The inspiring, the woeful, the moving and the brilliant!

A brief cultural journey...

First stop was Gallery Bodalla, where Linda Childs - van Wijk was exhibiting a lifetimes work in an show mysteriously called the naive eye. At first glance Linda's paintings are presented in a 'primitive' form, but closer inspection reveals an conceptual sophistication and technical rigour that belies the show's title. Fascinating pictures that invite you into the mind of their creator. The Gallery is also one of the most delightful 'spaces' I have been in, and matched by the charm of Director Valerie Faber, who has a social conscience and is not just interested in profit and power when it comes to art. Inspiring...

Linda Childs - van Wijk, Beyond midnight, acrylic on canvas

Next stop was ANCA Gallery in North Canberra, where the warm fuzzy glow dissipated seconds after entering. The show Material World - extraordinary environments made from ordinary things was a shocker and reflected everything that is wrong with contemporary art. The two bright young things that 'curated' this show say in their introduction, 'the artists have seized the opportunity to remind us of the responsible use of energy and technology, the need to recycle, reuse, reforest and, above all, to respect.'  Well, how about respecting the intelligence of your audience? A twig sculpture? You must be kidding...Another work was so clever that it was hidden from view, another required the use of  a smartphone (not supplied) in order for it to work. Art you can't see, music you can't hear. I must be getting old. Woeful...

Fortunately spirits were revived with a visit to the National Library of Australia to see the Treasures Gallery, where major pieces from the National collection are on display. Having recently read about Cook's voyages it was a treat to see his portable writing bureau, and to imagine him charting the oceans and writing his journals on such a small surface. Jan Utzon's model for the proportions of the Sydney Opera House was a beautiful object in itself, and intriguing in its concept. Photographs from immigrant detention centres lent a sobering note. I have always been fond of maps and the early charts of Dutch explorers are as graphically pleasing as they are historically interesting. Moving...

Attributed to Abraham Anias (1694–1750), Chart of the Indian Ocean 1730

Displayed in the foyer on the way out was a copy of Helmut Newton's SUMO, the largest and most expensive book produced in the 20th century (by favourite publisher Taschen of course). Newton is very high on my list of influences. Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the book was open on a portrait he had taken of art critic Robert Hughes...I would have much preferred one of his more perverse images ;-)

Then off to the National Gallery of Australia to see Renaissance - 15th & 16th century Italian paintings from the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo. An outstanding exhibition in every way. Not only a rare opportunity to see the 'real deal' up very close, but a superb lesson in art history and techniques. From International Gothic through to late Renaissance one could trace the transition from tempera on panel to oil paint on canvas, and the development of human representation from idealised form to actual portraits of real people. Standouts for me were Mantegna's Saint Bernardino of Siena...

Andrea Mantegna, Saint Bernardino of Siena, c.1450

...absolutely dripping with piety...and the four works by Lorenzo Lotto:

Lorenzo Lotto, Portrait of a young man, c.1500

Lorenzo Lotto, Portrait of Lucina Brembati, c.1518-23

Lorenzo Lotto, Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c.1533

Lorenzo Lotto, The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c.1523

Not only a profound lesson in technique, but a demonstration that you don't have to work on a large scale to convey beauty and complex ideas. Brilliant!

The fetishist

Bob Georgeson, The fetishist, 2010. Photomontage

My son, who runs a very successful fishing blog, told me on the weekend that the only reason I get any visits to this site was that I had the word 'eroticism' listed as an interest. Could it be true? So, just to whet your grubby appetites...

PS Fishing guru Rex Hunt says that 'catching a fish is man's second biggest thrill in life'. I like fishing too...but give me a choice...well...

That is such for practical purposes though not in name or according to strict definition...

Bob Georgeson, Explosion and The moment I had been waiting for, Mixed media, 2012

My original idea was to have an online presence for my art and thought that a blog might be marginally more interesting than a static image repository. I wanted to be able to 'point' interested parties (like prospective gallery directors) at a site so they could get an idea of what I did and where I was coming from.

