MEDIA RELEASE
MORALITY, MORTALITY AND ART
Morality, mortality and Art is the first solo exhibition by sculptor Graham Hay at the Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery, 46 Henry St. Fremantle, opens at 6pm on the 5th September.
Exploring relations and social networks, the exhibition of new works include 1 ½ tonnes of compressed paper*, over 1,2000 biros and coloring pencils, and ceramic paperclay** sculptures. The exhibition will be open 4 – 15 September, 10am-5pm Tuesday to Sunday.
“I hoping to tie together some of the loose ends explored in previous personal works exploring duality” said Graham; “as well as a social network analysis of the 34 year old WA Arts Grant system. Perth’s physical isolation makes it easier to look at how this incentive system has shaped our local art scene and style,” concludes Graham.
In just over a decade this graduate of the UWA, Edith Cowan and Curtin Universities, has carved out a huge international profile. This includes 120 (60 select and invitational) exhibitions in nine countries, plus 190 invitations to speak or teach across Australia and 12 other countries.
His work has been acquired by the WA State Art Gallery, and 16 major public collections in 5 countries.
A recognized international leader in the emerging international ceramic paperclay and paper sculpture movements, he has written 26 journal articles and been an invited demonstrator or speaker at 12 national or international conferences in 10 countries. In 2004 he was invited to exhibit at and lead the first international paperclay symposium (in Hungary). Last year he was invited to speak about the paperclay movement before 4,200 delegates at the US National Ceramics Education Conference, at a ceramic art, science and industry conference in Turkey and demonstrate at the first Nordic Paperclay symposium (in Denmark). This year he has already been a guest demonstrator at the New Zealand Potters Conference and given 6 workshops across the US.
His website www.grahamhay.com.au attracts over 1.5 million hits a year and in response to popular demand, now contains over a hundred pages of technical information, images, and journal articles.
His sculptures include a 4 tone spiral of government reports in the foyer of the High Court of Australia, 112 ceramic paperclay sculptures for a NSW beach resort, and early this year a ½ ton compressed paper sculpture for Busselton’s Southbound concert, a compressed paper arc at the Cottesloe’s Sculpture by the Sea and a 5,000 book braincell in a Mandurah library.
At the conclusion of the exhibition Graham will spend 6 weeks working with Geraldton TAFE students and sculptors to build 20 life size sculptures for the 2008 Blessing of the Fleet, before moving on to create a “living sculpture” for the Northcliffe Southern Forest Sculpture Walk in the Southwest.
* Compressed paper sculpture is a unique technique Graham has developed which uses mechanical compression (with minimal glue) to produce a material as heavy, hard as and durable as Jarrah, from redundant government and business annual reports. This is then carved using an Arbortec cutter, a WA invention.
** Paperclay is any clay, with processed cellulose fibre (paper the most common) added. Over a third of all clay used in art studios and classrooms is now paperclay. It behaves and fires like traditional clay, but is stronger as dry clay and dry-to-dry/wet joins are possible. A new international art movement is emerging from combining the century-old paper and clay traditions. .
Graham was the founding member of the Thermal Shock Artists Group (which exhibited in Perth 1992-2003), the first coordinator of the WA Arts Management Group Inc (1997), and is a founding member of the Robertson Part Artists Studio in Northbridge (2000-).
For more information:
Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery
Richie Kuhaupt
Exhibitions Officer
Ph: (08) 9335 3519 (10am-5pm)
Fax: +61 8 9432 9547.
E-mail: [email protected]
MEDIA RELEASE
Exploring relations and social networks, the exhibition of new works include 1 ½ tonnes of compressed paper*, over 1,2000 biros and coloring pencils, and ceramic paperclay** sculptures. The exhibition will be open 4 – 15 September, 10am-5pm Tuesday to Sunday.
“I hoping to tie together some of the loose ends explored in previous personal works exploring duality” said Graham; “as well as a social network analysis of the 34 year old WA Arts Grant system. Perth’s physical isolation makes it easier to look at how this incentive system has shaped our local art scene and style,” concludes Graham.
In just over a decade this graduate of the UWA, Edith Cowan and Curtin Universities, has carved out a huge international profile. This includes 120 (60 select and invitational) exhibitions in nine countries, plus 190 invitations to speak or teach across Australia and 12 other countries.
His work has been acquired by the WA State Art Gallery, and 16 major public collections in 5 countries.
A recognized international leader in the emerging international ceramic paperclay and paper sculpture movements, he has written 26 journal articles and been an invited demonstrator or speaker at 12 national or international conferences in 10 countries. In 2004 he was invited to exhibit at and lead the first international paperclay symposium (in Hungary). Last year he was invited to speak about the paperclay movement before 4,200 delegates at the US National Ceramics Education Conference, at a ceramic art, science and industry conference in Turkey and demonstrate at the first Nordic Paperclay symposium (in Denmark). This year he has already been a guest demonstrator at the New Zealand Potters Conference and given 6 workshops across the US.
His website www.grahamhay.com.au attracts over 1.5 million hits a year and in response to popular demand, now contains over a hundred pages of technical information, images, and journal articles.
His sculptures include a 4 tone spiral of government reports in the foyer of the High Court of Australia, 112 ceramic paperclay sculptures for a NSW beach resort, and early this year a ½ ton compressed paper sculpture for Busselton’s Southbound concert, a compressed paper arc at the Cottesloe’s Sculpture by the Sea and a 5,000 book braincell in a Mandurah library.
At the conclusion of the exhibition Graham will spend 6 weeks working with Geraldton TAFE students and sculptors to build 20 life size sculptures for the 2008 Blessing of the Fleet, before moving on to create a “living sculpture” for the Northcliffe Southern Forest Sculpture Walk in the Southwest.
* Compressed paper sculpture is a unique technique Graham has developed which uses mechanical compression (with minimal glue) to produce a material as heavy, hard as and durable as Jarrah, from redundant government and business annual reports. This is then carved using an Arbortec cutter, a WA invention.
** Paperclay is any clay, with processed cellulose fibre (paper the most common) added. Over a third of all clay used in art studios and classrooms is now paperclay. It behaves and fires like traditional clay, but is stronger as dry clay and dry-to-dry/wet joins are possible. A new international art movement is emerging from combining the century-old paper and clay traditions. .
Graham was the founding member of the Thermal Shock Artists Group (which exhibited in Perth 1992-2003), the first coordinator of the WA Arts Management Group Inc (1997), and is a founding member of the Robertson Part Artists Studio in Northbridge (2000-).
For more information:
Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery
Richie Kuhaupt
Exhibitions Officer
Ph: (08) 9335 3519 (10am-5pm)
Fax: +61 8 9432 9547.
E-mail: [email protected]
MEDIA RELEASE
