To celebrate her involvement in the Sydney Festival, via Festival First Night and ‘Insomnia’ live at the Sydney Opera House, Megan Washington’s long time artistic collaborator Benjamin Portas will exhibit his artwork in Sydney for the first time. The exhibit will open on Thursday 19th January, for one exclusive week, at MART Gallery in Surry Hills.

Portas has worked closely with Washington on the artistic direction for her two major releases, the Platinum-selling ‘I Believe You Liar’ and it’s companion piece ‘Insomnia’ as well as the many EP’s, tour posters, digital and graphic elements that have provided the visual backdrop to Washington’s much-loved music and video performances.

The exhibit will feature Portas’ artwork from all of Washington’s various releases, alongside rare international prints and the recent ‘Insomnia’ work which has been influential in inspiring the set-design for the upcoming Sydney Opera House show.

For more info head to www.martgallery.com.au

Saturday 30 April 2011
The Forum Theatre, The Atrium and Federation Square
Melbourne, Australia

Taking place over multiple locations in Melbourne’s city center, including
The Forum Theatre, No Vacancy Gallery at Federation Square, and
The Atrium, Sugar Mountain will celebrate the diverse creative forms of music and visual art, with a focus on the natural meeting points between.

Sugar Mountain’s visual arts program is curated by Creative Director Pete Keen, with support from No Vacancy Gallery. We are pleased to have the following selection of Australia’s finest young creatives, alongside some very special international guests, exhibiting at Sugar Mountain.

Musicians VIRGO FOUR (USA), Aa (USA), NO KIDS (Canada), YELLOW FEVER (USA), COOLIES (NZ), CANYONS, QUA with the Ritmo Giallo Ensemble, YOUNG MAGIC, COLLARBONES, RAT VS POSSUM, OSCAR + MARTIN, GALAPAGOOSE, OTOUTO with the No Lights, No Lycra Dancers, TWERPS, BROUS and NO ZU.

Visual artists AINSLIE FLETCHER, ALEX KOPPS (USA), BECI ORPIN, BEN BARRETTO, BRETT CHAN, CHARLIE CALLAHAN (USA), CLARK GOOLSBY (USA), CODY HUDSON (USA), CORNELIUS BROWN, DAVID POTES (USA), FERRIS PLOCK (USA), GEORG, JAY HOWELL (USA), JULIAN HOCKING, KATRINE HILDEBRANDT, KELSEY BROOKES (USA), KILL PIXIE, KYLE FIELD (USA), LEIF PODHAJSKY, MARK DREW, MARK TRZOPEK, MARK WARREN JACQUES (USA), MEL KADEL (USA), MIKE PERRY (USA), MONICA CANILAO (USA), NAILS, NAT RUSSELL (USA), NEIL KRUG (USA), OLIVER HUNTER, OSCAR VINCENT SLORACK THORNE, RHYS MITCHELL, RAPHAEL RIZZO, RYAN HEYWOOD, RYAN JACOB SMITH (USA), RYAN TATAR (USA), STEFAN MARX (DE), STEVEN HARRINGTON (USA), TWO ONE, EIGHTY FOUR FILMS (USA), THE AMIGO UNIT (USA), THE CREATIVE LIVES (USA) and SERPS.

Kelsey Brookes

Two One – Hiroyatsu Tsuri

Brett Chan

Plus a live painting performance by THOMAS CAMPBELL (USA), live visual and light show by KIT WEBSTER & JAMES WRIGHT, ‘Every Shape Has A Secret’ starring JANE BADLER, curated by ANITA SPOONER & DANIELLE GEPPERT, Screening of ‘Gaudy Romp’, scored by FOOTY and curated by ANITA SPOONER & DANIELLE GEPPERT; and social experimentation via TAPE PROJECTS COLLECTIVE in conjunction with guest curator LOUISE KLERKS.

