circle/square - Work in Progress - an exhibition featuring Marlene Sarroff, Liz Shreeve, Francesca Mataraga, Kate Mackay and Pam Aitken at Tin Sheds Gallery - 148 City Rd, Sydney University - 18th March to 2nd April 2011

WORKS IN PROGRESS



Pam AITKEN

Marlene SARROFF

Kate MACKAY

I am planning to exhibit a large sculptural piece as well as a number of paintings.  The sculptural piece will be a large globular work constructed from painted cardboard cubes that are tied together with wool.  It should have a diameter of approximately 180cm - and so will stand slightly taller than myself.  I have only constructed a smaller model so far (about 1/3 of the larger one) in order to solve the problems of building a globe from cubes - so am not entirely sure that it will work......  

Liz SHREEVE

Francesca MATARAGA

Francesca Mataraga, Preparation sketches for minimalismo (installation for Tin Sheds 2011), pencil on paper.

circle/square - an exhibition featuring Marlene Sarroff, Liz Shreeve, Francesca Mataraga, Kate Mackay and Pam Aitken at Tin Sheds Gallery - 148 City Rd, Sydney University - 18th March to 2nd April 2011

Exhibition outline:

circle/square is an exhibition featuring the work of five Sydney based artists whose work focuses on abstraction. Each artists uses either the circle or the square as a motif or compositional element with an emphasis on different approaches to material, merging the boundaries between painting, sculpture and installation. The work featured comprises two floor works (Kate Mackay and Francesca Mataraga), a room installation (Pam Aitken), one wall installation (Liz Shreeve) and 13 wall works (Liz Shreeve, Kate Mackay, Marlene Sarroff and Pam Aitken). Collectively the work addresses a unique approach to creating non objective abstract work by using traditional and non–traditional materials assembled as installation.

Kate Mackay works with textiles and cardboard in order to create ‘soft’ sculptures that reference hard edge abstraction and minimalist sculpture through sculptural form. Both playful and highly structured, Mackay’s work extends the use of textiles in hard edge abstraction. Intricate patterns and the physicality of each cube create a kaleidoscopic array of color and shape. Mackay’s work creates tension through the juxtaposition of material and form. Her accompanying paintings add an additional dimension to the circle/square theme.

Kate MACKAY - Large Cube, cardboard and yarn, 180cm x 180cm x 180cm, 2009

Liz Shreeve’s work addresses light as a conceptual premise and physical reality. By using the grid as a primary compositional structure, her reliefs allow colour (applied as a painted surface) to become the focus of contemplation. Describing her own work in her 2008 catalogue the artist states that her work is about light, colour and perception. Shreeve’s work achieves effect through subtlety. Her squares appear as simple compositional device yet create a dynamic colour effect.

Liz SHREEVE - Light Boxes, 2008

Marlene Sarroff’s installation pieces Untitled present a sensual approach to abstraction by creating small circular units from recycled materials. Each wheel or circle confronts the viewer with an onslaught of colour. Vibrant and exuberant Sarroff’s pieces abound with both colour and tactility. Their textural nature beckons the viewer to touch them and reveals an ever unfolding intricacy in their construction. Each circle becomes a cosmos of colour drawing us into the depths of the particular pigment used.

Marlene SARROFF

Francesca Mataraga’s installation The Abstrakt Landscape presents a work that is re-configured as a unique composition each time it is exhibited. The work tries to transform traditional concepts of geometric abstraction into a three–dimensional painting or drawing. Taking the form of a three-dimensional collage the work is both compressed and expansive. Referencing painting, sculpture and architecture in it’s physical construction this piece is both static and mutable. Each time it is re-created it is slightly different yet essentially the same. Each time the viewer surveys the piece, new and different shapes, shadows and images emerge. Part modernist, part minimalist, part concrete work, The Abstrakt Landscape tries to create a synthesis of abstraction by merging styles, disciplines and materials.

Francesca MATARAGA, Fragments from Yellow, Level 17 Artspace, 2010, mixed media, dimensions variable

Pam Aitken’s Untitled (Installation) and accompanying Untitled paintings offer a whimsical take on the theme of circle/square. Casually draped through the space the installation appears as a magical shower of colored circles. Bringing light and movement into the gallery Aitken’s work activates the space it is situated in and creates a dynamic flow. Accompanied by two small canvases made of the same material, the work is extended into the realm of painting. Aitken plays with light, movement and material. Her circles and squares entice us into the gallery and lead us through a journey of discovery.

