Marcus Carne 'East to West' Monday 31st March to Friday 25th April 2014

We are so happy to exhibit Marcus Carne's latest show East to West, it is a killer! East to West was the last show in our 2013/2014 summer program and one that encompassed the carefree yet passionate nature of artist Marcus Carne. It takes a keen and committed eye to find the unassuming beauty in urban detritus, then for the body of work to have a sense of cohesion is an especially challenging task. Marcus' installation succeeded in extracting the interesting from the mundane and created aesthetically strong relationships within the found. 

Thanks Marcus, it was a pleasure!

Artist Statement

East to West is a collection of sculptures and installations using found building materials that Marcus sees as the potential building blocks for something new and unintended. These blocks are bent, painted and composed not to hide their original states but to highlight their potential value to those willing to appreciate them.

In Marcus’s recent work he attempts to explore notions of industrial waste as both a personal means to relinquish control from his usual meticulous practice and in the broader sense re-contextualise discarded building materials to apply new meaning to found waste. 

Biography

Marcus Carne is a Melbourne based artist currently undertaking a degree in Fine Art at Melbourne University. Marcus has been studying in the Graphic Design and Arts industry for several years. He has consistently contributed to group and solo shows over the last 3 years, including exhibitions at Somewhere Gallery, BSG and the VCA Student Gallery. 

Check out more of Marcus' work at http://cargocollective.com/marcuscarne

Beka Hannah "Impact" 3rd March - 28th March 2014

It was lovely to have Beka Hannah showing for the second time at Rooftop Art Space. You may remember her last show back in January 2012 and she has yet again created a strong body of work that utilises the unconventional nature of our space. Beka's use of kitchy, playful materials and construction is the perfect contrast to highlight the serious nature of her concerns. Thanks again Beka, another great show!

Artist Statement

Concerned by the state of the environment Beka Hannah is using Impact to highlight issues surrounding humans interaction with nature.

Whether it be climate change or a shark cull, it seems humans are having a negative effect on the world around us and not enough is being done to turn this around, Impact aims to use kitsch and cute iconography to explore a often grim problem.

Biography

Beka Hannah is an  multi –disciplinary artist  with a craft based practice, living and working in Melbourne.  Obsessed and inspired by the natural world around her   Beka is often to be found fossicking for interesting feathers, bones or fossils and when she is not creating based on these she is to be found playing with her every growing horde of rabbits. 

                                   

Check out more of Beka's work at  oneclockworkrabbit.com

Gabriel Curtin " A Fraction of the Whole" 3rd February - 28th February 2014

Gabriel Curtin's paintings do a special thing, they allow the viewer to insert themselves and their own experiences into the memory-scapes. Gabriel does this with insight and mindfulness far beyond his years and we are excited to see what Gabriel does next. Keep your eye on this guy!

Enjoy! x

Artist Statement

"As soon as a moment has outlived its precise presentness it is lost to the fickle clutches of memory, a device ever-prone to fictionalisation. However, we depend on memory to navigate, react to and interact with life, despite its inadequacy in concreting the absolute truth. 

A Fraction of the Whole presents nine paintings each depicting narratives from the artist’s daily life. The scenes, despite being contrived from individual experience, possess a universality inasmuch as they are not necessarily scenes of a unique nature. The paintings deliberately contain narratives which occur frequently in many people’s daily lives; bathing, riding a bicycle, playing or watching someone play guitar etc. Consequently the viewer is invited to recall their own memories in relation to the scenes presented to them. Rather than procuring mere images the individual naturally attaches details, emotional and otherwise, to these experiences. Through this, one relates to a scene which on a superficial level seems familiar, but in actuality belongs to a wholly other and untouchable set of experiences, namely the artist’s. This highlights the manipulatory quality of memory and its ability to confuse emotional and perceived experience.

The patterns surrounding the scenes are intentionally ambiguous, hinting at landscape and environments but rely on the viewer’s individual memory, fictionalised or not, to interpret them. These patterns seem to transcend the frames in which the paintings are housed, discreetly connecting each image. Such is the nature of memory and the perpetual stream of consciousness; images and words appearing seemingly disconnected, but whose connectedness, while perhaps not immediately perceptible, is palpable."

Biography

Gabriel spent the first half of his life in southern England and the second half in north-east Victoria. He now lives and studies in Melbourne.

See more of Gabriel's work at http://gabrielcurtin.tumblr.com/