Over the past 20 years Acme Studios, London, has hosted 70 Australian artists in residence, supported by the Australia Council for the Arts, resulting in an extraordinary body of work and career building opportunities.
Time & Vision is a major project celebrating this milestone; highlighting the range and vitality of contemporary Australian visual art through a publication, exhibition, film and online platform. It demonstrates how important it is to give artists time, space and resources to make new work in different surroundings.
Through personal testimonies from the artists, including Aleks Danko, Sue Pedley, Fiona Hall, Sally Smart and Tom Polo; Time & Vision reveals how these residencies provided the participating artists with time to develop new ideas and experiment’, the luxury’ of thoroughly immersing themselves in research, offered treasured moments’ and demonstrated how a few months can support years of practice’.
Turning the pages of the publication, it’s a pleasure to watch the residency program unfold over twenty years, says Ted Snell, Chair of the Australia Council Visual Arts board. The great benefit in artist residency programs is clear and perhaps best articulated in the words of Jo Flynn, who in the publication says, what studios do, is allow a deep infection to set in: I’ve never quite shaken it‘.
Accompanying the Time & Vision publication is, an exhibition curated by Paul Bayley, presented at the Bargehouse on the Southbank, a perfect backdrop for the experimental and hybrid practices that are evident and strong in Australian visual arts.
New work includes: Paul Knight’s large-scale photographic pieces; a site-specific sculpture inspired by the building’s former use as a manufacturer of egg products by Lyndall Phelps; an audience participation painting performance piece by Tom Polo; Sally Smart will be creating a new wall piece; a performative video by Daniel von Sturmer; and a site-specific installation that incorporates ceramic sculptures and paintings by Michelle Ussher.
Artists recreating, showing recent work, or exhibiting works in London for the first time are Daniel Crooks, Nicole Ellis, Patrick Hartigan, Jacki Middleton, Vanilla Netto, Helen Pynor, Erica Seccombe, Renee So and Kathy Temin.
In 1992 the Australia Council became the first national cultural body to form an international residencies partnership with Acme Studios. The exhibition reflects the new internationalism showcasing Australian talent operating successfully overseas.
The Australia Council for the Arts is delighted to support Acme in organising this unprecedented exploration of Australian artists work over the past twenty years. The publication is an important document of their achievements, creates the context for future discussion about artists residencies and makes visible what goes on behind studio doors, Says Ted
I would like to thank the artists whose creative vision has been at the core of Time & Vision, it’s been an honour to support a roll call of some of the most interesting Australian artists of our time.
The Time & Vision publication is officially launched at the exhibition private view on Tuesday 23 October 2012, by His Excellency Mr. John Dauth AO LVO, High Commissioner for Australia. It is available for purchase through the Time & Vision online platform:
https://vaaus.co.uk
Media contact
Cameron Woods
02 9215 9030 | 0412 686 548
c.woods@creative.gov.au
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