Visual Arts

The small creative empire that is Keith + Lottie continues to grow and grow and grow. The new addition to this family is an upstairs component called Whitegoods, an aid to creative inspiration by providing artists and designers with an assortment of blank products. Think canvases, designer toys, blank apparel, babushka dolls, skateboard decks… even the facilities to create badges and short run digital fabric printing. Yes, a whole new world of creativity has just opened up. To celebrate, be sure to check out the Whitegoods exhibition downstairs featuring Deathbot, Creepy, Suspecto, Hagar, Golden Child and Sleep which runs until September 12. (more…)

Alwin Reamillo has a love affair with pianos. His love affair is so extensive that he has not only been invited to contribute in two international projects but is now also hosting a wonderful solo show called Playing by Ear (Oido). This exhibition, which is being held at Gallery East on Stirling Highway in North Fremantle, explores notions of memory, migration, displacement, and reconstruction… all with the humble piano as backdrop. See what happens when you come from a family of master piano crafters… at Gallery East until September 14. (more…)

The Grace Crowley Being Modern exhibition currently running at the Art Gallery of Western Australia is a hidden gem, much like Crowley herself. It’s the first exhibition of Crowley’s work since 1975 and acts as a retrospective. Crowley’s work shifts from landscape to cubism to pure abstraction, all of it embroiled in a wonderful old school charm, the kind imbued in modern art back when it was modern, well before the era of the post-modern. Not to be missed, Being Modern is just that and runs until September 21. (more…)

There is a resurgence of zine culture and small independent press publishing in Australia of late. Every city across the nation has an underground buzz as individuals and artist collectives take on the art of DIY publishing to create the documents that will define their generation. Nowhere is this buzz more evident than in Sydney, particularly since an underground art collective have armed themselves with a four tonne weapon of mass dissemination, leading to the creation of Big Fag Press. (more…)

If tags are the cornerstone of graffiti then pieces are the buildings and skyscrapers which spring from those first bricks. Pieces – which is modest shortening of the word masterpieces – are the end result of the graffiti artists’ relentless flourish and scrawl. They are a large scale rendition of the tag, often executed in a three dimensional typography which at first can seem almost indecipherable in its intricacy, a giant prismatic Mobius strip of lines and colour, angles and edge. That is, of course, part of the intention, the piece the graffiti artist’s expression of their skill, dexterity and capability. (more…)

It’s amazing to think what you can accomplish in one lifetime. It’s even more amazing to think of what you can accomplish if stick true to your vision and persevere against all odds. Not an easy feat, especially considering most of us experience difficulty just paying bills. So imagine how much of a challenge it must have been for an innovative thinker like Leonardo Da Vinci, who lived 550 years ago in Renaissance Florence, an era which celebrated new thinking but shied away from homosexuality – although apparently Da Vinci did not. (more…)

This is an event not to be missed! On August 22 until August 24, the Art Gallery of Western Australia explodes in a flurry of flowers as the annual Art in Bloom blossoms across this most hallowed of art institutions. But what makes this event even more fantastic are some of the artists who will be participating. They include drag legend and BAFTA winner Strykermeyer, Artrage CEO Marcus Canning, graf superhero Stormie Mills, the equally audacious Shime, Micah, Russell Blaikie from Must, PIAF Artistic Director Shelagh Magadza plus many, many more. Catch this show – it’s on for one weekend and one weekend only. www.artgallery.wa.gov.au

The art of executing skill – and thus making such skill seem effortless – lies in the planning. That’s why if you or somebody you know is a rather marvellous sculptor then here is the perfect opportunity for them. Sculpture by the Sea are currently on the lookout for sculptors or artists to participate in the 2009 edition at Cottesloe Beach. It’s an amazing opportunity for an artist’s work not only to be viewed by thousands of members of the public, but hundreds of potential collectors too. There are even scholarships up for grabs. Full details, including artist application packs, are available online. Applications close August 11. www.sculpturebythesea.com

Jo Darbyshire hits the wonderful gallery space that is Distracted on August 2 for the opening night of her new collection Frozen Lakes. This exhibition further explores Darbyshire’s love of all things H2O as she presents a series of paintings which comprise not only her recent Canadian residency near the frozen lakes, but her short stop over in Madrid where she rescued a series of old Spanish book covers. Together, these two elements combine to create a body of work which deals with immersion, apprehension and desire. The exhibition itself is opening for viewing from August 5 to August 30. www.distracted.com.au

There come instances when some of Perth’s finest talent converge on the same project to produce something truly spell binding and majestic. First Page is one of those projects. Conceived and edited by Jessyca Hutchens (Cottonmouth) and Matt Giles (Love Is My Velocity), First Page is a cross platform publication which showcases 22 of Perth’s best as they combine image and text. First Page launches 6pm on August 2 at The Breadbox Gallery in Northbridge and will feature original artwork from the book plus sounds from Ghost of 29 Megacycles, Bone, Josh Fontaine, Hooper’s Store, Magic Window and Fall electric. First Page will run until August 17. www.firstpage.org.au