Saturday, November 26, 2016

My Sixteenth Year Contribution to the '9 x 5' Exhibition
Walker Street Gallery & Arts Centre
Dandenong, Victoria (Australia)
Art Exhibition

Marie-Therese Wisniowski


Preamble
My artwork has appeared in a number of exhibitions which has been featured on this blog spot. For your convenience I have listed these posts below.
ArtCloth: Engaging New Visions (Marie-Therese Wisniowski - Curator's Talk)
Sequestration of CO2 (Engaging New Visions) M-T. Wisniowski
Codes – Lost Voices (ArtCloth Installation) M-T. Wisniowski
Unleashed: The Rise of Australian Street Art (Art Exhibition) Various Artists
Merge and Flow (SDA Members Exhibition) M-T. Wisniowski
The Journey (Megalo Studio) M-T. Wisniowski
Another Brick (Post Graffiti ArtCloth Installation) M-T. Wisniowski
ArtCloth Swap & Exhibition
My Fifteen Year Contribution to the '9 x 5' Exhibition
When Rainforests Ruled (Purple Noon Art & Sculpture Gallery) M-T. Wisniowski
When Rainforests Glowed (Eden Gardens Gallery) M-T. Wisniowski
My Southern Land (Galerie 't Haentje te Paart, Netherlands) M-T. Wisniowski
The Last Exhibition @ Galerie ’t Haentje the Paart
Mark Making on Urban Walls @ Palm House (Post Graffiti Art Work)
Fleeting - My ArtCloth Work Exhibited @ Art Systems Wickham Art Gallery
Timelines: An Environmental Journey
My Contribution to Lake Macquarie's Water Exhibition
The Effects of Global Warming - ArtCloth Exhibition@Rathmines Heritage Centre’s Boiler Room
ATASDA's ‘A Touch of Gold’ 50th Anniversary Exhibition - Part I
ATASDA’s ‘A Touch of Gold’ 50th Anniversary Exhibition - Part II
ATASDA's 'A Touch of Gold’ 50th Anniversary Exhibition - Part III


9 x 5 Exhibition Artworks
In 2006, Cathy Van Ee, the Visual and Community Arts Co-ordinator at Walker Street Gallery, Dandenong, (Australia) invited me to participate in the inaugural '9 x 5' exhibition program. In 2016 David O’Halloran, the then Visual and Community Arts Co-ordinator at Walker Street Gallery and staff celebrated the Walker Street Gallery’s 30 year anniversary at the '9 x 5' exhibition opening in December, 2016. The exhibition ran from 1st to 21st December, 2016. In 2023, the Walker Street Gallery is holding its 16th '9 x 5’ exhibition curated by Esther Gyorki, the current Curatorial and Exhibitions Officer. The exhibition runs from 18th April to 23rd June, 2023.

Below you will find images of all of my 9 x 5 artworks, which were created for the inaugural 2006 exhibition to the present exhibition. All of the 9" x 5" wooden boards on which the artworks were created/mounted on are supplied to the artist’s by the Walker Street Gallery. Some of my artworks are available for purchase. Please email at - Marie-Therese - if you wish to purchase any of these unique artworks.


Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre
The Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre is in the City of Greater Dandenong, a suburb of Melbourne (Australia).

The Gallery celebrates and enhances its great city with its diverse range of exhibitions, artist talks and monthly openings and brings energy and vibrancy to the arts with a contemporary and multicultural flavour. The Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre hosts an exciting range of high quality and diverse exhibitions from leading Australian artists. The Gallery now stages three major ‘open for submission’ exhibitions each year. In March each year, the 'She' exhibition celebrates the diversity and strength of visual art made by Australian female artists. The '9 by 5' exhibition held in December each year, commemorates the original 1989 exhibition held at Buxton’s of Swanston Street and is open to artists of all levels. The 'Home and Art' exhibition and prize is for artists from an asylum seeker and refugee background. The Walker Street Gallery and Arts Centre is funded by the City of Greater Dandenong and is open free to the public. The Centre also consists of a performing arts theatre and meeting rooms, which can be hired by the public.

In 2005 my - Veiled Curtains - silkscreened series was selected for the Walker Street Gallery's 'She Who Inspires' exhibition.


