listening to music, and having it transport you to your past.  snowy valentine’s day, tromping around in the dark. people watching and train riding. exhilarating infatuations sharing candy and wine. solitary nights cutting vegetables.

it seems masochistic, to drag out old albums.  cruel the way certain songs are etched forever in the heart, twined with long good-byes, shitty guys, and memories stored in boxes one doesn’t remember packing.

(currently listening: David Bazan, Fewer Moving Parts (Acoustic))

Exhibition dates: 20th August – 5th September, 2009

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Little Treasures: Toby Richardson, Will Nolan, CJ Taylor and Steve Wilson

Clay Cameras: Alan Constable

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A small crowd was in attendance for the opening of two new exhibitions at Helen Gory Galerie (due to two auctions, one at Sotheby’s and the other at Deutscher-Menzies). Despite this the crowd was appreciative of the beautifully printed and well presented work. In the main exhibition ‘Little Treasures’ four photographers show various bodies of work. Toby Richardson’s stained pillows (‘Portrait of the artist’) from the years 1986 – 2003 were effective in their muted tones and ‘thickened’ spatio-temporal identity. CJ Taylor’s winged detritus from the taxidermist were haunting in their mutilated beauty. Steve Wilson’s sometimes legless flies were startling in their precision, attitude/altitude and, as someone noted, they looked like jet fighters! Finally my favourite of this quartet were the recyco-pop iridescent bottle tops of Will Nolan – “these objects remain enigmatic, resonating with a sense of mystery, hidden thoughts and unknown histories.” (Lauren Tomczak, catalogue text).

Some good work then in this take on found, then lost and found again treasure trove, work that retrieves and sustains traces of life, history and memory in the arcana of discarded and dissected objects.

The hit of the night for me was the work of Alan Constable. I found his clay cameras intoxicating – I wanted to own one (always a good sign). I loved the exaggerated form and colours, the playfulness of the creativity on display. Being a photographer I went around trying to work out the different makes of these scratched and highly glazed cameras without looking at the exhibition handout. For a very reasonable price you could own one of these seductive (is that the right word, I think it is) objects and they were selling like hot cakes!

Marcus Bunyan for the Art Blart blog

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Little Treasures

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“Wings, pillows, flies and bottle tops are blown up vastly in stunning large scale prints that take the viewer through the looking glass into another universe, their brilliant colour and rich detail revealing unexpected beauty and delight in these forgotten things. Unmanipulated and finely printed, these images are the product of each artist’s technical mastery and inquisitive eye finding beauty in the cast off and delight in the ignored.” (Jemima Kemp, 2009)

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Installation view of ‘Little Treasures’ showing the work of Toby Richardson ‘Portrait of the Artist’ series (2009)

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Installation view of ‘Little Treasures’ showing the work of CJ Taylor (2009, left) and Will Nolan ‘Bottle Top’ series (2009, right)

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Installation view of ‘Little Treasures’ showing the work of CJ Taylor (2009)

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CJ Taylor
‘Blue, turquoise yellow green’
2009

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Installation view of ‘Little Treasures’ showing the work of Will Nolan ‘Bottle Top’ series (2009)

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Will Nolan
‘Bottle top #10′
2009

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Will Nolan
‘Bottle top #1′
2009

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Installation view of ‘Little Treasures’ showing the work of Steve Wilson ‘Fly’ series (2009)

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Clay Cameras

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“From the box brownie to disposables, VHS to SLR, these works explore Alan Constable’s fascination with cameras. Unlike the streamlined design of the originals, Constable’s cameras appear soft, organic and malleable.”

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Alan Constable
‘Not titled (ALE SLR)’
2008

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Alan Constable
‘Not titled (pearlescent gold/black Leica)’
2008

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Installation view of ‘Clay Cameras’ by Alan Constable

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Alan Constable
‘Not titled (Hasselblad)’
2008

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Alan Constable
‘Not titled (Digital with zoom lens)’
2009

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Helen Gory Galerie

25, St. Edmonds Road,
Prahran, Vic 3181
Opening hours: Wed – Fri 11 – 5pm, Sat 10 – 4pm

Helen Gory Galerie website