​Paris Photo, touted as the world's largest international art fair dedicated to the photographic medium, will hold its 21st edition at the historic Grand Palais in Paris from November 9th through 12th, 2017.
 
The annual event for collectors, professionals, artists, and enthusiasts, Paris Photo offers its visitors a selection of quality and diverse artworks alongside an ambitious public programme of events, talks and forums.
 
Over 180 galleries and publishers will present a complete panorama of the history of photography: from vintage and modern works to contemporary creations, rare and limited editions, and avant-premiere book releases. The recently launched PRISMES sector, held in the prestigious Salon d'Honneur, will feature a curated presentation of large format, series, and video and/or installation works.
 
An educative art fair, Paris Photo aims to enhance the visitor experience by scheduling exhibitions, awards, signature sessions, special events, talks and discussions with artists, curators, critics, and historians. The "In Paris during Paris Photo" programme, created in partnership with renowned museums and arts organizations throughout the city of lights, offers visitors a complementary selection of exhibitions featuring some of the most important photographic collections in the world.

​The parameters of Abu Dhabi Art extends beyond the notion of a traditional art fair; its diverse public engagement programme, ranging from art installations and exhibitions, talks and events, takes place in different locations, throughout the year. The culmination of this year-long programme is the Abu Dhabi Art event in November, which provides the sales platform for participating local and international galleries and an audience of over 20,000 visitors.
 
Making use of the natural landscape of the region, the Fair’s designer, Nilsson Pflugfelder conceptualised the elements of an art fair as an ‘archipelago’: each entity is conceived as an autonomous island that, together, makes up Abu Dhabi Art in the form of an archipelago. Consisting of ubiquitous 450 x 450 x 450 mm open cubes, the various islands are, within the exhibition, conceived as modular intensities of programmatic content.  The aim is to suggest the conscious reconnecting of ideas across an archipelago of time, forming narratives with past eras of utopian interventions.
 
The Fair’s curatorial programme aims to present a unique iteration, transforming the concept of an art fair to a place of discovery and discourse. The curated series of exhibitions and programme will bring diverse perspectives on global trends to an inspiring schedule of cultural engagement, reflecting the exceptional calibre of contemporary cultural practice for which Abu Dhabi Art is renowned.

Hodryc (Rodrigo Leite) is a Brazilian artist, based in Melbourne.  For the past decade, he has been developing an aesthetic which utilises a combination of digital-painting, photography and 3D techniques, and manifests as a complex and highly innovative artwork.

Harnessing his knowledge of Impressionism, Hodryc’s artworks (unique archival pigment prints) present as something of a pixelated landscape, which nevertheless still presents as a painting.  For Hodryc, the latter is crucial to the integrity of his art practice: he believes, that although he uses these new technologies as part of the creative process, and as such, they are acting as paint, brush and canvas, most important is that the artist remains true to the essence of the work, that is, there is a danger of digitals artists becoming as ephemeral as technology itself.  It is for this reason that Hodryc has elected to create unique edition prints, contending that they are but ‘digital-paintings’.
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Hodryc’s most recent series, “Inner Landscapes” represents the artist’s first impressions of the Australian landscape, and just as this same landscape has often depicted isolation, fear, resilience and freedom, so too Hodry’s series.

View a selection of works in the Stockroom.

​Established in 2006 to promote excellence in photography, the annual William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize is an initiative of the MGA Foundation. The Bowness Photography Prize has quickly become Australia's most coveted photography prize. It is also one of the country's most open prizes for photography. In the past, finalists have included established and emerging photographers, art and commercial photographers. All film-based and digital work from amateurs and professionals is accepted. There are no thematic restrictions.
 
The 2017 judging panel: architect, art patron and academic, Corbett Lyon, artist and educator Dr Susan Fereday, and MGA Senior Curator Stephen Zagala.

​Walking through our corporate centres and precincts in Melbourne, one is often met with some superb examples of contemporary art installations; within public buildings’ foyers, in communal courtyards adjacent to a corporate headquarters, and welcoming guests to inner city hotels.  Imagine for a moment, these same spaces bereft of such artwork…
 
The CBD of any city is, let’s face it, reflective of the culture, its population, its values. Property developers, architects, town planners and the like, have had an enormous influence over the years on how we experience our cities.  Thankfully, these days, numerous buildings, office spaces and residential towers, have been planned and constructed with parameters allowing for artworks.
 
Similarly, artists have developed and extended their practise to allow for these types of public art commissions, and have thereby created lively and dynamic spaces.
 
