18th biennale of sydney …. location location location !!!
The city’s largest contemporary art event, the Biennale of Sydney, is currently happening at some very exciting locations around the harbour and inner city.
Major venues include the newly redeveloped Museum Of Contemporary Art Australia, World Heritage listed former shipyard and prison, Cockatoo Island and Pier 2/3 in Walsh Bay. For those who haven’t visited the MCA yet, this is the
time to do it …. and for me, I am fascinated at the thought of the ferry trip to Cockatoo Island.
According to co-artistic director Gerald McMaster ‘We’ve selected artists who often cross disciplinary boundaries, artists who enjoy collaborating and some who work with unusual media …. those who look to their cultural heritage,
those who connect with the spiritual and aesthetic and those with a love of the natural world’.
This event from 27 June until 16 September, 2012 presents more than 220 works by over 100 artists from around the world …. the latest in contemporary art right here on our doorstep … our very beautiful doorstep.
images:18th biennale of sydney
Also follow Moira Roth’s digital blog project.
Sydney’s hidden jewellery box
I literally stumbled across this exquisite little jewel box …. aptly named ….
three rooms
antiques – art – design
Nestled at the bottom of William Street, Paddington this shop (comprising three rooms) is a visual feast …. glass fronted cabinets filled with pretty and precious antique pieces to tempt !!
Open only a matter of weeks, owners Ian Hadlow and Christopher Becker have a passion for the intrinsically beautiful and the handmade.
Their vision …. to educate the next generation about true craftsmanship.
Their carefully chosen location …. in a street renowned for unique, glamorous and quirky fashion …. ‘fashion is art’ I am told.
With many years experience in antiques, visual merchandising and fashion between them, this, I have no doubt will be the showcase for all things beautiful !!!
As I stood on the street admiring the most beautiful pink necklace in the window, I found myself surrounded by a team from Vogue …. nothing less than a fashion shoot with a girl in a black velvet Celine cocktail frock …. elegantly draped in the doorway.
three rooms is both stylish …. and elegant and is already on the map !!!
Sydney skyline at night from the mca
The last time I was at Sydney’s MCA it was a sparkling Autumn day and the view from the rooftop cafe took my breathe away ….. I couldn’t draw my eyes away from the expanse of blue sky, blue water and the Opera House sails …. so pristine and so white !!
Attending a function one evening this week …. in the same space …… I was surprised by what little impact the Opera House and possibly even the Sydney Harbour Bridge had on the skyline. It was the sparkling view back to the CBD and Circular Quay itself that this time …… literally took my breath away. Even the Cahill Expressway was barely evident.
The lights around the foreshore and wharves as pretty and lustrous as strings of pearls.
I do have to mention the impact of the beautifully lit Hany Armanious sculpture …. Fountain, by night. He was our only exhibitor in the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011.
Clock and coffee at the museum of contemporary art, sydney
What a magnificent day to visit our beautiful MCA. Our decision to start with a coffee was a good one …. we stepped out of the lift on Level 4 …. to this !!!!
This space (called the Sculpture Terrace) flowing off the cafe and with views to die for …. just needs a few more sculptures …. which are coming.
images: mydesignfile
The cafe, apart from the view, is simple, smart … terrific design . The food, coffee and wine menu … just about perfect.
And now for the reason we came: The Clock
Christian Marclay is nothing short of genius with his 24 hour video work which won him the Golden Lion at last years 54th Venice Biennale.
Friends had talked about it, however nothing had prepared me for the joy and delight of this installation.
Entering the cinema-like space with its extremely comfortable sofas (some 40 or so I guessed) one is transported !!! I didn’t want to leave. Short extracts from thousands of films spanning cinema history each suggest or reference a particular time of day. Synchronised with real time, which is captivating, the extracts move cleverly from one to the next with changing locations, eras etc.
You do find yourself desperately trying to recall certain films or to know which films various scenes are taken from … I guess one will never know.
