Graffiti Girl

I’m sure all of us living in Sydney remember this case. Way back in January 09, then 18 year old Cheyene Back was arrested for tagging a café wall in Hyde Park in black permanent marker. She was caught on one of the CCTV cameras that are all over the place down there. She allegedly wrote the word “2shie” which was 30cm high and 60cm in length.

The best picture of the graffiti I could find was here. A bit pitiful, I know, but you get the idea.

She was originally charged to 3 months jail time, which is a bit ludicrous, considering her age, and the fact that this was her first offence. Back said in a statement ““I think (the sentence) was absolutely ridiculous for my first charge and for something so small,” She appealed that sentence, and eventually got it reduced to a twelve month good behaviour bond, which was deemed more approprite for her age and crime.

But, on the other hand, I kind of see where the first magistrate was coming from. It looks like tagging and other graffiti of that kind is becoming an increasing problem in and around N ew South Wales. A 2008 report showed that annual graffiti cleaning cost totaled over $2.7 million, and its is suggested that this figure continue to rise.

So, what do you guys think? Should she have been thrown in jail, or is this all a bit insane for a little scribble? Share your thoughts

Golnar Tabibzadeh - Victim of the Iranian State

Hey Everyone,

This week, I'll  be talking about a young Iranian artist, Golnar Tabibzadeh who is internationally renowned as well as controversial in her home nation of Iran. Tabibzadeh, 22 years old,  is from a strong family of intellectuals who have always gone against the mistreatment of women by the somewhat totalitarian Islamic Iranian State. Her mother, who had been rallying for pro-women's rights in the middle of the streets in Tehran, had once been bashed by the Iranian moral police. Young Tabibzadeh saw this event and it was the catalyst that lead her to paint paintings that explored the private lives and psyche of the Iranian people, particularly women.
In a interview with the Canadian newspaper The Toronto Star, Tabibzadeh said:

"Painting is like keeping a diary... I might see a cop hitting a girl and that would affect me. I try to put myself in the position of the different actors, of the cop hitting the girl, or of the girl being hit."

"Painting) is one of the few places where I can express myself without self-censorship — not like in the outside world, in the Islamic Republic, where a lot of people filter their words."

 Notably, much of  her work embodies a stark melancholy, cynacism and a dark edgyness to it. She captures the suffering of being a woman in Iran; living in a world where women are isolated and face nothing but restrictions on who they are, their sexuality and being in general. Her work no doubt epitomises the social criticism at what she sees as the tragic society that has become of Iran. According to The Toronto Star Tabibzadeh is "Drawing ample inspiration from the society surrounding her, Tabibzadeh pointedly satirizes the hypocrisy of an outwardly Islamic society wracked by sexual promiscuity and heroin or opium addiction." - I couldn't agree more with that statement.

A graduate of Azad University, one of the best art schools in Iran and the Middle East, she is the younger generation of intellectuals unsatisfied with Iran's backward government and the effect it has on their lives and freedom. Furthermore, even though Tabibzadeh has an honours degree, because the Islamic State forbids the depiction of any nudity,  the best of  her artwork (which are the nudes) can never be seen and appreciated by her own people she's paints as she can face persecution. What's more, she can never make money out of her art where on a rare occasion her nudes will sell but at a pittance. I honestly can say that's passion and it won't surprise me, if the the Islamic government were to collapse- I have no doubt her work would be revered by Iranians for centuries. Here are a few more pics of her work.

What do you guys think of her work?
That's all today.
Peace out. Make Art Not War.

CarriageWorks - Sydney's Coolest Gallery

Hey Everyone!

The other day, I went to see the EOS Photo5 2009 Inaugural Exhibition at CarriageWorks, an art gallery at the old Everleigh Railway Yards near Redfern. Overall, I was impressed with the close to 7000 pictures on exhibited submitted by professional and amatuer photographers - all who used Eos 5 Canon digital cameras. Despite being impressed by the actual photography on exhibition - I was thoroughly impressed with the venue more which is a juxtaposition between a contemporary artesque interior and an old 19th Century industrial architecture of the exterior. I honestly found the history and the art of building a little more interesting than the exhibition itself and I believe the place deserves alot of credit. The place honesty reminded me of the mis-en-scene of many futuristic films.

