Artists Space Gallery

Artists Space Gallery was an Australian art gallery showing mainly photography, as well as other media, through the 1980s in Melbourne.[1]

For the New York gallery, see Artists Space.

Foundation
Facade of the former Artists Space Gallery at its original location in Essendon, as seen in 2020. The Gallery occupied the top floor, entered via stair from door left of shop.

The gallery was founded in 1978[2] by Melbourne painter and photographer Wes Placek.[3][4][5][6][7] He was joined in the early 80's by his partner Sophie Nowicka a textile designer and artist,[8] who assisted in administration of the gallery and in curatorial selection of exhibitions.

Location

When it opened, the gallery occupied the top floor of a 1920s shopfront in the main street at 127 Buckley St., near the railway station in the working-class suburb Essendon. In 1987 the Gallery was relocated, closer to Melbourne CBD and amongst a growing number of other galleries.[9] Though it also showed other media, it was among contemporary specialist photography galleries The Photographers' Gallery, Brummels and Church Street that revived the medium as an art form. The new space, with four times the floor area,[10] was in a former warehouse in North Fitzroy at 150 Park Street on the corner of Best Street, opposite a linear park created from the Inner Circle Railway Line which had closed in 1981.

Reception

A range of exhibitions included emerging artists and those well recognised nationally and internationally.[11] While located in Essendon, in the opinion of The Age newspaper art reviewer Beatrice Faust, Placek's exhibitions "accumulated a lot of critical capital," as it "showed small collections of consistently good and sometimes excellent work,"[10] including Robert Mapplethorpe's 1983 photogravure suite 'Flowers', and also Bettina Rheims.[12][13][14] However, in her 1987 review, just after the relocation, Faust feared the extra space would affect the quality of the work shown,[10] though favourable reviews continued.[15][16][17][18]

It signifies the impact of the Gallery, that founder Placek was himself included, among many of the past exhibitors at Artists Space, in the landmark survey show[19] and publication[20] of photography of the 1970s and 1980s, The Thousand Mile Stare.

Closure

Artists Space Gallery closed in 1990.