 
Bringing nature into the city
 
Artists invariably derive inspiration from their immediate living and working environments.  Regionally-based Victorian Peter D Cole puts ‘nature on the stage’ with his ‘urbanised’ interpretations of nature.  His sculpture commission of 2005, a manifestation of playful yet beautifully balanced conjoined sculptural archetypal elements such as tree, moon and stars, and the like, and created from stainless steel and powder-coated primary colours welcomes workers and visitors alike at Freshwater Place in Southbank. 
 
 
Corporate message
 
The presence of contemporary art installed within a corporate’s head office or flagship building also suggests a forward-looking enterprise, a preparedness to engage with its community.
 
Art in public spaces, as part of a building’s structure or indeed, as part of a corporate art collection, adds a cultural edifice – whether to that corporate’s identity, the building’s spaces, the locale and immediate environment of that building.  Its benefits resonate with its inhabitants, the clients visiting that building or corporate location, the employees and the general public.  As such, it contributes in a very tangible way to the society’s cultural infrastructure.
 
The installation of contemporary art – manifested in any of its genres – can have an educative and interpretative function within the building in which is it placed.  A very good example of this concept is Janet Laurence’s “Water Veil” at the Council House 2 (CH2) building in Melbourne. 
 

​A diaphanous, experiential and reflective glass veil that transforms the window between the foyer and the public space of the street into a membranous fluid space, “Water Veil” expresses and reveals the transformation and purification of water, reiterating the black water treatment within the building as well as expressing purity and translucence representing the purification of water.
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Laurence’s “Water Veil” denotes a very direct educative and interpretive function within the building and from the public space outside creates a dramatic effect, serving to amplify the functional aspect of the CH2 building as environmentally sustainable, in other words, quite literally highlighting a corporate message.
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Nowadays, corporate responsibility to its community is higher on the agenda, and part of a corporate’s mandate must service the community at large in some way:  incorporating art within its spaces meets one albeit small, aspect of this requisite. 
 
 
Art for daily inspiration
 
Inclusion of public art commissions within our built environment, in foyers, adorning a façade, or inhabiting a causeway,  contributes to the visual ‘documenting’ of our history; it reflects our growth and development, occasionally our current societal issues, and sometimes our collective values.   But equally important, it provides a visual stimuli, an aesthetic pleasure, a thought-provoking moment; an added dimension to our daily lives. 
 
Marion Borgelt’s site specific “Candescent Moon” of 2011, installed at 101 Collins Street, is a case in point.  This large scale sculptural relief suggests the universal themes of sequences, celestial orders and lunar rhythms. These ideas are particularly pertinent to the modern corporate lifestyle, where daily life balances the restrictions imposed by cycles of time and the forces of nature’s flux and unpredictability.
 
Interestingly, Borgelt’s work is intended to be interactive; that is, as the viewer moves around the front of the work, its appearance and nature change from light to dark and from one texture to another. This sequential change can represent a change in time such as the passing from day into night.
 
The work has a timeless quality, bridging the gap between the everyday and the planetary by acting as a reminder of our daily life while indicating our part in a larger, cosmic structure.

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Bringing contemporary art into our built environment clearly comprises many positives for our society: beyond what has been briefly elucidated above, art can start a conversation; open a dialogue.  At its most fundamental, art expresses an idea, an observation, and/or an emotion. It enlivens our consciousness, and sometimes changes our experiences and it stimulates, nourishes and feeds our senses.  In so many ways, at its most fundamental, art contributes to the ‘wealth’ of our culture. 
 
 
 
©Catherine Asquith October 2017

​For the past 29 years the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (DMNPP) has encouraged both excellence and creativity in contemporary Australian portraiture by asking artists to interpret the look and personality of a chosen sitter, either unknown or well known.
 
Founded by Doug & Greta Moran and family in 1988, the DMNPP is an annual Australian portrait prize supporting Australian artists and the wider arts community by holding the free annual Moran Prizes exhibition, now at Juniper Hall Paddington, displaying the top 30 works selected by nominated judges each year.
 
Currently with an annual first prize of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000), the Prize is an important part of Australia's Arts calendar. The Prize is acquisitive and the winning portrait immediately becomes the property of the Moran Arts Foundation, to be exhibited permanently as part of the Moran Arts Foundation Collection.
 
Winner announced on the 18th October 2017.

Well known first for her print making, a key focus of Wendy Stokes’ art practice since the late 1990s has been her stunning and distinctive paintings…

What originally brought you to Port Macquarie?

I am a return resident. My partner and I decided on settling in Port Macquarie in the late ‘80s. My parents had retired to Port Macquarie from a rural property in Central Western NSW in the late ‘60s, and my main school years were spent in Port Macquarie. After my postgraduate studies I had spent several years in Sydney and with a network of exhibition contacts in place, it no longer seemed essential for me to remain in the city. Port Macquarie was small enough then to have appeal, close enough to Sydney to maintain my practice, and the return enabled me to spend time with my family.

