Rounds

Neil Aldum, Rebecca Baumann, Tim Carter, Elise/Jurgen, Shannon Lyons, Bennett Miller, Sarah Rowbottam, George Egerton-Warburton

26 June - 25 August 2010
Central Galleries

Rebecca Baumann completed a Bachelor of Fine Art at Curtin University of Technology in 2003. Her practice spans photography, bookmaking, sculpture and installation, and her recent work explores themes of happiness and anxiety, celebration and spectacle. In April 2009 Rebecca had her first solo exhibition, From the beginning; one more time. She was asked by the Fremantle Arts Centre to engage with the City of Fremantle's art collection, and she created new works in response to the artist books of nationally acclaimed artist Jurek Wybraniec. As well as featuring 60 of Wybraniec's artist books, From the beginning featured Rebecca's lo-fi 'motion studies'. These included an apparatus that continually threw a tennis ball against a wall and an 'automatic page turner', constructed out of industrial fans and 49 books nailed to a wall. For the rest of 2009, Rebecca continued to research and develop the creation of a series of new installation works. She continues to investigate and further the manipulation of the mechanism in her work, to make 'happiness/spectacle machines'. Rebecca's group exhibitions include Windows on William, Perth (2009); Linden1968, Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne (2008) and SILVER: ARTRAGE 25, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (2008).

Bennett Miller is a sculptor and installation artist creating large-scale works for exhibitions Australia-wide. He spent five years obsessed with mini golf for his Golf War series of 2003-2007, which retold the story of a war in Iraq across nine different courses. More recently Bennett has been working exclusively with dachshund dogs. For Garden Art Action (2010) he created a topiary maze at dachshund height. In May 2010 Bennett will stage his ambitious Dachshund UN project for the Next Wave Festival in Melbourne. In 2006 he undertook a residency at the International Art Space in Kellerberin where he presented the solo exhibition Ed Devereaux. He has also held other solo exhibitions at the Breadbox Gallery (2003) and Canberra Contemporary Art Space (2007). In 2008 he was the recipient of an Australia Council New Work grant, won an Award of Excellence in the Joondalup Art Prize and was featured in Australian Art Collector. He was included in two major Western Australian survey exhibitions, Silver 25 at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, and Linden1968 at the Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts in Melbourne. He also spent three months in Sydney as a resident artist at the Gunnery Studios in Woolloomooloo, which resulted in his recent solo exhibition at Chalkhorse Gallery.

Elise/Jürgen met at art school in 2005 where their interest in technology and the body led them to work collaboratively on projects in 2006. Later that year they joined the beginning of an artist run initiative where their ideas and practices were able to amalgamate and they realised collaboration had become a very important tool for the creation of their work. They work across many different media including performance, video, projection, sound, drawing, photography, interactive work and sculpture. Their practice is concerned with perception and communication between physical and virtual spaces and the synchronicities that develop between the two. As a collaboration, they are also interested in creating and being involved in projects outside of their own work. This is to generate an interdisciplinary and sustainable approach to their arts practice. Elise and Jürgen have exhibited collaboratively in a number of group exhibitions including: The Building Show at 399 Wellington St, Perth; Entre Poire et Frommage World Tour #2 at Interface Galerie, Dijon, France; and Constellations at Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth. In May 2009 they had their first collaborative solo show, Experimental Space: Vanishing and Becoming, at FELTSpace ARI, in Adelaide. They recently exhibited in Intimate Acts at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts and in 2009 each completed a BA (Fine Art) (Honours) at Curtin University.

Neil Aldum's practice favours processes associated with craft and industry. He uses handmade methods with a preference towards materials that embody an inherent strength and utility. Methods and techniques vary in his sculptures between implementing the architectural needs of model-making to delving into textiles and weaving. However, all aim to ask a series of questions of his engagement with the material, usually expressed through meticulous pulling apart and building up again. Through these exercises he aims to question the viewers' idea of physical labour and more specifically the function of the object being reconfigured. The intention is to test the inherent value of a material and maximise its structural potential. Since graduating from Curtin in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts (Art) Neil has actively been exhibiting sculptural work and developing my art practice. He has exhibited in various shows within Perth, namely at Gallery East, Perth Galleries, Breadbox and Spectrum. In addition to these shows he exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra in 2003 as one of the state winners of the annual Sony Foundation Summer Scholarship. More recently he has shown his work at the Melbourne Art Fair 08 and aims to exhibit there again in 2010.

