Marie Ellis OAM Prize for Drawing 2019 - 10 years and the end of an era.

In August 2010, an unknown Brisbane artist, the late Gregg Greinke [pictured above] became the inaugural winner of the newly instituted Marie Ellis OAM Prize for Drawing. The prize was begun in memory of the late Marie Ellis and to encourage drawing as the formative mark making skill, by her nephew - Mr Jeff Hopkins-Weise and Jugglers Art Space Inc. The prize was founded out of conversations between Jeff, Randal Breen [ Jugglers Director] and Jugglers artists in residence Nic Plowman and Samuel Eyles, with the prize funded until 2018 by the Jeff Hopkins-Weise family. In the past 10 years, the prize has expanded to the point that we had entries from every state and territory in 2018/19 with winners from Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane. Marie was the long term owner of 101-103 Brunswick Street until her death in 2003 when Jugglers moved in and began the arts community it became so well known for. Marie was committed to the arts, having been awarded an OAM in honour of her work in Brisbane and the prize in her memory was a significant contributor in the rise of the Jugglers profile.

The winning work [ 2010 above] by Gregg Greinke and the last winning work [ 2019 below] by Sydney artist, Kaye Shumack, “Walking down to Railway Square from Central Station, Sydney.” Below - winners over the past 10 years - Carolyn McKenzie Craig, Peter Kozak, Mike Armstrong, Dennis McCart, William Platz, Clare Collins and Jeremy Eden. [ Not shown: Keith Burt - 2011]

The decision to make 2019 the last Marie Ellis OAM Prize for Drawing or MEPD -was one that was carefully considered by the Jugglers Board of Management, respected previous winners, arts academics, funding donors and the Hopkins-Weise family. We have assessed that the prize has been part of a growing return to drawing and expanded drawing modalities across Australia, that our contribution had been significant for its time and that owing to lack of resources it was a wise and good decision to end the prize with gratitude and celebration. The acquisitive winning works will remain as part of the Jugglers Art Space Inc collection with decisions re their placement and possible lease/loan for others' future enjoyment on the table by the board of management. To all who entered, won prizes and were part of the judging panels, the prize's administrators and the sponsors  - especially Jeff and Elspeth  - over the past 10 years, we thank you and wish you all the very best and we say: Keep drawing and mark making!

Peter Breen, Director, Jugglers Art Space Inc. 

December 11, 2019.

Jugglers Studio Artist - BRIDIE GILLMAN

BRIDIE GILLMAN first exhibited at Jugglers in 2011 and we have watched the development of her practice and success over the past 7 years with much interest. It is great to have her as part of the Jugglers studio tradition and to have this brief snapshot.Peter Breen.

Bio/Artist Statement

 Bridie Gillman’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, photography, sculpture and video. Drawing from her childhood spent in Indonesia, ideas of place - our experience and memories of a place - underpin her work. Painting has become a meditative act of recalling experiences of a place through abstract response, an emotional reaction rather than a representation of place.

 Bridie graduated from Queensland College of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) in 2013. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout Australia and internationally, including Museum of Brisbane and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney. In 2019 she was a finalist in the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, 15 Artists and won the Moreton Bay Region Art Award.

 Studio

 I moved into the guides hut at Tarragindi around June 2018 after a while working from home. I’d decided I needed more space and to separate work from home so I could focus more intensely on my art practice while also keeping a healthy work/life balance – an important aspect in maintaining a sustainable practice I think. It was surprisingly difficult to find an affordable studio space in Brisbane, so I was excited when the hut became available. These studios are unique in their environment – a feeling of isolation, being surrounded by bush, yet still close to the city.

 I spent the first eight months or so making work in response to my new studio surroundings, walking around the reserve, looking, and responding to these observations through paint and mark marking. These paintings culminated in an exhibition earlier this year – Wide Eyed. 

 In August 2019 I had the opportunity to move into a much larger studio in the main building at Tarragindi and I can’t quite believe my luck, it’s pretty much my dream studio! It’s great to have a larger space to work in, especially as my paintings can be quite sizeable, but still be amongst the quiet environment of the reserve. 