What influenced you to develop an interest in art?

There wasn’t really a time when I decided that I would go and pick it off a shelf labelled a career or hobby. It is a part of me from as far back as I can remember and fortunately due to the freedom of my upbringing, I had many hours outside on the farm, in the garden or roaming my front yard, our coastline. Much of this time was immersed in my own imagination: collecting, drawing, making things, just being in an outdoor environment.
Sometimes I have considered if it, ‘art’, was something separate like a backpack that you could remove, life would be easier and far less complicated. It is my way of seeing the world, thinking about it and finding a place within it.

How has your talent steered your artistic career?

To be blatantly honest, talent doesn’t necessarily steer an art career! Any serious artist I know, or even the famous ones embedded in the archives of history, would agree that that is left to trends and opportunity!
After completing the HSC, I went onto 4 years of formal art studies in Newcastle, took the ritual art pilgrimage to the UK and Europe on graduation and followed that several years later with postgraduate study at Sydney College of the Arts.

From the beginning, I had strong support from my parents; Jim Matsinos, my art teacher at school; Dorothy Hope, the founder of Thrumster Village; and the printmaker, Joan Smith. I mention them because in the 1970s, artists in regional areas, particularly Port Macquarie, were very isolated, and these people understood my language and aspirations.

At art school I ended up majoring in Printmaking and Drawing and managed to develop a strong profile as a printmaker very early in my art practice, exhibiting and awarded prizes on a national and international level. It was through my printmaking that I received the residence opportunity in New York.

Which medium/media do you like to work with now, and what is it about them that attract you?

Painting has become a key focus of my practice since the late 1990s. The reason for the shift was as much about creative development – expecting more from a medium – as it was about eliminating the exposure where possible to solvents and oil based products. I was looking for more freedom in scale and as I was already using the printmaking medium as a painter would paint, the progression was natural.

I adopted water based choices for all my processes, both paint and print. Apart from the ease of cleanup, many artists will identify that we still need to function to some degree in the real world. Time to work often becomes fragmented, so the speed of drying time became a crucial element for my work. Using water based processes also aligned with my aesthetic towards the landscape … the connections between water and atmosphere, staining, soaking, sliding, immersion and the porosity of the canvas, the porosity of the sand and earth …

I’ve read passages about your work, which describes it as ‘abstract impressionism’. Would you say this is a fair description – and if not, why?

I am often wary of categorisation when it comes to describing art. Art in contemporary terms crosses many boundaries between mediums as well as professional disciplines. These days, we do not need to go far to see the hybrid practice between artist and engineer or scientist. Coming to the ‘abstract impressionism’: both are words which come with a huge amount of misinterpreted and popularised baggage.

While it may be beneficial to have an understanding of when or why particular styles developed historically, we all need to be aware that much history, particularly involving women artists, marginalised cultures and geographically isolated artists, has yet to be written or rewritten into history.

Abstract is a term with many meanings and tends to be seen as a removal from a concrete source, and Impressionism is unfortunately tied to the popular historical style of the Impressionists, which are still firmly set in observational ground. This can be misleading.

Viewers are likely to feel compelled to try and locate references in my paintings to give themselves clues to determine the meaning, rather than allow the viewing experience to be a mutual engagement between the painting and them. My paintings are not about squinting your eyes to try and make out an impression of a thing. Hopefully they are about synthesis and experience.

​As an artist, what inspires you to create? 

​Energy. It is connected to experience and immersion in place, but not from the visited experience, where you are a tourist or explorer travelling to a place, picking a view and packaging it.

Memories obviously play a role for everybody, not only artists, because we all bring to any experience our previous experiences. What truly moves me to create are the lives of others, sacrifice, commitment, that drive of the artist to leave a mark, an image that has the capacity to move or resonate within the viewer. If even a momentary thing, it has the capacity to be an experience shared.

Much of your work is done on a large scale. What’s the largest piece you’ve completed to date?

The scale thing is relative. For a domestic setting it could be considered large, but they can be quite dwarfed in museum settings. The largest work is still in progress, but will end up being around 7 metres. The scale is part of the concept of immersion which informs my work; not only is it quite a performative act making the work, but I aim for the viewer to be able to be drawn into the works with little peripheral distraction. Not all my work is large scale.

What are some of the challenges (if any) for you as an artist completing large works … and how long does it typically take for you to finish a piece?

