Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Double Entendre: Under the Southern Cross



The Gallery - Bayside Arts & Cultural Centre
Corner Carpenter & Wilson Streets (Entry on Wilson Street), Brighton, VIC 3186
17 January – 15 February 2015

Bringing together bodies of work by Antonietta Covino-Beehre and Marie-Louise Anderson, Double Entendre: Under the Southern Cross reflects the experience of an Australian way of life in relation to the land/landscape. This Access Gallery exhibition will include digital prints, etchings, lithographs, small installations and sculptures.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Inkmasters 2014 Print Exhibition




My work ‘I dream of Paris I & II’ was recently part of the Inkmasters 2014 Print Exhibition.

Further images of the Inkmasters 2014 Print Exhibition can be viewed on Inkmasters Facebook page.

Installation shots by Artist-in-Residence, Silvi Glattauer

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Page.Print.Post: 50 Years of Artists Books


A number of Antonietta Covino-Beehre’s ‘Artist Books’ are included in the exhibition Page.Print.Post: 50 Years of Artists Books at the Post Office Gallery, Ballarat. 
The exhibition opens Wednesday 16th July and continues through to the 9th August. 
The exhibition will be opened  by David Dellafiora, Co founder Field Study International, on Saturday 19th July (4-6pm). 

PAGE.PRINT.POST: 50 years of Artists Books curated by Debbie Hill and Geoff Wallis, offers a rare insight and overview of the development, range and ambition of the Artists Book over half a century. Featuring books, postal art and other 'alternative spaces' from the 1960s to the 1980s, the exhibition presents a range of significant works from a host of private and public collections in Australia and the UK.
Dedication - Ded' iska Shan

Respice Adspice Prospice

Aperto / Chuisa

Monday, June 23, 2014

New Look Website: acovinobeehre.com


After 5 years my website has been overhauled and refreshed. Head over to 
http://www.acovinobeehre.com and see how we have updated the site and given it a fresh coat of paint, so to speak. 

acb

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Page.Print.Post


A number of Antonietta Covino-Beehre’s ‘Artist Books’ are to be included in an upcoming exhibition Page.Print.Post at the Post Office Gallery, Ballarat.
The exhibition opens 16th July and continues through to 9th August. The official opening is 4:00pm Saturday 19th July.

Further exhibition details to follow. 

db

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Out & About: Heather Shimmen



AUSTRALIAN GALLERIES
DERBY STREET
HEATHER SHIMMEN


Exhibition Dates: 13 May - 1 June 2014
35 Derby Street Collingwood VIC 3066
Open 7 days 10am to 6pm

Media Release

Heather Shimmen’s work goes beyond traditional printmaking techniques through her construction of intricately detailed and highly technical multimedia works incorporating linocuts. Shimmen fuses subject and technique by layering media with fractured and reassembled imagery creating engaging works of beauty and intrigue. Each work is unique, even within an edition, with variations in the hand colouring, cutting, printing and stitching of the various elements within the work. 

The now redundant biological classification, Insectivoria (describing mammals which feed primarily on insects) forms the basis for this exhibition, with Shimmen blurring the distinction between insect and mammal resulting in hypothetical, hybrid fantastical creatures. Shimmen’s work is eclectic by nature, playing with relationships between human and animal worlds, sourcing imagery discovered in all manner of places, from reproductions in scientific publications to actual insects found under decaying logs. 

Shimmen often incorporates entomological elements with the female figure inspired by folklore and historical tales. Central to this exhibition is an investigation into true, but often preposterous, tales originating from the Australian bush and high seas, resulting in stories translated into a series of portrait cameos that evoke the past and hint at a possible future. “Distortion and refraction within the images are but part of a continued exploration of relationships and interrelationships between the female form/s and the natural world. Responses to this world - of the unpleasant but often minuscule living being - are one of an innate but irrational fear. These women protagonists do not live in a cocooned place separated from this uncomfortable domain but are intertwined around and within it. They are extraordinary creatures.” – Heather Shimmen 2014

acb



Friday, April 25, 2014

The Sketchbook Project - Part 8




You can view the digitised version of my complete sketchbook at the Sketchbook Project.

acb

Sunday, April 6, 2014

The Sketchbook Project - Part 7




The Sketchbook Project 2014 tour is underway.

My sketchbook (#S130849) has already been viewed at The Goat Farm Arts Center in Atlanta.

