Latest news with #AGWA
Perth Now
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Art Gallery of WA celebrates next generation of fashion designers in The West Australian Pulse
The next generation of WA fashion designers were greeted by a sellout crowd as they showed their creations in a high-energy runway show on Saturday night. The West Australian Pulse, the Art Gallery of WA's annual celebration of talent, passion and creativity, showcased the work of fashion and design students from North Metro TAFE, South Metro TAFE, Curtin and Edith Cowan universities. This year's catwalk parade was dedicated to the memory of fashion designer and AGWA collaborator Aurelio Costarella, who died in April. The fashion show, which featured WA's top fashion graduates and emerging names, is part of AGWA's annual celebration of art created by young people. It coincides with The West Australian Pulse visual arts exhibition, chosen from the best works submitted by Year 12 graduates. With the demise of Perth Fashion Festival in 2018, Pulse has become an essential annual runway experience for student designers. Around 115 student volunteers — including designers, dressers, apprentice hairdressers, makeup artists and ushers — rolled up their sleeves and donated their time backstage to help the show run smoothly.
ABC News
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Revivification at the Art Gallery of WA is a strange and tender revival of experimental composer Alvin Lucier
On a quiet Saturday morning in the heart of Perth, a crowd gathers inside the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), with the disoriented mood of any social event that takes place before noon. But there's also a sense of confusion about just what the mood should be. We are here, in theory at least, to listen to a performance by a dead composer who, beyond the dark, waiting tunnel of the exhibition entrance, is at least in some way physically present. Through the passageway is a "brain in a jar", curator Robert Cooke jokes, somewhat uneasily. It's part of an AGWA exhibition that makes a bold promise: to reawaken what has ceased to exist. Before the entrance, watching over the living, is a large photographic portrait of the late artist at the centre of AGWA's Revivification: the legendary American experimental composer, Alvin Lucier. For more than 50 years, until his death in 2021 at the age of 90, Lucier was a pioneering figure in electronic and electro-acoustic music. His work was often described as "making the inaudible audible". Lucier announced his artistic arrival in 1965 with his groundbreaking work 'Music for Solo Performer', which used then-cutting-edge technology to translate his brainwaves into sound on percussive instruments while he, the performer, sat still on a stage, eyes closed, electrodes attached to his head. This strange, speculative installation I'm standing before six decades on, feels like exactly the kind of thing Lucier might have created himself — if he'd lived long enough to make use of contemporary neuroscience that could, in effect, grow a brain outside of the human body. In Revivification, a collaboration between Australian artists Guy Ben-Ary, Nathan Thompson, and Matt Gingold, along with neuroscientist Stuart Hodgetts, the group attempts to bring Lucier back to life — not just metaphorically. They describe the work as an extension of Lucier's "cellular life". Inside a dark, cave-like chamber, 20 large brass plates line the walls. Behind each one sits a mallet connected to a motor, poised to respond to electrical activity from a miniature brain organoid: a cluster of neural cells, cultivated from white blood cells Lucier had donated before his death. The cells are alive. They are growing. Like a real brain, these neurons are communicating with one another. Using electrodes, the organoid's electrical activity is recorded and sonified — translated into sound — creating a feedback loop. In theory, the organoid could experience the sound vibrations it has helped to create and respond to them. The sound that results is some blend between the resonant tones of a temple, and a haphazard pitter-patter like a child on a drum set. At the centre of the chamber sits the organoid itself, sealed inside a box. Only one visitor at a time can peer down at it through a magnifying-glass porthole. The viewer in that moment has to alone contend with the question: What am I looking at? A hopeful, speculative dream, perhaps — that a person might indeed live on in some way after death, continuing to interact with the world, even continue to make art. Or, as Thompson puts it, were they peering into an "abyss": life, "but not of the same living experience"? The installation raises another question: even if we can continue a creative life after death, should we? The science behind Revivification is state of the art. But the feeling it evokes — the wonder and anxiety, the moral tension — is centuries old. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is the obvious reference point. A work produced in another age of technological anxiety in the early part of the 19th century. Not unlike our present moment; the fears about scientific overreach in the context of AI, and the vulnerable place of the human in our rapidly changing world. And yet, beneath the speculative weight of Revivification lies something unexpectedly tender: a sense of deep affection. At its heart, the exhibition is also an act of homage. Four artists' love for an elder, and an unwillingness to let him go. In a panel following the opening, the artists speak with both humour and sincerity about the bonds they developed with each Petri dish of Alvin Lucier's cell tissue. "I had this really personal and emotional attachment to Dish 8," Gingold says to laughter, though he's serious. "Dish 8 had these really strong neural activations. "At some point, it got contaminated and there was one night where we knew it was going to die. And we were recording it. And it was really emotional because I could see these activations changing. I could see that it was going into these states where it was activating a lot and then dying back down. "It is something that is alive," Gingold says. "It's got a life of its own." In the final years of Lucier's life, the group spoke to him fortnightly via zoom. Before his death, Lucier's daughter, Amanda, told Guy Ben-Ary it was true to form that her father would agree to a project like Revivification. "She said, you know, it's so like him that at the end of his life, he's just organising a way to keep on composing." At one point speaking to me, Gingold strangles the word "spiritual" as he begins to speak it. Concepts of the transcendent or sublime have often seemed antithetical to the secular and scientific interests of experimental art. But Revivification has a strangely spiritual nature to its questions about the ineffability of creativity and where it might come from. In our increasingly disembodied age — where human creativity seems ever more threatened by non-human technologies — Revivification offers something quietly radical: a reverence for one man's life, and for the very human tissue through which he made his work. Revivification is at the Art Gallery of Western Australia until August 3, 2025.