If only they allowed refreshments … one could settle in for a whole morning/afternoon. Maybe people do. I simply cannot wait to attend one of the all night sessions … or at least part thereof.
PS. A glass of wine/cheese etc would be a fabulous accompaniment to the early evening sessions.
Carolyn quartermaine fabrics rediscovered
Featured in countless leading design magazines worldwide Carolyn Quartermaine’s fabrics have always been a favourite. It is only fairly recently that I noticed that the fabric house Boyac in Sydney were the agent for them. Carolyn, a London based designer and stylist works on projects both in the design and fashion world.
She is the textile designer who modernised my other favourite fabric….toile de jouy. Always light, floating designs…ethereal. ‘Art and inspiration flowing onto fabric’….Vogue Living Australia.
These fabrics are feminine and pretty yet hold their own in elegant, formal rooms ….. particularly when used as upholstery on french furniture, in fact any antique furniture …..aged, gilt or white washed!!! Her classic designs of lace or script create a formality.
I have on the other hand seen her fabrics used in very formal interiors ….. they seem to provide the whimsical element… it just works.
Since the 90’s Carolyn has always been able to predict and translate trends.
Interestingly, I noticed that there are parts of her collection that have moved away from the colour pallettes here…..she has a brighter more vibrant range with turquoise, aqua and lime…..just fabulous for beach houses and resorts !!
Displaying your collections in style
image: coty farquhar
Displaying collections of what ever takes your fancy is a satisfying and pleasurable project. It is giving a little glimpse of you and your favourite bits and pieces, old or new, precious or not to those who might admire them.
It may be more personal…..a collection on a dressing table ….. or it may be hung on a wall in a living room for all to see!!!
Either way it is a very individual and stylish way to make a statement….bringing together beautiful colours, texture, like with like.
Create attractive groupings within your spaces…. that you have put together…..your favourite things for a myriad of different reasons !!!!!!
. shells collected on your holiday on a white platter or in beautiful glass bowl (see Coty Farquhar’s image above)
. pretty china plates hanging on a wall or porcelain teas cups grouped on a sideboard…..take them out of the cupboard and display them !!!
. silver tea set or silver bowls, platters or candlesticks and of course your silver picture frames……silver always lights up a room but polishing it all can be punishing !!!
. cut glass or crystal is always so pretty… particularly if you do groupings of vases with a selection of freshly cut flowers from your garden …..just a sprig is all it takes. These look gorgeous if spaced down the centre of a dining table. A collection of crystal wine and spirit decanters always looks warm and inviting with lamp light.
. pewter has a special hue that seems to work with grey and white….it can be rustic or minimalist.
. stacked wood in or beside a fireplace has a warmth and texture that can be a design element in itself.
. bookshelves are fabulous anywhere…the more the better…..whole walls of them !!!! Books can be arranged randomly…..by subject or by colour !!!
. folded linen sheets and pillowcases in an armoire or linen press….possibly my favourite thing !!!!
Trade secrets……interior designer’s little black book !!!
Artframing Pty Ltd
29 Salisbury Street Botany NSW 2019
PH 93166644 /0418 112 643 (Speak to Darry)
Corporate and Designer Artwork Specialist…extremely well priced framing !!
E&M Greenfield
30-36 Anne St Surry Hills NSW 2010
PH 92121944
Fabric and Haberdashery for the fashion and design world….fabulous trims for soft furnishings!!
To be continued….
Laneway art and about
Sydney’s Art and About finishes on 31 January. It is rather exciting when in the city to stumble across one of the many Laneway Installations….the works of australian and overseas artists and designers.
This looked particularly spectacular at night tucked in behind the Ivy off George Street.
Masses of silvery mesh ‘birdcages’ almost like lanterns.
These installations are dotted in laneways throughout the CBD…..so it is definitely worth looking at the website to plot your course……and discover some of the fabulous innercity wine bars for a glass of Prosecco along the way !!