The History of the '9 x 5' Exhibition
The '9 by 5 Impression' exhibition was an art exhibition in Melbourne, Australia. The exhibition was opened on 17th August 1889 in Buxton's Rooms on Swanston Street and featured 183 works; the majority of which were painted by Tom Roberts, Charles Conder and Arthur Streeton.

The exhibition established Tom Roberts and his friends reputations as innovators and created their identity as a group – Australian Impressionists. Before the exhibition opened the "Table Talk" magazine art critic Sophie Osmond explained "Impressionism" to her readers as ‘sketchy work, brilliant in colour but vague in design’ and alerted the public to a forthcoming exhibition of Impressionist works in Melbourne:

“Now… the public will have the opportunity of judging for itself what Impressionism really is, for it is the intention of our Victorian artists to hold an ‘Impressionist’ exhibition in Mr. Tom Roberts’s studio at the Grosvenor Chamber’s in about a month’s time. The three principals of the movement are Mr Tom Roberts, Mr Charles Conder and Mr. Arthur Streeton, who have taken the responsibility of the matter into their own hands. These three artists are generally considered to be the leaders of Impressionism here, while Fred McCubbin may possibly be added as a fourth…”

In the small catalogue produced by the artists they explained their interests and aims. ‘An effect is only momentary; so an Impressionist tries to find his place. Two half hours are never alike, and he who tries to paint the sunset on two successive evenings, must be more or less working from memory. So in these works, it has been the object of the artist to render faithfully, and thus obtain first records of effects that widely differing, and often of very fleeting character.’

The opening created a stir in Melbourne (Australia). The rooms were decorated in an aesthetic style, with draperies of soft Liberty silk, Japanese umbrellas, blue and green vases filled with japonica and roses, violets and jonquils, and the air was sweet with the perfume of daphne. The artists wanted to convey momentary impressions of colour and light, fleeting atmospheric effects and the transient moods of nature.

Following Whistler’s example, most of the works were shown in simple wooden standardized frames. The exhibition’s title referred to the size of the wooden panels they painted on, which were nine by five inches (23 x 12.5 cm). Others were painted on cigar-box lids provided by Roberts’ friend Louis Abrahams, whose family imported cigars.

The exhibition created much lively commentary at the time and is now seen as a "celebrated event in Australian art history". The 9 by 5 continue to appear on the market; in 2009, Conder's Centennial Choir at Sorrento (cat. 151) sold at Sotheby's for AU$492,000. In 2012, to mark the 123rd anniversary of the exhibition, arts benefactor Max Carter donated four 9 by 5 (valued at over AU$3,000,000) to the Art Gallery of South Australia, the largest group of 9 by 5 ever given to an Australian public institution.

Charles Conder (designer) 
England 1868–1909, lived in Australia. 1884–90 
Fergusson & Mitchell, Melbourne (printer)
1857 – 1890s.
 Catalogue of
 the 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition held on the 17th August 1889.
 Photo–lithograph and letter press hand–made paper: 
17.7 x 21.6 cm (open), 17.7 x 10.6 cm 
(closed). 
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
. Purchased in 2006.
Caption courtesy National Gallery of Victoria.
Catalogue cover image courtesy of - https://www.artistsfootsteps.com/html/Conder9x5cat.htm.


My Sixteenth Year Contribution to the '9 x 5' Exhibition

TRÉSORS (Full View)
Title: TRÉSORS (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artist’s signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) technique, hand painted, silkscreened and stencilled employing disperse dyes, opaque and metallic pigment on satin substrate.
Year: 2023.

TRÉSORS (Detail View)
Title: TRÉSORS (Detail View).

Life Emerges (Full View)
Title: Life Emerges (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artist’s signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) technique, hand printed and silkscreened employing disperse dyes, native flora, transparent, opaque and metallic pigment on satin substrate.
Year: 2020.


Life Emerges (Detail View)
Title: Life Emerges (Detail View).


Title: Rainforest Beauty (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artist’s signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) technique, hand painted and silkscreened employing disperse dyes, native flora, opaque and metallic pigment on satin substrate.
Year: 2019.

Title: Rainforest Beauty (Detail View).

