Opening Drinks: 5.30-7.30pm, Wednesday 21 May 2014
Opening Drinks: 6.30-8.30pm, Tuesday 13 May 2014
9 & 62 Atchison St, St Leonards, Nth Sydney
Australia China Art Foundation founder Yashian Schauble will join with Gerard Goodrow and other panelists for the discussion following the official launch of Crossing China. Yashian has a particular interest of the role of contemporary art in the engagement of people in developmental work with the poor and disadvantaged. "I am interested in raising the profile of Arts Can Do but also of raising the issue of the involvement of art and artists in the very real social problems that exist. I believe there is a responsibility for artists and intellectuals of all persuasions to actually play a practical role in solving them.” Yashian says. “Arts Can Do gives people a real opportunity to take part on the ground in helping children." The Arts Can Do project of ACAF brings Australian and Chinese artists together to work with children of migrant workers. The program currently runs art education with future art therapy workshops in Xucun in remote Shanxi and in Shanghai.
CHEN WEI
Chen Wei was born in Hangzhou in 1980 and was graduated from the Zhejiang Media Institute in 2002. He has participated in many international exhibitions including Degeneration, a group exhibition of China’s emerging multi-media artists organized by OCAT Shanghai and ACAF, 2014; ON/OFF: China’s Young Artists in Concept and Practice, at Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing, 2013. His latest solo exhibition CHEN WEI: Slumber Song was opened at Ben Brown Fine Arts, London in April 2014.
“Chen Wei doesn’t like to reveal too much about his photographs, partly because he is always finding some new association. There are no fixed, precise meanings, no underlying stories. An image might come from a dream, from a scene in a film or a novel. Many of the references are autobiographical and not readily accessible to anyone but the artist. Yet knowing the origins of an image doesn’t mean that Chen Wei can be absolutely sure about everything that finds its way into the finished work.” - John McDonald.
SOPHIE CAPE
The Sydney-based artist studied at London’s Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from Australia’s National Art School. Her widely praised paintings and portraiture have enjoyed exhibition at distinguished events such as the Sydney Biennale and the Hong Kong International Art Fair. Sophie Cape is a truly exceptional woman. A former champion athlete, one of Australia’s leading artists and a vigorous supporter of the disadvantaged. In 2013 Sophie was one of the inaugural artists at the Australia China Arts Foundation project Arts Can Do bringing creative art education to disadvantaged children of migrant workers in the remote mountain village of Xucun in Shanxi province.
DAWN CSUTOROS
Dawn Csutoros is an Australian artist currently based in Melbourne. Her abstract minimal works range from luminous pastels to vibrant acrylics and more recently, following her residency in Beijing, contemplative ink works on traditional mulberry paper. Her work is phenomenological in essence. Csutoros' long standing interest in Eastern philosophy, dealing with the resolution of duality, is explored through formal elements and continues to inform her work. She has worked on numerous cultural community projects and public art projects at both locally and internationally.
JOHN McRAE
Known to many for his revealing portrait of Margaret Olley, Sydney photographer John McRae has combined a successful commercial career with his work as a photographic artist. In this era of visual short-cuts and commercial exploitation, McRae realizes that the objectification of the male form can go both ways. He sometimes mixes his portraits with religious symbolism and photographs of meat displayed in markets. He pits attitudes towards “sins of the flesh” against the spiritual short-hand of instant intolerance often proposed by opposing religions. John McRae has been selected by the Australia China Arts Foundation to join the Arts Can Do residency program to provide creative photo based arts education to disadvantaged children of migrant workers in Shanghai.
John McRae's "Matt Mitcham Shots" series will be exhibited as part of the Vivid Festival at the Nth Sydney Swimming Pool from 24 May.
Current Exhibitions open till 12 June 2014 at ACAF Sydney
• Degeneration: A group exhibition of China’s emerging multi-media artists
• Dawn Csutoros: Radiance
• John McRae: Meat
A selection of images of works can be viewed on https://acaf.org.au/en/exhibitions/
Gallery opening hours: Tuesday - Saturday 1 - 6pm, or by appointment
9 & 62 Atchison Street, St Leonards, Sydney
PH: 0488 012 634
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