 Image Courtesy of Google Maps

CarriageWorks was opened early 2007 as a an contemporary arts centre by Art NSW. The art centre is in a couple of the old industrial railway yard sheds which dot the landscape between Redfern and Erskineville which in the 1880s was the centre of Sydney's booming railway industry in the area known as Everleigh (which is part of the Redfern-Waterloo precinct). I believe the building is a perfect testament to the effective use of the recycling of historical buildings and the utilising of space for contemporary purposes. CarriageWorks is multi-venue with theatres, galleries and a large exhibition space - so it's a place which has a melting pot of different contemporary arts; dance, plays, installations, scuptures and typical visual arts.  Overall, it's an awesome place.

Current & Upcoming Visual Arts Events
-  Lynette Wallworth (9 - 14 JANUARY)

- Eos Photo5 2009 Inaugural Exhibition ( 7 - 24 JANUARY 2010)

- Alex Kershaw's One of Several Centres ( THURS 11 FEBRUARY – SAT 6 MARCH 2010)

- Nigel Helyer's Ghostrain  (THUR 11 FEB – WED 17 MARCH, AND THEN THURS 13 MAY – SAT 5 JUNE 2010)

How to Get There 
Basically just catch a train to Redfern Station or Macdonaldtown Station and it's about 5 minute walk there - it's basically next to the rail network between Redfern and Macdonaldtown or even catch a bus that goes through there.
Oh yeah and the address for the place is as follows (Google Map):
CarriageWorks, 245 Wilson St. Eveleigh, NSW 2015.  

That's all! 

I highly recommend you go there and check it out yourself! 
Peace out. Make Art Not War.

2 Years On: The Bill Henson Debacle

Hey Everyone!

 It will be going onto two years since the Bill Henson debacle - the first controversial form of art censorship to cause a stir in Australian society in a long time. I'd thought I'd bring it up to celebrate, even though it happened two years ago, the ongoing source of controversy it is within Australian society until now (read this article if you want read the Nudes in Henson Tour). The article was posted today and is about how Henson's controversial work will be displayed at the local art gallery in Albury, a rural border town on the Victorian and New South Wales' border. Here are some mixed responses to the article:
One whinged:

Nudity in art!! That trend has been creeping in over the past 3000 years and must be stomped on now. Having recently visited the NGV, I was appalled to find many of the so called "masters" purposefully displaying human body parts which no-one should be exposed to. Obviously children don't know what the human body looks like and should not until 15 years of age. 

 And another one critically said:

So where are the boundaries between Child Pornography and Art? Its not about age of admission to this exhiaition,or nudity in Art, but the age of the subjects he uses. I will boycott this. 

And another full of praise said:

There is a fairly definite line between pornography and art. It's called context. This is art and I'm sure the models and parents we're completely aware of exactly what they were getting into. Although I completely understand the other side of the debate with all of the numerous stories of child abuse, sex offenders and the like, who wouldn't be worried about their children?

What do you guys think? Do you agree or disagree with the statements said? 

For you who don't know or those that need a refresher about Bill Henson's controversy - i'll recount the story for you:

Back in May 2003, famous or at least well-known Australian contemporary photographer (and therefore artist), Bill Henson (or maybe his publicist) emailed a tonne of e-invites to people about the opening night of a new exhibition of his which included photographs of nude pubescents, particularly photographs of a nude 13 year old girl. On the eve of the opening (May 22) following eight separate complaints by the public, police shut down Henson's exhibition at his supporting gallery Roslyn Oxley9 at the artsy inner city Sydney suburb of Paddington.

The e-invite had reached a few people in the media (as well as child protection advocates) who criticised Henson's exhibition calling it a form of child pornography sparking a heated nation-wide debate and criticism from the public, the media and even the PM Kevin Rudd himself who called the photographs "absolutely revolting".