The physical expenditure is in assembling and stretching the canvases, moving them around in and out of the studio. I accommodate the size by making the works in sections, and that way they can fit through my studio door and down the stairs. The length of time is probably irrelevant, because when does a painting really begin?

There is gestation time, the development of thought, followed by experience and action time, then reflection, ending in satisfaction or frustration. This can be measured in weeks or months and has little bearing on the success of the work.

One of the other challenges is that you know already before you even start a painting that they have a limited market, so you are not market driven but instead by your own creative journey and conceptual investigation. People in buying any large work need to have the courage and conviction for that work to become the experience in the hanging location, and these days the super size TV with the constant shifts in images and entertainment supersedes the wall once reserved for that large painting. Paintings can demand from you as a viewer, but they can provide a pause … a place for renewal.

A few years ago, a buyer of my work sent me a text message to say they had spent the week without the television and instead spent the time immersed in my paintings, which is a validation that painting can have purpose.

What are a few of the exhibitions you’ve been involved with over the years? 

I have been exhibiting professionally at a strong level for thirty years, but I would like to highlight that exhibitions serve different functions. It is not always market driven. Solo exhibitions, in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and major regional gallery shows as in Tamworth and Coffs Harbour have been essential venues to enable me to create work and measure it as bodies of work, rather than isolated works hanging on the wall. It enables the work to function within your thematic development and is crucial for your own progression.

Curated shows are interesting, as you have the opportunity to have your work interpreted in the context of others’ work and concepts, so you are able to better position where your own practice is heading. National competitive shows, such as the Dobell Drawing Prize, the JADA, The Glover Landscape Prize and The Fremantle Print Prize are reinforcement of the validity of your own work and its contribution to particular mediums or genres within Australian art practice. International shows in which I have participated, and especially Printmaking shows, have been about cultural exchange.

Where is the best place for people to view your work? 

I am represented through Catherine Asquith Gallery, Melbourne and BMG art in Adelaide. I will be showing again with Catherine in Melbourne in September and at Danks Street Galleries, Sydney, in August. Walcha Gallery of Art has an ongoing selection of work, and I will be having a major show with them in May.

On a more local note, The Regional Gallery at the Glasshouse is currently hosting an exhibition organised by Port Macquarie High School, showcasing previous students from the school who have chosen art as their career path, celebrating 50 years of the high school. As a previous student, I am participating in this exhibition.

On a local level, I have seen my role not so much as an artist, but an advocate for emerging artists in the visual arts through TAFE. In the past 12 years I have taught at Kempsey Campus, participating in the delivery of the Diploma in Fine Art programmes and other fine art courses.

As a teaching body of committed professional arts practitioners, we have been instrumental in opening up the value of art making for many individuals in a meaningful way within the region. It is rewarding to help people find their own creative voice and move way beyond their own expectations.
Thanks Wendy. 

Interview by Jo Atkins.
This story was published in issue 77 of Port Macquarie Focus 

Believe it or not, art is an asset.  And like any asset, such as your car, your home, or your stamp collection, you insure it.  Interestingly as soon as one acquires one of these items, one automatically seeks the advice of an advisor or broker to ascertain adequate insurance and annual premiums ensure thereafter.  Yet, the same cannot be said for art.

​Speaking with my insurance broker on a somewhat frequent basis, I am always surprised to hear how infrequent his clients seek the advice of a professional when estimating the value of their art collection; the consequences of not having an up to date valuation, and therefore a current value, can mean the difference between being reimbursed for loss or damage appropriate to its market value or incurring a loss on that initial investment.

Obtaining a professional appraisal of your artwork operates in much the same way as seeking a value for other assets.  Credentials should be assessed; market sector and specialty experience should be examined together with the level of tertiary qualifications and membership with an industry association, such as the Art Consulting Association of Australia (ACAA).

Most importantly, seeking the services of an independent, objective and impartial professional will result in a more accurate valuation, and without the potential bias of an invested interest in the artwork and therefore its value.

There are a number of attributes which an experienced appraiser will utilise in order to determine the value of your artwork:

• Authenticity - discernment of a signature, title or date, original sale documentation;
• Quality - consideration of the artist’s period in which the work was executed; composition, palette and technical prowess;
• Rarity - how many works by this artist are available on the open market;
• Limited Edition Prints (if applicable) – the breadth of the edition for the work; available prints in the edition;
• Condition – the archival stability of the work and framing quality, i.e. is the artwork in its original frame?;
• Provenance – probably one of the most crucial factors in the overall valuation process, “provenance” equates with the artwork’s ‘history’, i.e. from artist’s studio to gallery exhibition to auction house sale; and includes discerning any notable non-commercial exhibitions in which the artwork was included, for example, a ‘survey’ exhibition at a regional gallery, in addition to any publications in which the artwork was illustrated or discussed;
• Market – does the artist have an auction record? Sales rates for the artist in either the primary or secondary markets.