Buy tickets here
More info here

STEPHEN PAVLOVIC UNVEILS HIS PROGRAM FOR VIVID LIVE  AT SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE 2011 MAY 27 – JUNE 5

2manydjs  / ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI /  THE AVALANCHES DJs /  AZARI & III / BAT FOR LASHES / CHRIS CUNNINGHAM /  CLUB KOOKY  / THE CRYSTAL ARK /  CUT COPY /  DOM / HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE /  LEAVE THEM ALL BEHIND /  OFWGKTA /  SNEAKY SUNDAY / SONNY ROLLINS  SPIRITUALIZED: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WE ARE FLOATING IN SPACE /  TAME IMPALA / TOM KUNTZ  / WU LYF /  YO GABBA GABBA! /  CANYONS / THE SWISS / BENI / VAN SHE / FLIGHT FACILITIES / SOFTWAR /  BAMBOO MUSIK / CHANGES / BAG RAIDERS

Sydney Opera House today announced the program for Vivid LIVE 2011, curated by Stephen Pavlovic of Modular.
Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House (May 27 – June 5) is part of Vivid Sydney (May 27 – June 13), the city’s annual festival of light, music and ideas.  Vivid LIVE celebrates Sydney as a leader in the field of the creative and cultural industries both nationally and throughout the region.

Each year, Vivid LIVE asks a different artist or individual to curate a program of events in and around the world’s most iconic venue.
Following Brian Eno’s debut festival in 2009, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson brought their unforgettable downtown New York vibe to Sydney in 2010.  This year local music industry legend Stephen ‘Pav’ Pavlovic, founder of the hugely successful Sydney-based record label, touring company and international brand Modular, brings fresh Australian eyes to this growing international festival.

Sydney Opera House Head of Music, Fergus Linehan says, “Working to realise Stephen Pavlovic’s Vivid LIVE program has been an exhilarating ride for all of us at Sydney Opera House.  Pav is meticulous, tenacious and fearless in his approach and while his season is host to countless artists who are outstanding in their own right, this is a festival that can only be fully understood in its entirety.  It has also been an honour to work with our colleagues at Events NSW to build a festival which we hope will have real meaning for the people of NSW, draw visitors to the city and celebrate the creative powerhouse that our state has become.”

See the full program here

MONA FOMA (MOFO), is Hobart’s cutting edge Festival of Music and Art. Currently in it’s third year, the festival is once again presenting another ground-breaking and frontier-pushing program for 2011.
From January 14-20, curator Brian Ritchie of Violent Femmes and now The Break fame will present an incredible array of massive and amazing music, dance, theatre, visual art, performance, new media – and some art. It’s a mix of first-time appearances, festival favourites and exclusive one-off performances and it’s mostly free.

The MONA FOMA 2011 Festival line up includes:

Philip Glass and Wendy Sutter [USA]
Grinderman [Australia/UK/USA]
Botborg [Australia/Germany]
Speak Percussion [Melbourne]
Chiharu Shiota [Japan/Berlin]
Brook Andrew [Sydney]
Amanda Palmer [USA]
Neil Gaiman, FourPlay Sting Quarter &Eddie Campbell [USA/Australia/UK]
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion [USA]
BalletLab [Melbourne]
Wire [UK]
Groupe F [France]
Roman Signer [Switzerland]
Gelitin [Austria]
Ana Prvacki [Serbia/Singapore]
Health [USA]
Monanism – the Exhibition

Philip Glass and Wendy Sutter [USA]

Philip Glass [legendary composer/pianist]. Considered one of the most influential composers of late 20th Century. Widely acknowledged as the composer who brought art music to the public. Wendy Sutter [cello virtuoso]. Internationally acclaimed soloist, muse and partner of Philip.

MOFO 2011: The duo will present an intimate evening of Glass compositions. Solo piano, a cello suite ‘Songs and Poems’ and duets each include discussions by the composer. A unique relationship: Glass and his muse Sutter.

