airSPACE - Post Office Gallery

airSPACE - emma stoneman & antonietta covino-beehre

Post Office Gallery, University of Ballarat

To be opened on Thursday 12 December 6.30pm by Dr Jennifer Jones-O'Neill. Deputy Dean, Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Education and Arts, University of Ballarat.

Emma Stoneman and Antoinietta Covino-Beehre have developed their recent body of work in 2013 whilst Artists-in-Residence at the Arts Academy, University of Ballarat. 

Emma Stoneman’s background is in photography, printmaking, digital art and installation, exhibiting in orthodox gallery, non-traditional commercial and public venues, as well as site-specific works for outdoor civic spaces. Her strong interest in the built landscape has resulted in her art practice predominantly anchored in photography, investigating the poetic forms of human-made structures and exploring allegorical comparisons between the built environment and the function, structure, posture and alignment of the human body - the building blocks of humanity.

Stoneman completed a Diploma of Building Design & Technology in 2005 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) in 1999. She has exhibited in Australia, Taiwan and Russia. Her work is held in private and public collections in Australia and internationally.

Antonietta Covino-Beehre’s art practice incorporates multiple disciplines including printmaking, sculpture, drawing and photography. Her recent work explores the 'souvenir', memory and remembrance, together with ideas surrounding nostalgia, cultural identity and place. Inspired by her Italian background, Covino-Beehre conveys meaning through complex layering of objects, text and imagery. Reconfiguring and shifting perceptions of the everyday object or the souvenir, she positions the object as a mirror of identity and self while exploring universal issues surrounding folklore, cultural connection and belonging.

Covino-Beehre obtained her Master of Arts in 2002. She has exhibited broadly in Australia and internationally and is represented in national, state and regional galleries and in corporate and private collections in Australia and internationally.

NB: The PO Gallery will be closed from Sat 21 Dec 2013 until Thu 2 Jan 2014.

From the Web: Ushio Shinohara - Cutie and the Boxer

I've always admired the work of Ushio Shinohara. There is now a movie, Cutie and the Boxer, about his boxing paintings. 

Cutie and the Boxer

The Japanese Neo-Dadaist Makes a Slow-Mo Splash

A paean to eternal themes of love, sacrifice and the enduring pull of the creative process, Zachary Heinzerling makes his filmmaking debut with Cutie and the Boxer, a meditative observation of painter and boxer Ushio Shinohara. This exclusive sequence, shot on a Phantom camera, shows Ushiro pummeling the glass ‘canvas’ with affecting vigor. The former enfant terrible moved to New York from his native Japan in 1969 in search of international recognition that has never quite materialized. In the Sundance-fêted documentary, Heinzerling captures the Octogenarian and his long-suffering wife and de facto assistant Noriko preparing for their first joint exhibition: Ushio will present a selection of his ‘box paintings’––Jackson Pollock-inspired abstractions created by hurling paint-covered boxing gloves across a massive canvas, and Noriko, a showcase a series of witty illustrations entitled “Cutie and the Bullie,” which satirize their turbulent 40-year-old marriage. “Ultimately, my goal was to absorb the audience in the raw spirit and beauty that emanates from the couple,” explains Heinzerling. “To open a door onto the creative and very private world where the rhythms of the Shinoharas’s lives play out.” The result is an intimate tapestry of a challenging partnership, cemented by a bond that transcends their various artistic and financial impediments.

Article sourced from: nowness.com

Additionally, further information regarding Ushio Shinohara

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From the Archive: Studio d'una Citta

Continuing with ‘From the Archive’. My 2003 work Studio d’una Citta (etching, cyanotype, woodcut, and lithograph). 

Antonietta Covino-Beehre’s set of eight prints, entitled Studio d’una citta were enclosed in a box with an etched copper lid. The scenes of Rome and Florence in Italy and their surrounding areas were made using traditional printmaking techniques of etching, cyanotype, wood engraving and lithography. Covino-Beehre has explored her paternal Italian heritage and its associated domestic traditions in her winning work. The boxed set makes an interesting addition to the City of Fremantle Art Collection as it represents several printmaking practices in the one work, and through its subject of Italian heritage which is a rich cultural element of the Fremantle community.

http://www.artmonthly.org.au/artnotes.asp?aID=10&issueNumber=164

The 28th Annual Shell Fremantle Print Award 2003: "Among the most exciting inclusions in every print award are the artists' books, one of which took out this year's first prize. A wonderful work titled Studio D'una Cittá (Study of a City) by Antonietta Covino-Beehre. Created to fit in a casket like box, the eight-folded gabled prints also have centrally opening folds or doors. The set of prints removed from the box become a small installation of buildings, each exploring monuments, texts, textures, colours that attest to the grandeur that once was Rome and that fascinates and romances even today. The layering of images and narratives recall the strata of Roman history which seem neverending". (Artlink Vol. 23 No.4 - Paola Anselmi)

http://www.artlink.com.au/articles.cfm?id=2187

From the Archive: Poste - Heads of State

In addition to keeping you updated with my current works. On an ongoing basis I will also provide an overview of my previous work.

