Category Archives: News

2017: Carparks, country towns & everything in between

Over the last 12 months I have written 30,909 words, had 29 texts published, worked with 20 clients, and presented at 5 public speaking engagements (in parallel to working 1-3 days/week as an art administrator). It’s been a challenging year personally and professionally but I’ve really enjoyed the range of opportunities and experiences – here are some of the highlights of my 2017 calendar.

JANUARY
An exhibition I curated, World Material, featuring the work of eight Australian women artists, opened at Darren Knight Gallery in Sydney.

World Material installation view featuring Lisa Sammut (L) & Louise Weaver (R). Image courtesy the artists and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney. Photography: Simon Hewson

World Material installation view featuring Lisa Sammut (L) & Louise Weaver (R). Image courtesy the artists and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney. Photography: Simon Hewson

FEBRUARY
I took my first trip to balmy Manila to cover Art Fair Philippines for Art Monthly Australasia. It was a packed few days that amongst other things included being hosted by the dynamic Diana Campbell and Jam Acuzar to a fantastic dinner at the launch of the Bellas Artes Outpost.

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An apologetic selfie featuring the work of Juan Alcazaren in Art Informal’s stand at Art Fair Philippines, February 2017

MARCH
After writing for the web edition for some time, my first print review for ArtAsiaPacific was published in Issue 102 of the Hong Kong-based magazine, covering Tatsuo Miyajima: Connect With Everything at MCA Australia.

ArtAsiaPacific, Issue 102, March-April 2017

ArtAsiaPacific, Issue 102, March-April 2017

APRIL
I headed to Kandos, a small town in the Central West of New South Wales, to cover the biennial grassroots Cementa Festival for ArtAsiaPacific and Art Monthly Australasia. It had everything from parkour to indigenous stargazing.

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Powerhouse Youth Theatre and the Dauntless Movement Crew perform on the pagoda rock formations of Ganguddy near Kandos, NSW. Image: Chloé Wolifson

MAY-JUNE
This was a time for composing artists’ catalogue essays, notably for Ioulia Terizis’ show at Photoaccess, Canberra, Lucas Davidson at Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney, and Leahlani Johnson at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, NSW.

JULY
It was great to see the release of Outside Material: The cover art of Preservation Music, a publication I worked on as copyeditor for independent Sydney publisher Formist Editions.

Outside Material: The cover art of Preservation Music, published Formist Editions, 2017

Outside Material: The cover art of Preservation Music, published Formist Editions, 2017

AUGUST
This month saw more catalogue writing, specifically 22 artwork texts for Michael Reid’s exhibition Wall Power: Contemporary Australian Photography which opened in Cologne before touring to Berlin, London and Paris.

SEPTEMBER
September saw the first of my ‘In The Galleries’ column published in Art Monthly Australasia. It was a professional milestone to be invited to contribute a regular print column, previewing commercial shows in every state and territory around the country.

Art Monthly Australasia, Issue 301, September 2017

Art Monthly Australasia, Issue 301, September 2017

OCTOBER
The National Art School introduced their Launchpad professional development program, and as well as appearing on a panel discussion the previous month, in October I was invited to mentor students in the Biography Workshop.

NOVEMBER
Another international print milestone: my first review for Frieze, covering Diena Georgetti’s show at The Commercial, Sydney was published in Issue 191 of the London-based publication.

Frieze, Issue 191, November-December 2017

Frieze, Issue 191, November-December 2017

DECEMBER
As the year drew to a close I made my final edits to Bad Habits, a private publication celebrating the art collection of Bonita Croft and Gene Zemaitis. It was a privilege to again work with advisor and curator John Cruthers for this project.

2017 SURPRISE BONUS TRACK
In August, with the help of a translator, I gave a lecture on Art History & Aesthetics at the Sydney launch of  Chinese permanent makeup brand Bicasso, complete with ribbon-cutting ceremony, and champagne sprayed Formula One-style on stage.

Cutting the ribbon with representatives of Bicasso and the Australia China Commercial Association (I’m second from right). Image: ACCA

Wishing you health, happiness and surprising art experiences in 2018. See you then!
– Chloé

ArtChat. Fast chats on hot topics!

artchat

I was invited by Museums and Galleries of NSW to present last night at ArtChat. Fast chats on hot topics!

In the fourth of this annual series, ArtChat featured a line-up of established and emerging independent curators who are all working with contemporary practice across the visual arts, craft and design, time-based and experimental arts. The evening explored imaginative ideas in a fast-paced, invigorating and sometimes humorous format, providing a snapshot of the exciting curatorial projects proposed by today’s creative thinkers.