Grinderman [Australia/UK/USA]

Australian rock and roll royalty. Formed 2006 as a follow-on from post-punk group Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Nick Cave [vocals. electric guitar. keyboards]. Warren Ellis [electric bouzouki. mandocastor. violin]. Martyn P. Casey [bass]. Jim Sclavunos [drums].

MOFO 2011: These stalwarts guarantee to make Prince’s Wharf 1 throb with noise and poetry.

Amanda Palmer [USA]

Amanda Palmer: [composer/pianist/performer/ukulele basher]. Came to prominence with the American cabaret/rockband Dresden Dolls. Has moved on to a highly successful and diverse solo career ranging from music>film>theatre>dance. Her confrontational and unorthodox relationship with the audience breaks down the usual performer/crowd barriers and leads to all kinds of interactions.

MOFO 2011: Will appear solo and in collaboration with several other artists.

BalletLab [Melbourne]

Formed 1999. Confrontational dance troupe present a trilogy of MONA commissioned new work. Regular MOFO performers, their piece in the inaugural MOFO was SO intense it had to be moved indoors after witnesses to the sound check/rehearsal got anxious and started to cry. One of the most inventive choreographic visionary companies working in Australia. Strikingly contemporary in nature and physically idiosyncratic.

BalletLab’s work pushes performance boundaries and invents movement vocabularies that reference contemporary culture: a transforming often provocative and polarising experience for the audience, the art form and the performer.
Blending, juxtaposing and twisting classical, romantic, baroque and contemporary dance forms, the visual impact of the movement and the provocative conceptual based imagery and design play equal parts within BalletLab’s unique choreography.

Find out more about MONA FOMA

Just a couple of our favourite acts were…

Tomorrow, In A Year

Tomorrow, In a Year, Photography by Claudi Thyrrestrup

The beauty of Hotel Pro Forma’s striking visuals accompanied by Scandinavian electro-pop masters The Knife’s extravagent soundtrack provided a modern exploration of what opera can be pushed to be. The use of lasers, smoke machines and video all added to the exciting and unique atmosphere of which consumed the audience throughout the performance.
Directed by Ralf Richardt Strøbech and Kirsten Dehlholm, the performance creates an experience of Charles Darwin’s travels, inspired by his perception of nature and time. We are shown “our image of the world as a place of incredible variation, similarity and unity is re-discovered in this revolutionary electronic feast for the senses”.

John Cale – Noises in My Head

To spend an evening with John Cale to hear him speak about his musical career in a youth orchestra in Wales; writing his first composition in primary school; developing a penchant for avantgarde at a London art college; being guided to New York by the hand of Aaron Copland and John Cage; honing in his signature drone palate at the feet of LaMonte Young and then begin his underground noise bending attack on rock and roll from The Velvet Underground to his current genre-bending music: we felt more than privileged. Of course, by the end we wished there was much more time sit and listen to the man who has created some of the most beautiful chaos in music.

Boredoms – BOARDRUM

Boredoms (Japan), have become known for their “noice, chaos, tribal experimentation, remixing, trance-inducing feats of rythmic intensity, line-up changes, collaborations, and doing whatever they want regardless of trends and fashion”. Since 2007, Boredoms have performed their BOARDRUM set annualy. On the 7/7/2007 they had 77 drummers play together, on the 8/8/2008 it was 88 and last year on the 9/9/2009 it was 9. Boredoms featured 10 drummers for the 10/10/10 show, plus a guitarist and Bordeoms’ ringleader EYE playing two seven-necked guitar mutations.

More information on the Melbourne International Arts Festival 2010 here

Sinead O’Connor, John Cale, Robert Lepage, Jack Charles, Hotel Pro Forma, Michael Clark Company, Thomas Adès, Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Akram Khan Company, The Black Arm Band & Beck’s Festival Bar

The 25th Melbourne Festival, and the second under the artistic direction of Brett Sheehy, announces a dynamic and emotive program of work from some of the finest creative minds of our times. Over 16 days, from 8 to 23 October, the Festival presents an unparalleled feast of music, dance, theatre, opera, visual arts, multimedia and outdoor events from renowned and upcoming Australian and international companies and artists.

