Tag Archives: sculpture

Canberra’s Public Art Biennial

 

Contour 556
October 5 – October 28 2018

Marianne and  Canberra-based artist Bev Hogg collaborated again for Contour 556 this time shifting their focus from making work from organic gathered and found materials to a work made from plastic waste highlighting the harm such materials cause to nature and the environment.

Food for Thought up-ends the Adam and Eve storey of temptation and the Fall of Mankind. Here the human figures, already enmeshed in the waste of consumer society tempt the natural world – the serpent, with ‘food’ from the modern world with all its negative implications.

Plastic waste collected from around the lake was incorporated into the work along with household waste and additional plastic from food outlets, supermarkets and building supply retailers.  The work is installed beside the lake at the eastern end of Bowen Park.

Contour 556 2018 follows on the success of the inaugural event in 2016.  It has grown to include work by over 60 local, national and international artists who, in the words of its initiator and curator Neil Hobbs, were ‘chosen for their ability to engage with the physical, cultural and historic Canberra landscape’.

There is a supporting catalogue and an events program listing the full program of what’s on throughout the month.  A good place to start a tour of the works is at the information centre at ‘East Space’ Gallery, Commonwealth Place – just below and to the east of the National Library on the lakeside walk. There is also a website at www.contour556.com.au

Above:  Marianne Courtenay and Bev Hogg – ‘Food for Thought ‘ – (detail)  2018
Below: Marianne Courtenay and Bev Hogg – ‘Food for Thought’  2018 Figures: life-size, recycled plastic waste on wire armature; Serpent: woven and plated plastic waste, head on wire and waste polystyrene armature. 8 meters long. 2018 

 

Food_for_Thought_Courtenay_and_Hogg_2018

 

 

 

BRAIDWOOD EXHIBITION – ‘MAIN STREET’

3rd February  – 19th March  2017

Fran and I have responded in very different ways to the Main Street subject of this exhibition. My work consists of small 3D studies of some of Braidwood’s old heritage buildings while Fran has a series of ink and wash drawings of contemporary life in the street,  some painted wooden panels and a set of robust works depicting a very different but prominent feature of Braidwood’s main street – the great trucks that thunder through the town!

The 3D drawn studies are quite a departure from my usual work but share an interest in form and the details that make things distinctive.  They are my interpretations of the buildings not scale models.  I have omitted details that for me didn’t add to the character of the building or detracted from the overall form and I chose for harmony and cohesion to work with a natural palette that doesn’t relate directly to specific colour schemes or finishes.

Each work is built around a recycled timber core cut to size.  The verandas and facades are mainly made of balsa assembled and then attached to the core.  The surfaces are drawn with colour pencil on fine art paper, cut to fit, sealed and then glued in place.

In making these small works I have grown much more fond of the old buildings than I had been when I started the project. The process forced me to really look at them – work with them in a sense – and understand how they have become what they are today – the additions, modifications, impacts associated with changes in use and the effects of the passage of time.  I see them now not just as buildings but as a vital part of what connects me to the history and stories of the place I call home.

The exhibition is open until mid March so if you’re in the area do check it out.  Altenburg and Co is open from 10am to 4pm Thursday through to Saturday.

Above:  Marianne Courtenay – ‘Len Mutton’s’  3D drawn study. – wood, paper, colour pencil, gouache, wire. 10cm high x 11cm wide x 2.5cm deep.

View the sculptures here

Groundwork at Lambrigg

Sculpture in the Garden, Canberra

Sculpture in the Garden, Canberra

What a perfect combination – sunny days, exciting artwork and a beautiful garden! Held over the weekend of the 19th and 20th October, Sculpture in the Garden in the beautiful rural setting of the historic Lambrigg homestead on Canberra’s outskirts was Open Gardens Australia’s inaugural sculpture event and part of wider celebrations for Canberra’s centenary year.

In the words of the catalogue:

“This unique regional event … showcase(d) the works of major local, national and internationally recognised artists in a setting that connects the early history of the Limestone Plains with a spectacular natural landscape.  Mature deciduous trees sweep down towards the Murrumbidgee, framing a garden that blends intimate formal spaces with wider views and creating a superb setting for sculpture”

Marianne and  Canberra-based ceramic artist Bev Hogg’s showed their collaborative sculpture ‘Groundwork 1′ – an organic construction of tightly stacked and cut eucalyptus branches forming a container-like meditative work.   Both Marianne and Bev also had individual smaller works  on exhibition.

Robin Archer, Creative Director of the Centenary of Canberra and Tamie Fraser, President of open Gardens Australia kicked off proceedings on Thursday evening and over the weekend close to 2,000 people enjoyed the garden and the sculpture.  Our thanks go particularly to Neil Hobbs and Bronwyn Blake for their skill and dedication in organising the event, to the weekend’s hosts, Peter and Kate Gullett owners of Lambrigg and last but not least to all those who not only visited but purchased work.

View the Exhibition page here.