Pain Awareness Month

ART COMPETITION COMMENCES SEPTEMBER 1^st

September is Pain Awareness Month.

A unique event comes to Auckland and participating regions for the first time.  Pain Awareness Month began in the United States fives years ago and will be promoted throughout September with an exciting live and online event organised by someone who lives in chronic pain.

In honour of those who deal with pain every day of their lives, Pain Awareness Month is holding an art competition created to raise awareness of the lives of those in pain, sharing knowledge about how best to deal with pain conditions, and raising awareness and money for the charities that support those in pain.

Successful entries will be exhibited on the 9^th October at Tabac in Auckland CBD. The evening will include performances by amazing musicians, acrobats and actors and a silent auction of the winning pieces from the competition. At the conclusion of Pain Awareness Month a panel of judges will pick the successful entries for the exhibition with the proceeds going to the charity of the artist’s choice.

The competition is open to everyone; those with chronic pain and those without, professional artists and passionate amateurs. The theme is to show Art Inspired By Pain. It’s broad so as to include more of the aspects of chronic pain – the good things it can bring as well as the bad.

Participants are invited to submit art from any medium, though entries need to be displayable online.  Submissions should include 3 photographs of the work and a completed entry form available from www.painmonth.co.nz. Entry forms should be emailed to art@painmonth.co.nz . Mailing details are available on the website.

Once received, they will be posted on the website forum and on the Pain Awareness Month facebook page, for public comments and to be voted on for the peoples choice awards presented throughout the competition. At the end of the month, votes will be tallied and the entry with the most votes in total will be made part of the silent auction on the 9^th October along with the entries chosen by our panel of judges.

The organiser, Hannah Gross saw a need to bring Pain Awareness Month to New Zealand.  She is a 28yr old who has had fibromyalgia now for 12 years. Fibromyalgia is a disorder of the central nervous system which causes widespread pain and health issues. In that time she has been fully functioning and working fulltime and bedridden, unable to even support herself upright. When she sought treatment both in New Zealand and the USA, and noted the public reaction to her condition; that the majority of people don’t know what it is, and the first reaction to hearing the words ‘chronic pain’ tends to be disbelief or fear.

People wishing to participate in the competition, volunteer assistance with Pain Awareness Month or for and general enquiries please contact Hannah at nix@painmonth.co.nz or 021 909839.

You can join their facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Rebel-Yell-Gallery/133691639988094?ref=ts

CONNECT WITH YOUR INNER REBEL – K RD’s NEW ART GALLERY

Beneath the thin crust of conformity lies a bubbling cauldron of weirdness:
REBEL YELL GALLERY ANNOUNCES ITS GRAND OPENING ON AUGUST 13

Rebel Yell Gallery at La Gonda Arcade, 203 K Rd, will be celebrating its grand opening with ‘Love and other catastrophes’ an exhibition showcasing the art of Stacey Roper and JINX.

Friends from a young age, both artists grew up in Taranaki, and have developed their own distinct styles, drawing from their professional experiences in advertising and sign writing mixed with their love of skateboarding, music, hot rods, New Zealand and everything in between.

“Coming from The Naki has definitely had a big influence on my art, there’s a lot of Kiwiana and New Zealand culture that comes through.” says artist and exhibitor JINX.

Both artists have honed their art and create engaging, highly attractive, polished pieces that present a direct standpoint that people can connect with. There’s also often some dark humour that comes through which adds an element of entertainment to the works.

Rebel Yell Gallery is dedicated to exhibiting a genre of work influenced by story illustration, comic book art, science fiction, movie poster art, motion picture production and effects, animation, music art and posters, psychedelic and punk rock art, hot rod and biker art, surfer, beach bum and skateboard graphics, graffiti art, tattoo art, pin-up art, deviant, erotic art, pornography and myriad other place egalitarian art forms. It’s all about Lowbrow art and artists.

Lowbrow art with its roots in all things counter culture and askew of the norm, has taken on a pivotal role in the art scene, it speaks from the streets and manages to offer a point of view that is often unique and never dull.