The first work from the archive is Poste - Heads of State (36 panels, relief print on wood, length: 400cm x height: 180cm).

The work was a finalist in the 2006 Silkcut Print Award - Glen Eira Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, 2007 Burnie Print Prize - Burnie Regional Gallery, Burnie, Tasmania and the 2007 Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Arts Centre, Western Australia.  

The work was subsequently purchased by Little Creatures Brewing.

"Poste is one work that came from a series of works where I  incorporated the use of the postage stamp from six different countries.

The initial use of the images were made for a particular purpose and time -  but with our current state of affairs in the world I have aimed to offer  a different meaning and interaction. 

The stamp has been a  symbol of communication and  letter writing - inspiring dreams of distant lands and of places of mystery etc. The images themselves have also over time become symbols representing many meanings. 

Usually revealing thoughts of a past - a past era and memories.

The figureheads in Poste change as their images multiply, their faces change - the cut out circles in the work bring elements of the portraits to life as does the changing light once it hits the surfaces.

Sometimes playful, occasionally a little more sinisterly. 

The faces offer-up an interpretation that requires the viewer to cast their own thoughts towards these images as the figureheads  play  to convey memories, impressions or perhaps even an understanding of our human fragility..." 

Currently I have a single print, framed, available for purchase - 1 panel, relief print on wood, length: 45cm x height: 45cm.

Please contact me should you be interested in purchasing this work.  

Back in the Studio

After travelling to both Scotland and Italy, I'm back in the studio. I will provide photo's and a report of my travels shortly. acb

2013 Silk Cut Award - Acquisition Award: Antonietta Covino-Beehre

Congratulations to Antonietta Covino-Beehre as recipient of 2013 Silk Cut Award (Open Section) acquisition award. Her work ‘I Want Your Heart’ (3 Panels) is acquired for the Silk Cut Foundation collection and will form part the Foundation’s ongoing gift to the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra. 

The grand prize was awarded to Rew Hanks, with the additional acquisition awards going to David Frazer and Helen Mueller.

The judges for the 2013 award were Basil Hall - Director, Basil Hall Editions, Euan Heng - Artist and Adjunct Associate Professor, Monash Art Design & Architecture, Monash University and Leanne Willis - Manager, Art Collection and Galleries, Deakin University. 

The Silk Cut Award is currently on at the Glen Eira City Council Gallery and continues to September 22, 2013.

Background

The Silk Cut Award was introduced in 1995 to promote the making, appreciation and understanding of contemporary linocut printmaking in Australia, supporting artists and students who work with this exciting medium. Sponsored by the Silk Cut Foundation Inc in conjunction with Duroloid, the award aims to provide creative opportunities for artists of all ages. 

It is now one of the richest Print Awards in Australia, with prizes and acquisitions sponsored by Duroloid in the Open, Tertiary and Student Sections totalling more than $20,000 in value. The Award attracts a high standard of entries from artists and students from Australia and overseas.

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2013 Geelong acquisitive print awards

Aqua Vitae - Water of Life

Dimensions: (W) 570mm x (H) 600mm / Print Medium: Intaglio

Aqua Vitae - Water of Life shortlisted for 2013 Geelong acquisitive print awards held at the Geelong Gallery, Little Malop Street Geelong VIC 3220

The exhibition opens August 31 and continues until November 24, 2013.

Impact 8 - International Printmaking Conference; Dundee, Scotland

I’m heading-off this weekend to Dundee, Scotland to attend the IMPACT 8 International Printmaking Conference and to show a sample of works from my Ricordi - Souvenirs project. 

I’ll keep you updated while I’m away with regular updates via my Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Print Festival Scotland: 23rd August – 1st September 2013

Impact 8 International Printmaking Conference
A celebration of interdisciplinary and exploration through the medium of print.

The eighth Impact international conference will be hosted in Dundee as a central element to the inaugural Print Festival Scotland – an event which aims to confirm the cultural diversity, historical significance and future potential of print.

Foregrounding the inherent experimental and interdisciplinary nature of print practices Impact 8 will provide a critical and interactive platform for the varied interests that make print such a unique discipline.  From its hybrid roots in industry and scholarship, through traditional design applications and fine art practices to its consistent significance within emerging technologies and theoretical debate – print continues to play a crucial role in the exploration of borders and crossings – be they geographical, ideological, cultural, theoretical or practical.

