. (See previous post for further information). The drawing is part of REVEAL: WORKS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION, currently on view at Federation University’s  Post Office Gallery, Ballarat. Many thanks to Amy Tsilemanis for the above photo.

Scroll down for selected installation views. Apologies for reflections in the works under glass.

Exhibiting artists: 

Dean BOWEN | Jon CAMPBELL | Antoinetta COVINO-BEEHRE | Rebecca GRIEG | Dale HICKEY | Robert JACKS | Cody JOY | Deborah KLEIN | Bruno LETI | Lewis MILLER | Sally MILLER | Vera MOLLER | Josh MUIR | John R. NEESON | Arron OLLINGTON | Lin ONUS | Wendy STAVRIANOS | Guy STUART | Noela STRATFORD | Barbara WEIR | Deborah WILLIAMS

The exhibition, which runs in conjunction with the Australian Museums and Galleries Association Conference (AMaGA) closes today, Saturday 21 September. Opening hours: 12.30-3.30 pm. 

REVEAL

It has been brought to my attention (thank you, Dr. Carole Wilson) that my drawing Red Gown, 2003, has been included in this all too brief exhibition at Post Office Gallery Ballarat, alongside works by the illustrious artists listed below.

The exhibition is timed to coincide with the AMaGA National Conference 2024, held this week across several iconic Ballarat venues. Accordingly, the gallery has extended its opening hours for the run of the conference.

The image and following text are from Federation University Australia’s website.

REVEAL: WORKS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION

WED 18 SEP - SAT 21 SEP 2024

Dean BOWEN. Jon CAMPBELL. Antoinetta COVINO-BEEHRE. Rebecca GRIEG. Dale HICKEY.  Robert JACKS. Cody JOY. Deborah KLEIN. Bruno LETI. Lewis MILLER. Sally MILLER. Vera MOLLER. Josh MUIR.  John R. NEESON. Arron OLLINGTON. Lin ONUS. Wendy STAVRIANOS. Guy STUART. Noela STRATFORD. Barbara WEIR. Deborah WILLIAMS

Federation University’s Cultural Collection includes the Art Collection of over 2000 high-quality works of art, and its Historical Collection, stored and coordinated through the Mount Helen campus and the State Library of Victoria’s Ballarat Off Site Store (BOSS).

While the earliest works in the Permanent Art Collection are associated with Ballarat Technical Art School, Ballarat Teachers’ College is recognised for its concerted and determined approach to growing the Art Collection, later enhanced by generous gifts through the Cultural Gifts Program.

Covering most periods of Australian Art, including contemporary Australian prints, ceramics, design, painting and sculpture, the Art Collection predominantly features renowned Australian artists, as well as the work of staff and students associated with Federation University and its predecessor institutions.

The University’s Permanent Art Collection contributes to the intellectual and cultural enrichment of its student body, staff and the broader community, while also providing a rich and valuable resource for research.

Showcasing select works from the Art Collection, this exhibition celebrates twenty-one significant Australian artists whose work traces unseen relationships and draws on diverse lived experiences while responding to a myriad of subjects and ideas.

Image: Deborah KLEIN, Red Gown, 2003, oil pastel on paper, H 90 x W 74.5 cm

REVEAL: WORKS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION

POST OFFICE GALLERY

Federation University Australia 

NE corner of Sturt and Lydiard Street Nth 

BALLARAT VIC 3350

Extended opening hours:

Wednesday 18 September: 12.30-5 pm

Thursday 19 September: 12.30-5 pm

Friday 20 September: 12.30-5 pm

Saturday 21 September: 12.30-3.30 pm

Early linocuts at Gippsland Art Gallery

Many thanks to Lesley Duxbury for these photos of two of my early linocuts, currently on exhibit at Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale, one of my favourite regional galleries.

Pictured top: Sometimes Jenny took long and lonely walks along the long and lonely beach, 1988, from the Pirate Jenny Prints suite of linocuts (1987-88). The point of departure for the work was the titular character in The Threepenny Opera, a jazz-influenced opera by Bertolt Brecht (book and lyrics) and Kurt Weill (music). It premiered at Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin in 1928. Ostensibly set in Victorian London, the opera is a savage satire of Germany’s Weimar Republic. In this series, I took Jenny out of London/Berlin and placed her in the red light district of my home town, St Kilda. (It has been done since, in 2010, as a theatre production with the great Paul Capsis as Pirate Jenny, but as far as I know, I was the first to do it)! 

