Month: May 2019

It’s Good to be BAD!

Posted on by Chiara Torelli


Brisbane truly is Australia’s new world city!

Awash with events and festivals which resonate on the international stage, it’s a thriving, evolving city where creative boundaries are continually being pushed.

If you doubted this, you have only to look at the 17-day design extravaganza that is the Brisbane Art Design Festival. From the 16th to the 26th of May 2019, over 150 Brisbane creatives will grace 25+ locations around the city with their innovative and dynamic exhibitions, performances, talks, art tours, workshops and open studios.

Here’s the low down on why it’s so good to be BAD.

Celebrating the collective creativity of Brisbane’s art community, this initiative of the Museum of Brisbane champions the emerging talents who are forging their name within the community, and welcomes home the established trailblazers who are shaking things up on an international level.

The Museum itself is the hub of this city-wide event and hosts the signature exhibition which is the heart of the festival every year. From the 10th of May to the 11th of August, Brisbane’s best and brightest will be celebrated on Level 3, where the BAD@MoB exhibition features artists and installations across a wide range of media and practices, from robotics, performance art, video, installation, ceramics, jewellery and painting.

Another highlight has to be the BADtours+CBD. On the 25th of May, from 11.30 -2 pm, public art curator Beth Jackson takes you on a bespoke art, design, and food tour focused on Brisbane’s distinctive character.

The tour leaves from the Museum of Brisbane, and in between art-filled alleys and public art and design sites, you can enjoy a light artisanal lunch and a natural wine tasting at Felix for Goodness, one of Brissy’s culinary heavyweights.

For an inside look into the process of putting together such a behemoth of an exhibition, join curator Miranda Hine on the 24th of May, from 2-2.30pm as she takes you behind the scenes of the curatorial framework of this celebratory showcase.

She’ll also lead you through an intimate tour of the artists on show, giving you the benefit of her sharp curator’s instinct and appreciation for innovative, creative design.

For an honest and loving insight into an artist’s impressions of her home city, check out Maureen Hansen’s exhibition at the Woolloongabba Art Gallery until the 31st of May.

This Brisbanite is captivated by the way light plays with nature and its colours, creating joyful and fresh observations of life in Queensland.

In ‘From Life: Brisbane Light’, Maureen explores feelings of change in Brisbane, interpreting her surroundings in authentic, honest, and endearing paintings.

On the 25th of May, from 11.30-1pm at Griffith University Art Museum, children aged seven and above can learn the basics of drawing cartoon characters and adapt their physical appearance to reflect their personalities or feelings.

Kids will pick up a variety of skills, including making characters move, designing frame and speech bubbles, and outlining story progressions. Drawing materials are provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own journals!

In short, BAD is an artistic whirlwind of talent, vision and creativity, which promises to shake Brisbane to its roots and proves, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that our city owns its place on the world’s design stage.

For a full list of other locations and events, check out the BAD programme here!

Happy viewing!

There and Back Again: one Brisbanite’s design journey

Posted on by Chiara Torelli

Jewellery has long been an essential element of our self-expression, from the first decorative stones used by our early human ancestors, signalling our progression into abstract thought, symbolism, and aesthetic appreciation, to the myriad styles, tastes, budgets, and occasions which are catered to today.

From the jewellery which we save for that ‘special’ occasion to the pieces that never leave our skin, the spectrum of jewellery design knows no bounds.

One artist and designer who continually pushes those bounds is Brisbane’s own Christie Nicolaides, whose opulent, languid aesthetic speaks to her motto: it’s always summer somewhere.

Bright colours, silver and gold plated brass, and a sense of luxury and exoticism are the hallmarks of her many and varied creations.

Born and raised in Highgate Hill, Christie found herself enthralled by the bold fashions of the women in the Greek villages of her grandparents, the coastal towns of Italy, and the streets of Turkey.

Through her travels around Europe, she developed her passion for jewellery and her admiration for the boldness of the southern European styles.

When Christie couldn’t find what she wanted back home in Brisbane, she took matters into her own hands.

Having identified a niche in the jewellery design market, the self-taught designer opened her first pop-up store on James St in late 2013.

It quickly became apparent that her designs resonated with many women, and, emboldened by her success, the stylist drew on her contacts in the design world and invested a substantial chunk of her savings into creating her own collection.

