Issue 51

EDITOR’S NOTE

Integrated action to stop the COVID-19 pandemic has been completely necessary to guide Australasians to avoid the catastrophic spread and deaths recorded in other regions of the world.

However, we should be cautious of returning to old systems with their propensity to turn partial truths into absolutes; and to the entirety of ideas to which they have become so closed and fixed. Governments seem to be learning that placing citizens first is paramount to the long-term health of a country’s economy and culture. This refocused spirit could revitalise a decimated visual arts sector that was already on the brink of breakdown before COVID-19.

Unavoidably, throughout this fifty-first issue of Artist Profile – which celebrates on the cover the revered painter Prudence Flint – there are many stories tracing the impact of COVID-19 on artists’ lives and work. We also consider what our public and private institutions are doing – or perhaps not doing – during this time. Ted Snell’s article Setting a course: art museums and COVID-19 proposes a new horizon from the pandemic.

Sonia Legge’s article brings us back to the summer of fires – before the pandemic took over public consciousness – providing a moving tale of hope through the diaries of renowned ceramicist Steve Harrison.

Some artists and writers feel they are not able to say what they think. This feeling of confinement is one of the reasons we have included an anonymous column, to let a writer speak without fear.

After many months of planning we are delighted to invite you to take a peek at Artist Profile’s digital archive, which is now available at artistprofile.com.au/archive. Anyone can now revisit past issues and search for their favourite artist, writer, photographer or contributor from over a decade of Artist Profile magazine.

To lighten up the dark, pessimistic course of the pandemic, and to kick-off this resource, we invited eighteen artists who have appeared on past covers of Artist Profile to respond to six probing questions.

In addition to our archive, I also invite you to look at Art Investor (artinvestor.net.au), a new digital initiative to provide more opportunities for artists and dealers to sell work, with which Artist Profile is partnering.

To all who have contributed by advertising, subscribing, or buying Artist Profile, we thank you sincerely for your continued support in helping us maintain our independence.  

Kon Gouriotis
Editor

CONTENTS

ISSUE

COVID-19 AND THE ARTS by Ted Snell
MANIFESTOS OF EMPATHY by anonymous

COVER FEATURE

Prudence Flint by Saskia Beudel

PROFILES

Al Poulet by Kon Gouriotis
Toby Cedar by Louise Martin-Chew
Laure Prouvost by Laura Couttie
Destiny Deacon + Virginia Fraser by Rose Vickers
Clifford How by Pippa Mott
Helen Eager by Sebastian Goldspink
Nick Santoro by Bridget Macleod

INSIGHT

POEM by Bruce James
PROCESS  Amber Hearn
PROCESS Laurie Steer
TRIBUTE Mavis Ngallametta by Jeremy Eccles
ESSAY Steve Harrison by Sonia Legge
ESSAY Biennale of Sydney by Soo-Min Shim
ESSAY Biennale of Sydney by Michael Young
PREVIEW Lindy Lee by Courtney Kidd
AROUND THE GROUNDS Sam Fields by Pippa Mott; Jo Davenport by Emma-Kate Wilson; Tonee Messiah by Lee-Ann Joy
REVIEW Peter Cole by Sasha Grishin
REVIEW Hugh Ramsay by Paul McGillick
REVIEW Lucas Grogan by Madeleine K. Snow
BOOK Australian Galleries by Judith Pugh
ARCHIVE Past Cover Artist Answer Six Questions
DISCOVERY Nina Juniper by Nikita Holcombe