 I’m thankful for Jugglers as they have always provided vital studio spaces to artists in Brisbane, I first had one in Buranda by the train line in 2012, and I hope to be working in this beautiful environment for some time to come.

New music and a new music label flourishing despite unpredictable Brisbane

JUGGLERS + MADE NOW MUSIC & GLASSHOUSE = COMMUNITY

I first met Caleb College [R]  and his mate Brodie Mcallister at the old Jugglers home turf [ 103 Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley] somewhere around 2012. I have asked him to write a short reflective piece on the Jugglers slice of his story and how from our chance meeting - and there are many others - his career, their label [ Made Now Music ] has emerged into a new, energetic and intelligent platform giving voice to emerging musicians in Brisbane. Peter Breen.

I first met Peter in 2012 at an event run by a friend Molly Collier-O’Boyle called Paint it Red. I was instantly struck by Peter’s calmness, and slightly underneath this, his burning passion for the Brisbane artistic community. I became a regular audience member at Paint it Red and later became a performing musician at the series. I premiered some of my very first compositions and structured improvisations at this series and always felt incredibly supported and at home performing there. I started playing with trombonist, composer and improvisor Brodie Mcallister in 2014 at some Paint it Red gigs. The first few plays I remember being quite confronted. Brodie was always pushing experimentation and extended techniques on his instrument in an ever-unforgiving fashion. We started hanging out and playing more and I realised he shared Peter’s passion for experimentation, extension, community and Brisbane. We started premiering new works, collaborating with artists, improvising and organising a few one-off gigs at Jugglers, always with Peter’s support. After many chats with Peter, we realised that there was a gap in Brisbane’s music scene and the venue’s in which music was being performed at. It needed a place where music that occupied the sphere outside pop, classical and jazz could exist and be engaged with in an honest way. An idea sparked that has guided the last 3 years of Brodie’s and my life. We started a music label and concert series in 2016 which proudly called Jugs home for the first year and half of its life. The concert series gained momentum as we started releasing friends music and our little crew started to grow. Peter was constantly supporting us through the journey and without Jugglers this amazing Brisbane music wouldn’t of come into existence. When Jugglers closed it came as a shock and with great sadness to Brodie and I. It was a strong reminder of how brutal and fickle Brisbane can be at times. Lack of funding and support from government bodies for the arts crushes many institutions on a far too regular basis. Jugglers had been contributing hugely to the Brisbane arts and music scene well before Made Now’s time and it was an incredible pleasure to have been involved with Peter and Jugs for the short time we did. Made Now sought to find a new home, bouncing between a few other venues in West End and Fortitude Valley. We settled at Sideshow in West End, a circus training warehouse which we would turn into a venue 3 hours before a show. Brodie and I started getting sick of not having an established venue to turn too and inspired by Peter once more, decided to open a venue ourselves. In December 2018, Glasshouse was born. My dad and I worked over the summer whilst Brodie was in Europe building stages, acoustic treatment panels, pallet chairs, buying sound equipment and Bunnings work lights. In January 2019 we got the keys to a small little nook underneath a government building on Charlotte street, brokered by Peter. Brodie and I spent a month installing and decorating Glasshouse in preparation for the grand opening. Jugglers generously contributed some money towards the purchase of equipment and building materials, without it we wouldn’t have been able to realise our dream. In early March we opened our doors and Glasshouse instantly became a thriving hub of Brisbane music. We had 3 nights a week of music ranging everywhere between jazz, classical, electronic, improvised, ambient and experimental music. We hosted album launches, project launches, three different labels and concert series, interstate artists and university performances. We were flooded with bookings and had 3 shows a week booked up until Jan 2020. In June we were hit with an unexpected vacation notice and had to close our doors and pack up our thriving little community. Brisbane rearing its head once again. Brodie and I were honestly quite upset and shocked but once again Peter provided support and guidance. We were having coffee one morning before packing up Glasshouse and he said to us “just keep doing it, just keep going, its the people and the community that matters most.” Those words never rung more true and sadness was replaced with determination and a deep passion for Brisbane and the artistic community which occupy this amazing city. Made Now Music continues to release new music, moving from stride to stride and we have once again returned to Sideshow. We recently found out that they are closing down due to the landlord doubling their rent unexpectedly. The landlord only being concerned with money rather than contributing anything positive culturally to the city (the complete opposite of Jugs). This blow means we have to find yet another home for Made Now Music but has reignited the idea of starting another venue. Brisbane is always changing, growing, ebbing and flowing. Venues may open and shut but one thing that doesn’t disappear is the amazing people, artists and musicians that occupy this city. If they are here, then art and music shall continue to exist. Brodie and I were and still are consistently inspired by Peter Breen and Jugglers Art Space to contribute as much as we can to this vibrant cultural scene. The idea of community and bringing people together through art and music is at the core of why Brodie and I make music and Made Now Music is an extension of that. Swamp City Ride or Die.