Title: Ginkgo Tales (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artist’s signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) technique, painted, silkscreened and stenciled employing disperse dyes, opaque and metallic pigment on satin substrate.
Year: 2018.
Collection: Private collector, Melbourne, Australia.

Title: Ginkgo Tales (Detail View).

Title: Rainforest Glow (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artistʼs signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) print employing disperse dyes on satin substrate.
Year: 2017.

Title: Rainforest Glow (Detail View).

Title: Fleeting II (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artist’s signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) prints and silk screened prints employing disperse dyes, pigment paints and gold foil on synthetic substrate.
Year: 2016.

Title: Fleeting II (Detail View).

Title: A Summer Memory (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artist’s signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) background prints, stencil rubbings and screen prints employing disperse dyes, metallic oil colour and pigment on satin.
Year: 2015.

Title: Myaree III (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artistʼs signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) print employing disperse dyes on satin and organza plus hand stitching.
Year: 2014.
Collection: Private collector, The Netherlands.

Title: Myaree III (Detail View).

Title: Myaree (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artistʼs signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) print employing disperse dyes on satin substrate.
Year: 2013.

Title: Myaree (Detail View).

Title: Untitled (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artistʼs signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) print on satin substrate employing disperse dyes and metallic pigment.
Year: 2012.
Collection: Private collector, Sydney, Australia.

Title: Unfurling (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artistʼs signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) print employing disperse dyes on satin substrate.
Year: 2011.

Title: Unfurling (Detail View).

Title: Gondwana Memories (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artistʼs signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) print on satin substrate, hand printed, multiple resists and overprinting employing disperse dyes.
Year: 2010.

Title: Gondwana Memories (Detail View).

Title: Blossoms Falling, Lotus Rising (Full View).
Technique and Media: The artistʼs signature MultiSperse Dye Sublimation (MSDS) print on satin substrate, hand printed, multiple resists and overprinting employing disperse dyes.
Year: 2009.
Collection: Private collector, Melbourne, Australia.

Title: Haiku (Full View).
Technique and Media: Archival Inkjet Print.
Year: 2008.

Title: Haiku (Detail View).

Title: Cultural Grafitti V (Full View).
Technique and Media: Matrix formatted silkscreen print employing disperse dye heat transfer inks and pigment paint on satin.
Year: 2007.

Title: Cultural Grafitti V (Detail View).

Title: Sum of the Parts - A Call to War (Full View).
Technique and Media: Laminated paper and silk inkjet print.
Year: 2006.


Reference:
Content Information sourced from Walker Street Art Gallery, National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, and Wikipedia.

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Découpage
Art Essay

Marie-Therese Wisniowski

Introduction
Découpage is derived from the French word découper which translates as “to cut out”. The art of découpage was first practiced as a form of furniture decoration during the 17th Century in both France and Italy. Engravings were cut out, colored, glued to the surface on items of furniture and then “sunk” under numerous coats of varnish or lacquer so that the finish effect closely resembled that of fine inlay work. As découpage traveled through Europe in the 18th Century, it was enthusiastically adopted by of the courts, who amused themselves by imitating the then fashionable Chinese lacquer work. Découpage became popular pastime for “gentlewomen” and it was applied to a wide variety of objects – often made from paper maché - ranging from hair brushes to tea caddies to elaborate panel screens.

Part of a 19th Century English nursery screen decorated with découpage.
Courtesy of reference [1].

The techniques for découpage have not changed much over the years: the only real modification is the quicker-drying varnishes that are now available.

Favorite bird découpage with matching ribbon.
Courtesy reference[2].

Découpage can be applied to virtually any firm and durable surface: wood, metal, glass, ceramic and even plastic are all suitable bases. The objects you can decorate with découpage are numerous – trays, boxes, picture frames, screens, lampshades, bookends and even suit cases!

Autumn leaves have been used imaginatively to decorate this set of traveling cases and hatbox.
Courtesy reference[1].


Some Examples of the Art of Découpage

Rose picture frame in black, red and gold.
Courtesy of reference[2].

Walnut plaque with card decoupage in it.
Courtesy of reference[2].

Some of the work below have been design using an array of colors and images shown below.

Some raw images used to découpage some of the items below.
Courtesy of Diane Dowe and reference[3].