More pop-ups followed, and Christie eventually created an online store as well, bringing her collections to fashion-forward women worldwide, who lapped up her exuberant and decadent aesthetic with joyous abandon.

Six years down the line and Christie has forged an international network of trusted manufacturers and suppliers, family-run factories who ensure her products are of authentic and high quality.

This international team, tight-knit despite the distance, know and understand Christie’s aesthetic, helping her to push each collection further than the last.

She focuses on increasing the fluidity, feminity, and wearability of each new collection, always pushing the lengths to which she can go in her designs before giving her jewellers a hernia.

A tango of development and re-development defines her dialogue with her manufacturers, resulting in dynamic, boundary-pushing, yet eminently wearable design stocked in stores worldwide.

Six years down the line and Christie has taken a step which cements her place in the Brisbane design world.

In late 2018, she opened her first (of many, hopefully), brick and mortar stores, basing her business in the city where it all began.

The shop, at the corner of Edwards and Margaret St, is a little haven of European summer in the CBD. The street-level entrance flows down a curved stairway to a pink-marble floor, dark timber beams, and exposed brick basement retail space, where her signature pieces sparkle invitingly in the gentle lighting.

The space doubles as her business headquarters, from which she hopes to expand her stores into Sydney and Melbourne, becoming closer to the sophisticated customer base she has developed in these cities.

By now, almost eight months after opening her shop, Christie has a thriving face-to-face business. She has been working steadily on her August 2019 collection, her bridal collection, and is gleefully working toward adding eyewear, handbags, and clothing to her design portfolio.

This long-standing figure of the Brisbane design world finally has a place to call her own, putting down roots so she can better spread her wings. Her basement boutique brings together her Greek origins, love of Europe, and loyalty to the place in which she was raised, through her luxurious, beautiful, and ever-evolving creations displayed in the heart of the CBD.

For more information about Christie’s journey, check out her website at https://www.christienicolaides.com.au.

Creative hub breathes life into local arts scene

Posted on by Chiara Torelli

The Metro Arts Centre has been a cornerstone of Brisbane’s creative scene since the 1980s, always pushing the boundaries of what art can do and where it can take us. Within this five-story heritage building, local artists are enabled and supported in their pursuit of creation; here they can take risks, experiment, develop their ideas and projects, and present them to the public in a wide range of media and spaces. Let’s take a look inside this magical space where art and community collide.

The Building
The Metro Arts Centre is housed in a highly storied heritage-listed building. This timber and brick structure, standing proud at 109-117 Edward Street, started its life as a warehouse in the 1890s, when it was home to a series of manufacturing agents and importers. After World War Two, it was acquired by the Australian Government and used as office space for various government departments, but by 1976 they had all moved to grander, more suitable quarters. This freed up the building to evolve into its current incarnation: work began immediately to convert into a community arts centre, which opened officially in 1981.

The Spaces
Today, this building steeped in history provides artists with workspaces, show spaces, and rooms for rehearsals, classes, workshops, and seminars, as well as accommodating a variety of artistic media. The rooms can be rented out at reasonable prices for any creative pursuits you can think of which are in line with the centre’s value and priorities.

The Carriageway
The carriageway is a graffiti-filled underpass with a funky urban-grit vibe, ideal for events, photos or video shoots.

Studios
Studios in a range of sizes are available for creative practitioners to work in autonomously, surrounded by like-minded individuals in a cohesive community environment.

Level 2 Gallery
This timber-floored venue can hold up to 160 patrons and is home to Metro Arts’ Exhibition Programme. It’s also ideal for any events where mingling and perusing are encouraged.

Basement
The timber floors and red-brick walls of the basement give this open plan space a distinctly industrial vibe. With its capacity for up to 40 people, it provides a more intimate space for a wide variety of events.

Sue Benner Theatre
With 97 seats, this intimate theatrical venue is an ideal platform for live performances.

Whitlam Space
Large, flooded with natural light, and flanked with mirrored walls, this room is perfect for classes and workshops of any kind, from burlesque to painting, through photography and filmography.

Level 4 Warehouse
Similar to Whitlam but without the mirrors, this space is perfect for workshops, exhibitions, and classes.

