Sunday Arts Magazine

21 Mar 2016

Richard Morrison, MQFF preview, Whistler’s Mother, Next Wave Fest

Arts, Comedy, Music, Performing Arts, TV & Film, Visual Arts

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Richard Morrison, MQFF preview, Whistler’s Mother, Next Wave Fest

David and Brendan discuss film from the outset starting with 10 Cloverfield Lane with a trio of characters, one played by John Goodman as a ‘survival nut’ whose intentions towards a young woman are unclear. It is a psychological, suspense film which keeps you guessing about where it will go. 4-4.5 stars. Next is an Italian/French erotic thriller, comedy, drama– called A Bigger Splash about 2 couples. It stars Tilda Swinton (in stunning costumes) and Ralph Fiennes 3.5 stars. Brendan will talk Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF) later

Our special guests today are:

12:51 to 28:26 mins– Richard Morrison is an Artist and also Manager of Jackman Gallery in St Kilda. Richard was a visual artist from childhood, loved it at school, developed his style and sold his first drawing at 12yo. He got very good at selling and marketing his work. In tertiary study he studied drawing with a sculptor and learned everything in 3D ‘factors’ which he considers a solid base for work and is ‘real’. In his work he captures the feeling and essential interactivity of the work. Richard likes to watch people but his paintings include HIM in the situation. Later his work returned to his original style which was more colourful and more abstracted which really fitted him after coming out as a gay man. ‘Sexual colours’, bursts of joy and effervescence. Richard got a job at Jackman Gallery due to his ability to sell paintings and has now been there for over 10 years. There are 2 large buildings with a gallery space and a stockroom. He loves all sorts of art and keeps his finger on the pulse of the gallery scene. At present Richard has nearly completed paintings for an exhibition in October! He talks about his artwork style, development & inspiration.

28:35 to 47:09 mins– Spiro Economopoulos is the Program Manager of Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF) replacing Lisa Daniel who had been in the job for 17 years. MQFF is on from 31March to 11April. Spiro has a film programming background–at ACMI and various film festivals. He has also got filmmaking and film reviewing experience. He wanted to introduce ‘new strands’ into the MQFF program and new elements into the shorts program. Also, he considers documentaries to be the most exciting parts of a festival and it’s a strong line-up including–Remembering The Man, Back On Board (about Olympic diver Greg Louganis), Oriented (about gay Palestinians), Tab Hunter Confidential (about the 1950s actor). Regarding feature films the Opening & Closing Night films- That’s Not Us & Fourth Man Out – and also debut Canadian feature Closet Monster. Spiro is excited by the Short’s packages which include animation, comedy and Australian shorts. New strands in MQFF include Proud and Loud which has a music focus. Films include The Glamour and The Squalor & He Hated Pigeons (a doco which has a different live score in each city it plays). Another strand is Out There— late night features which include Sisters of the plague, Lonely Stars and You’re Killing Me.

47:30 to 1:07:29 mins– Isobel Crombie is Assistant Director to Tony Elwood at NGV and is here to talk about NGV and, especially, the Whistler’s Mother exhibition on at NGV International from 25 March to 19 June. Isobel studied Fine Arts at ANU in Canberra and then got a job at the National Gallery, first collecting and cataloguing prints and later photography. She moved to Melbourne in 1988 as Head of Department and 3 years ago was asked by Tony Elwood to be Assistant Director at NGV which involves a huge staff and dealing with all artwork, not just photography. Isobel and our hosts discuss Tony Elwood’s amazing impact on the NGV where art is more accessible, enjoyable and ‘cool’ and visitor numbers have risen 50% over the last 3 years–with events such as the popular Andy Warhol Ai Weiwei exhibition, late night programs, Sundays, children’s programs and the Art Book Fair amongst others. Whistler’s Mother is one of a handful of iconic and very recognisable paintings and has become part of the pop culture. It is a very big painting and also has a great backstory to it which is explored through works in NGV’s own collection such as e.g. Whistler’s etching that he reproduces at the back of the painting and the same kind of chair his mother sat in. The idea is immerse yourself in it; get a sense of how Whistler thought and looked before you see the painting. The NGV has never done this before–having one key work around which there’s a story.

1:07:57 to 1:25:52 mins– Georgie Meagher is Artistic Director of the biennial Next Wave Festival on this year from 5 to 22 May at various venues. She was working at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Sydney when she was offered the job in September 2014. Before MCA, Georgie worked at Performance Space and First Draft in Sydney and had then traveled and worked at various companies in the UK, Canada and USA. She is also an experimental performance artist but has had little time for that. Next Wave is about the next wave of emerging artists taking creative risks; people at the beginning of their art practice. is their main development program. It involves a little bit of everything–performance art, visual art and what falls in the gaps. It’s ‘genre-busting’. Georgie gives examples. The Festival showcases artists who had been developing their artwork through New Wave’s programs over the last 1.5 years and are now ready to exhibit or perform. Next Wave has 3 ‘producers’ who have a stable of artists that they work with re venues, funding, making decisions, finding collaborator and mentors. Next Wave also use their considerable reputation and networks to get artists what they need. Georgie talks about some of the shows at the Festival including Exosexual Bathhouse , Camel and Mummy Dearest.

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