The Sketchbook Project transports thousands of sketchbooks city-to-city (USA & Canada) in their custom Mobile Library. The catalogue can be searched by tag words, location, themes, and even find books by local artists.

acb

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Out & About: bravarto with Adam Beehre



Adam Beehre is part of bravarto..... a collective group of talented artists who have put together an exciting exhibition.  

With a passion to paint, draw, and create they have produced a stimulating and contemporary collection using photography, multimedia, pencil, and oils to traditional techniques. The works will include portraiture to eclectic works, using imagery inspired by nature. All artists have their own personal philosophy; each artists work is diverse from the other. The show will be arranged with the help of the professional eye by Melbourne artist Jackie Ralph. 

bravarto is at Gallery 314 Church Street, Richmond, Victoria.

bravarto's opening night is March 28th 6pm to 8 pm. the exhibition will be opened by the Lady Mayoress of the City Of Melbourne Emma Page Campbell.

The exhibition will continue through to 11th April, open daily from 11am to 6pm - and to 8pm on Thursdays.


Adam works across a range of mediums, drawing, painting, sculpture, video, digital collages and printmaking to explore his ideas. The choice of medium is taken into consideration when making the works, as it is an important element in how the works and concepts are articulated and are responded to.

Investigating human nature as a visual language. The body is abstracted in form and space. The difficult readings become rich abstract visual narratives that can be understood in a number of ways. The tableaux become large blocks of visual poetry, tormenting the viewer into understanding. 



acb

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Sketchbook Project - Part 6





Starting this month and all the way through to October, The Sketchbook Project Mobile Library will be making stops across the United States and Canada on the annual, epic adventure to share sketchbooks with communities far and wide.
The full tour schedule is below.

TOUR DATES AND LOCATIONS
NY, BROOKLYN, Brooklyn Art Library, March 14-16
VA, RICHMOND, Virginia Commonwealth University, March 21
NC, ASHEVILLE, Asheville BookWorks, March 26
GA, ATLANTA, The Goat Farm Arts Center, March 29-30
FL, ORLANDO, Church Street Entertainment District, April 2
LA, NOLA, The Cresent City Saturday Market, April 5
TX, HOUSTON, Lawndale Art Center, April 10
TX, AUSTIN, The Contemporary Austin at Laguna Gloria, April 12
TX, FORT WORTH, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, May 4
OK, NORMAN, Norman Arts Council, May 6
CA, SAN DIEGO, San Diego Museum of Art, May 20
CA, L.A., LACMA, May 30-31
CA, L.A., The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, June 1
CA, OAKLAND, First Friday Art Murmur and Saturday Stroll, June 6- 7
CA, S.F., San Francisco Center for the Book, June 8
OR, PORTLAND, Portland Art Museum, June 27
OR, PORTLAND, Director Park, June 28
BC, VANCOUVER, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, July 7
WA, SEATTLE, Seattle Public Library, July 10-12
CO, S.S., Bud Werner Memorial Library, August 13-15
IL, CHICAGO, Galerie F, August 22
WI, MADISON, Madison Public Library, August 30
MN, F.F., Minnesota State Community and Technical College, September 11-13
ON, TORONTO, Distillery Historic District, September 18-21
ME, PORTLAND, MECA, October 2
PA, PHILADELPHIA, Franklin Square, October 5

acb

Saturday, February 22, 2014

People I've Met: Hazel Dooney


Photo: Angela Wylie

Late last year I had the opportunity to attend a talk by Hazel Dooney while she was in Melbourne installing her first public work Ten Dicta For Young Women Who Are Artists commissioned by the City of Melbourne. 

The work is an impressive piece, managing to merge with the landscape yet have passersby stop and engage with the work. 

Her mural can be found in Royal Lane, off (231-233) Bourke Street, Melbourne CBD. The mural is made with low sheen acrylic on cement rendered wall, 21.45m wide x 3.4m high. 

''It's not pretending to be advertising,'' Dooney says. ''This is not to reflect something about our culture, it is to try to add to the culture. I wanted it to have humour and truth but not be a lecture. I wanted it to be broadly accessible.''



Hazel was warm and generous with her time and very expansive with her views and thoughts on all questions asked of her.

Here’s a further link including video from The Age newspaper.

acb








Tuesday, February 11, 2014

The Sketchbook Project - Part 5




Sunday, February 9, 2014

People I’ve Met: Anita Iacovella


Late last year I had the pleasure of traveling from Melbourne to Geelong to met fellow artist/printmaker Anita Iacovella and have a chat with her Visual Arts students about all things printmaking.