Child’s vintage wooden shoe and shoe tree decoupage with fine strips of floral border.
Courtesy of Diane Dowe and reference[3].

A wooden jewel case decoupage with prints of Persian and Coptic rugs which is further enhanced by the presence of handmade beads.
Courtesy of Diane Dowe and reference[3].

A box exquisitely decoupage inside and out.
Courtesy of Diane Dowe and reference[3].

A turn-of-last century hat box decoupage in Renaissance style with Madonnas and a tall, glass cylinder done in an all-over millefleurs style.
Courtesy of Diane Dowe and reference[3].

A small Victorian scrap-screen has been découpage using photographs from a scrapbook.
Courtesy of Diane Dowe and reference[3].

An 18th Century tapestry print covers an entire box.
Courtesy of Diane Dowe and reference[3].


References:
[1] A. Jeffs, W. Martensson and P. North, Equinox, Oxford (1977).

[2] C. E. Kicklighter and R.J. Baird, The Goodheart-Wilcox Company Inc., South Holland (1986).

[3] K. Healey, Découpage, Harlaxton Publishing Ltd, Grantham (1992).

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Sea Scrolls. Celebrating 50 Years of Print
Prints on Cloth and Prints on Paper

Marie-Therese Wisniowski

Introduction
‘Sea Scrolls. Celebrating 50 Years of Print’ was an exhibition conceived by the Newcastle Printmakers Workshop Inc. (NPW) exhibition committee to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Print Council of Australia. The exhibition was held at Art Systems Wickham, Newcastle, 21st to 30th October 2016. Works by 25 members of the NPW were exhibited. My ArtCloth work - Fleeting - has been a subject of a previous post and so will not be shown below, although it was shown in this exhibition.

Based in Adamstown, Newcastle, NSW, Australia, The Newcastle Printmakers Workshop (NPW) Inc is a community based group of printmakers who work in a variety of printmaking media (e.g. solar print, intaglio, relief, lithography and screen printing. It is the longest running workshop in Australia. Established in 1979 as a non-profit organization its aims are:
• to provide access to equipment and workshop space for the benefit of practicing artists, students, ex-students and beginners.
• to arrange classes in the techniques of printmaking.
• to develop a public awareness of printmaking, particularly with regards to distinguishing 
between an original print and a reproduction.

The history of the NPW has been well documented (see NPW History) and for any further enquiries please email them (npw1979@gmail.com).

The NPW logo.

The exhibition was held at "Art Systems Wickham" (ASW). It was established in 2008 by the gallery’s owner/director Colin Lawson. ASW is located at 40 Annie Street, Wickham, NSW 2293. It is close to the highly popular Honeysuckle Precinct and Newcastle’s bustling harbor fringe. ASW is a contemporary art-space that endeavors to promote cutting edge art of diverse forms by leading art practitioners. The artworks that are exhibited at ASW are original, inspiring, high quality contemporary works of art that are competitively priced. The gallery also boasts an extensive stockroom of artworks by prominent mid career and emerging artists. The gallery is available to successful applicants, both artists and curators on a rental basis. Located in a warehouse in the heart of Wickham, Newcastle, the gallery has approximately 25 metres of wall space and a floor area of 60 sq. metres. All walls are professionally finished and are fitted with hanging rails. Professional track lighting is installed throughout. Opening hours are Friday to Sunday 11 am - 4 pm. The gallery may be accessed outside the advertised opening times in consultation with the director. For further enquiries please email the director Colin Lawson (asw.artspace@hotmail.com).

The ASW logo.


Exhibition Concept
In February 2016 Gina McDonald, the Exhibitions Co-ordinator for the NPW, sought 'Expressions of Interest' from members of the NPW to explore and interpret their response to the “Sea” by creating scrolls to be hung or displayed in approximately a one meter space per artist. The work printed on the scrolls could in turn be printed on archival paper to be sold as smaller unframed works.

The criteria for the exhibition was based on the following:
Sci-fi writer H.P. Lovecraft once said that the ocean "is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time." We land-dwellers can sometimes take the ocean for granted, but we really shouldn't, since the Earth's surface is 70% water. When you think of it that way, this is the ocean's planet, and we're just guests.