Furthermore, some of Henson's work upon the closure of the exhibition was taken into police possession and the police were intent on charging Henson and his supporting art gallery with the publishing of indecent material as well as child pornography. The charges were dropped by the NSW courts and police in June, 2008 and the photographs were given back to Henson with a PG rating and approval to exhibit from Federal Office of Film and Literature Classification. However, nation-wide people were debating what should be the limits and morality of art? Was Henson's work amoral in any way? What should constitue art? etc. 

My personal opinion is that Henson's work did not need to be censored. Glancing from the photographs of the works (that were censored) in a book (The Henson Case by David Marr ) that explored the whole debacle, the pictures were not smutty or constituted in any shape or form anything erotic or pervey in any way. The children (or teenagers) are not exploited in any way, and the way Hensen has constructed the photographs makes them abstract, poetic and conceptual - according to his wiki page; "Henson presents "adolescents in their states of despair, intoxication and immature ribaldry" and that his photographs were "moments of transition and metamorphosis are important in everyone's lives" - I could not agree more with these statements. I'm not particularly fond of his work - it does not appeal to me in anyway and I honestly think that it is rather dull photography as it is too dark but I can say his work does exploit his subjects but I guess it's a manner of opinion.

If people want to interpret something as exploitative and demeaning, they're entitled to do it ; however, they have to understand Henson's work is purely for artistic purposes just like Michaelango's David or Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon was and above all, people need to take into account the intent of artist which is to make humans understand the world and even life.

If you would like to view some of Hensen's work you can have a look here and decide for yourself.

BOHEMIAN OR DEVIANT? 

So, that's all have to say. What do you guys think about Hensen's work? Do you think it exploits pubescents or is it purely art?
Peace out. Make Art Not War.

Anti-War Iraq War Artwork

Hey Everyone,

This post is a tribute to the ongoing suffering of the Iraqi people.

Seven years on and the unjustified war in Iraq still wages on with an ever-growing tragic deathtoll. Someone once said to me that "There's no angel's in war" and until this day I stick by that statement. No matter how justified a war may seem - how it seems to "need" to happen - there's nothing beneficial about wars, innocent people will die. Women, children and elderly will die for no good reason but for the bullsh** and false ideals of men. The Iraq War epitomises everything i've just mentioned, and I believe it is one of the major wars which have been fought for the utmost wrong reasons and is waste of not only money, time and resources, but of precious human life.

Like all wars, since the 1950s, the 2003 Iraq War has spawned a large, yet underpublished and publicised Anti-Iraq War Art Movement. I honestly have not seen any Anti-Iraq War art anywhere other than the internet. The Anti-War movement is publically strong in contemporary music, film and literature, but I must comment not as strong as it was during the Vietnam War - where public opinion and the Anti-War movement in the arts was that strong - it was a strong factor in ending the Vietnam War (See, Wiki's Opposition to the US involvement in the Vietnam War).

Furthermore, I think it's tragic that Anti-War art in particular is not an influential element on the masses in exposing and revealing the perals and plight of the Iraqi people under the occupation of the Coalition forces. It saddens me to walk down the street and see people wearing Che Guevara shirts (a revolutionary who stood for better change) but not wearing Anti-Iraq War shirts, which is no doubt a war that impacts us and will impact us in ways we have yet to understand.

However, despite the lack of presence of Anti-Iraq War art as an influence to masses as an influence to end the war; it is still there and whether it is due to governmental censorship (as Val explored a while ago) or lack of interest by the seemingly selfish public, the  Anti-Iraq War art can be found in the thousands on the net - each revolutionary and interesting in their own little way. The art is highly political as they exploit the U.S government's arrogance, the decadence of the U.S politicians as well as expose the sufferings of the Iraq people and U.S soldiers. Moreover the Anti-War in Iraq art exploits the ideologies such as corporate greed, capitalism and globalisation which it sees as the catalyst for the war.

Here are some Anti-Iraq War images I like (all are sourced from MinitureGigantic.com)

So what do you guys think of the artwork? Why do you think Anti-Iraq War Art has not been such a publicised movement?

That's all I have for you guys today.

Peace out. Make Love Not War.