Pam AITKEN

Kate MACKAY

kate-mackay.blogspot.com

Education

MVA, BA, Grad Dip(Visual Arts) Sydney College of the Arts (USyd)

Selected Exhibitions

2010         Factory 49, CarriageWorks, Index Studios, Linden (Melb), ATVP, Fishers Ghost Awards, Libris Awards

2009         Factory 49, Level 17, Paris CONCRET (Paris), Liverpool & Blacktown Art Awards, Woollahra Small Sculpture

2008         Factory 49, Newcastle Uni Gallery, Blacktown Art Award, Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize

2007         Factory 49, Carnegie Gallery (Tas), Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize

2006         Factory 49, Tin Sheds Gallery,

2005         Cross Arts Projects, SNO Showroom, Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award

2004         Cross Arts Projects, MOP Gallery, Song Company Project

2003         Front Room

2000         Gallery 4A, Joe’s Sydney, MVA Exhibition

Liz Shreeve

Education

BFA (Hons) (NAS), BSc (Hons) UNSW

Selected Exhibitions
2011        Art Almanac Exhibition Space, Glebe

2010        Level 17 Artspace; Victoria University, CarriageWorks, Melbourne Art Fair
2010        Colour Processing; Factory 49 (Sydney)
2009        Boxing Light; Factory 49, Bell St (Vienna), Liverpool and Blacktown Art Awards
2009        Paint, Stella Downer Fine Art (Sydney), Windows on Pain (Sydney and regional)
2008        Catching the Light; Factory 49,  Transitions 08; Mary Place Gallery,  Glebe Art Show
2007        Light Constructions; Factory 49, Xavier Artspace (Darlinghurst),
2007        Light on the Grid; Stella Downer Fine Art, Watermark; Transitions 07.
2006        Blake Exceptions, Transitions, Waverley Art Prize, Willoughby Art Show
2005        MCQ International Art Prize (Sydney), Kempsey Art Prize, Waverley Art Prize

Marlene SARROFF

http:// www.marlenesarroff.com

Education

B Art Theory, COFA UNSW.   Master of Art  SCA U SYD

Selected Exhibitions

2010       Disruptive Elements, Factory 49, Sydney. N.S.W.

2010       Redefining Painting,  Hebel 121, Basel,  Switzerland

2010       Dispersion, ParisCONCRET, Paris France.

2009       Patterns of Probabilities, Factory 49, Sydney  N.S.W.

2008       Pulse, Factory 49. Sydney  N.S.W.

2006       The Dissolving World: Patterns in Transition,  Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, N.S.W.

2005       Emergence,  Graphis Gallery, Woollahra, Sydney. N.S.W.

2004       Phase Space, Esa Jaske Gallery, Chippendale Sydney N.S.W.

2002       Codify-Code Defy   The Depot Gallery, Dank Street, Waterloo, Sydney N.S.W.

Francesca MATARAGA

http://francescamataraga.com/

Education

PhD (COFA) - Current, MFA (COFA), BFA (NAS), BA (USyd)

Selected Exhibitions

2010        Level 17 Artspace, Victoria University, CarriageWorks, Tim Olsen Drawing Prize, Factory 49

2009        The Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Tim Olsen Drawing Prize, Factory 49, Photospace - ANU

2008        Ivan Dougherty Gallery, George Paton Gallery, Curtin University, 57^th Blake Prize, Factory 49

2007        Sydney Non Objective Contemporary Art Centre, Factory 49, 69 Smith St

2006        Tin Sheds Gallery

2005        Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Peloton

2004        The Year in Art - S.H. Ervin Gallery, The Cross Art Projects, The 4th Floor Gallery

2003        Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, 52nd Blake Prize

2002        Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award

Pam AITKEN

http://www.pamaitken.com.au

Education

MVA (SCA,USyd), BVA (HONS) (SCA,USyd)

Selected Exhibitions

2011         Edsviks Konsthall, Sweden; Galerie Grand E'Terna, Paris; Moulins de Villancourt, Ville de Pont Claix, France

2010         Hebel_121, Switz; Galerie Nothburga, Austria; Salon des Réalitiés Nouvelles, Paris; ParisCONCRET, Paris

2009         Holtzman MFA Gallery, Towson, USA; Bell St, Vienna; ParisCONCRET, Paris; CarriageARTSworks, Sydney

2008         Connie Dietzschold Gallery, Sydney; Salon des Réalitiés Nouvelles, Paris; Factory 49, Sydney

2007         Gary Snyder Fine Arts, New York; Phillipe Gelot Gallery, Paris; Moulins de Villancourt, Grenoble, France

2006         Salon des Réalitiés Nouvelles, Paris; La Baralliere, Tulette, France; SNO, Sydney; Hebel_121, Switz; Factory 49

2005         Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney; SNO Showroom, Sydney;

2004         Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney; Artspace, Sydney; Moores Gallery, Fremantle, WA; MOP Gallery, Sydney

2003         MOP Gallery, Sydney; Esperance, Abany, Margaret River, Ballidu, IASKA, Western Australia

Circle/Square is supported by

Circle/Square is assisted by the NSW Government through Arts NSW