‘Sea Scrolls. Celebrating 50 Years of Print’ - Exhibition Images
The images below feature photographs from the exhibition opening. The artists works below are featured as a full view and a detail view of each individual artwork in the exhibition. I hope you will enjoy this exhibition as much as I have.
Note: All photographs unless otherwise stated are courtesy of the author.

Opening night.
Photograph courtesy NPW.

Opening night.
Photograph courtesy NPW.

Opening night.
Photograph courtesy NPW.

Artist: Samantha Powell.
Title: Throsby (Full View).
Technique: Linocut.

Title: Throsby (Detail View).

Artist: Lisa Kirkpatrick.
Title: Sea Change (Full View).
Technique and Media: Silkscreen on rice paper.

Sea Change (Detail View).

Artist: Amanda Donohue.
Title: High Tide (Full View).
Technique: Woodcut.

Title: High Tide (Detail View)

Artist: Robin Hundt.
Title: Luminescence (Full View).
Technique: Woodcut.

Title: Luminescence (Detail View).

Artist: Jim Williams.
Title: Untitled (Full View).
Technique : Silkscreen.

Title: Untitled (Detail View).

Artist: Helene Leane.
Title: Above (Full View), Below (Full View).
Technique: Gouache monotype.

Title: Below (Detail View).

Artist: Anne Maree Hunter.
Left Title: Song of the Sea-shell (Full View). Right Title: Chorale Bleaching and the Mermaid’s Tears (Full View). Technique and Media: Linoprint with hand-stamping and thermo powder on a pianola roll.

Right Title: Chorale Bleaching and the Mermaid’s Tears (Detail View).

Artist: Linda Swinfield.
Title: Passage series 2016 (Full View).
Technique: Screenprint and solar plate.

Title: Passage series 2016 (Detail View).

Artist: Jeanne Harrison.
Title: Script of the Sea (Full View).
Technique: Etching.

Title: Script of the Sea (Detail View).

Artist: Pauline Tickner.
Title: Rising Tide (Full View).
Technique: Woodblock, chine colle.

Title: Rising Tide (Detail View).

Artist: Penny Wilson.
Title: Message in a bottle (Full View).
Technique: Installation, mixed media.

Title: Message in a bottle (Detail View).

Artist: Patricia Wilson-Adams.
Title: Wail (Full View).
Technique and Media: Letterpress on Rives BFK.

Title: Wail (Detail View).

Artist: IIeana Clarke.
Title: Weightless/Weightlessness (Full View).
Technique: Charcoal monotype.

Title: Weightless/Weightlessness (Detail View).

Artist: Gianna Fallavollita.
Title: Seashells and Seaweed (Full View).
Technique: Colllograph and drypoint.

Title: Seashells and Seaweed (Detail View).

Artist: Jen Castaldi.
Title: Tidal Existence (Full View).
Technique: Solar Plate.

Title: Tidal Existence (Detail View).

Artist: Gina McDonald.
Title: Rain catcher (Full View).
Technique: Woodcut, collograph and gold leaf.

Title: Rain catcher (Detail View).

Artist: Lynne Britten.
Title: Indigo Flow (Full View).
Technique and Media: Dye and fabric paint on cotton.

Title: Indigo Flow (Detail View).

Artist: Vale Zakarauskas.
Title: The Wave (Full View).
Technique: Collograph, etching, encaustic.

Title: The Wave (Detail View).

Artist: Megan Lewis.
Title: All that he could see see see,
all that he could see see sea.. (Full View)
Technique: Stencil.

Title: All that he could see see see,
all that he could see see sea.. (Detail View)

Artist: Robyn Culley.
Title: The Offering (Full View).
Technique: Collograph.

Title: The Offering (Detail View).

Artist: Michelle Strazzari.
Title: Life Forms Below (Full View).
Technique: Woodcut.

Title: Life Forms Below (Detail View).

Artist: Therese Gabriel Wilkins.
Title: Playtime at the Beach (Full View).
Technique and Media: Hand printed on cotton.

Title: Playtime at the Beach (Detail View).

Artist: Jane Collins.
Title: Seal Rocks I & II (Full View).
Technique: Drypoint.

Title: Seal Rocks I (Detail View).

Artist: Judy Henry.
Title: Hooked, after Magritte (Full View).
Technique: Stencil.

Title: Hooked, after Magritte (Detail View).