Lumen Room
This converted cinema room can hold up to 115 people and is ideal for both film screenings and live events.

You can visit the Metro Arts Centre anytime, and gain insightful glimpses into the artistic process, community building, and a world where the only limit is your imagination.

Events
With its wide range of spaces, the Metro Arts Centre is host to a diverse cohort of activities, from theatrical productions, music, and cabaret performances to art and dance classes, workshops, and exhibitions. Some upcoming features include

Kill Climate Deniers – 15-25 May
A provocative and controversial examination of the climate change debate, this meta-film looks at the crisis from the fictional point of view of a group of eco-terrorists, and through the lens of the director’s own struggles with conservative media.

Magpie – 29 May-8 June
A coming-of-age play that explores family relationships and the nature of success.

Life on Earth – 5-15 June
A mixed-media exploration of the artist’s perspective on climate change and humanity’s impact on biodiversity.

We Koppel, We Dala – 26 June – 18 July
A South-African perspective on authenticity, identity, and self-representation, reminding us of how Apartheid’s legacy lives on worldwide.

Love and Information – 31 July-10 August
This play in 58 scenes matter-of-factly and empathetically examines how we distil information and meaning from our surroundings and interactions in our search for love and understanding.

For more information, check out their programme and rates at https://metroarts.com.au/whats-on/.

Tipsy Art: more than just a paint palette

Posted on by Chiara Torelli

A good glass of wine has always had the power to enhance our creative abilities or to fool us into believing we had any in the first place. This perfect pairing of art and alcohol has finally made it into the mainstream, with “Sip n’ Paint” studios popping up everywhere, and becoming legitimate alternatives to the gal’s night out, date night, and even bachelor/ette parties. Inhibitions are lowered, free and easy conversation flows, and suddenly, we can paint!

What are “Sip n’ Paint” studios? They are magical spaces where professional instructors lead you step-by-step through the process of painting your own masterpiece. All the materials and music are provided; you only need to bring your own poison! This could be wine, beer, champagne, or juice, which you can store in the refrigerators on-site. These events are becoming highly popular, so I recommend booking your seat a few weeks in advance. What better way to enjoy some downtime with your friends, and get in touch with your creative side?

“Sip n’ Paint” studios are open to all abilities, from those of us who have never picked up a paintbrush before, to consummate professionals. The instructors leave a lot of room for creative freedoms, guiding you through the basic techniques used to achieve the desired effect but bequeathing the choice of colours, and the exact nature of the details, to you. This ensures everyone is working within their comfort zone while learning something new. It also means no two artworks are the same at the end of the session, and taking some time to stroll around the studio admiring the various interpretations of the original design is fascinating and enlightening, and an excellent ice breaker.

The concept has become so popular that there are even alternatives available for those who dislike wine or aren’t painters at heart. Prefer a beer? Then “Paint n’ Pint” events are more up your alley. Is painting not your thing? Try “Drinky Drawy” sessions instead. Are you bored with painting on canvas? Have a go at free-flow acrylic pouring or painting on your clothes. The truly fashion-forward venues even provide snacks, from cheese and charcuterie boards to full-blown canapes.

For your next night out in Brisbane, consider one of the following venues to get your creative juices flowing as you sip your favourite drink and chill with your favourite people:

CORK & CHROMA | SOUTH BRISBANE
Cork and Chroma have a pop-up studio in Southbank and a permanent set-up in West End, where they host daily workshops with fabulous instructors and cheese mezze board options.

NAÏM | PADDINGTON
Maybe painting isn’t for you? Then Naim’s Drinky Drawy sessions might hit the spot. They don’t have a regular roster of events, so make sure to keep an eye on their programme for upcoming classes! This one is slightly different in that the art supplies are BYO, but a drink is included in your $10 ticket cost.

VINE AND ART
All classes at Vine and Art are hosted by their resident artists Kaz Bull, and they offer private sessions as well as the group classes, where you can choose your own subject! And they have cheese boards.

AETHER BREWING CO. | MILTON
The Black Canvas Co. hosts monthly Paint ’n’ Pints events at the Aether Brewing Co., where you can try your hand at anything from plants to The Great Wave of Kanagawa.

