Home → Associated Groups → Wattspace → Exhibition 9.06

Watt Space
28 June - 16 July

Exhibitions to be opened by Associate Professor Phillip O’Neill, Director, Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Newcastle.

The Loading Dock, Loading Zone, the Locker Room and Pit Galleries
The Current Climate

2006 selective exhibition curated by Watt Space Director Anne McLaughlin with Darryl Bowes, Jake Henzler, Megan James, Anna Karen, Kaylie Salvatori, Caitlin Sneddon, Luke Thompson, Martin Trew and Vanessa Turton

The Current Climateis a contemporary phrase often invoked to contain, explain or justify current human beliefs and phenomena, public and private, global and local. This phrase is used in many political, environmental and social contexts and may neither illuminate or articulate the reasons or causes for the many and various manifestations of human interaction with which we are daily confronted. The nine artists in this show all exhibited at Watt Space during 2005 and were invited by me to make new work in response to this theme. Anne McLaughlin

L - R Jake Henzler Please do not touch the clouds (detail) wool, Caitlin Sneddon Seasonal Alterations (detail) silkscreen prints on paper, Anna Karen Life is Good (detail) found objects, fabric, digital prints

L - R Darryl Bowes and Luke Thompson American Nativity (detail) polished aluminium, Kaylie Salvatori absurdity and inanity (us vs them) galvanised steel, Vanessa Turton For Tate (detail) found objects, fabric, digital prints

L - R Martin Trew 297 phobias (detail) paper, plastic, Megan James Home/Land/Secure/ity (detail) iron, timber, soil, netting

The Long Room

Then and Now

Thomas Degens
painting

Three early landscapes mirrored by three late landscapes of the same subject, introduce the idea of Then and Now, followed by significant works from 1984 to 2006. Survival is my current work, presented by a study of natural forms within the estuarine landscape to understand the concept of ‘existence within a specific environment’.I take this opportunity to present my first exhibition titled Then and Now. Tom Degens

L - R Bellinger River 2006 (detail) oil on canvas on board, Coramba Road 2006 oil on canvas, Riversdale Forest 2002 (detail) acrylic collage on paper

The Hoist

We Rule the School

Shellie Smith

sculpture

Shellie Smith painstakingly recreates everyday objects. In this instance for We Rule the School (2005), a public transport seat, a bus stop sign and a post box. The objects’ form and colour are perfect as is the scale. However there is something slightly surreal about experiencing such familiar objects removed from their usual context and purpose. The only thing missing is the graffiti and a motley crew of pimple-skinned teenagers swearing at passing cars and harassing old ladies and small children..Diana Robson Exhibition Curator When the Dog Bites exhibition catalogue 2005

L - R We rule the school cardboard, timber, paint, details of installation

The Media Space

Ticking

Olivia Parsonage

fibre

I have always been drawn to the tactile quality of fibres and the manipulation of materials into something new and different. My fibre art pieces are a disparate collection of ideas, techniques and materials, with an emphasis on the human form. Conveying human emotions through stitches on fabric is very exciting and the outcome is often surprising. Olivia Parsonage

L - R all Food figures 2006 tin, fabric, thread

Exhibition 9.06

Watt Space 28 June - 16 July