Speakers included Joanna Bayndrian, Bec Dean, Micheal Do, Danielle Robson, Nina Stromqvist, Una Rey and myself. You can watch mine above (please turn up the volume – my voice was not being kind to me that day!), and view all the presentations on the MGNSW website.

artchat
Though a little nervous about presenting I enjoyed the night and it was great to showcase one of my ideas-in-progress to a wider audience. Thanks to Museums and Galleries of NSW and Regional and Public Galleries of NSW for the opportunity.

‘tensions/translations/transitions’ at Dominik Mersch Gallery

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‘tensions/translations/transitions’

CURATOR AWARD WINNER 2016
CHLOE WOLIFSON

OPENING: Thursday 5th May, 6 – 8 pm
EXHIBITION DATES: 05.05 – 28.05.16

ARTISTS:
JON CATTAPAN
JANET LAURENCE
ANNA McMAHON
MATHEW McWILLIAMS
EMILY SANDRUSSI
CHARLIE SOFO

I have the honour of being awarded the second Dominik Mersch Gallery Curator Award. My exhibition ‘tensions/translations/transitions’ will bring together work by six artists employing physical and psychological markers and layers to evoke the tensions, translations and transitions occurring in our relationships with space and place. In bringing together these works I question if perhaps new or unexpected tensions, translations or transitions will emerge to the viewer.

‘tensions/translations/transitions’ opens on 5th of May. EXHIBITION DATES: 05.05. – 28.05.15

Read announcement here: DMG Curator Award 2016unnamed (1)

Revisiting Singapore

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In January I was invited to Singapore to experience Art Week – my second such trip in as many years. I covered the major South-East Asian fair Art Stage Singapore, as well as the exhibition Time of Others at Singapore Art Museum, for Art Monthly. While I was there I also explored the recently unveiled National Gallery of Singapore, checked out the respected Singapore Tyler Print Institute, and, along with many others, braved the rain during cultural precinct Gillman Barracks’ Art After Dark. Highlights of that experience included the Joan Jonas survey exhibition They come to us without a word at the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, and Antipodean Inquiry, curated by Owen Craven at Yavuz Gallery.

Gillman was also occupied by a collection of shipping containers re-purposed as exhibition spaces by emerging Singaporean artists. It was great to see Singapore’s cultural life on the up-and-up and I hope to have the opportunity to return next year to see how things are evolving.

The pieces I wrote in response to Time of Others and Art Stage can be read in the March 2016 edition of Art Monthly, which marks a turning point in the magazine’s history as it widens its focus to Australia and the Asia-Pacific. The March issue is an Asian special exploring Australia’s historic and contemporary engagement with Asia across the visual arts, in celebration of the magazine’s newly expanded masthead. It’s humbling to be in printed company with such contributors as Russell Storer and Mami Kataoka – I hope you have a chance to check out the newly re-titled Art Monthly Australasia.

50 things collectors need to know in 2016

Work by Abdul Abdullah on the cover of Art Collector Issue 75

Work by Abdul Abdullah on the cover of Art Collector Issue 75

Art Collector Issue 75 has hit the shelves. The 50 things collectors need to know in 2016 issue features profiles of standout shows and artists, trends and taste-makers. I’ve contributed pieces on up-and-coming photographer Ashleigh Garwood, and arts policy campaign #FreeTheArts. Get thee to a newsagent and get in on the action!

2015 by numbers

2015 started with a bang with my first trip to Singapore to check out Singapore Art Week.

2015 started with a bang with my first trip to Singapore to check out Singapore Art Week.

Happy new year! The fuse for 2016 is well and truly lit, but before it rockets out of control I decided to crunch the numbers for 2015 and see how I fared in my second full year of freelance life. So here are the stats for the year that was:

49 interviews conducted

28 hours of audio transcribed

33,565 words published

60 articles & essays commissioned

1 exhibition curated

5 panel discussions facilitated

12 clients worked with

5 art fairs visited

Making the most of my Starving Curator residency at The Bearded Tit.

Making the most of my Starving Curator residency at The Bearded Tit.

2015 was also a year of firsts for me:

Facilitated a panel discussion – I threw myself in the deep end here, with the first of my Wandering Mind panel discussion series being included in the Vivid Ideas program and attracting an audience of 70 to Verge Gallery.

Wrote for an auction catalogue – I felt the pressure writing in this unfamiliar format but putting the works of formidable New Zealand painter Shane Cotton into context made it an enjoyable task.

Undertook a residency – I had a great time as Starving Curator in Residence at the Bearded Tit in Redfern, using the time to meet with artists and develop the exhibition ANIMAL/MINERAL/PHYSICAL/SPIRITUAL (and also drink wine and sample every cheese on the Tit’s excellent Jacuzzerie Boards).