“We wanted to offer a space where lowbrow artists could share their work in a public friendly environment, people are welcome to stay awhile and see some of the great work NZ artists are doing – this is art for everyone.” says Stacey Roper, artist and director of Rebel Yell.

If you’re ready for some NZ art that is new, fresh and exciting, Rebel Yell Gallery with its blend of art and object from both upcoming and established lowbrow NZ artists is the place to go.
REBEL YELL GALLERY
Grand Opening with DJ Randomplay & Donny Groove
Friday August 13, 2010 from 6pm
La Gonda Arcade, 203 Karangahape Rd
Auckland, New Zealand, 1010
Opening hours:
Tues – Sat: 10.30am – 6pm
Sun: 11am – 4pm
www.rebelyellgallery.com
For more info please contact Stacey Roper on: 0211464039

As you can see, we also now have a blog. When I first put together Gallery36, the whole concept was to create a space where emerging artists and photographers were able to share their work with the public and the art world.

It is no easy feat to graduate from art school and become an established, putting money on the table from your artwork kind of artist. Everyone has a different idea how it should or shouldn’t happen and there is not set rules. If you have money, maybe an art advisor might be in the picture; otherwise you are working part time to support yourself and your career. I don’t know what the percentage is for artists who make it to the big time pretty much out of art school, but you don’t necessarily want to be an overnight sensation either because you probably will need to re-invent yourself in another five years.

Anyhow, I wanted to give emerging artists and photographers a place to be, to network, and to have the opportunity to be apart of something that would bring them opportunities. Well Gallery36 is now in its second year and it is time for things to be renewed, re-fuelled and re-thought.

This blog is part of that new strategy. We want YOU on Galler36’s blog. Tell us what is new in your career, what are you making and what are you planning. And those artists and photographers who have already been profiled in Gallery36, update us on what has happened since you were featured in Gallery36.

Gallery36 is providing you with another platform to continue showcasing your work. Use the space to share exhibition invites, keep everyone posted with what is new in your career and all those exciting things that are happening in the art world.

I would like to send out a huge Thank you to the fabulous designer who made this all possible: Priya Singh

Welcome to the next stage of Gallery36. Help Gallery36 help you become more visible!

During this past year and half since graduation took place (in the merry little Town hall of Auckland one November day), I have been in deep and serious thought about myself, my future, and art practice. Choosing to not jump into a post-graduate degree immediately after my bachelors was a scary thought, but it proved to have benefitted, not in a reason of relaxation and break from study, but in experience and re-learning about myself and art.

Having to subtract the protective walls of a creative institution, along with the help and guidance of those whom share the same passion was one of the main difficulties I faced, and it has taken a toll on my art making. Reflection and Re-learning about myself, and who I am in a big pool of creative big-boys was a difficult challenge. To me, it meant taking what I learnt and putting it into reality. The training wheels are off, and I am to ride my bike all the way to the other end without falling off. But what do I do when I fall off? The thought of art making has become like that, sad to say, I felt the pressure, I felt the expectations and the need and hurry in succeeding. What ever it was, I definitely felt it. Just who was I in art school? Would that take me far in real life? And who am I now? What do I want to achieve now? All questions and a lot of answering to do, fortunately it hasn’t put me off entirely.

Despite getting through hurtles and a crazed mission of re-discovery. I had my friends, my art buddies, and strong minded and hard working people. Together with some of them I am in an amazing group called Crossover. Being a part of creating an emerging art collective and getting to meet, support and develop friendships with those of the creative community has meant a lot to me. I am glad to say, that through missions like these, I have at least kept art alive through keeping myself within that environment. This year, after having Crossover established for a little over a year now. I have met amazing people like Cleo Barnett of First Thursdays, Renee Laing, and Suzette Meyer just to name a few.

So where to now? I definitely am seeking, still seeking and surely will find that conclusion one day, but as they say, life long and is a whole heap of learning till you die. Lately I have learnt that there is no hurry to getting into art and making it famous instantly, so surely I shall aim to let this pressure die and get back into making peacefully. I will find my own voice, my own style, my way of art, and my own way of letting others see, know or learn of me. But first, I aim to complete my post-graduate degree, and finish those projects and commissions I have stacked up in my journal. Hopefully you all will see a better update of my life story as a new-born baby (mildly independent) artist, and by then I will have a better story to tell.

