Hi Everyone!
Well...Sydney was pretty and busy...
View from the hotel.
Looking good Sydney.
I have an addiction and it's not what you're maybe thinking.
I need to be constantly inspired and mentally stimulated!
So apart from previewing some very fabulous summer collections (all of which
will be revealed at a later date to achieve maximum excitement),
I took in these new gallery exhibitions which are on right now...
Kaldor Art Projects
13Rooms
13 Rooms Exhibition at Walsh Bay
Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Klaus Biesenbach this innovative exhibition
features big name artists such as Marina Abramovic and Damien Hirst
as well as newer names like Brisbane duo Clark Beaumont.
So... you head for the door, turn the handle and see what's inside...
Clark Beaumont
Through live and mediated performance works, Sarah Clark and Nicole Beaumont
investigate ideas about identity, intimacy and interpersonal relationships.
Coexisting 2013 positions the artists as artwork; the pair spending the during of the
11 day exhibition negotiating the space of a small plinth.
This experience was so beautiful and I really felt for the girls - such a level
of commitment and I'm sure discomfort.
Xu Zhen
A prolific and controversial artist, Xu Zhen often employs humour and sophisticated
trickery in his works.
For In Just a Blink of an Eye 2005, a breathing body floats mysteriously in mid-air,
frozen in time and space as if defying the constraints of physics.
No! Definitely no strings!
In Tino Sehgal's room, I was confronted by a man at a desk who was
asking to swap his one possession, in this case an unlit cigarette.
I told him that I didn't really want to give anything of mine up but I was secretly
keen to rid the world of another cigarette, so I swapped it for my opened packet of
hand wipes.
He continued the process with other people visiting the room.
I don't know how he went with my hand wipes as I kept moving!
An interesting approach to be part of the process.
13Rooms is only on for 11 days, ending this Sunday the 21st of April
so be quick to take the experience.
It's fantastic!
Artist notes courtesy of Kaldor Art Projects
White Rabbit Gallery
Smash Palace
CBD 2010 (porcelain) by Zhou Jie
Made of porcelain china and set on a bed of rice, this mini-city is a reminder of China's cultural heritage.
But it also expresses the artist's deep ambivalence about urban development.
The buildings are closely modelled on those of Beijing's new CBD, are covered with growths that resemble
pathologic organisms.
"New buildings are spreading like viruses," Zhou Jie says.
"Cities are bound to grow with the economy, but we are invading nature and upsetting the balance."
Madeln Company led by Xu Zhen
Under Heaven 20121018, 2012
Oil paint, canvas, aluminium board
This delicious piece contains over 70kg of oil paint all squeezed straight from a chef's icing bag.
Xu Zhen sees this work as a kind of landscape - a city, perhaps, or a forest or coral reef,
viewed from a great height.
In a further link with tradition, the painting's name invokes an ancient term for the material,
earthly world: tianxia, "all under heaven".
Smash Palace is the latest show at this space which specialises
in contemporary Chinese art, specifically from 2000 onwards.
The gallery isn't too big to take in but packs a punch with content
and you can relax before or after the show in their Teahouse.
The Smash Palace show is on now until the 4th of August.
Artists notes courtesy of White Rabbit Gallery.
The fashion party of the week was definitely the P.A.M. Black Gold Launch at Tattlers in Kings Cross.
Even Susie Lau (Stylebubble) was on the dance floor!
I also stopped in at the local launch from French publication A Magazine
at Sydney boutique Assin.
Each issue is curated wholly by a different person and this time, it's milliner extraordinaire Stephen Jones.
Assin Window for A Magazine
Here are our latest arrivals...
Dress Up, Melbourne
Some Dreamers AW13
Soft Polo Neck
85% cotton / 15% wool
Kimono cut long sleeved tee with soft polo neck and cuff
Light weight, super soft jersey
Oatmeal
Pale Blue
Sizes 6 to 12
$99
Denim Style Pants
60% wool / 40% silk
Slim fitting, high waist pleated trouser with tapered leg and cuffed hem.
Jean style detailing with 5 pockets, fly front, belt loops, rivets and jean button.
Blue Check
Sizes 6 to 12
$385
Draped Drawstring Dress
70% wool / 30% silk
Mid calf length dress with drawstring waist, dropped shoulder and cowl neck V insert.
Indigo
Sizes 6 to 12
$462
Photography - Christopher Morris
Hair - Shukeel Murtaza
Make Up - Amanda Joe
Dress Up is available exclusively in Brisbane at Blonde Venus!
Antipodium, London
How To Affect Robots and Influence People NH SS13
Interface Shirtdress
100% Cotton Georgette
Contrast Mandarin Collar in Burgundy Twill
Sleeveless mid-length Shirtdress with concealed front buttons
Layered bodice detail
Side pockets and belt loops
Skirt is fully lined
White
Sizes 6 to 14
$289
Also available on-line:
Interface Blouse
100% Cotton Georgette
Contrast Mandarin Collar in Burgundy Twill
Concealed front buttons
Layered bodice detail
Sizes 6 to 14
$219
Antipodium is available exclusively in Brisbane at Blonde Venus!
Karen Walker Eyewear
Karen Walker Forever NH SS13
Intergalactic in Pink $399
Matt Rabbidge, one of the nine guys from the defunct and sorely missed
Nine LIves Art Gallery has started his own business called Mild Manners
and is launching a series of exhibitions at the k.O.M.A. space
above Ksubi.
The first in the series launches this week with a group show including
Andrew Gordon, Ben Havenaar, Hamishi, James Ettelson,
Jedda Daisy Culley, Mark Alsweiller and Mike Bennett
and will be on show until the 20th of May.
k.O.M.A is upstairs at 2/30 James Street, Fortitude Valley
On Friday night the 19th, Eucalyptic Echoes returns to the Brunswick Hotel
in New Farm with Nite Fields, Gazar Strips, Heavy Toll and Ultra Material.
Be prepared for cheap drinks and a late night.
Doors are at 9pm and it's $10 entry.
On Saturday night the 20th, The Buzzcocks are back to play another show
at The Zoo.
Those Moet loving punk rockers are being supported by locals Bleeding Knees Club and
the Keep on Dancin's.
Doors are at 8pm and tickets are $55.
Also on Saturday night, Geelong's The Living Eyes are being supported by locals Tiny Migrants,
Cobwebs and Sewers at Fat Louie's, Level 1, 124 Albert Street, the City.
Doors are at 8pm and apparently this is a free show! Amazing!
It's been a super busy week in store with the new season
and post fashion week as I have some orders to finish!
I'm also doing 2 days a QUT with the latest group of third year fashion students.
Come down to the block this weekend and check out the fancy NEW dining room at Flamingo Cafe.
It is such a cool thing!
Also, it is Record Store Day on Saturday and Tym's Guitars have some special treats
lined up.
See you soon,
Thea X