#madenowmusic #mnm #calebcollege #brodiemcallister #glasshouse #unpredictablebrisbane

An artist is in the forest - in a Brisbane suburb.

 Susan Gourley 

Bio 

Currently living in Brisbane, Susan Gourley’s practice is a self-reflexive and interpretative response of belonging to a colonising culture. She is inspired by decolonising methodologies, ecofeminism, anthropogenic, and ecological discourse to address environmental issues and concerns. The recipient of a postgraduate scholarship, Susan has just been awarded a Doctor of Visual Arts at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane. 

Artist Statement 

The work emerging from my new studio at Jugglers Art Space in Tarragindi is a continuation of my current practice which stems from an overwhelming urge to better understand the implications, and moral responsibility of what it means to be a woman belonging to a colonising culture. From this position, I seek to create artefacts that analyse Eurocentric and anthropocentric ideologies about nature, tracing them back to the eighteenth century invasion and colonisation of Australia. 

Drawing on decolonising methodologies, my intention is to question colonial history and to challenge dominant ideologies underpinning white Australian attitudes and practices towards the natural terrain, to initiate a rethinking of the relationship with nature. This means being open to new ways of thinking about the connection to land and self, initiated through the theoretical frameworks of ecological thought and ecofeminism. These theories highlight the different narratives and knowledge systems existing within Aboriginal and white Australian culture to reveal regenerative possibilities through dialogue and collaboration. 

My work employs the power of the innovative and visual metaphoric properties offered by salvaged materials (what some might call ‘rubbish’) utilising two contrasting techniques. The first involves drawing upon a junk aesthetic that rejects orderly for disorderly and elaborate for informal, defying the traditional and formal boundaries of sculpture by its inclusion of the heterogenous and disparate objects of modern living. 

The second involves incorporating the qualities of trompe l'oeil, which I use as a form of mimetic critique. 

Profile 

Prior to Jugglers Art Space, I had been looking for a studio in the Brisbane area for several months. In the meantime, I was struggling to create a decent body of work due to limited space offered by living in a shared house. Hence, when a studio became available at Jugglers in Tarragindi I didn’t hesitate to enquire and take it when offered. 

Nestled in a gorgeous pocket of bushland, this quiet location is an artist’s paradise. Only fifteen minutes from my home in Paddington, the drive to Tarragindi is super easy. Of the three studios available, mine has several windows that allow me to gaze out amongst the trees and listen to the sounds of the different birds that inhabit there. This tranquillity has provided me with a level of creativity and productivity not experienced in my practice before. There is also a sense of freedom that comes with having a space that is large enough to accommodate an array of resources and materials, as well as several finished and unfinished sculptural works, both big and small. 

As someone who enjoys the solitude of an artist’s life, I must admit it has been lovely being part of an arts community where I don’t feel totally isolated in my studio practice. The rent offered at Jugglers in Tarragindi has also meant that I have been able to work and spend quality time in the studio without feeling financially strained. 