MONTANA ART PROJECT | WEST END
This one is a bit different. Montana Art Project offers everything from free flow acrylic pouring to paint-your-own-jeans lessons, with a complimentary glass of champagne on arrival, and the option to BYO beer, wine and soft drink.

BRUSH & BARREL | FORTITUDE VALLEY
Brush and Barrel are most famous for their “Paint your Pet” classes, but you can try your hand at Banksy, Picasso and signature Brush & Barrel pieces every other day.

PAINT ‘N POUR | VARIOUS
This one is slightly fancier. With a two-hour drink tab and charcuterie boards to snack on, a Paint n’ Pour event is sure to bring out the best and booziest artist in everyone. Paint n’ Pour also offer weekly sessions at both MD’s Italian Kitchen & Bar and The Belvedere, with over 30 themes to choose from.

YOUR CREATIVE PALETTE
This studio is the ideal location to spread your creative wings under the attentive, yet never over-bearing, gaze of industry professionals. Everything is provided, so sip-and-paint away!

TOASTED CAFÉ | EVERTON PARK
MK Gallery brings out the best in us with their perfect combination of our three favourite activities: painting, sipping and nibbling. Art materials and canapés created by Toasted’s own chef are provided, so all we need to worry about is our drink.

Local artists form to create Verge Collective

Posted on by Chiara Torelli

VERGE Collective was born when six emerging photography and new media artists came together to bring to life their vision of an innovative and unique collaborative platform. Their goal was to initiate and implement professional and artistic development opportunities tailored to their lives as women, as they juggle work and family commitments, all the while striving to expand their creative businesses.

Vanessa Bertagnole, Julia Scott Green, Christine Ko, Lisa Kurtz, Tamara Whyte and Emma Wright achieved the double accomplishment of re-invigorating their own creative practices and the Brisbane arts scene when they banded together to become VERGE.

Their collaborative and supportive ethos breathes an authentic sense of community and safety into their practice, building a symbolic and protean space where they can take risks and grow, both artistically and personally. Learning from each other, they can push their collective and individual work into new territories, experimenting with unfamiliar media, unusual combinations, new canvases, and unique spaces.

Proof of their innovative spirit and breadth of experimentation lies in the diversity of their collective and individual CV, which has been highly awarded. In 2018, they were finalists in the CLIP Landscape awards and received a Highly Commended in the Clayton Utz awards. Their collective CV of exhibitions, awards, and residencies is impressive https://www.vergecollective.com.au/about.

Their most recent, and to my mind, most exciting projects were their 2018 Brisbane Super Natural Exhibition (Nov-Dec 2018), at Vacant Assembly, and their Depth of Field residency in Boonah.

Depth of Field pushed the artists far beyond their comfort zones, as they were encouraged to respond intimately to their physical surroundings in the Scenic Rim, creating site-specific, interactive mixed media installations, projections, and performances. Through their interaction with their environment, the ladies of VERGE investigated and led the audience to examine the rural-urban dichotomy of regional Australia and its implications for the human and natural worlds. The work was both artistically and physically challenging as they sought creative and thought-provoking ways to express the environment in their pieces.

Super Natural was also a study of the tensions in the natural and urban worlds. Through installations, photography, and videos, VERGE sifted through the underlying dissonance that arises from “the urbanite ambivalence to the ‘natural’ world,” drawing out whispers of the eerie and unfamiliar that lies between the cracks in our relationship with the landscape. The result is indeed an eerie, uncomfortable, yet magical and fascinating experience as you wander through the spaces of Vacant Assembly, noticing, perhaps for the first time, the discrepancies between our interpretations of the landscape, and its reality.

VERGE bring with them a promise of renewed energy and community spirit in the Brisbane art world, continuing their innovative and pertinent ventures into social tensions and relationships. They show us the beautiful, the disconcerting, and the disarming in their commentary on our interactions with the world.

From rubble to ritz: a guide to Brisbane’s street art surge

Posted on by Chiara Torelli

Brisbane is a city of many faces. Innovative academia, a vibrant art scene and outdoors and athletic lifestyles rub shoulders seamlessly, while pubs thrive alongside high-society parties and fine international dining, and grunge meets rural grit and urban chic.

Another facet of Brisbane’s identity, which has been gaining ground and coming to the forefront of the city’s creative scene since 2015, is street art.

