The creative process is something that we are all familiar with, especially when it comes to the back and forth of ideas, opinions and dialogue. But is this process a shared experience? Artists, curators and viewers are all part of the creative process, or at least should be, but are viewers too removed from this process? Is this removal something that distances them from artworks?
By scrutinising the creative process can we find understanding in the relationship between the artwork and ourselves? Our scene, our culture, our discourse—it is the finished product. Now we seek to reaffirm the process, to draw you and me and them into it.
Shae Nagorcka (Curator). Gwenneth Boelens, Eric Demetriou, Helen Grogan, Tess McKenzie, Nick Selenitsch, Jacob Weiss, Nikki Wynnychuk
About the artist/s:
Shae Nagorcka(Curator) is currently completing a Bachelor of Arts in Theory of Art and Design at Monash University. This is Shae’s first curatorial project, and follows extensive volunteer experience at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and Victoria Park Gallery.
Gwenneth Boelens and Helen Grogan first worked together in 2003 on the installation Spectacle (Collision Course) which won the Incentive Prize from Stroom HCBK, in The Hague. Shortly after, they established a working group with Nickel van Duijvenboden that involved both formal collaboration and informal exchange. Resulting works have been shown in a diversity of contexts including the Kontext Festival in Berlin, the Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam and the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam.
Gwenneth Boelens works as a visual artist within a diversity of media. She studied photography at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague and recently finished her two-year residency at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. She has exhibited at spaces including Ellen de Bruijne Projects and the Van Zoetendaal Gallery and has been nominated for the Erasmus Festival Incentive Prize, the Shell Young Art Award and the Sybren Hellinga Kunstprijs.
Helen Grogan completed a BA (Philosophy/Contemporary Dance) from Deakin University/City University of New York in 2001. She continued research at the School for New Dance Development, Amsterdam Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, with a Hanny Velcamp scholarship where she developed a choreographic practice that spans dance, video and installation. Her work has been presented in Melbourne, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam and Berlin.
Eric Demetriou is currently completing his third year of a Bachelor of Fine Art: Sculpture and Spatial Practice at the Victorian College of the Arts. He has taken part in several VCA exhibitions, as well as being involved, in collaboration with Andrew Turland, in a sculptural street art installation in Southbank throughout 2007. He was awarded VCA’s Best Animation on Film Award in 2006.
Tess McKenzie is currently completing her third year of a Bachelor of Fine Art (Sculpture and Spatial Practice) at the Victorian College of the Arts. In 2007 she spent six months on a Hooker Cockram Scholarship at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, studying sculpture and filmmaking. During this time Tess studied metalwork and became a member of the Institute’s Foundry. In May 2008 she will be exhibiting at the George Paton Gallery at the University of Melbourne. She is involved in the production of a public art installation by New York artist Chris Doyle for the Melbourne International Arts Festival 2008.
Nick Selenitsch received BFA Honours (Painting) from the VCA in 2003, and a Masters in Cultural Material Conservation from the University of Melbourne in 2005. His recent solo exhibitions include Stuck, Studio 12 GCAS (2007); Loose Ends, RMIT (2007); Hung out to dry, Ocular Lab (2006). His recent group exhibitions include Trans Tasman, Room 103, Auckland (2007); A Group Show Curated by Matt Hinkley, Neon Parc (2007); Playing Games, Kings ARI (2007); Taking Care of Buisness, TBC art inc. (2007); It Ain’t Necessarily So… a Mike Brown imitation, Heidi Museum of Modern Art (2006); 21st Century Modern – 2006 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, as part of Slave, Art Gallery of South Australia (2006); and ESCAPE, SCAPE 2006 Biennial of Art in Public Space, Christchurch, New Zealand (2006). He is represented by Sutton Gallery.
Jacob Weiss completed a Bachelor of Fine Art Painting Major, at Monash University in 2007. In 2007 he was the recipient of the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society Award for Painting. His group exhibitions include The Bigger Picture, Monash University Art and Design Graduate Exhibition in 2007, as well as a group exhibition at the Palazzo Vaj in Prato, Italy in 2006, having received a grant to study abroad.
Nicki Wynnychuk completed a BFA from the Canterbury University School of Fine Arts in 1998, followed by a PGDVA from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2006 and an MVA from the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne University in 2007. His solo exhibitions include Fidelio, Enjoy Public Gallery Wellington (2003); Cerebral a box set, Enjoy Public Galleries Wellington (2004); Social skill of a favorable climate, Fridge gallery Weltec Wellington (2004); Venn for Head, 52 Gallery Wellington (2004).
His recent group shows include The New Alchemists, The Dowse Museum Wellington, New Plymouth Museum, Southland Museum, South Australia Museum, Monash City Gallery, Melbourne et al. (2004–06); Revisiting Arte Povera, George Patton Gallery, Melbourne (2007); A better place, Melbourne Fringe Festival (2007).
More information:
We Are Hidden… is the featured project as part of the Emerging Curators Program.
The Emerging Curators Program, presented by Next Wave in partnership with Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, provides professional development opportunities for emerging curators, and supports emerging artists in the production, presentation and publication of new work in a significant public context. Involving a formal mentorship with staff at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces that covers both the conceptual and practical development of an ambitious exhibition for the Next Wave Festival, the Emerging Curators Program enables new artistic viewpoints and curatorial positions to be realised.
The successful applicant for the Emerging Curators Program in 2007 was Shae Nagorcka, who is currently completing a Bachelor of Arts in Theory of Art and Design at Monash University. This is Shae’s first curatorial project, and follows extensive volunteer experience at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and Victoria Park Gallery.