Festival highlights this year include free outdoor aerial spectacular K@osmos; Hotel Pro Forma’s awe inspiring, large-scale operatic spectacle, Tomorrow, in a year, featuring the groundbreaking music of electro-pop masters The Knife; world renowned recording artists Sinead O’Connor (in her exclusive Australian performance), John Cale and Meshell Ndegeocello; one of Australia’s most highly regarded performers in his one-man show, Jack Charles V The Crown; the residency of British composer, Thomas Adès, the most inventive contemporary composer of his generation. As part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival: Beck’s Festival Bar at the Forum Theatre, will be featuring some intriguing acts: Boredoms (Japan), Low (USA), Ponzu Island (Australia), The Drones (Australia), Dead Meadow (USA) and more.

Boredoms

Ponzu Island

The Festival features two Australian premieres. come, been and gone, the bold new dance work from the world renowned Michael Clark Company featuring the music of the legendary David Bowie with Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Brian Eno and internationally revered director, film maker and actor Robert Lepage’s  magical journey to modern China with The Blue Dragon, a heart-wrenching love story told with Lepage’s trademark striking theatrical vision.

Come, Been and Gone, Simon Williams, Photography: Jake Walters

The Festival closes with a one-off spectacular finale, Seven Songs to Leave Behind, a unique concert featuring international music legends Sinead O’Connor, John Cale, Meshell Ndegeocello and Rickie Lee Jones, with award winning Indigenous artist Gurrumul Yunupingu and festival favourites Black Arm Band and Orchestra Victoria at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Oct 23.

For more info see the festival site here

AWARD, Australia’s pre-eminent creative industries body, has announced changes to its 2011 awards programme. AWARD, the Australasian Writers and Art Directors Association, counts some of the finest creative minds from Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia amongst its members. It is a non-political, non-profit organisation that aims to set standards of creative excellence, to promote creativity in the business arena, and to educate and inspire the next creative generation.

“As champions of commercial creativity, AWARD aims to raise standards of creative excellence across a range of disciplines – emerging as well as established,” said Craig Davis, AWARD Chairman.
“In the annual AWARD show, we can create more space and opportunity to recognise and celebrate great creative work, reflecting how the marketing and communications industries have evolved and are evolving.”

Accordingly, several new categories have been created for 2011, including music video, applications, social media, environmental design, and branded content. As well, a new award for Creative Innovation will challenge entrants to contribute a solution that defies convention. It is anticipated that the award will draw unexpected ideas from industries both connected to, and beyond, advertising.

“Creativity is a prerequisite of commercial success and of prosperity,” said Craig Davis. “We believe it is the single most valuable asset for business today, and that through inclusiveness and collaboration, that value can only increase.”

The AWARD 2011 Call for Entries will be launched in coming days. The AWARD show will take place on March 11, 2011, as part of the Creative Festival taking place from 9-11 March.

See the AWARD site for more information.

Stillness at the Speed of Light, Grace Jones by Chris Levine

Recently shown at The Vinyl Gallery in London, Stillness at the Speed of Light, reveals the impressive beauty which can occur between two unique artists. The collaboration between Grace Jones, legend in the world of music and art, and Chris Levine, a light artist renowned for his historic 3D portrait of HRH Queen Elizabeth II. The portraits of Jones have also been created in 3D, demonstrating again Levine’s “evolution in portraiture”.

To coincide with the recent exhibition, is the release of Grace Jones’ new video “Love You to Life”, directed by Chris Levine. This is scheduled for release in May/June 2010. A preview of the footage can be seen below.

SUPERSTAR [ Slow Motion ] from delmar mavignier on Vimeo.

See more at of Chris Levine’s work here.

Semi-Permanent Melbourne 2009 Montage from Semi Permanent on Vimeo.

Missed Semi-Permanent this year? See the video montage from Melbourne above, and click here for Sydney.

Via Semi-Permanent