Shannon Lyons graduated from Curtin University with a BA (Art) (First Class Honours) mid-2008. She was selected to participate in the Fondazione Antonio Ratti Advanced Course in Visual Arts with visiting Professor Jimmie Durham in Como, Italy in 2004 and was a visiting scholar to the 'cole Nationale Supérieur d'Art de Dijon (ENSAD) in 2007/08. Since 2002, Shannon has been actively involved in a number of artist collectives and has participated in local, national and international group exhibitions including Surely We Will Be Confused, Ex-Ticosa, Como (2004); One Foot in the Door, Breadbox Gallery, Northbridge (2005); Hatched: Healthway National Graduate Show, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth (2005); Tracce di un Seminario, Viafarini, Milan (2005); Where we're from the birds sing a pretty song, Rocketart, Newcastle (2005); Long Distance Relationship, International Art Space Kellerberrin, Australia (2007); Open Door Policy, ENSAD, Dijon (2008); For a moment the blissful feeling of being able to see it all, The Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery, Fremantle (2008); French Connection, The Cannery, Esperance (2008); The Building Show, 399 Wellington Street, Perth (2008); Linden1968, Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, St. Kilda (2008) and Notes On... Spectrum Project Space, Perth (2009)

Tim Carter completed post-graduate studies in Art at Curtin University in 2007, receiving First Class Honours. His interdisciplinary practice incorporates elements of video, performance, installation and drawing, allowing for a sustained interrogation of the personal, the cinematic, and their intersection. Tim's work has featured in a number of exhibitions, including Long Distance Relationship (IASKA, 2007), For A Moment the Blissful Feeling of Being Able To See It All (Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery, 2008), Cream of the Crop (Cannery Art Centre, Esperance, 2008) and The Building Show (399 Wellington Street, 2008) in which he shared curatorial and managerial roles. Tim has also held various positions in arts education and administration, tutoring digital art at both Curtin University and Kalamunda Senior High School, whilst more recently conducting video production services. Tim recently shared a studio residency at PICA with Shannon Lyons, in which they combine the roles of artist and curator in their video and installation based project entitled Three Sixty, along with being a contributing artist for the collaborative group show The End.

George Egerton-Warburton With a low-fi, low-brow, nervy aesthetic derivative of only the bad aspects of showmen such as Alexander McQueen, Italian Renaissance architecture, Lanvin storefronts, Tadashi Kawamata, and Barry McGee, informed by the emotional maturity of a twelve year old school girl, with the conceptual backing of a crack fueled orgy between Dan Brown, Eckhart Tolle, Paulo Coehlo, and Kojonup's Catholic priest, George feebly writes bad reviews for himself with the indecent intention of fishing for compliments, proving that he shows no indication of breaking any artistic boundaries anytime soon. His staged events have taken place in squares, streets and a supermarket and are at once surreal and sentimental, ironic and pathetic. In 2008 he exhibited in the Print Association of Western Australia, Moores Building Fremantle; Corso Aperto, San Francesco, Lake Como, Italy; Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Arts Centre; South Perth Emerging Artist Award; 20x20, (touring) National Art School, Sydney; RMIT, Melbourne; John Curtin Gallery, Bentley Graduation Show, Curtin University, Perth; Public Improvisations, Fabrica Del Vapore/Careof, Milan. In 2009; Yellow vest syndrome, Fremantle Arts Centre 31st January- 29th March; Burnie Print Award, Tasmania Hatched National Graduate Show, PICA ; PICA Studio Residency June 22- September 20; Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Arts Centre. He completed a BA (Fine Art) (Honours) in 2009.

Sarah Rowbottam completed a Double Bachelor in Art and Communication and Cultural Studies at Curtin University in 2006. Sarah approaches art as an opportunity to initiate moments of exchange, spontaneity and conversation between people. Spanning performance, video and photography, her contemplative and often intimate artworks provoke an exploration into our individual and collective identities - what it means to create a community, to understand one another and celebrate life. For the past four years she has exhibited in a number of group shows and accompanying publications including; Live@Woodside 2009 (residency/public installation); First Page (exhibition/book), Breadbox Gallery (2008); City of South Perth Art Awards, Heritage House (2009 & 08); Iris Awards, Perth Centre for Photography (2007); The Love is My Velocity Cookbook I (exhibition/book), Breadbox Gallery (2007); Fuji Film Site Unseen (exhibition/book), which toured nationally, and Fotografa, an online Romanian publication. Since 2005 Sarah has worked for arts festivals and organisations such as the Perth International Arts Festival, Tura New Music and Biennale of Electronic Arts Perth. Currently she is the Communications Manager at Performing Lines WA, promoting independent theatre and dance artists.