West Australian
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
The West Australian Pulse: AGWA announces Freya Byrne as winner of Young Visual Artist Award
The West Australian Pulse: AGWA announces Freya Byrne as winner of Young Visual Artist Award
West Australian
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Ten works not to miss at this year's stunning The West Australian Pulse exhibition
Life and death. Family, faith and grief. Identity, anxiety and exams. Food. All that and much more is put through the creative lens of 61 young artists from 37 schools starring in The West Australian Pulse exhibition , opening at the Art Gallery of WA on May 3. The 33rd survey of Year 12 visual arts graduates offers priceless insight into what makes young people tick. There are self-portraits bemoaning the pressures of study, peers and body image alongside artists tackling big picture concerns, ranging from the environment and homelessness to technology and mental health. Several explore identity, especially ethnicity. And then there's some lovely tributes to beloved family members, including one artist's late cat. Beyond the opportunity to explore the inner workings of the Class of 2024, this year's Pulse showcases an incredibly high calibre of technique ranging from detailed figurative paintings to eye-popping multi-media works and even vibrant 'coral reefs' crocheted out of wool, cotton, beads, plastic bags and other textiles. Once again, anyone venturing into AGWA before the free exhibition ends on August 31 will be richly rewarded, and perhaps buoyed by the enormous potential of this talented generation. Gallery visitors can meet the artists on May 3 from 2pm-4pm, when the stars of Pulse 2025 share the stories behind their artworks. Worthy mentions go to Elizabeth McFarlane from Applecross Senior High School for Fleeting, Fleecing, a sharply polemic series of prints on hand-made paper skewering successive Australian leaders' failure to Close the Gap; Wesley College grad Ben Ioannou's heartfelt sculptural exploration of emotional milestones; Iona Presentation College alumnus Charley-Marie Travia's evocative study of a past life in Stored Away; and Corpus Christi's Xavia Variyan for her eye-catching silkscreen creation. Reproduction in newsprint won't do these pieces justice. Here are 10 more standout works to give readers a taste of Pulse '25. ANGEL PAPALAZAROS Chisholm Catholic College Hellenic Habitat A Greek goddess vacuums a suburban living room in Papalazaros' irreverent diptych exploring Greek immigration and cultural identity within Australian society. The exterior scene is set in the 1970s, blending suburbia with traditional Greek elements – a celebration of the efforts many migrants put into their gardens. Meanwhile, the interior reflects the décor of the era with an ornate table lamp, cane furniture and gaudy colour scheme. 'The male and female figures highlight the traditional gender roles of time, reflecting the fluidity of cultural change inspired by my Greek immigrant grandparents' journey,' Papalazaros explains of a work sure to please any Yiayia visiting AGWA. BRODIE ROWAND St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls Ruby Reverie Rowand reflects on losing close friend Stella Berry, who was killed by a shark while swimming in the Swan River in 2023. The striking oil on plywood work features the artist's own red ball dress as a metaphor for her own transition through grief. 'The empty, suspended silhouettes against a turbulent ocean and sky represent the absence of my friend and the feeling of being trapped in time,' explains Rowand, who dedicates this incredible work to Berry. 'Oil paint allowed me to capture the smooth textures and emotions of grief, with the repeated dresses symbolising reflection, lost and the passage of time.' TYSON BARWOOD Hale School Graff ft. me Barwood sculpted his own Mini-Me out of white paper clay before completing the three-dimensional cartoon figure using acrylic and spray paint plus real zirconium earrings. 'The intention … was to capture a thoughtful, reflective mood, offering me a new way to explore my identity and the world of graffiti,' he says. While not the most enigmatic of works in this year's Pulse, there's something likeably naïve, cheeky yet honest about this spiky-haired self-portrait. LOLA BEAGLEY Swan Christian College Reflections of Light, Life and Love In possibly the most sentimental of 2025's crop, Beagley captures the profound sense of gratitude and self-reflection her grandfather experienced in the final years of his life. 