Exhibition and book launch preview: ‘THE RENNIE ELLIS SHOW’ and ‘Decadent 1980-2000’ at Monash Gallery of Art, Wheelers Hill, Melbourne

Exhibition dates: 3rd April – 8th June 2014
Exhibition and book launch: 3-5 pm Saturday 5th April 2014

 

Rennie Ellis (Australian, 1940-2003) 'Fully equipped, Albert Park Beach' c.1981

 

Rennie Ellis (Australian, 1940-2003)
Fully equipped, Albert Park Beach
c.1981, printed later
Digital colour print
© Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive

 

 

I saw a digital preview of the new book Rennie Ellis – Decadent 1980-2000, shown to me by the delightful Director of the Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive, Manuela Furci – and I must say I was mighty impressed… it was absolutely, colourfully, outrageously FAB !

My god Rennie Ellis was a fantastic artist, what an eye, and what a sense of humour he imparts in his work. And in colour this time. The exhibition draws work from BOTH books – Decade 1970-1980 and Decadent 1980-2000. The colour images in the posting are from the Decadent book and are also in the exhibition. Do come along to the opening and book launch… it will be a solid gold event!

Marcus


Many thankx to Manuel Furci and the Rennie Ellis Archive for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

“Without my photography life would be boring. Photography adds an extra dimension to my life. Somehow it confirms my place in the world”


Rennie Ellis

 

 

Rennie Ellis (Australian, 1940-2003) 'Berlin Party, Inflation Melbourne' c. 1981

 

Rennie Ellis (Australian, 1940-2003)
Berlin Party, Inflation, Melbourne
c. 1981, printed later
Digital colour print
© Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive

 

Rennie Ellis book covers

 

Rennie Ellis Decade 1970-1980 and Decadent 1980-2000

 

 

The photographer Rennie Ellis (1940-2003) is a key figure in Australian visual culture. Ellis is best remembered for his effervescent observations of Australian life during the 1970s-90s, including his now iconic book Life is a beach. Although invariably inflected with his own personality and wit, the thousands of social documentary photographs taken by Ellis during this period now form an important historical record.

The Rennie Ellis Show highlights some of the defining images of Australian life from the 1970s and ’80s. This is the period of Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, Paul Keating and Bob Hawke; AC/DC and punk rock; cheap petrol and coconut oil; Hare Krishnas and Hookers and Deviant balls.

This exhibition of over 100 photographs provides a personal account of what Ellis termed ‘a great period of change’. Photographs explore the cultures and subcultures of the period, and provide a strong sense of a place that now seems worlds away, a world free of risk, of affordable inner city housing, of social protest, of disco and pub rock, of youth and exuberance.

Text from the MGA website

 

Rennie Ellis (Australian, 1940-2003) 'Dining Out, Inflation' 1980

 

Rennie Ellis (Australian, 1940-2003)
Dining Out, Inflation
1980, printed later
Selenium-toned silver gelatin print
© Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive

 

Rennie Ellis (Australian, 1940-2003) 'At the Pub, Brisbane' 1982

 

Rennie Ellis (Australian, 1940-2003)
At the Pub, Brisbane
1982, printed later
Selenium-toned silver gelatin print
© Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive

 

Exhibition and book launch preview: 'THE RENNIE ELLIS SHOW' and 'Decadent 1980-2000'

 

 

Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive website


Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive
Level 1 / 26 Acland Street
St Kilda 3182
Victoria, Australia
Phone: +61 3 9525 3862
E: info@RennieEllis.com.au

Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive website


Monash Gallery of Art
860 Ferntree Gully Road, Wheelers Hill
Victoria 3150 Australia
Phone: + 61 3 8544 0500

Opening hours:
Tue – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat – Sun: 10pm – 4pm
Mon/public holidays: closed

Monash Gallery of Art website

LIKE ART BLART ON FACEBOOK

Back to top

Exhibition: ‘2011 Bowness Photography Prize’ at Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne

Exhibition dates: 15th September 2011 – 16th October 2011

Short-listed artists: Warwick Baker, Kate Bernauer, Magdalena Bors, Chris Budgeon, Elaine Campaner, Michael Corridore, Jagath Dheerasekara, Jackson Eaton, Cherine Fahd, Sean Fennessy, Anne Ferran, Phillip George, Dean Golja, Natalie Grono, David Manley, Olivia Martin-McGuire, Prudence Murphy, Harry Nankin, Catherine Nelson, Matthew Newton, Selina Ou, Max Pam, Polixeni Papapetrou, Geoff Parr, Sonia Payes, Drew Pettifer, Helen Pynor, Jacky Redgate, Simone Rosenbauer, Julie Rrap, Martin Smith, Simon Terrill, Claudia Terstappen, Glenn Walls, Rudi Williams, Alex Wisser, Yiwen Yao.