Exhibitions included
  • 1984: Ryszard Otręba, prints[21] (the poster from this solo exhibition is in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia)[22]
  • 1986, October 11–November 9: Sol Weiner[23]
  • 1986, November 17–December 14: Displaced Objects - Works by Chris Barry[24][25][26][27]
  • 1987, to August 30: Lauren McIntyre[10]
  • 1987, from Nov 4: "Just Wot”, an exhibition of visual poetry. Incl. Mimmo Cozzolino, Norma Pearce, Anthony Figallo, Julie Clarke-Powell[28][29][30]
  • 1987, to 31 December: Urban Structures, Janina Green, Lita Los Angeles, Bernice McPherson, Craig McGee, Wes Placek.[31]
  • 1988, to 29 Feb: Michael Caddy, Di Clark, Ann Slater[32]
  • 1988, 3-27 August: Wes Placek, Paintings[33]
  • 1988, 7-25 September: Portraits by Paul Cox, Ben Lewin, Wolfgang Sievers[34]
  • 1988, September: Double Exposure[35]
  • 1988, to October 29: Peter Shaw, A Year of Bad Weather[36][15]
  • 1988, to 22 October: Louis Geraldes and Graham Willoughby, Paintings[37]
  • 1988, to 18 November: Anthony Figallo and Lloyd Jones; Images of La Mama, and Photographic Collages by Chris Barry [38][39]
  • 1988, to 18 December: Graduate Show, Victoria College[40]
  • 1989, to April 7: Still Life, photography by Janina Green, Robert Mapplethorpe, Wes Placek, Bettina Rheims[14][41]
  • 1989, to 29 July:  Wes Placek, Works from the kitchen[17]
  • 1989, 6—31 August: Grant Hobson, Transcending Toughness, and work by Paul Watkins[16]
  • 1990, to 28 July: Kodak Five Visions, Bill McCann, Charles Radnay, Janina Green, Wes Placek[42]
  • 1990, to August 25: Ian McIntosh ‘Affection’; Rick Wood ‘Fugue’[18]
  • 1990, to November 30: Phillip Institute of Technology 1990 Photography Graduates[43][44]
  • 1990, to December 22, Paintings and sculptures by Wes Placek, Erika Vike, Sophie Nowicka, Graham Willoughby, Brian McNamara[45]
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References
  1. Artists Space (North Fitzroy, Vic.). [Artists Space (North Fitzroy, Vic.) : Australian Gallery File].
  2. Germaine, Max (1979), Artists and galleries of Australia and New Zealand, Lansdowne Editions, ISBN 978-0-86832-019-9
  3. "Wes PLACEK | Artists | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  4. Deutsch. "Studio, (1994) by Wes Placek". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  5. "Wes Placek". Heide Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  6. "PlaceMade : Australian Print Workshop | Wes PLACEK | Painters bowl". nga.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  7. Printmaking, Prints and. "Wes Placek". www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  8. "Artwork - sculpture - 'Figure 3' by Sophie Nowicka - Victorian Collections". victoriancollections.net.au. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  9. Cason, J. (1991). The photo gallery & workshop handbook. New York, NY: Images Press.
  10. Beatrice Faust, 'Getting enough space is only half the job,' The Age, Wednesday, 19 Aug 1987, p.14
  11. Taylor, Paul, 1957-1992; Prahran College of Advanced Education (1981), Art & text, Prahran College of Advanced Education, ISSN 0727-1182CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. Rheims, Bettina; Kehayoff, Gina (2001), Female trouble, Schirmer/Mosel, p. 149, ISBN 978-3-8296-0022-4
  13. Rheims, Bettina, retrieved 17 May 2020
  14. The Age, Friday, Mar 31, 1989, p.40
  15. Good Weekend, The Age, Saturday 08 Oct 1988,p.67
  16. Murphy, Carmel. Male order: The photographic series from conception to practice [online]. Metro Magazine: Media & Education Magazine, No. 79, Autumn 1989: 26-29. Availability: <https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=281285890128663;res=IELAPA> ISSN: 0312-2654. [cited 16 May 20].
  17. Beatrice Faust, ‘Exhibitions with a touch of the unusual,’ The Age, Thursday, Jul 6, 1989, p.14
  18. Greg Neville, ‘A world of fragments and isolated parts,’ The Age, Thursday, 09 Aug 1990, p.16
  19. "Australian Centre for Contemporary Art". acca.melbourne. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  20. The thousand mile stare : a photographic exhibition. Agee, Joyce., Bennett, David., Victorian Centre for Photography., Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. Melbourne: Victorian Centre for Photography. 1988. ISBN 0-7316-2054-2. OCLC 27538499.CS1 maint: others (link)
  21. "Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej ESTA - Polska Sztuka - Wystawy - Ryszard Otręba". galeria-esta.pl. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
  22. Australian National Gallery (1986-06-30), "Acquisitions (30 June 1986)", Annual report, The Gallery (97 of 1986): 117, ISSN 0314-9919
  23. Hayden, David. "Sol Wiener, Artists Space, Essendon". Item held by National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  24. Listing, The Age, Friday 14 Nov 1986, p.40
  25. Unknown. "Displaced objects photographs by Chris Barry". Item held by National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  26. Barry, Chris, 1954- (1993). Chris Barry, Her stories : [exhibition]. Caputo, Raffaele., Plimsoll Gallery. Hobart: University of Tasmania. ISBN 0-85901-531-9. OCLC 427652474.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. McIntyre, Arthur (1990), Contemporary Australian collage and its origin, Craftsman House, p. 167,168, ISBN 978-91-640-0901-2
  28. ’Briefs’, The Age, Tuesday 03 Nov 1987, p.14
  29. ’Visual Poetry’, The Age, Friday, 20 Nov 1987, p.37
  30. "poetry eh? new century antiquarian books catalogue number 54, New Year 2012" (PDF). New century anitquarian books. 2012.
  31. Listing, The Age, Friday 18 Dec 1987, p.40
  32. Listing, The Age, Friday 05 Feb 1988, p.36
  33. Placek, Wes; Artists Space (North Fitzroy, Vic.), (host institution.) (1988), Wes Placek : paintings, Artists SpaceCS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  34. The Age, Friday 26 Aug 1988, p.48
  35. The Age, Wednesday, 07 Sep 1988, p.17
  36. Calendar. ‘Captured’. The Age, Friday 07 Oct 1988, p.33
  37. The Age, Wednesday, 12 Oct 1988, p.14
  38. The Age, Friday, 18 Nov 1988, p.50
  39. The Age, Friday 25 Nov 1988, p.14
  40. The Age, Friday 02 Dec 1988, p.54
  41. Beatrice Faust, 'Wide range in black and white,' The Age, Tuesday, Mar 7, 1989 p.14
  42. Greg Neville, ‘Images explore myths, dreams and human reality,’ The Age, Wednesday, 18 Jul 1990, p.14
  43. The Age, Friday 09 Nov 1990, p.38
  44. Greg Neville, ‘Photographic artists risk leaving viewer out of the picture,’ The Age Tuesday, Nov 20, 1990, p.14
  45. Listing, The Age, Friday 14 Dec 1990, p.44

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