'As Pa grew older, he often expressed appreciation for the time he had lived and the days still ahead,' Beagley says. The subject sits proudly in front of a wall of photographs, each a snapshot of cherished moments. These will project on a wall opposite the painting as visitors join Beagley's beloved Pa in viewing a slideshow of a life well lived. This is a lovely work. No, you're crying. MENA TABESHFAR Shenton College State Capture Woodside chief Meg O'Neill shares the canvas with an endangered numbat in this widescreen two-part oil, silkscreen and silicone collage taking aim at the Burrup Hub and other 'destructive' projects. In her accompanying statement, Tabeshfar says her artwork is an homage to the Disrupt Burrup Hub protested who sprayed the Woodside logo on Frederick McCubbin's iconic painting Down on His Luck at AGWA in 2023. Have a close lock at State Capture, see how many politicians you can spot amongst the newspaper headlines. CLAIRE HAYE Canning Vale College Vibrant, Vanished Taking a literally softer approach to environmental issues via textile art, Haye crocheted vibrant coral forms from colourful cotton yarn. She bleached material to depict the degradation of coral reefs due to man-made pollution. Vibrant, Vanished was constructed as a rug canvas, one side filled with colourful coral forms and the other with bleached ones. On the bleached side, Haye uses plastic bags to crochet entirely plastic coral forms. LUCY MCDERMID Iona Presentation College Gold Star McDermid gets a gold star for painting highly realistic foil balloons in this oil on canvas creation representing the pressures of Year 12, which start with 'initial buoyancy and confidence'. 'As time passes, the balloon gradually loses its lustre, mirroring the exhaustion that follows early enthusiasm,' she says. The final image of a helium tank suggests that buoyancy may return in a playful work inspired by Spanish artist Gemma Gene's hyper-realistic depictions of reflective objects. ZOE ROBINSON Methodist Ladies' College Aldinga How's this for originality? Robinson painted the rusty bonnet of a 1977 FJ 45 Landcruiser to portray her family history in rural Australia, most notably WA's Gidgegannup and Aldinga in South Australia. 'The bonnet's rust serves as a metaphor for decay and transformation,' she says. 'As the rust grows, the painting alters, creating a living evolving piece that mirrors the changing Australian landscape.' Robinson used polymer and spray paint, posca pens, coloured charcoal and rust guard to create her modern Aussie masterpiece. MANAMI TEO Kalamunda Senior High School Suisen Suisen is the Japanese word for daffodil. It's also the name of the Japanese takeaway restaurant in Bassendean owned by Teo's father, who is seen tirelessly toiling over a hot stove in this brilliant work. 'Despite his introverted nature, my dad is generous and hardworking,' Teo says. 'The chaotic kitchen — water running, utensils scattered and multiple dishes being prepared at once — reflects his dedication.' The painter used linseed oil to create layers and build texture to the flames to give the scene depth to a work inspired by Australian artist Vincent Fantauzzo, best known for his award-winning portraits of Heath Ledger, chef Matt Moran and wife Asher Keddie. Teo adds: 'I aimed to depict my dad as the heart of our family, captured in his element.' ZOE DARLING Guildford Grammar School Well-read Let's assume Darling got top marks for English Literature as well as art at Guildford. Inspired by AGWA's blockbuster RONE exhibition held in the same galleries as Pulse, Well-read combines painting with installation art to explore the relationship between fiction and reality. A face is overlaid with classic literature, including To Kill a Mockingbird, Frankenstein, The Handmaid's Tale and a book from Oscar Wilde, who said: 'Life imitates art'. 'Our lives are mirrored in their pages,' Darling insists. 'The artwork reflects how literature shapes our perceptions, with each book depicted carrying a commentary that deeply influenced me.' The West Australian Pulse 2025 is at the Art Gallery of WA from May 3 to August 31. The exhibition is free.
