Issue 43 Hits the Stands!

‘JUST LET IT GO’ ASKS THIS ISSUE’S cover artist, Raquel Ormella, in the wonderful embroidery above. Like most of Ormella’s works it has a suspenseful relativism which charms us. Ormella’s strength is to set aside her own biases so as to place views, as well as actions, in their contexts. The phrase illustrated here could apply to anything: something dangerous or merely irritating, even stupid. But should we ‘just let it go’?

For H. R. Hyatt-Johnston, too much work and too many people in the NGV Triennial was too big of an issue to ‘just let it go’. Nor was Hyatt-Johnston able to say nothing about the failure of Mami Kataoka’s 21st Biennale of Sydney to produce a printed catalogue. It’s too strange to ignore, particularly considering that Kataoka presented such a respectful consideration of the 45-year history of the Biennale through exhibiting all the previous Biennale catalogues at the Art Gallery of NSW. Kataoka is also staging a series of lectures by previous directors, and her empathy for different cultures and their ancient histories is evident in the artists she has selected for this 2018 Biennale.

The 1976 Biennale of Sydney catalogue was a ring-bound affair with a single-wall corrugated cardboard mono-coloured cover, with 48 pages in black-and-white inside. Such a catalogue would be unthinkable for Kataoka’s Biennale, yet it would be better than nothing.

Why didn’t the Australia Council for the Arts and the NSW Government provide the first Asian Artistic Director of what is claimed to be Australia’s premier international visual arts event with funding similar to that given to the NGV Triennial? Should we ‘just let it go’ and watch Kataoka’s Biennale fade away so quickly?

Should we also be considering when and where it is appropriate for a mobile phone image of an artist’s work to be shared on digital platforms? Is it acceptable to ignore artists’ requests not to copy and share images from an exhibition or studio? How should we respond to the behaviour of those who ignore an artist’s request not to have their work photographed? What happens when that artwork is photographed and shared and the artist seeks legal support to address the action and is powerless to do anything because they simply don’t have the resources to fight this poor behaviour? What should we do: ‘just let it go’?

Kon Gouriotis
@kon_gouriotis

COVER
RAQUEL ORMELLA

ISSUE
Art Finds a New Audience by Kon Gouriotis and Elli Walsh

PROFILES
ADAM PYETT by Bridget Macleod
SIMON BLAU by Sonia Legge
RAQUEL ORMELLA by Kon Gouriotis
WARWICK THORNTON by Ashley Crawford
GRAEME DRENDEL by Katrina Noorbergen
TONI WARBURTON by Elli Walsh
JUNE TUPICOFF by Louise Martin-Chew
LINCOLN AUSTIN by Louella Hayes
ARTHUR APANSKI by Kon Gouriotis

INSIGHT
Martin Thompson, by Kim Guthrie
Essay: Alun Leach-Jones, by Ian Grant
Review: Eyes on Main Street, by Lucy Stranger
Essay: Regional Art Prizes, by Judith Pugh
NGV Triennial: by H. R. Hyatt-Johnston
Preview: NOT, by Kon Gouriotis
Process: Kai Wasikowski
Process: Peter Hudson
Process: Tony Costa
Discovery: Ali McCann