With the theme of ‘exploration’ and the multiple identity of the print, in mind, we would like to welcome you to Dundee to explore the cross-disciplinary nature of print media. Impact 8 will build upon the meeting’s reputation as a truly international event whilst reflecting the cultural identity of Scotland and Dundee’s reputation and heritage as the ‘City of Discovery’ – from polar exploration to biomedical research and its traditions of print, printmaking and publishing.

http://www.conf.dundee.ac.uk/impact8/home/

Biography

Antonietta Covino-Beehre was born in Avelino, Italy and migrated to Australia at a young age.
Her imagery is inspired by Italian history and folklore, and its juxtaposition within her multi-cultural family life in Melbourne. Her works incorporate multiple disciplines including: printmaking, sculpture, drawing and photography.
Covino-Beehre obtained her Master of Arts in 2002. Additionally, attended Tamarind
Institute, at the University of New Mexico in 2008.
Covino-Beehre recently exhibited work at Prints Tokyo 2012 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and is currently participating in the Artist in residence at the University of Ballarat.
Her work is represented in national, state and regional art galleries, and in corporate and private collections in Australia and Europe.

Open Folio

Ricordi – Souvenirs
Ricordi – Souvenirs introduces a series of works centering on the symbolism of the
souvenir. Guided by a iconography collected through archives and collections, I embarked upon creating a new body of work from the compilations of these ricordi-souvenirs that I had amassed. Souvenirs allow us to remember a time on many sensory levels. Triggering sensations of nostalgia, they also give sanction to visually explore and experience other sensations and emotions – new ideas and suppositions are expressed. In a broader sense this project heralds more complexities and revelations of, and about humanity, cultural identities and the world at large becoming seamlessly borderless. Ricordi is the Italian word which translates into the word memory, I remember, the French translation reveals its ‘a coming back to oneself’ and perhaps as artists this is what we continually do.

http://www.conf.dundee.ac.uk/impact8/people/biographies-2/antonietta-covino-beehre/

Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here - University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA, USA

Respice, Adspice, Prospice 

Examine the past, Examine the present, Examine the future

Dimensions: 193mm wide x 213mm high x 10mm deep 

Material: Bound in linen and imitation leather, printed with archival inks on maniro diachi paper

Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here

August 19 - October 31, 2013

Collins Memorial Library Exhibit 

University of Puget Sound 

1500 N. Warner, Tacoma, WA 98416 USA

Respice, Adspice, Prospice - Artist Statement

Respice, Adspice, Prospice: Examine the past, Examine the present, Examine the future - Combines text and images. Explores the ideology of rejuvenation and growth from adversity. 

The book serves as a universal statement that community will prevail and its knowledge will leave its mark, and be passed-on. Additionally, the passage of time strengthens the resolve of community and its ability to educate and engage with the past, present and future. 

A pertinent thought with regard to the reinvigoration and resolve of the al-Mutanabbi Street community.

http://blogs.pugetsound.edu/collinsunbound/2013/08/12/al-mutanabbi-street-starts-here/

Note: I have the fourth and final book of the edition available for purchase. Please contact me for further information and pricing. 

Additional images of the book are available on my website: http://www.acovinobeehre.com/Works/photos/

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Ricordi - Souvenirs

RICORDI – SOUVENIRS 

Essay by Dr. Marie-Louise Anderson

Antonietta Covino-Beehre loves the silky voice and soulful songs of Edith Piaf, in particular Je ne regrette rien - I have no regrets. Piaf sings about the problems in life plus the precious things surrounding her. It was Piaf that first stimulated the artist to explore the meaning behind collecting souvenirs.

Usually when we think of souvenirs we imagine mass produced objects to support the tourist industry, for example, postcards, hats, mugs, badges, buttons, soft toys etc. They are marketed as mementos and associated with a specific location. In other words souvenirs have a nostalgic value.

At home too, without the need to travel, we are drawn to objects that relate to memories. The store at the end of blockbuster exhibitions, for example, can lure us to purchase merchandise associated with what we have just seen. Collectively we share the experience of seeing exotic objects and works of art from other places and timeframes. Souvenirs help us to re-visit and enjoy all over again the visual and tactile wisdom inherent in these events.  

A souvenir serves as a reminder of where we have been and proves to others the places we have visited. They assist in the sharing of experiences and expose our particular preferences. These objects can encourage us to make a return visit and their extent results in collections that proudly adorn our homes, often housed on shelves, mantle pieces and in glass cabinets. But souvenirs can also include the collection of family items or memorabilia associated with historical events, for example the visit to Australia by Queen Elizabeth II or the Eureka Stockade. Many scour opportunity shops for items of interest.