Additionally, depending upon the nature of the valuation, i.e. the artwork is being considered for a charitable contribution or gift, or the artwork is part of the asset pool in a Family Law property dispute, the valuation may also include consideration of future capital gains tax issues.

Valuing your art necessitates the same respect as valuing your other lifetime assets.  Regular, up to date valuations of your artworks are an important adjunct to the ongoing maintenance and accurate documentation of your collection.

Seeking the advice and services of an experienced and knowledgeable professional is a critical step in the provision of an accurate art valuation.  Catherine Asquith Art’s valuation services offer new and established collectors a comprehensive appreciation of their collection, its current parameters and indeed, future directions.
 
 
Catherine Asquith has been working within the Australian art market, and more recently, the Asian art market, across both the primary and secondary sectors for the past twenty years and is a member of the Art Consulting Association of Australia (ACAA).

​The Sovereign Asian Art Prize, hosted by The Sovereign Art Foundation, was established in 2003 and is now recognised as one of the most prestigious awards for contemporary art in the Asia-Pacific region.
 
Held annually, the Sovereign Asian Art Prize invites mid-career contemporary artists, who have been nominated by a selected board of art experts, to enter up to three artworks online. Entries are then judged by a small judging panel consisting of independent art experts and professionals from the region, who select the best 30 artworks from a range of digital images. The 30 finalists are then exhibited in a prominent public space in Hong Kong, where the pieces are judged a second time, in person.
 
This year, the finalist works will be exhibited at Christie’s Hong Kong (19-21 April) and thereafter at The Rotunda, Exchange Square, Hong Kong (25 April–4 May).
 
The organisers of the event have described the finalist works as indicative of “cutting edge contemporary art practice” from the region.  Writer and curator David Elliott, who chaired this year’s judging panel, said the 30 finalists had been a “revelation” and “[n]ot only has the region been covered in a more comprehensive way than before, but also a new generation of artists is starting to emerge that is impressive in the range and density of its work. This is clearly shown in the finalists in this exhibition.”

The fifth edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong, which featured 242 premier galleries from 34 countries and territories, has ended on a high note. This year’s show included memorable moments such as:

• Our Conversations and Salon series was well received, offering visitors over 25 engaging sessions including the Salon panel 'Taking Stock: An Art Market Report'. The discussion followed the release of The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, which covers all aspects of the international art market in 2016.
• Kingsley Ng’s Twenty-Five Minutes Older, a moving installation in which two of Hong Kong’s iconic public trams were transformed into traveling works of art. The project was commissioned by Art Basel and supported by MGM Resorts Art & Culture.
• Another highlight was 'Virtual Frontiers: Artists Experimenting with Tilt Brush' presented by Art Basel and Google Arts & Culture, where visitors explored new virtual reality works created by artists: boychild, Cao Fei, Robin Rhode, Sun Xun, and Yang Yongliang. The works were produced using Google’s Tilt Brush - a 3D drawing and painting application.
• Nonny de la Peña’s project, 'Passage: The Life of a Wall on Lin He Road', a new iteration of 'Safely Manoeuvring Across Lin He Road' by Lin Yilin, presented by Asia Art Archive, also proved very popular amongst visitors as well.

Journalists from across the world attended, writing overwhelmingly positive reviews.  Forbes stated that ‘since its inception five years ago, Art Basel in Hong Kong has transformed the city into one of Asia’s most important cultural hubs.’ In addition, The New York Times observed that '…in the five years since Art Basel first began in Hong Kong, it has become perhaps the most important annual event on the regional art calendar[…] When it comes to Asian art, Art Basel Hong Kong is the place to go[…]' Financial Times reported that ‘Dealers find an audience for more challenging work at the fifth edition of the fair [...] [Art Basel’s] growth maps the burgeoning engagement of the Asia Pacific region with international contemporary art.’

The five show days were attended by private collectors as well as directors, curators, trustees and patrons from nearly 80 leading international museums and institutions across 20 countries, including Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Long Museum, Shanghai; MoMA PS1, New York; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney; National Gallery Singapore, Singapore; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul; New Museum, New York; Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; Serpentine Galleries, London; Tate, London and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
 
With numerous gallery openings and an expanded program of parallel events, the Art Basel week continued to spotlight Hong Kong's vibrant arts and cultural scene.
 
(from “Art Basel Hong Kong” VIP Program newsletter 4th April 2017)