Perth Now
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
See the world through the eyes of our talented young artists
Life and death. Family, faith and grief. Identity, anxiety and exams. Food. All that and much more is put through the creative lens of 61 young artists from 37 schools starring in The West Australian Pulse exhibition, opening at the Art Gallery of WA on May 3. The 33rd survey of Year 12 visual arts graduates offers priceless insight into what makes young people tick. There are self-portraits bemoaning the pressures of study, peers and body image alongside artists tackling big picture concerns, ranging from the environment and homelessness to technology and mental health. Several explore identity, especially ethnicity. And then there's some lovely tributes to beloved family members, including one artist's late cat. Beyond the opportunity to explore the inner workings of the Class of 2024, this year's Pulse showcases an incredibly high calibre of technique ranging from detailed figurative paintings to eye-popping multi-media works and even vibrant 'coral reefs' crocheted out of wool, cotton, beads, plastic bags and other textiles. Once again, anyone venturing into AGWA before the free exhibition ends on August 31 will be richly rewarded, and perhaps buoyed by the enormous potential of this talented generation. Gallery visitors can meet the artists on May 3 from 2pm-4pm, when the stars of Pulse 2025 share the stories behind their artworks. Worthy mentions go to Elizabeth McFarlane from Applecross Senior High School for Fleeting, Fleecing, a sharply polemic series of prints on hand-made paper skewering successive Australian leaders' failure to Close the Gap; Wesley College grad Ben Ioannou's heartfelt sculptural exploration of emotional milestones; Iona Presentation College alumnus Charley-Marie Travia's evocative study of a past life in Stored Away; and Corpus Christi's Xavia Variyan for her eye-catching silkscreen creation. Reproduction in newsprint won't do these pieces justice. Here are 10 more standout works to give readers a taste of Pulse '25. ANGEL PAPALAZAROS Chisholm Catholic College Hellenic Habitat A Greek goddess vacuums a suburban living room in Papalazaros' irreverent diptych exploring Greek immigration and cultural identity within Australian society. The exterior scene is set in the 1970s, blending suburbia with traditional Greek elements – a celebration of the efforts many migrants put into their gardens. Meanwhile, the interior reflects the décor of the era with an ornate table lamp, cane furniture and gaudy colour scheme. 'The male and female figures highlight the traditional gender roles of time, reflecting the fluidity of cultural change inspired by my Greek immigrant grandparents' journey,' Papalazaros explains of a work sure to please any Yiayia visiting AGWA. Angel Papalazaros (Chisholm Catholic College): Hellenic Habitat. Credit: Photo: Christophe Canato BRODIE ROWAND St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls Ruby Reverie Rowand reflects on losing close friend Stella Berry, who was killed by a shark while swimming in the Swan River in 2023. The striking oil on plywood work features the artist's own red ball dress as a metaphor for her own transition through grief. 'The empty, suspended silhouettes against a turbulent ocean and sky represent the absence of my friend and the feeling of being trapped in time,' explains Rowand, who dedicates this incredible work to Berry. 'Oil paint allowed me to capture the smooth textures and emotions of grief, with the repeated dresses symbolising reflection, lost and the passage of time.' Brodie Rowand (St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls): Ruby Reverie. Credit: Photo: Christophe Canato TYSON BARWOOD Hale School Graff ft. me Barwood sculpted his own Mini-Me out of white paper clay before completing the three-dimensional cartoon figure using acrylic and spray paint plus real zirconium earrings. 'The intention … was to capture a thoughtful, reflective mood, offering me a new way to explore my identity and the world of graffiti,' he says. While not the most enigmatic of works in this year's Pulse, there's something likeably naïve, cheeky yet honest about this spiky-haired self-portrait. Tyson Barwood (Hale School): Graff ft. me. Credit: Photo: Christophe Canato LOLA BEAGLEY Swan Christian College Reflections of Light, Life and Love In possibly the most sentimental of 2025's crop, Beagley captures the profound sense of gratitude and self-reflection her grandfather experienced in the final years of his life. 