Last Call - exhibition review
Last Call is an exhibition with Rod Gray as one of the participants, and it’s a great chance to catch up and hear from a him about a show he is part of…
Where is the show on and when?
Upstairs @ the Napier Hotel, 210 Napier Street, Fitzroy 3065
Oct 1 -22nd 2009
Wed – Thurs 4 – 8
Friday 1 – 8
Sat – Sun 1 - 5
What was the inspiration for the show?
The show was cooked up by the ARS crew who manage the space at the Napier. They are a passionate and wry bunch with a love of the venue and an unapologetic appreciation of pub life. There is also something quintessential about the Napier, which lends itself to this kind of ‘acknowledgement’. I had a show there in July, and it was great getting to know the sights, sounds, smells and feel of a busy pub and it’s incredibly diverse clientele. The inspiration for the show is probably the same thing that brought the ARS group together, we all love a drink.. and in the background is all the media about the police and govt. cracking down on KIng St stuff and that curfew thing last year. I have a strong feeling that the huge majority who drink lazily to relax and without competition and testosterone fueled antics are keen to assert that drinking can be any number of different experiences, not merely the teenage binge and the blokey frenzy of excess.
How did the theme come about?
Having said that, and attempted to validate the theme with the implication of insightful social comment, the reality is that the show was conceived by the ARS crew over an enjoyed table of beers. And perhaps an elegant white or two. The title for the show was niggled a bit and I was present at one of these natters. I think it was Cheers or Drink up or something initially. I think Last Call with it’s evocative suggestion of the seedy end of the night also has a historical angle befitting the Napier itself. It’s not a cool city bar vibe it evokes but something more local and familiar. So the title/theme is true to that.
Why this venue?
The ARS crew work from this venue all year round and so the show is a homage to the venue which we all know intimately. Though regulars to the Napier will be delighted to hear that the upstairs balcony has been re-opened and so despite a big night tonight, there should be breathing room upstairs and the chance to actually see the work… imagine that… actually seeing the work at an opening
The artists for this show were they chosen or?
My understanding is that the artists are part of the Napier network, the regulars, former/future exhibiters and patrons, etc. There are a substantial number of well known artists in this mix. But also some characterful, first time exhibitors. The Napier crew tend towards exhibiting artwork of people who they have got to know. So this is a very big, broad bunch of friends really. But because they all know someone in the crew there is a loose cogency to the grouping and the adherence to the theme will materialize. The rest is in the curating of the install…
About the artists…
The approach to the theme is going to be wide ranging, but there will definitely be a lot of humour in the mix.
Speaking for my work though I had the curious experience of having headed in the direction of a borrowing from beer posters of the 40’s, the kind of thing that drove my grandfather’s generation to drink. I love some of those corny and macho posturings and I particularly love the flatness of the colours and the florid fonts, but, as I don’t tend towards the ironical naturally in my work I found the work drifted away from the posters and closer to an earnest evocation of this particular character and place. He’s just off a ship, out of Barcelona is my guess, though by the bluey, maybe he’s been working on the docks in Melbourne and he’s a Wharfie, either way he has that thirst particular to ‘after work’ and yet the weather hasn’t warmed yet in the evenings, A spring beer perhaps.
Kerry Buckland
Michael Madigan
Nada Poljski
Robyn Ceretti
Mark White
Barts
Anne-Marie Kuter
Tony Mercuri
Richard Rowlands
Kristen Phillips
Angela Leech
Kerry Strauss
Andre Cotton
Andrew Sinclair
Guy May
James Hawthorne
Anthony Abell
Rohani Osman
Jon Perring
Guy Lawson
Renato Colangelo & Rosa Voto
Jeph Neale
Chris Mether
Danni Tigani
Stuart Ringholt
Nat Thomas
Morgan Fayle
Peter Lee
Louis McFall
Viv Miller
Jamie Boys
Rosa Tato
Rod Gray
Lyndal Walker
Fiona Wood
Polly Newsome
Caroline Bandurski
Some comments now that I have seen the finished space… ingenious and hilarious in equal measure!
The spaces are dynamic and strong, with spades of humour and the kinds of energetic juxtapositions I have come to expect from installs here. Tony Mercuri and Richard Rowlands who did the majority of the installation as well as two of the standout works have installed some ‘top drawer’ wall plinths that make the space come to life. There is possibly a little too much work but since it is in fact an exhibition reflecting on excess that is not a criticism with any chance of a strong basis. Duchamp is firmly present in spirit as I believe the strongest works are of the readymade variety. A biased favourite is Last Pots by Ant Abell, a bugle fashioned of used plumbing.
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