Dead man's penny
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Michael Keighery's latest installation features 8709 squeezed and fired "knuckles" of clay – each one representing one of the Australian soldiers killed at Gallipoli in 1915. The Dead Man's Penny exhibition and installation at Watson Arts Centre commemorates his great-uncle Frank Keighery who died at Lone Pine. His family, and the families of other British soldiers who died, received one of 1.35 million memorial plaques, which were ironically known as "the dead man's penny". The project centres on the dead soldier's diary written in Pitmans shorthand and taken from his body at Gallipoli. Thanks to a number of volunteer translators Keighery was able to translate the small diary, which is housed in the War Memorial. The plaques were inscribed with the words "He died for Freedom and Honour". The clay knuckles represent "the historic and contemporary feelings of grief, frustration, futility and anger surrounding that campaign". For Keighery, the elusive nature of the meaning of the diary and Dead Man's Penny serves as a metaphor for how we continue to understand and misunderstand the Gallipoli campaign and all of "The Great War". Dead Man's Penny is on at Watson Arts Centre until October 5.
Tideline transfer
A recent international exhibition and artist residency in Thailand is the inspiration behind printmaker Jo Hollier's latest works at the Belconnen Arts Centre. Hollier describes herself as "printmaker with an eye for nature" and for Transfer has produced limited edition etchings, collagraph and relief prints. "Any travel or transfer to a different location is an opportunity to live and observe a different world for a time," she says. "It awakens and opens us to new culture, food, people etc. For me, new colours, textures, plants and sights provide the basis for the show." Also opening at Belconnen are drawings from Elizabeth Truswell inspired by the cliffs and dramatic river systems of the Kimberley coast. Truswell says her work has its roots in her long career as a geologist. The drawings in Tideline arose from a visit to the Kimberley in 2012 where she approached cliff sections of the ancient sandstones from a small boat. And finally in the centre's outdoor gallery are sculptures by Mike MacGregor in The Makings of an Angel. MacGregor was the recipient of the centre's exhibition award for his 2014 entry in Sculpture on the Edge and the exhibition exploring the notion of an "angel" is the result. His pieces question what an angel is, how we imagine angels to be and what fundamental human need they might fulfil. All shows are on at the Belconnen Arts Centre from Friday September 25 at 5.30pm until October 18.
That's not glass
Despite its name, the Canberra Glassworks is home to more than just glass art as two events on Saturday, September 26 will attest. Artist-in-residence painter and sculptor Byrd is in his final weeks of program That's Not Glass! and at 11am on Saturday he will lead a behind-the-scenes tour of the glassworks, giving access to some of his hidden artwork placed throughout the historic power house. That's Not Glass! is a six-month program of interventions and installations throughout the building by contemporary non-glass artists who have lived and worked in Canberra, exploring what the building means to them. Another cross-disciplinary collaboration called GLINT will also be open to the public. In partnership with Megalo Print Studio, six artists were given the opportunity to explore the connections between printmaking and glass practice during the two-month residency. The artists will talk about their experiences from 2pm. Their artworks will be on display and available for purchase at the glassworks and Megalo.
From the water
For the past few weeks Canberra's Kayakcameraman Paul Jurak has been exhibiting his photos at Local Press Café on the Kingston Foreshore. And his first exhibition has been so successful the owners have asked him to extend it until December. Currently there are more than 50 framed prints of Canberra on display taken entirely from a water's perspective, Jurak says. But instead of being a "normal exhibition" he is aiming for it to remain ever evolving with new pieces added as others are sold. Jurak proudly supports local picture framers and printers and is also taking special orders for enlarged prints or prints on glass. See kayakcameraman.com or email kayakcameraman@iinet.net.au for more information.
Cold and new
Antarctica by Tony Fleming and PhotoACTIVISM, the final PhotoAccess members' exhibition for 2015, opened this week at PhotoAccess. Fleming was director of the Australian government's Antarctic Division from 2011 to 2015 and his exhibition presents aspects of human contact with the southernmost continent. PhotoACTIVISM showcases images intended to make political statements, communicate important human experiences, prompt action, or activate the senses. Photoacess is in Huw Davies Gallery, Manuka Arts Centre, Manuka Circle, Griffith, ACT. The shows are on until October 18. See: photoaccess.org.au.
Exploring jewellery
Slippage at Bilk Gallery is an exhibition of new works by jewellers Sean O'Connell and Nick Bastin, whose work is very different. O'Connell makes jewellery that moves, wearable amulets that provide something to fiddle with, and also presents spark discharge images exploring the energetic potential of material of rings made from copper, gold, tantalum, bone, hair, wax, ceramic and meteorite. Bastin contemplates the idea that a brooch might be a portal between worlds and some of the jewellery in this exhibition consists of small frames which are borders on the cusp of such places. Palmerston Lane, Manuka. See: bilk.com.au.
Constructing worlds
In her solo exhibition Within These Walls, recent ANU School of Art graduate Janet Angus uses three-dimensional constructions to reflect the structure of the human mind. They acknowledge architecture as a method for constructing composition and establishing the psychological foundations of the work. The exhibition is on at Canberra Contemporary Art Space, City until October 24. It's open Monday to Friday 9am to 5.30pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm. See: ccas.com.au.
Looking at the book
Artists from more than 16 countries will be part of the Personal Histories International Artist Book Exhibition, curated by Robyn Foster, an exhibition that invites us to contemplate our relationship with the book at a time when it seems to be superseded by technology. It will be launched by Professor Ross Harley on October 1 at 5.30pm at UNSW Canberra Academy Library, Building 13, UNSW Canberra at ADFA.Northcott Drive, Campbell. It will run until December 11. RSVP: personalhistories-iabe.eventbrite.com.au See: lib.unsw.adfa.edu.au/exhib/phiabe.