'As Pa grew older, he often expressed appreciation for the time he had lived and the days still ahead,' Beagley says. The subject sits proudly in front of a wall of photographs, each a snapshot of cherished moments. These will project on a wall opposite the painting as visitors join Beagley's beloved Pa in viewing a slideshow of a life well lived. This is a lovely work. No, you're crying. Lola Beagley (Swan Christian College): Reflections of Light, Life and Love. Credit: Photo: Christophe Canato MENA TABESHFAR Shenton College State Capture Woodside chief Meg O'Neill shares the canvas with an endangered numbat in this widescreen two-part oil, silkscreen and silicone collage taking aim at the Burrup Hub and other 'destructive' projects. In her accompanying statement, Tabeshfar says her artwork is an homage to the Disrupt Burrup Hub protested who sprayed the Woodside logo on Frederick McCubbin's iconic painting Down on His Luck at AGWA in 2023. Have a close lock at State Capture, see how many politicians you can spot amongst the newspaper headlines. Mena Tabeshfar (Shenton College): State Capture Credit: Photo: Christophe Canato CLAIRE HAYE Canning Vale College Vibrant, Vanished Taking a literally softer approach to environmental issues via textile art, Haye crocheted vibrant coral forms from colourful cotton yarn. She bleached material to depict the degradation of coral reefs due to man-made pollution. Vibrant, Vanished was constructed as a rug canvas, one side filled with colourful coral forms and the other with bleached ones. On the bleached side, Haye uses plastic bags to crochet entirely plastic coral forms. Claire Haye (Canning Vale College): Vibrant, Vanished. Credit: Photo: Christophe Canato LUCY MCDERMID Iona Presentation College Gold Star McDermid gets a gold star for painting highly realistic foil balloons in this oil on canvas creation representing the pressures of Year 12, which start with 'initial buoyancy and confidence'. 'As time passes, the balloon gradually loses its lustre, mirroring the exhaustion that follows early enthusiasm,' she says. The final image of a helium tank suggests that buoyancy may return in a playful work inspired by Spanish artist Gemma Gene's hyper-realistic depictions of reflective objects. Lucy McDermid (Iona Presentation College): Gold Star Credit: Photo: Christophe Canato ZOE ROBINSON Methodist Ladies' College Aldinga How's this for originality? Robinson painted the rusty bonnet of a 1977 FJ 45 Landcruiser to portray her family history in rural Australia, most notably WA's Gidgegannup and Aldinga in South Australia. 'The bonnet's rust serves as a metaphor for decay and transformation,' she says. 'As the rust grows, the painting alters, creating a living evolving piece that mirrors the changing Australian landscape.' Robinson used polymer and spray paint, posca pens, coloured charcoal and rust guard to create her modern Aussie masterpiece. Zoe Robinson (Methodist Ladies' College): Aldinga Credit: Photo: Christophe Canato MANAMI TEO Kalamunda Senior High School Suisen Suisen is the Japanese word for daffodil. It's also the name of the Japanese takeaway restaurant in Bassendean owned by Teo's father, who is seen tirelessly toiling over a hot stove in this brilliant work. 'Despite his introverted nature, my dad is generous and hardworking,' Teo says. 'The chaotic kitchen — water running, utensils scattered and multiple dishes being prepared at once — reflects his dedication.' The painter used linseed oil to create layers and build texture to the flames to give the scene depth to a work inspired by Australian artist Vincent Fantauzzo, best known for his award-winning portraits of Heath Ledger, chef Matt Moran and wife Asher Keddie. Teo adds: 'I aimed to depict my dad as the heart of our family, captured in his element.' Manami Teo (Kalamunda Senior High School): Suisen Credit: Photo: Christophe Canato ZOE DARLING Guildford Grammar School Well-read Let's assume Darling got top marks for English Literature as well as art at Guildford. Inspired by AGWA's blockbuster RONE exhibition held in the same galleries as Pulse, Well-read combines painting with installation art to explore the relationship between fiction and reality. A face is overlaid with classic literature, including To Kill a Mockingbird, Frankenstein, The Handmaid's Tale and a book from Oscar Wilde, who said: 'Life imitates art'. 'Our lives are mirrored in their pages,' Darling insists. 'The artwork reflects how literature shapes our perceptions, with each book depicted carrying a commentary that deeply influenced me.' Zoe Darling (Guildford Grammar School): Well-read Credit: Photo: Christophe Canato The West Australian Pulse 2025 is at the Art Gallery of WA from May 3 to August 31. The exhibition is free.