Some artists delve into the psychology of collecting souvenirs and exploit the visual possibilities. Lucie Fontaine produced a work from a series titled ‘Souvenir’, where text covers an arrangement of old photographs -  ‘ART IS DEFINED ONLY WITHIN THE STORY CALLED ART HISTORY ARTIFACTS SHOWN AT THIS EXHIBITION ARE NOT WORKS OF ART. THEY ARE RATHER SOUVENIRS, SELECTED SPECIMENS OF OUR COLLECTIVE MEMORY.”

One of Antonietta Covino-Beehre’s favourite artists, the German artist Dieter Roth, who was born in 1930 and died in 1998, scrutinized and appropriated from the world around him playing with visual poetry as a way of understanding how he could make sense of the world and his own place in it. Roth experimented with materials and their inherent meaning. For example he sculpted 250 generic rabbits out of rabbit dung, titled Rabbit-shit-rabbit, referring to the rabbit’s numbers through bodily workings.   

Roth’s friends and colleagues became part of the artist’s creative process by cooperating with him on certain projects. For example he presented them with gifts calling them souvenirs. The objects were then presented back to the artist for inclusion in an exhibition.

In 2002 Covino-Beehre produced postcards from images taken from her own contact sheets. She sent them to friends who subsequently sent them back postmarked. The postcards were then collated in a book that became part of an installation.

Souvenirs, for Covino-Beehre, mean more than tourist kitsch. For her project, Ricordi – Souvenirs, the artist delves into history, culture and identity. She tests her ideas by inviting friends and fellow artists to share their own ‘souvenirs’ for scrutiny. The artist filmed and interviewed each participant enquiring as to the meaning and context of their precious objects, their memories of the past. Interviewees trusted the artist with their stories after which she re-configured their anecdotes using the mediums of print and sculpture. Her investigation begins with the question, ‘do souvenirs tell us something about the purchaser, mark a particular time and place and/or refer to popular culture?’  

Ultimately Covino-Beehre facilitates all participants, including herself, to connect to each other through common experience and the need to belong.

Dr. Marie-Louise Anderson

http://marielouiseanderson.wordpress.com/

Marie-Louise’s research interests have covered areas of migration, and particularly how different locations mold the individual and conversely how societies impact on place/landscape. Oral history has informed much of her artwork. As well as having several papers and articles published in magazines and conference journals, she has exhibited widely and her art practice covers a variety of media such as ceramics, photography, printmaking and installation.

The Souvenir Project

The Ricordi Souvenir project is an idea I’ve had for several years. My house is a treasure-trove of found, gifted and purchased memories. 

“Uno ricordo” was my mums catch phrase, meaning ‘a memory - I remember’.

As the current artist in residence at the University of Ballarat, in central Victoria, Australia - I’m creating a body of work that explores the ‘Souvenir’.

The Ricordi Souvenir project when concluded will include photo-intaglio and lithographic prints, video and sculptural installations.

Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here

Respice, Adspice Prospice: Examine the past, Examine the present, Examine the future; 

Antonietta Covino-Beehre, Victoria, Australia, 2013

Dimensions: 193mm wide x 213mm high x 10mm deep 

Material: Bound in linen and imitation leather, printed with archival inks on maniro diachi paper

Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here

July 10 - September 21, 2013

The Center for Books Arts

28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor. New York, NY 10001 

Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here assembles artists' responses to the tragic loss of a cultural and intellectual hub in Baghdad that occurred in March 5, 2007, by a bomb explosion. 

The Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition asked each Book Artist who joined the project to complete three books that reflected both the strength and fragility of books, but also showed the endurance of the ideas within them. It was requested the work reflected both the targeted attack on this “street of the booksellers” as well as the ultimate futility of those who try to erase thought.

A complete set of all the books will be donated to the Iraq National Library in Baghdad. The other two sets are touring for the next few years in conjunction with shows of the broadsides as well as in shows of their own.

The Center for Book Arts will be presenting the exhibition, in collaboration with Alwan for the Arts, Columbia University Libraries, International Print Center New York, and Poets House. This major traveling exhibition, which will feature approximately 250 artists' books and 50 broadside (prints) by artists from around the world, was co-organised by Beau Beausoleil, Founder of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition, and Sarah Bodman, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Fine Print Research in Bristol, UK. 

http://www.centerforbookarts.org/

http://www.al-mutanabbistreetstartshere-boston.com/

http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/mutanmain12.htm

Note: I have the fourth and final book of the edition available for purchase. Please contact me for further information and pricing. 

Additional images of the book are available on my website: http://www.acovinobeehre.com/Works/photos/

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A New Beginning