Sin-Mae & Steven Ball at Sin-Mae's group exhibition, early 2010

Sin-Mae Chung - Strings and perspective (1 of 4) Jan 2010

Sin-Mae Chung
Artist / Crossover Pioneer
Mob: 021 0749809
Email: mae.mc@xtra.co.nz
www.crossover.org.nz

Young Sun Han Dance of the Cockatrice

Korean-American artist Young Sun Han presents a new body of work in photography and performance in his second solo exhibition at City Art Rooms.

Dance of the Cockatrice is the title of a set of photographs depicting the artist’s nude body painted in vibrant camouflage patterns to match an appropriated mural based on a screen print by Andy Warhol. Each photograph captures the artist in dramatic poses. The sequence of movements causes his painted skin to stretch and tear, revealing more flesh as the series progresses.

The use of camouflage and a mask, covering most of Han’s face, may refer to strategies in which individuals adapt their identity and personalities to blend into society. While represented as a physical alteration in the photographs, this chameleon-like quality also symbolises a cultural and behavioural adjustment individuals undergo.

Referencing Warhol indicates the artist’s interest in the tension between voyeurism and exhibitionism. Warhol’s subjects were held under clinical scrutiny in video and photographic works that challenged issues of privacy and exposure. As in Warhol’s subjects, Han’s gaze into the lens is self-assured and confronts the viewer like a seductive advertisement.

The camouflage both conceals and reveals Han’s body in different moments, and the dance appears to be an open invitation and ambivalent strip tease. The subject is delicately aware of the viewer and invites such glances. In this instance, the artist implies that the act of voyeurism comes at a cost – a cockatrice, referenced in the title, is a mythological half-rooster half-reptile that possesses the power to turn people into stone with its glare.

A live performance in the gallery will recreate the photographs on opening night. Audience members will be entangled with the artist’s gaze as he stalks around the City Art Rooms space, his armour of paint peeling away with each step.

Young Sun Han Dance of the Cockatrice

“The ‘dance’ is inspired by the act of cruising, which is a kind of eye tug-of-war when encountering strangers. It’s a simultaneous display of desire and power play, which reminds me of my experiences of looking at art and sexy consumer goods,” says Han.

Young Sun Han (b. 1982, USA) has been a NZ resident since 2008 and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and also studied at Goldsmiths College, London. His recent performances include Sliding Mirror at the 4A Centre of Cont. Art, Sydney, and 24 Hour Embrace at the Swimming Pool Project Space, Chicago. He has also exhibited in the Suter Gallery, Nelson and the New Dowse, Lower Hutt. He was a finalist in the Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Awards in 2008. (City Art Rooms, 2010)

I had the pleasure of helping Young get things sorted and all ready on time for the guests to arrive. Quite a time schedule that’s for sure. The performance was approximately one hour-long and rather spellbinding. As presumed, the audience stood frozen for at least 10 – 15 minutes before accepting that it was okay for them to go and get some fresh air or talk and have a drink.

Young Sun Han Dance of the Cockatrice 2

There were moments when Young would pause and squint at the crowd, staring out as a cockatrice would, finding his prey. But these gauges were also a game, waiting for someone to blind or turn away, and then Young would continue to remove the paint.

It became evident the performance was coming to an end when Young started to move about a lot more, flex and literally scratch at his body to remove the paint. The end was quite a climax as Young suddenly just stopped scratching at the paint, stood up straight and walked out. Just like that it was over. The applause was great and full of appreciation. I don’t think I have ever seen anything quite like what I saw that night. Sure it was hard to separate myself from the fact that I knew Young, we had talked about the process of the performance and the theory behind it. But my breath was taken away.

Young this is a kind of tribute to you. I want as many people to see your work as possible. The photos that remain from the performance are wonderful.

It has been an absolute pleasure to work with you and being your friend.

View the photographs at City Art Rooms, or go to www.cityartrooms.co.nz