Then I started to think about the 'blog' becoming the art work in  itself. This had great appeal because of my distaste for being 'curated' and having to deal with art wankers, not to mention the cost and stress of mounting exhibitions that few people see because I happen to live in a remote part of the planet. In this environment I can control what I want to exhibit and how it is presented, and reach a far greater audience than in the 'physical' world. Like many other artists around the world I am also concerned about the way in which the conventional art 'system' works and is controlled, and look for ways to exhibit in, and support, non-elitist public spaces.

Virtual art is a term usually associated with computer generated imagery and gaming, but art displayed in the virtual environment is a relatively new concept. I had been flicking through an art mag recently and thought how do you know that these images of installations are real? And since so much of our experience of art comes from reproductions in books, magazines and the web does it even matter? British man of letters Samuel Johnson said a very long time ago that 'a room full of pictures is a room full of thoughts'. Does not the thought linger regardless of the medium?

It may be hard to make money out of it but as an artist with a dismal sales record anyway it really doesn't make much of a difference, although it would be nice to get funding for large scale installations and the video work that I want to pursue...

The title of this post is the definition of 'virtual' from The Concise Oxford Dictionary. I hope you find it helpful...

You staring at my girlfriend?

Bob Georgeson, You staring at my girlfriend?, Photomontage 2009

Built like a battleship, or just titanic proportions? 

Steps to becoming a submerging artist

To become a submerging artist you must:

• Be over 50 years old
• Never have attended art school or left prematurely after arguing with a lecturer over principle
• Know how to spell Caravaggio without looking it up
• Detest being curated
• Think that grant is a man's name
• Never been seen wearing white sand shoes
• Think that mentor is a mint flavoured European sweet
• Strive for originality
• Not possess thick framed spectacles with square lenses and angular sides
• Believe that art should be accessible

Feel free to add your own criteria...

Toe be or not toe be

Bob Georgeson, Untitled, 2010. Photomontage

I am interested in online collaboration...

The above work goes back a while. I kinda like some of the things happening in it but always wondered whether it was just stating the obvious, and needed some other element to 'finish' it. As a consequence it has sat in the cupboard until now. Here is your chance to win a signed original Bob Georgeson artwork posted to the address of your choice! Suggest ways in which this work could be improved, other than the obvious 'stick it up your #$%&' or 'put a match to it'. You can also send me the elements you want added. I will cut in suggestions and let's see where we end up...

You can collaborate by posting a comment, or by email (which can be found on my profile)...

Copyright

Tracey Moffatt, Laudanum (detail), 1998

Tracey Moffatt's Laudanum is one of my favorite works in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia. Rarely on display the immense tableau is at once mysterious, erotic and controversial (a perfect 3 out of 3 in my book!). Perhaps it's infrequent appearances are for the above reasons. After all the National Gallery stirs up more controversy with its sometimes questionable acquisition policies than it does in promoting 'out there' art. But that's another story, and what has it got to do with copyright? Read on...

In sourcing much of the material for my photomontages from existing print publications, I have been asked on more than one occasion about copyright issues. I am aware of the Copyright Act 1968, and in principle agree with its premise. I would be the first to jump up and down if I thought I was being ripped off! The Act acknowledges that artists refer to other artists work and 'appropriate' material for their own use. The Act says there is a problem when a 'substantial' portion of another copyright owners work is used, and when 'profit or gain' is to be had from use of the same...certainly defining the latter point is easier than the first.

For my own work I use material sourced from Op shops and second hand shops. One could argue that this material was already in the 'public domain'. I also think that if other well known artists can get away with blatant copying then why is my work suddenly different. At least I change the context or meaning of the original source. And if a copyright owner should object to my use of their work and I have made profit or gain from it I would give them the money. It would be foolish to contest such an issue in court...

I prefer to think of my work as 'paradigmatic plagiarism', where the original source is changed in such a way to create an entirely new tone and meaning. I first came across this term when reading critical studies on my favorite Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who lifted large slabs of passages from German idealist philosophies. Excuses are made for Coleridge because he suffered from bipolar disorder and was addicted to opium tincture, also known as laudanum...