Glasshouse music - a reflection

Glasshouse has taken off as a venue of substance in the new music stakes in Brisbane. Run by Made Now Music team, Brodie Mcallister and Caleb Colledge the new space is leased from Queensland Investment Corporation by Jugglers Art Space Inc as a space for new music and emerging/mid career/established musicians in Brisbane. Since the Jugglers building at 103 Brunswick Street was sold in June 2018, new music that sits outside the mainstream oeuvre has had nowhere to lay its head. This new address at 33 Charlotte Street Brisbane CBD seems to be the perfect solution for the lack of new music performance rooms in Brisbane.

Opening night at Glasshouse - March 2, 2019

From where I sat in the visual arts at our Jugglers base in Fortitude Valley for the past 17 years my observation is that there has been a growth of new music in Brisbane over the past 5 years via the that space - and exponentially in other non-art spaces - and Luke Carbon's "Paint it Red" initiative  under the influence of Queensland Conservatorium luminaries and Clocked Out duo, Dr Erik Griswold and Dr Vanessa Tomlinson. One outcome of this growth has been The Stairwell Projectat the  Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital since June, 2015. http://www.jugglers.org.au/regularprograms/thestairwellproject

Paint it Red - Jugglers Art Space May, 2017

This past Thursday and Friday nights Brodie and Caleb hosted two remarkable gigs on a rolling schedule in April that has a rather giddying momentum! Thursday saw Brodie [ Trombone] and Caleb[Percussion] join Loni Fitzpatrick [ Harp] and Japan based percussionist Phil Treolar in two improv sets. The second set, conceived by Phil but "constructed" by the group and then performed out of that fluid understanding together, had a score not unlike artist friend, Mik Shida's geometric graffiti! Phil later told me he had been waiting 30 years for this evolutionary stage to arrive! It was worth the wait.

Mik Shida with his signature style wall art

The first non scored set was to me where the "magic happened" as the dissonant shaky start found its pathway in the dark until there was an obvious unspoken conversation between the four musicians until after 30 minutes - or was it more - the slide into silence left the audience in stillness, suspended in more questions and a hunger for the silence to continue. The silence was brought to us all by the sounds we had been immersed in. 

"Vista" Performance at Glasshouse

I have begun to realise that the consumption of music while appropriate for mental health, joy and a sheer immersion into a better world, can escape serious reflection. It was not difficult to write this as a kind of "Intersubjective Response" to this immersive soul affecting experience:

 A banging, hit, hit; 

Dissonance surprises, wack; 

Like leaves rustling 

Against the weatherboard house 

Against the casement window. 

Taken by the breeze, 

Voices in the drum, trombone, 

Plucking gut, eyes closed, 

Drumming rolls with fluffy sticks, 

Wow, wow muted calls, slow down. 

Around the edges 

The breeze takes over souls, minds, 

Bodies play, all in; 

No one knows the end just yet; 

But then it lands; gently; down. 

The end has floated; 

Nothing is complete; not yet; 

Silence is the breeze; 

Silence is infinity; 

Silence waiting; unending. 

Peter Breen 2019 © 

A response to Phil, Loni, Brodie, Caleb. 

Glasshouse Performance. 

April 4, 2019. 

Friday night's launch of Dr Erik Griswold'srecord, "Yokohama Flowers" - accompanied by Canberra based artist Loiuse Curham'sSuper 8 movies -  with support acts by Jodie Rottle[ New Work for Objects] and Sam Pankhurst[Double Base Beauty] had depths of allure and impact. The humour in Jodie's work, the virtuosic concentrated presence of Sam Pankhurst's base solo and the almost hour long piano solo performance by Erik while not evoking silence certainly had the room in raptures and applause. The future of new music in Brisbane is alive and well and has found a home for a while!

Sam Pankhurst

Erik Griswold

Peter Breen MA, BTh, ARMIT [Medical Radiography]

Co-Founder/Director: Jugglers Art Space.

Founder/Curator: The Stairwell Project.

www.jugglers.org.au

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