FRISSON - Ready to go!

'Frisson' is hung! All the paintings are up on the walls of Graydon Gallery and I feel very happy with how it all looks. I did not have to leave out any paintings and I was not wishing I had extra.

The exhibition is not overhung and crowded, but neither is it sparse.



I am delighted that Art Historian Dr. Christine Dauber is opening the exhibition tomorrow night. The opening starts at around 5.30 and the official bit will happen around 6.30-6.45 pm.



Here's a blurb about Christine:



Christine Dauber

PhD, BA, BA Honours (Art History) University of Queensland

Christine Dauber has enjoyed a long involvement with the arts in Queensland. She has chaired a number of committees including that of the Queensland Art Gallery Society. Her formal training in the area includes an Bachelor of Arts Degree with a double major and an Honours Degree in Art History. In 2007 she completed her Doctorate at the University of Queensland, for which she received a Dean’s Honours Commendation. Her thesis, “Highjacked Agenda: The National Museum of Australia and the Gallery of the First Australians” addresses how the inclusion of the Gallery of the First Australians inflects concepts of the national in Australian cultural life. This thesis also considered how the newly established museum became involved within the History Wars debate.

Christine’s articles have been published in a number of peer reviewed journals and books. She has had teaching experience at the University of Queensland, at the Queensland University of Technology and at Griffith University. She has acted as arts critic and editor for the e-journal M/COnline and as convenor of the Queensland Art Gallery’s journal Artlines. She has been involved in public programming and has had extensive fundraising experience.





EXHIBITING

Hanging an exhibition is not as easy as it may look. Firstly, placement of the paintings takes time, because they need to be hung to complement each other in theme, subject matter, colour and even shape. Once the placement is done...and this is after picking one painting up and puttting it somewhere, to then maybe moving it and other paintings numerous times until the whole exhibition makes your heart sing! Once placed, the paintings need to be hung. Now this can be either easy or difficult depending on the hanging system used at the gallery. Graydon Gallery's system is good. But, of course paintings need to be level and hung at a height which gives some unity. So, the tweeking here and there can take time...like lots of time! Once this is done, then labels, didactics, artist's statements etc can be placed around the exhibtion, but not in a way that visually intrudes. Then once that is all done, you can print off the catalogue, which can be a simple list of the paintings with medium, date and price or it can be more elaborate with images also included. I opt for the former.


Then you wait for the invited visitors, passers by, return collectors to come! But, not before you've followed up on PR, sent gentle reminder emails to people, updated Facebook... and the list goes on!


An exhibition, particularly a solo show, is extremely important for an artist for many reasons. The primary one is that it showcases many months [sometimes years] of work, where the artist has buried him or herself in the studio immersed in creation, teasing out concepts and thoughts which are meaningful or engaging to them. Exhibiting is actually quite emotional, because it is a baring of your soul to the world with all that baring entails, but it is also an opportunity to sell! Artists' materials, PR, exhibition costs, photographic documentation, website maintenance and fees, insurances, freight, competition fees, framing, accountancy fees, commissions etc need to be paid! Like any business artists juggle all sorts of costs, but unlike many businesses there can be months between sales/income.

I will try to remember to take photos tomorrow night or get someone else to. I am really looking forward to the opening!

Unfortunately my opening clashes with the opening of the Brisbane Senses: Roatry Art Spectacular Art Award and Exhibition which is being held at the Riverside Centre here in Brisbane until March 27. I have three paintings which have been selected for inclusion. Here's a link to the post I wrote about the three paintings http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/01/archetypal.html

And, I think I'll finish this post with a quote by Dr. Christine Dauber about my paintings.

It must first be understood that Brimblecombe–Fox is not so much concerned with landscape painting per se, but in a Warburgian sense, searches for the universal connections, or common ground between people, races and religions. Thus, she uses the “tree of life” or “tree of knowledge” as a repetitive motif and in so doing, deploys its spiritual associations as a global referent. Christine Dauber

Over the period of the exhibition I will write every few days about happenings, thoughts, reactions etc.

Cheers,

Kathryn