Art Guide Australia Podcast

When Anna Davis discusses being a curator, she talks about collaboration, conversation and experimentation: “It’s about working with artists and working with ideas.” It’s also about the relationships: “The exhibition really starts to take shape in a real sense once the artists are really talking. I think when you get the chance to work with someone like Jenny Watson or Louise Hearman and it’s over a number of years, which is fantastic, you get to develop this relationship with them and hopefully a level of trust comes through that.” Having held the position of Curator at Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) for the past decade, Davis has curated a vast array of contemporary exhibitions, which she discusses in the first episode of Art Guide’s four-part series ‘Conversations with Curators’. Anna discusses how she came to curating, what her past life as a “lapsed artist” offers her curatorial practice, the experience of curating major solo shows and the ethical implications of her work. See more at Art Guide Australia online: www.artguide.com.au Podcast produced by Tiarney Miekus. Engineered by Mino Peric. Music by Jesse Warren.

Colour is simultaneously the most apparent and most complex part of Gemma Smith’s practice. The artist, who has a penchant for abstraction, creates paintings that capture dialogues and interactions between colours. Smith doesn’t paint with colour; she persuades colour.

In this podcast she discusses her explorations into colour and form, her process in the studio, her penchant towards abstraction, and what she has learnt about painting from almost two decades of explorations into colour, space and form.

See more at Art Guide online: https://artguide.com.au/podcast-gemma-smith-on-the-persuasion-of-colour

Podcast produced by Tiarney Miekus. Engineered by Mino Peric. Music by Jesse Warren.

The contexts that Fiona Abicare has worked within are plentiful: the Golden Age of Hollywood, the shabby chic aesthetic and objects of mass culture, just to name a few. Working with locations such as window shop fronts and gallery settings, the Melbourne-based artist’s work explores the cultural and personal associations and histories we have with various sites, objects and historical periods; creating works that blend art, design, architecture, film and fashion.

As Fiona explains in the podcast, she works at the junction between contemporary art and interiors, always creating directly in relation to a certain site or context. “The site dictates the approach, [which] dictates the medium, the subject and the starting point,” she says. “I’m not a studio-based artist that goes to the studio every day and does continuous making. I do projects.”

Fiona discusses how she explore various historical periods and aesthetic styles, the familial and personal resonance in her work, the experience of working as a technician for other well-known artists, and the current cultural climate in the Australian arts.

See more at Art Guide online: https://artguide.com.au/podcast-fiona-abicare-on-the-adventures-of-mediums.

Podcast produced by Tiarney Miekus. Engineered by Mino Peric. Soundtrack by Jesse Warren.

Since embarking on a creative path only a mere 15 years ago, Yolŋu artist Gunybi Ganambarr has been continuously praised for his weaving of Indigenous forms and traditional stories with a contemporary sensibility. He has been called a “revolutionary”, “genius” and “an innovator”, and has accumulated many accolades, including the 2018 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA).

But as Ganambarr explains in the podcast conversation, visual art was not the first form he gravitated towards. His foremost creative experience started as a didgeridoo player, which allowed him to travel nationally and internationally. Prior to becoming an artist, Ganambarr also spent 12 years as a builder, and he credits this experience with familiarising himself with the tools and materials that would later find their way into his creative practice.

Gunybi discusses his 'pre-art' life, the experience of winning the 2018 NATSIAA, and the advice he has for younger artists.

See more at Art Guide online: https://artguide.com.au/podcast-gunybi-ganambarr-on-creating-building-and-etching.

This podcast has been produced in partnership with theMuseum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territoryin recognition of the annual TelstraNational Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.

The Interview with Gunybi Ganambarr was produced and hosted by Tiarney Miekus. Episode mix by Mino Peric and soundtrack by Jessie Warren.

When Luke Scholes talks about being a curator, he turns toward the origins of his role: he discusses how curating means to be ‘a carer of things’. For Scholes, this largely involves caring for art collections, through his role as Curator of Aboriginal Art at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT).

In this podcast Scholes unpacks his curatorial work, revealing how his position falls across three broad areas: facilitating the annual National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards, curating exhibitions, and maintaining and developing MAGNT’s Aboriginal art collection. It’s this third responsibility that Scholes particularly delves into. “It’s not just about acquiring more examples, it’s about acquiring the right examples,” he explains. “What a curator should seek to do is develop a really strong and historical record of art movements.”

