EASYSPEAK- Tortuga Studios

First published for DAS500, 16 July 2011

Tortuga Studio’s EASYSPEAK exhibition opened a couple of Fridays ago; it all started so well, with this writer arriving very reviewer like and dutiful.

Somewhere along the line things got jovial.

This resulted in waking up Saturday morning with a wine stained room list and notes which amongst other choice scrawls, included ‘must call the horror lady’ and ‘nipple/ bondage- sexy...investigate?’ Suffice to say this was not a typical ‘white cube’ opening night.

The theme of this large group exhibition of over forty artists was prohibition and paid homage to the underground ‘blind tiger’ spaces of the twenties; these spaces were home to the illegal sly tipple and were often symbols of equality and free speech at the time, thus the title EASYSPEAK.

The title of the exhibition and the opening night event is where the speakeasy theme of this exhibition end. The seemingly random selection of works sit haphazardly and crammed in the sprawl of curious spaces at Tortuga Studios with many of the larger works inhabiting their own nooks. Some honourable mentions of the exhibition include the collection of works by Perran Costi. A handful of eight pieces by Costi housed in a smaller room focused on the theme du jour of the art world right now ‘the fragile environment’. Costi’s mixed media skyboxes and baggage series were literally tiny rays of light shining through in the dimmed haze of their surrounds. Dishevelled briefcases housed tiny patches of grass and idyllic back lighted blue skies; the works were a study in memory and landscape and were both charmingly romanticised and loaded with cause. Costi’s works were sure to resonate with many of the inner west local patrons of the event as they also referenced the increasingly financially impossible ‘Australia Dream’ to own property. The strength of this collection of works lies in Costi’s strong cohesiveness in practice amongst an overwhelming amount of different artwork vying for space in the studios. Garth Knight’s series of five photographs, a depiction of fantasy erotica were pleasurable to view as a fine study in intricate detail and consideration but in this context were not allowed to be considered further as my eyes played tug of war with the other artworks swarming around the photographs which were detractingly contrasted. Jo Shand’s Thou Shalt Not series- an irreverent, modern subversion of the Catholic Church’s Ten Commandments on red cedar tile were sold before I arrived. This was hardly surprising as they possessed the instant likeability and shallow complexity befitting a pleasant hallway artwork.

Amongst the works on show are more than a few mediocre pieces and many could have been culled to make this a stronger ‘exhibition’. But Tortuga studio’s is first and fore mostly a studio for creation and development and this is certainly apparent within the studio- both refined and unrefined. Best of all it was just pure fun.

EASYSPEAK ran until the 3^rd of July, 2011

www.tortugastudios.org.au

Lead Image:

Perran Costi, Baggage- Land Grab, photograph, UV prints on glass. 2009-10

MAAIKE PULLAR: the Jesus of furniture

Photography by Greta Kennedy

Maaike Pullar is the crazy forager lady of the inner west of Sydney. You may find her swimming in the dumpster outside your apartment block, knee deep in detritus or scavenging derelict bench tops from the freshly evicted heroin dive next door to you. From these unloved chair frames, wrecks of lounges and grime entrenched scaffolds Maaike performs her magic. Furniture resurrection.

The trend du jour of the recycling world is the term upcycling: rather than simply restoring a piece of furniture to its former glory, something is created which is entirely new and of greater worth both artistically and technically. Upcycling is specific to a new function being imposed on an object through assemblage, deconstruction or modifications.

“salvaged goods to art just squeezes in as upcycling, but while I've always thought of my chairs as a canvas, ultimately I want them to still have that function, as a chair, which is why I choose the term resurrection over anything else.”

Maaike’s work transcends the basic repair and re use ethos, finding an artistic voice and definitive style in her practice. “Each new find determines its own identity, demanding the right fabric, the right imagery and the application of a new skin. I may work on commission but I create art”. Maaike’s work has developed a cult following in the villages of Sydney recently, particularly with her text and graphic based works. Frequently splicing choice words or phrases into her furniture, Pullar evokes a sense of ownership to place and time which acts as a powerful bond between the furniture and the household it finds a place in. Past examples of work have used the names of Sydney suburbs, tea towel snippets of whimsical phrases and nostalgic vocabulary. Something as simple as the words tea time on a panel of one of Pullar’s chairs or the suburb names Darlinghurst or Marrickville spliced into an arm piece evoke memories and experiences which are unique to its owner and fuse a strong relationship between object and person.

Not always textual, a common theme in Pullar's work is a gentle subversion of icons and tradition, as if testing our recognition and fealty to deconstructed ideals and mismatched expectations. Pullar spent her early twenties living in Mexico and this is resplendent in her works, seen in her vibrant use of colour and large canvases of Mexican packaging. The evocation of memory make Pullar’s work a desirable foreign trinket; as an impartation of her own personal experiences and as a representation of exoticism.

So next time you are trawling the streets of Sydney and you see what appears to be a woman possessed, rifling through a strangers garbage, trying to extricate a bulky seventies coffee table, give her a hand. She might just turn it into spectacular.

For all things Maaike, including her very lovely blog visit:

www.maaike.com

all images copyright of Greta Kennedy 2011.