Though you may not necessarily notice as you go about your day, Brisbane’s walls, pillars, and bridges are covered in lively and sometimes provocative pieces of artwork, many by local artists. This artistic outburst is encouraged and supported by the Brisbane City Council, which sees it as a chance to build a collaborative and positive relationship between local creatives and the wider community, as well as an effective way of embellishing the city.

The Council’s key projects regarding street art are the Artforce community project, through which local artists create original pieces on the city’s thousands of traffic signal boxes, and Brisbane Canvas, a series of council-commissioned pieces of artwork around the city.

The Council sees this collaboration with local artists as an essential way of bringing everyday structures to life and creating a city that is unique and colourful, somewhere that people are both happy to live in and keen to visit.

The Brisbane Canvas project is always growing, and the council website provides you with details of locations so that you can admire these pieces in situ.

Some of my personal highlights include David Houghton’s Froglife, at Bridgeman Downs, Guido Van Helten’s Untitled on Boundary Street, Jess Kease’s Tropical Flora at the Thornton Street underpass in Kangaroo Point, and Frank and Mimi’s If Only You Knew in Arch Lane.

When the city is your canvas, the interaction between artist and location is all the more intense and purposeful, creating a strong bond between the structure, the artist, and the audience, who must visit the site itself to understand the artwork fully, rather than merely appreciating it from a photograph.

If you’d like to know more, get in touch with Urban Smarts Project, and if you’re a resident of Brisbane City, apply and see if they approve your designs!

Street art does as street art will do, and the canvas that is Brisbane city is continuously evolving around and beyond the Council’s influence. Street art aficionados have designed full-blown street art walking tours to take you around the city’s not-so-council-approved highlights (https://blog.queensland.com/2015/09/07/brisbane-street-art/; https://www.weekendnotes.com/top-graffiti-and-street-art-spots-brisbane/), and the Brisbane City Greeters also know the best spots if you request a street art-themed tour from them at the Tourist Information Centre or online (https://www.visitbrisbane.com.au/brisbane-greeters?sc_lang=en-au).

It’s beautiful that the creative impulses of independent artists and the desires of the Council can coincide and collaborate in such organic and symbiotic ways.

Brisbane City Council also shows its support for the local artist community through its patronage of the Brisbane Street Art Festival (BSAF), alongside other state and local organisations, commercial enterprises, and academic institutions.

Since 2016, BSAF has brought local, national, and international artists together to build on Brisbane’s cultural identity as a creative’s city, boasting Australia’s most extensive street art festival programme. This year, the programme has doubled in size and diversity, and promises to deliver art and excitement as never before. Over two weeks, from the 4th to the 19th of May 2019, Brisbane will be abuzz with live mural art, music and theatre performances, exhibitions, master classes, and workshops. With something for everyone, this year’s BSAF is a must-do in Brisbane. The best part of BSAF is that it’s free for everyone to attend!

One of the festival’s strengths is their cooperation with local institutions, bringing together diverse aspects of life in Brisbane and providing a model of collaboration and unity of purpose.

Last year, QUT became a canvas for Mexican artist Said Dokins at their Garden’s Point Campus, and continuing their partnership with BSAF, will be hosting an Argentinian duo at their Kelvin Grove Campus this year. Medianeras have been embellishing streets worldwide for over ten years and have participated in countless festivals, so they’re sure to be worth watching as they paint our city!

The festival is also known for supporting local talent, and one of this year’s most challenging canvases, ten pillars under the AirTrain railway at the Toombul centre, goes to proud Brissy local Leans, an artist who is famous for his abstract re-interpretations of architectural features. His live mural show is guaranteed to be captivating as his abstract architectural style meets physical architectural features. As well as this, throughout the festival West End’s West Village will be transformed into a street art gallery, where local works of all shapes and sizes will adorn the walls and be available for the public to admire. The exhibition also includes several notable interstate and international artists and is the ideal way to immerse oneself in the diversity and pertinence of street art.

Projects like Artforce, Brisbane Canvas, and BSAF bring together diverse facets of Brisbane’s society, strengthening community ties and helping to increase social capital amongst various groups. Channelling the creative energy of such a wide range of artists and institutions into city-wide projects can only help strengthen Brisbane’s community and cohesion, all the while embellishing a living environment we already love.