Anita is part of a new group show ‘New Ground: Contemporary Printmaking’ at The Town Hall Gallery located at the Hawthorn Arts Centre, 360 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, VIC 3122. The show runs from Tuesday 14 January through to 23 February 2014.

Printmaking as an artform has been around for centuries.  While the final result will produce an edition of many works, the lead up to creating the plate and the final works is very labour intensive.  The skills learned to create these beautiful prints takes many years and contemporary printmakers are utilising very traditional techniques with new materials and ways of working.

Anita Iacovella - Detail - Terra Nuova III Monotype and Collage 2013, included in the ‘New Ground: Contemporary Printmaking show.

Anita’s work is inspiring. Here is a nice review of Anita’s earlier exhibition held at the Metropolis Gallery in Geelong.


Additionally, you keep updated with Anita’s new works via her Facebook page: 

acb

Friday, February 7, 2014

The Sketchbook Project - Part 4




The Sketchbook tour will begin in March and continue all the way through October, 2014 with The Mobile Library. The Mobile Library will travel with thousands of sketchbooks, visiting places across the United States and Canada. 


acb

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

The Sketchbook Project - Part 3





Friday, January 31, 2014

The Sketchbook Project - Part 2




My Sketchbook ‘Distant Horizons’ has been received for the Sketchbook Project
It has been catalogued into the Brooklyn Art Library and can be found on the shelves with a call number of 225.57-7. 

acb

Monday, January 27, 2014

The Sketchbook Project - Part 1




Over the Christmas break I created my contribution,’Distant Horizons', to the Sketchbook Project (USA).
In the coming weeks I will progressively post the images of my sketchbook.   

Here’s my Artist Statement for the sketchbook (Note: I was limited to 400 characters):

Using photo transfer and watercolour my sketchbook depicts my local beach and bay - Half Moon Bay situated on Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne, Australia. 

From the early days of European settlement many of Australia’s celebrated sculptors and painters, including  Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Fredrick McCubbin (1886-1907) and later Arthur Boyd were inspired by Half Moon Bay and its coastline.

acb

Saturday, January 25, 2014

airSPACE - Post Office Gallery, Ballarat - Extended



My current exhibition airSPACE, with Emma Stoneman, at the Post Office Gallery, Federation University Australia, Ballarat  (previously University of Ballarat) has been extended to February 15, 2014 

Emma Stoneman and Antonietta Covino-Beehre developed their recent body of work whilst Artists-in-Residence at the Arts Academy, School of Education & Arts, Federation University Australia in 2013. Emma Stoneman predominantly works 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. Emma Stoneman completed a Diploma of Building Design and 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 cross disciplinary practice includes printmaking, sculpture, drawing and photography. Her recent work explores the 'souvenir', memory and remembrance and ideas surrounding nostalgia, cultural identity and place - ideas strongly inspired by her Italian heritage. Antonietta obtained a Master of Arts in 2002 and has exhibited broadly in Australia and internationally. Antonietta is represented in national, state and regional galleries and in corporate and private collections nationally and internationally.

acb

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Sketchbook Project



Over the Christmas break I’ve been working on my contribution to the Sketchbook Project (USA).
I'll progressively post the images from my sketchbook ‘Distant Horizons’ over the coming weeks.   

The Sketchbook Project is a global, crowd-sourced art project and interactive traveling exhibition of handmade books. The Project has 3 forms of library, Brooklyn Art Library, Mobile Library, and The Digital Library.

Here’s a little information about the project;
  • People who have participated worldwide: 70,637
  • Miles the project has travelled: 52,333 miles
  • Cities with participants worldwide: 11,575 
  • Sketchbooks in the collection: 28,215
  • Total sketchbook checkouts: 155,390 
  • Books viewed in the digital library: 2,340,678 
  • Library cards issued worldwide: 57,231 
acb

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Out & About: Claudia Terstappen - In the Shadow of Change



I managed to attend the opening of Claudia Terstappen’s latest exhibition ‘In the Shadow of Change’ at the Monash Gallery of Art in early November 2013, the exhibition continues through to 19 January 2014.

The exhibition was opened Dr Bob Brown, former Senator and Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens. You can view his opening speech here.

In the shadow of change features almost 100 of Claudia’s striking landscape photographs.

