Kaldor Public Art Projects Selects Indigenous Artist for 45th Anniversary Commission
John Kaldor, founder of Sydney-based nonprofit organization Kaldor Public Art Projects (KPAP), announced last week in Sydney that young Indigenous Australian artist Jonathan Jones had won the open competition to create a site-specific work celebrating KPAP’s 45th anniversary, slated to take place in 2016.
Old Master Q: What The @#$% Is Going On? Original Works by Alphonso Wong
“Who is Lau Fu Zi?” If you pose this question to a Chinese person, his or her response would perhaps be, “Are you kidding?” followed by an awkward and incredulous silence. The truth is that even a seven-year-old child would be able to identify this figure—the protagonist of an enduring Chinese comic series.
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Trailing Madness: Interview With Nattapon “Gaow” Nukulkan
Motorcycling gangs—often unapproachable and intimidating to an outsider—carry with them an air of mystery. Emerging photographer Nattapon “Gaow” Nukulkam, who wanted to delve into this closed world to explore the reality of life in a gang, came across Madness MC, a group based in the hills outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Over the course of six months, Gaow integrated himself within this community by following them closely, and was invited to participate in intimate celebrations reserved for the gang’s inner circle. What emerged was a photojournalistic series for his undergraduate thesis that gives a unique insight into an ostensibly impenetrable club. Made up of around 20 members, Madness practices motorcycle gang traditions such as initiation rituals and community values. But Gaow’s project breaks through the typical stereotypes and preconceptions that surround motorcycle gangs. At 22 years old, the young photographer was an unlikely candidate to end up in the midst of such a group, yet he brought sensitivity and perception to the photographs that could only have come from his position as an onlooker. He enables the audience to see past the solid, outer layers of the gang—beneath the tattoos and initiation ceremonies—and into the humanizing aspects that show the members as unique individuals. Gaow documents how they connect and interact with each other by playing with different perspectives. In May, the artist showed ArtAsiaPacific around his debut solo exhibition at Documentary Arts Asia in Chiang Mai, which featured his motorcycle gang series, and talked about his experience of making this striking collection of images.
Film Blog: The Turning
From Forrest Gump (1994) to Hugo (2011), countless novels have been adapted as screenplays, ending up as successful movies adored by millions. The Turning (2013), one of the films shown at the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival earlier this year, belongs in this category—the original book, written by Australian author Tim Winton and published in 2005, is a collection of linked short stories illustrating the lives of people along the coast of Western Australia. Yet, at times, the experimental yet mesmerizing collage-film that results seems closer to a piece of video art.
Report: Melbourne Art Fair
Now in its 25th year, the Melbourne Art Fair (MAF) was still eager to shake off the perception that it is a somewhat dowdy old lady. Even Barry Keldoulis, CEO of Art Fairs Australia, which now manages the event, was circumspect when talking about the new performance art and emerging artists programs that was tucked upstairs on the fair’s mezzanine level. He later confessed to ArtAsiaPacific of the need to tread wearily when dealing with the current owners of the fair, the Melbourne Art Foundation. “We have adopted a collegiate approach,” he said.
Yang Zhichao’s Love Story
There are sure to be both prurient reactions and voyeuristic interest when details of Chinese artist Yang Zhichao’s Love Story become public in 2016. Originally a collection of punch cards, it has grown over the years, and now takes the form of a diary, with individual pages embellished with drawings.
ArtCrush 2014 And The Opening Of The Shigeru Ban-Designed Aspen Art Museum
Colorado’s Aspen Art Museum (AAM) kicked off a four-day celebration last week for it’s new USD 45 million, 33,000-square-foot Shigeru Ban-designed building, which opened to the public on August 9, with its tenth annual ArtCrush Summer Benefit.