 

Elaine Campaner (Australian, b. 1969) 'Australia Day #1 (Ford Falcon XR8)' 2011

 

Elaine Campaner (Australian, b. 1969)
Australia Day #1 (Ford Falcon XR8)
2011
From the series Citizenship
Pigment ink-jet print
93.3 x 140cm
Courtesy of the artist

 

 

Excellent photographs in the Bowness Photography Prize this year. A small selection of the short-listed artists are featured below. The dazzling winner was Light throw (mirrors) #4, 2011 by Jacky Redgate (see below). My particular favourites include David Manley’s sensual Eastern Distributer exhaust stack (2010); Simon Terrill’s textural Rivoli #2 (2010); and Catherine Nelson’s ocular world, Cloverdowns (2010). There are many good photographs. To see more finalists work visit the Bowness Photography Prize Flickr set.

Dr Marcus Bunyan

 

 

Simon Terrill (Australian, b. 1969) 'Rivoli #2' 2010

 

Simon Terrill (Australian, b. 1969)
Rivoli #2
2010
Chromogenic print
120 x 150cm
Courtesy of the artist and Sutton Gallery, Melbourne

 

 

Established in 2006 to promote excellence in photography, the annual non-acquisitive William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize is an initiative of the MGA Foundation. Among Australia’s most important art prizes, the Bowness Photography Prize is the country’s most coveted photography prize. The finalist’s works were selected from approximately 2,000 photographs submitted by 432 entrants. In 2011, photographers competed for the $25,000 first prize.

Text from the MGA website

 

Alex Wisser (American, b. 1967, arrived Australia 1995) 'Blank canvass 2' 2011

 

Alex Wisser (American, b. 1967, arrived Australia 1995)
Blank canvass 2
2011
From the series Blank canvass
Pigment ink-jet print
100 x 150cm
Courtesy of the artist

 

This photograph is from a series called Blank canvass, taken during the course of my work as a real estate photographer for local newspapers. They were taken in houses that have been lived in by a single occupant or family for more than 30 years on the day of their sale by auction. Afterwards, we can only assume that they have been torn down and rebuilt or renovated beyond recognition. Like an anthropologist, I consider these dwellings from a distance, at the moment of their disappearing, wondering at the decisions of taste that are layered decade upon decade to compose or otherwise synthesise the identity of the people who have lived in them.

 

Jacky Redgate (English b. 1955, arrived Australia 1967) 'Light throw (mirrors) #4' 2011

 

Jacky Redgate (English b. 1955, arrived Australia 1967)
Light throw (mirrors) #4
2011
From the series Light throw (mirrors) 2009 – 11
Chromogenic print
126 x 158cm
Courtesy of the artist, WILLIAM WRIGHT ARTISTS, Sydney and Arc One Gallery, Melbourne

 

Sean Fennessey (Australia, b. 1982) 'Father and son' 2010

 

Sean Fennessey (Australia, b. 1982)
Father and son
2010
From the series Portraits of invisible people
Pigment ink-jet print
95 x 95cm
Courtesy of the artist

 

David Manley (Australian, b. 1963) 'Eastern Distributer exhaust stack' 2010

 

David Manley (Australian, b. 1963)
Eastern Distributer exhaust stack
2010
From the series Entropy
Pigment ink-jet print
55 x 55cm
Courtesy of the artist

 

Olivia Martin-McGuire (Australian, b. 1976) 'Kris and Mier #1' 2011

 

Olivia Martin-McGuire (Australian, b. 1976)
Kris and Mier #1
2011
From the series Mother
Chromogenic print
85 x 85cm
Courtesy of the artist

 

Catherine Nelson (Australian, b. 1970) 'Cloverdowns' 2010

 

Catherine Nelson (Australian, b. 1970)
Cloverdowns
2010
From the series Future memories
Pigment ink-jet print
100 x 100cm
Courtesy of the artist and Gallerysmith, Melbourne

 

Helen Pynor (Australian, b. 1964) 'Liquid ground 1' 2010

 

Helen Pynor (Australian, b. 1964)
Liquid ground 1
2010
From the series Liquid ground
Chromogenic print
160 x 110cm
Courtesy of the artist, Dianne Tanzer Gallery + Projects, Melbourne, and Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney

 

Chris Budgeon (Canada b. 1955, arrived Australia 1984) 'Cory' 2011

 

Chris Budgeon (Canada b. 1955, arrived Australia 1984)
Cory
2011
From the series Are we not men
Pigment ink-jet print
90 x 67.5cm
Courtesy of the artist

 

 

Monash Gallery of Art
860 Ferntree Gully Road, Wheelers Hill
Victoria 3150 Australia
Phone: + 61 3 8544 0500

Opening hours:
Tue – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat – Sun: 10am – 4pm
Mon/public holidays: closed

Monash Gallery of Art website

LIKE ART BLART ON FACEBOOK

Back to top