This podcast has been produced in partnership with the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in recognition of the annual National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.

See more at Art Guide online: https://artguide.com.au/podcast-luke-scholes-on-curating-caring-and-collaborating

Podcast produced by Tiarney Miekus. Engineered Mino Peric.

Glenn Iseger-Pilkington likes to joke that he’s an “arts handyman”. Yet the phrase does have merit: he’s an artist and writer and has held various curatorial roles at the South Australian Museum, Western Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of Western Australia. Nowadays, he’s the lead consultant at Gee Consultancy, where he works with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and arts workers.

In this podcast Glenn, a Yamatji Nyoongar man from Western Australia with Dutch and Scottish migrant history, talks about his curatorial and consultancy roles, discussing how he sees himself less as a voice of authority and more as a conduit. He also talks about the experience of judging the 2018 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards and, finally, tells us what changes he’s noticed in the arts in Australia over the last 15 years — both for better and worse.

See more at Art Guide online: https://artguide.com.au/podcast-glenn-iseger-pilkington-on-being-a-conduit.

This podcast has been produced in partnership with the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in recognition of the annual National Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Art Awards.

Produced by Tiarney Miekus. Engineered by Mino Peric.

“I think the challenge with all of the disparate references is not that it’s difficult for all of them to come together. I think that the challenge is not to make the photograph too derivative of one reference, because then I’m just recreating something that already exists."

Georgina Cue’s large-scale, staged photographs bring together many disparate references ranging from film noir, German Expressionism, femme fatales, graffiti, classical Greek aesthetics and contemporary sportswear. In this podcast Cue unpacks the stories, associations and symbolism behind the imagery, as well as her current show 'Scenes' at Neon Parc.

See more at Art Guide online: www.artguide.com.au/podcasts

Podcast produced by Tiarney Miekus and engineered by Mino Peric.

In this first series of Five on Five we're asking five painters to speak about a painting that has influenced, inspired or resonated with them. In this episode Prudence Flint reflects on 'Virgin and Child' (1455-60) by Dieric Bouts, discussing how she’s drawn toward the maternal and erotic nature of the painting, alongside its nostalgic resonance.

To view the painting as you listen along, head to Art Guide online: https://artguide.com.au/five-on-five-prudence-flint-on-dieric-bouts-virgin-and-child.

Prudence Flint is a Melbourne-based painter. She is a finalist in this year's Archibald Portrait Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and will have a solo show at Bett Gallery in Hobart from 16 November - 7 December 2018.

Production credits: Produced by Tiarney Miekus. Music and audio engineering by Mino Peric.

In this first series of Five on Five we're asking five painters to speak about a painting that has influenced, inspired or resonated with them. In this episode Huseyin Sami reflects upon 'Suite Segond' (1980) by French artist Bernard Frize.

In particular, Sami is intrigued by Frize’s lifelong dedication to painting and how the artist has continuously worked through the problems of painting.

To view the painting as you listen along, head to Art Guide online: https://artguide.com.au/five-on-five-huseyin-sami-and-bernard-frizes-suite-segond.

Huseyin Sami is a Sydney-based artist whose multi-disciplinary practice engages with painting, sculpture and installation to explore aspects of time, action and process.

Production credits: Produced by Tiarney Miekus. Music and audio engineering by Mino Peric.

In this first series of Five on Five we're asking five painters to speak about a painting that has influenced, inspired or resonated with them. In this episode Kylie Banyard reflects on Breast-feeding (2015) by American artist Dana Schutz.

In particular, Banyard is captivated by the image's “yuck yum” qualities and its depiction of the maternal experience of breastfeeding.

To view the painting as you listen along, head to Art Guide online: https://artguide.com.au/five-on-five-kylie-banyard-on-dana-schutzs-breastfeeding.

Kylie Banyard is a multidisciplinary artist whose work investigates alternate models for living and learning. Her artistic practice is grounded in painting and intersects with photography, video, sculpture and immersive architectural spaces.

Production credits: Produced by Tiarney Miekus. Music and audio engineering by Mino Peric.