Led an international tour group around Sydney galleries – I had a wonderful day with a group of arts lovers from New York’s Joyce Theatre visiting with Inzone Travel. The conversation ranged from contemporary art to Indigenous history to economic policy, and I’m proud to say I convinced a diehard Starbucks lover to enjoy a piccolo latte. (So hipster.)

Received a writing commission from overseas – I was commissioned to cover the Australian art market for Art Stage Singapore’s new publication Catalyst. I’m not great at goal-setting (those lessons in year 9 Personal Development class never really stuck) but being included in an international publication has long been an aspiration. Can’t wait for the finished product to be in the hands of fair-goers from across the Asia-Pacific!

The first panel discussion I ever co-ordinated was included in Vivid Ideas - a baptism by fire in front of 70 people.

The first panel discussion I ever co-ordinated was included in Vivid Ideas – a baptism by fire in front of 70 people.

My final commission for 2015 was another first, an interview with John Choi of architectural firm CHROFI for Vault Magazine. Choi and his colleague Tai Ropiha are the team behind the iconic TKTS red staircase at Times Square in Manhattan, and CHROFI recently co-designed Sydney’s Goods Line. I won’t lie; I was even more nervous than usual going into this interview. However our enjoyable and wide-ranging conversation confirmed for me that solid research and an open mind are key to understanding all manner of practices.

I covered such a range of contemporary culture and ideas in my work in 2015, and can’t wait to discover even more in 2016. I hope you’ve got an exciting year in store too!

Patriotism, patriarchy and politics: 2015 feminism in context

Art Monthly produced a cracker summer feminism-themed issue, guest edited by Dr Susan Best and Louise Mayhew. The issue includes pieces on  feminist curatorial practice, activist art and queer art, as well as a centrefold with a difference – Mayhew’s timeline of women’s art collectives in Australia.

Writing a feminism-focussed round-up of the year in Australian art gave me pause for thought about the nation’s attitude to women more generally, particularly in light of 2015’s political goings-on. While it was a relief to leave behind Tony Abbott, Minister for Women, Turnbull’s respect-for-women rhetoric seems at this point to be mostly just lip service to the issue.

Just as citizens have reclaimed phrases such as ‘Destroy the Joint‘ and ‘Binders full of Women‘ in recent times, Peter Dutton’s ‘Mad f***ing witch‘ comment has similarly energised people in 2016. It will be interesting to revisit this issue in 12 months’ time and see if and how we have evolved.

 

Interview with Francis Upritchard

Journal of Australian Ceramics

 

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of interviewing the wonderful New Zealand-born, London-based artist Francis Upritchard for The Journal of Australian Ceramics. This issue, themed around colour, was guest-edited by Sydney artist Madeleine Preston.

It was great chatting with Francis and learning about the handmade pottery that surrounded her growing up, her accidental foray into a ceramics practice, and her current work breaking down boundaries between art, craft and design. Why are people unwilling to pay as much for a bowl as a painting?

The issue profiles many fantastic artists working in ceramics, including the excellent Apprentice Welder works by Yasmin Smith (written about by my Runway colleague Miriam Kelly). The cover stars are Lynda Draper and David Ray, whose works signify the playful, colourful tendencies in ceramics as it is currently being employed in contemporary art practice.

You can buy the issue in digital or hard copy, here.

That was so RAVEN.

The first regular writing gig I managed to wrangle once I’d made the leap into freelance life in late 2013, was with RAVEN Contemporary. I, along with a slew of great writers worked initially under Georgia Sholl and subsequent editor Rebecca Gallo to produce reviews, gallery guides and opinion pieces exploring the world of contemporary art in an accessible way.

RAVEN, published by 10 Group, was wound up at the end of June this year but has been archived so that its content can continue to be available for interested readers. If you haven’t explored it before (or even if you have), take the time to bookmark the new url and check out some of my recent highlights from some of RAVEN’s great writers:

MONA, Marina and DARK MOFO – Rebecca Gallo
The art islands of Japan – Sharne Wolff
Cementing a friendship in Kandos – Rebecca Gallo
On this site: A celebration of difference – Kate Britton

I’ll miss writing for RAVEN, particularly the things I learned interviewing artists, researching galleries, and having the opportunity to cover Singapore Art Week. The experience had a profound impact on my development as an arts writer for which I’m very grateful.

The archive of the more than 20 pieces I wrote for RAVEN can be found here.

Gertrude Contemporary / Art & Australia Emerging Writers Program

In 2013 I have been awarded the Gertrude Contemporary / Art & Australia Emerging Writers Award, and am being mentored by Kathy Bail, CEO of UNSW Press.

Pieces published with the support of this program include the catalogue essay to accompany Christopher LG HIll’s exhibition Free Feudal Barter Store in Studio 12, Gertrude Contemporary in July 2013, as well as a forthcoming piece to accompany the Art & Australia Emerging Artist Award in a future issue of the magazine.