Most of the works in the Pirate Jenny suite owe a debt to German Expressionism, in the case of this work, the German Expressionist film The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, 1920, (Dir. Robert Wiene). 

The second linocut, the absurdist A Man, a Woman and a Duck, 1996, also set on St Kilda beach, is a more playful and affectionate homage to my home town. (Image 2, second from top).

Second view, top: Susan Fraser, One, two, slide, Back, two, slide, 2013, linocut. 

All works: Collection Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale.

I understand the works will be on view for three months.

Acanthus

On the easel, top: Acanthus, 2024, acrylic on canvas board, last seen on June 1 as part of Decorated Women, two giant projections towering over Ballarat’s wet and wintry streets* in White Night Ballarat 2024.

*N.B. Spring is here now, supposedly, and it’s still wet and wintry. But I digress…

Acanthus can be viewed up close and personal (and on a more human scale) in my upcoming solo exhibition at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne from December 4-21. Do save the date. 

Photo credit image 2: Tim Gresham 

Photo credit image 3: Shane Jones

Studio news

Pictured above and below: Alice B. Cat hitches a ride on Shane Jones for a closer look at a selection of my recent paintings laid out on the work table.

The would-be connoisseur was quickly discouraged when she got a too little too paws-on (although it could be argued that she was wearing white gloves).

Undaunted, the felon proceeded to attempt a break-in of the studio cupboard.

The paintings will be exhibited at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne from 4 - 21 December - minus paw prints, hopefully. 

Melbourne International Film Festival 2024

Oh, MIFF 2024, how I’ll miss you. 

Pictured top: Shane Jones and I on the red carpet at our beloved Forum Cinema - two interlopers standing in the spot ordinarily reserved for visiting dignitaries. (On the other hand, if a lifelong love of film - and seeing it in the cinema, as it should be seen - is also a pre-requisite, then hell, we couldn’t be in a more appropriate setting).

Pictured below: interior views of the Forum, the Capitol Cinema and three snapshots taken at the screening of the documentary Dory Previn: On My Way to Where at the Kino Cinema.

On the mezzanine of the Forum Cinema, Shane checks his MIFF sessions

Closing credits of Close Your Eyes (dir. Victor Erice) at the Capitol Cinema 

All in all, Shane and I saw 20 films at MIFF 24. I won’t list them all, but my personal favourites, in no particular order, were: Close Your Eyes (dir. Víctor Erice), My Favourite Cake (dir. Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha), Tuesday (dir. Daina O. Pusić), Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (dir. David Hinton), Dory Previn: On My Way to Where (dir. Julia Greenberg and Dianna Dilworth), Most Precious of Cargoes (dir. Michel Hazanavicius), All Shall Be Well (Dir. Ray Yeung), and last, but very far from least, Flow, (dir. Gints Zilbalodis), which I was thrilled to learn has just been awarded the Bright Horizons Special Jury Award:

Flow (dir. Gints Zilbalodis)
Bright Horizons Special Jury Award
We would also like to recognise a movie that not only had a profound impact on us as jury members, but which through its grace, empathy and universality will leave a mark on cinema and the world at large.” – 2024 MIFF Awards Jury

(MIFF 2024 newsletter, Sunday August 25 2024). 

My greatest personal MIFF highlight was meeting Julia Greenberg and Dianna Dilworth, co-directors of Dory Previn: On My Way to Where at the Kino Cinema bar after the Q&A that followed a screening of their film. 

The music and lyrics of Dory Previn have been a hugely significant part of my life since I first discovered her work in the early 1970s. I was well aware of this recently completed crowd-funded documentary, but was beginning to despair of ever having an opportunity to view it. Imagine my surprise and delight to discover it was included in the Music on Film category at this year’s MIFF. 

Over the years I’ve been saddened to see Dory Previn’s unique, deeply personal, yet in so many ways, universal and infinitely relatable work, slip into relative obscurity. The primary aim of Dory Previn: On My Way to Where is to rectify this. I can’t begin to thank the filmmakers enough, and thanks to MIFF 24, was able to tell them so myself. 

Dory Previn: On My Way to Where, dir. Julia Greenberg and Dianna Dilworth 

Melbourne International Film Festival ran from 8-25 August.