Terstappen’s vast archive of landscape photographs has taken on significant environmental associations. As debates about the politics and impact of land use and climate change continue, Terstappen’s landscapes – from intimately scaled views of forests and riverbeds to grand views of mountains and glaciers – present a truly beautiful account of the landscape photography and its contemporary significance.

As Terstappen states: ‘There is a moral dimension to looking at and photographing landscape today. Landscape photography has tremendous currency. Many of the landscapes in my photographs will have either completely disappeared or drastically changed by now. I firmly believe we need to re-establish our relationship with nature and landscape and photography can help us to achieve this.’

acb

Saturday, January 11, 2014

airSPACE




My current exhibition with Emma Stoneman - airSPACE continues through to February 8 at the Post Office Gallery, Arts Academy, University of Ballarat, corner Sturt & Lydiard Street, Ballarat Vic 3350. 

Peter Pilven was so kind to provide the following essay to accompany our catalogue for the exhibition.

airSPACE
Antonietta Covino Beehre & Emma Stoneman 

The Arts Academy, University of Ballarat (UB) has run a very successful Artist in Residence (AIR) program for last eight years. airSPACE is the culmination of recent residencies for Emma Stoneman and Antonietta Covino-Beehre.

The AIR program is an essential and integral element in the fabric of the Visual Arts program and contributes in a practical and vicarious manner to the lifelong learning of students.

Although Stoneman and Covino-Beehre both have links to UB [Stoneman as an graduate and Covino-Beehre as a current sessional lecturer] it was their respective professionalism that inspired senior staff to invite the artists to participate in the AIR program. Students this year have had the privileged opportunity to quietly observe and absorb the conceptual and applied methodology of both artists as they formulated and produced works for a number of exhibitions during their tenure. Stoneman exhibited in the Ballarat Foto Biennale and Covino-Beehre has had a work acquired by the National Gallery of Australia via the prestigious Silk Cut Foundation Collection Award.

While Stoneman and Covino-Beehre have extensive experience in printmaking, both artists have deviated and meandered across a number of artistic media disciplines including installation, sculpture and photography. Their healthy and exciting cross-disciplinary approach has been keenly acknowledged by observant students. Juggling and time managing the complexities of family, paid employment and an intensive art practice is increasingly the lot of the contemporary artist - a reality shared by both artists and one which has been successfully accomplished as the work in airSPACE will attest.

On one level there may not appear to be any congruence of aesthetic or conceptual concerns shared by the artists, however with a closer, more considered examination, a range of similarities will present themselves to the astute viewer - a fact not lost on the artists themselves. The human condition with all its frailties, intricacies and anxieties afford a wellspring of stimuli and parallel concerns for both Stoneman and Covino-Beehre.

A spinal injury incurred by Stoneman in her formative years and the continuing management of this has long provided the kernel of an ongoing investigation into the relationship between the organic human skeletal framework and the exacting certitude of man-made architecture. Throughout history, architects, artists and designers have derived inspiration from the human body. The Bauhaus Building - Prellerhaus in Dessau, Germany and designed by architect Walter Gropius in 1926, is but one example of Stoneman developing photographic imagery and creative sustenance from a broad range of sources.
Over the course of this residency, x-ray and MRI imagery (sourced from Stoneman’s personal medical records) has also provided explorations into postural alignment and anatomical structure not dissimilar to the built environment.

Humans have always erected, constructed and fabricated gravity defying structures for spiritual, domestic and a range of other activities. Buildings can be seen as analogous to vessels for human activity and the boy as a receptacle for the human spirit  and consciousness. Entomology also supplies a point of reference. On a micro level, the delicate veins that support the diaphanous cladding of a dragonfly’s wing are replicated on a macro level in contemporary architecture by the use of steel sub structures and light weight weather resistant casings. Entomology, architecture and the human condition may seem at odds with each other and paradoxical but Stoneman’s photographic images are essentially that, steeped in visual contradiction, metaphor and analogy. The work exudes a brittle, delicate, poetic sensibility that is contrary to its source but enhanced by formal aesthetic considerations such as colour, tone and composition. 

The use of the grid and repetition are also employed extensively by Covino-Beehre for many of the works in this exhibition. Drawing on her Italian heritage, memory, nostalgia and respect for the antiquated object have fuelled the core inspiration or the conceptual and visual element of the prints. Covino-Beehre has recycled many of the traditional embroidery and tapestry designs dating from the 16th Century that were reproduced by her mother. These designs have been skilfully interwoven with iconic Australian and personal imagery. This imagery is highly reverent of the past but also acknowledges the global position of contemporary art in the digital era. 

The physical materiality of the art work produced is an equal imperative to Covino-Beehre. Relief printing on plywood timber panels provides a connection to her cultural background as well as a poignant nostalgic reminder of fading memory and myth. The children’s novel The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883), by the Italian writer Carlo Collodi, supplies visual and metaphoric references for Covino-Beehre. Pinocchio has been widely acknowledged as an iconic character of contemporary culture and one of the most reimagined characters in the pantheon of children’s literature. Included in this exhibition is a striking mono-chromatic image of Pinocchio’s head which is shown layered behind a lace inspired grid matrix. This juxtaposition of the character with the hand crafted overlay signifies the paradoxical human foibles that Pinocchio possesses.

Drawing on the work of Rosalind Krauss, the well-known American art critic and theorist, Covino-Beehre argues that using a grid makes it possible for artists to deal with the surface and depth simultaneously. This permits a focus on the materiality of objects and speaks to the pure essence of the work while at the same time implying a connection to ideas of spirit and “Being.”

This notion of “spirit and being” offers a galvanising linkage between Stoneman and Covino-Beehre and their art. Through the shared experience of the Artist in Residency Program they have developed a strong personal bond and friendship, one built upon professional commitment and mutual respect.

The Arts Academy, staff and students are indeed fortunate to have shared in this journey and the resultant exhibition airSPACE.

Peter Pilven
November 2013

Emma Stoneman was born in Creswick, Victoria. She completed her undergraduate studies in Visual Arts (Printmaking) at the University of Ballarat and honours degree at RMIT University, Melbourne. After working within the photographic industry for numerous years, she returned to study Building Design following a growing interest in architecture and increasing use of architectural imagery and elements in her work. Currently employed in the field of architecture, her work informs, influences and shapes her art practice. Emma has regularly exhibited both within the orthodox gallery, non-traditional commercial and public venues as well as created site-specific works for outdoor civic spaces.



Antonietta Covino-Beehre was born in Avelino, Italy and arrived in Australia with her parents at a young age. Covino-Beehre obtained her Master of Arts in 2002. 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. Possessing a technical fascination for printmaking, she attended a month long workshop in July 2008 at Tamarind Institute, at the University of New Mexico. Covino-Beehre won the prestigious Fremantle - Print Award in 2003 with her ‘Studio D’una Citta’; a work incorporating etching, cyanotype, woodcut, and lithograph printmaking processes.Additionally, in 2004 she exhibited in Genoa, Italy at the Art Di Ritorno Genova European City of Culture. Her work is represented in national, state and regional art galleries and in corporate and private collections in Australia.


airSPACE
Emma Stoneman & Antonietta Covino-Beehre
Wed 11 Dec 2013 - Sat 8 Feb 2014

Acknowledgements:
Artists: Antonietta Covino-Beehre & Emma Stoneman
Curator: Shelley Hinton
Author: Peter Pilven
Published 2013
© Post Office Gallery, University of Ballarat

All images © Antonietta Covino-Beehre & Emma Stoneman
ISBN: 978-1-876851-79-8

The artists would like to express their gratitude o the university of Ballarat, especially to Jennifer Jones-O’Neill, Peter Pilven, Carole Wilson and Jimmy Pasakos for their never ending enthusiasm, guidance and laughter.

A kind thank you to Shelley for her helpful curatorial guidance.

Antonietta would also like to extend a special thank you to Ngaire, Emma, Lou, Deanne, Melissa and Lesley - her souvenir collecting allies.

Post Office Gallery 
Arts Academy
University of Ballarat
cnr Sturt & Lydiard St 
Ballarat Vic 3350
PO Box 745
Ballarat Victoria 3353
Wed-Sat: 1-4pm 
Mon/Tue by appointment
Telephone: +61 3 5327 8615 
Facsimile: +61 3 5327 8601 

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Happy Holidays



Hi All, I’ve returned to my desk after a short break for both Christmas and New Years.

I will post regularly to catch-up on what has been happening in my little part of world.
There is plenty to share with you;  
  • The opening of my show with Emma Stoneman - airSPACE, currently on at the Post Office Gallery, Federation University (University of Ballarat) until February 8.
  • A new side project which I’ll share details with you soon. 
  • My contribution to the Sketchbook Project, I’ll post images of my sketchbook over the coming weeks.
  • Attending a talk by Hazel Dooney.
  • Attending a number of shows in December.
acb