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Following the successful inaugural Sydney Sculpture Conference in 2016 which formed part of the 20th Anniversary Sculpture by the Sea celebrations, the 2017 conference featured leading international and Australian speakers who discussed the importance, impact, challenges and opportunities of ‘Sculpture: in public space’.
German based, European-wide ‘sculpture network’ was our 2017 international partner. As Europe’s leading platform for the promotion, development and facilitation of contemporary sculpture, ‘sculpture network’ worked with Sculpture by the Sea to program the conference and build its international profile.
Programmed to bring together artists, curators, collectors, academics, arts professionals & enthusiasts, the annual Sydney Sculpture Conference aimed to develop collaborative partnerships that foster creative ideas exchange between local, national and international sculpture and art communities; while raising the profile, interest and awareness of sculpture across Australia.
A diverse group of over 200 attendees in Sydney heard from keynote and invited speakers facilitated by Stephen Bradley, Manager Transfield Art Collection.
Zadok Ben-DavidZadok Ben-David is one of Israel’s best known artists, who has had major exhibitions across the globe. Dividing his time between London, Tel-Aviv and his studio in Portugal he works primarily as a sculptor often using hand cut metal techniques to produce figurative sculptures of monumental scale. His inspiration for pictorial expression derives from nature, science, magic and illusion. Prevailing ideas and experiences are linked to civilization and technology, but innovation and discovery brings the artistic notion of fantasy that converts his works into serious propositions concerning absurdity and the hope that is inherent in the human condition.
Since 1980 Ben-David has had over forty solo exhibitions, represented Israel at the 1988 Venice Biennale, had a sculpture commissioned for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and exhibited 17 monumental sculptures in the Singapore Botanic Gardens in association with Sotheby’s in 2012.
Peter BoardmanPeter has 40 years’ experience as a practicing structural engineer, and has been the driving force behind Structure Design Ltd since he established the company in 1997. A recognised authority in innovative seismic structural design, Peter is known and respected for his ability to think laterally and arrive at new solutions to design issues. He has an intense interest in unusual and difficult structural engineering projects, and enjoys the challenges presented by such projects.
He has an impressive list of significant projects to his credit including being an intrinsic member of the team at Gibbs Farm, a private sculpture park north-west of Auckland, where he has managed the installation of over 20 monumental sculptures by some of the world’s leading artists such as Richard Serra, Anish Kapoor and Andy Goldsworthy.
The Wall Street Journal has rated Gibbs Farm amongst the best sculpture parks in the world.
Stephen Bradley is a New Zealand-born artist, curator, writer and Corporate Affairs Manager. He moved to Sydney in 1983 and studied film at the School of Visual Arts. In 1988 he travelled to London where he worked as an artist, photographer, performer and director. In this time in London he was a trustee of two arts charities: The Art House and Cor Blimey Arts, which led to his curatorial work, highlights being group exhibitions at the European parliaments of Brussels and Strasbourg.
Relocating to Sydney in 2000 he joined Transfield Holdings as the company’s Art Collection Manager, a role he continues. From 2005 to the present he has also been Transfield Holdings’ Corporate Affairs Manager. In 2008, Transfield launched its Walsh Bay Sculpture Walk, which he continues to manage. Stephen recently completed a five-year stint as a Director of Regional Arts NSW, has been a member of the Transfield Foundation’s Advisory Committee.
James DiveJames Dive is an internationally recognised installation artist, director and co- founder of Scoundrel Projects, a studio dedicated to bringing bold, unconventional ideas to life. Dive’s multi-disciplinary approach to creativity has seen his work appear everywhere from contemporary art shows in Miami to billboards in Iraq. Dive’s creative practice has been the subject of critical acclaim throughout his career including a Grand Prix at Cannes, three Cannes Gold Lions, and the recipient of the Major Art Award presented by Jens Erik Sørensen, the Director of ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Denmark.
Dive was quoted as ‘the highlight of Miami Basel’ by the Guardian and in 2014 Dive was chosen for the cover of Wild Art, a Phaidon publication celebrating artists who challenge the perimeters of the established art world.
His work includes the iconic melted ice cream van ‘Hot With the Chance of a Late Storm’ shown at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, and the infamous raining house ‘I Wish You Hadn’t Asked’ which attracted (and soaked) huge crowds at Sculpture by the Sea, Arhus in Denmark.
A recipient of the 2017 Helen Lempriere Scholarship, Harrie Fasher is an Australian artist making her mark in sculpture. She works from Oberon, NSW, and is represented by King Street Gallery on William, Sydney. Her studio, a hive of activity, produces large-scale steel sculptures that embody tension and movement. She utilises both abstraction and figurative form, predominately the horse, to convey her message. Working with steel as her primary medium, the sculptures are drawings in three dimensions that elicit an emotional response from the viewer.
The mental and physical power of the horse is core to Harrie’s work; it belies her history as an equestrian athlete. The sculptures display an innate knowledge of the animal; nuances of the horse and the unique bond between horse and human.
Harrie has work in public and private collections both within Australia and internationally. She has an extensive exhibition history, with a seminal sculpture central to the National Museum of Australia’s ‘Spirited; Horse in Australia’ Exhibition and inclusion in four consecutive Sculpture by the Sea exhibitions. Critical acclaim, appointment to the National Art School’s teaching staff, and numerous scholarships and residencies reiterate the strength and vitality of Harrie’s work and her commitment to further developing her creative practice.
www.kingstreetgallery.com.au/artists/harrie-fasher/
Matthew Harding was a multi-disciplinary Australian artist engaged in a diverse practice spanning sculpture, public art and design. From his workshop in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Matthew designed and fabricated large-scale works exploring structure, natural geometries and the presence of form in the landscape.
In 2014 Matthew was awarded the prestigious McClelland Award for Sculpture for his suspended work ‘Void’. He was selected as a finalist in numerous national sculpture surveys including the McClelland National Sculpture Survey and Award; the National Sculpture Prize; the Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award and has exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea seven times, being awarded a Helen Lempriere Scholarship in 2010.
Matthew produced large-scale civic sculpture since 1986 and completed numerous significant commissions for federal, local and overseas government, corporations, hospitals, universities and public spaces. Matthew’s work is held in many public, private and corporate collections nationally and internationally.
Claire Healy is a sculptor and installation artist who works primarily in collaboration with her partner, Sean Cordeiro. The duo has spent much of their artistic careers travelling and this nomadic lifestyle plays a central role, with many of their works referencing home and permanency.
Claire and Sean’s work has been included in group exhibitions including Belgium, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, New Zea- land, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, Taiwan, the UK and the USA.
They represented Australia at the 53rd Venice Biennale, 2009, curated by Felicity Fenner. They took park in the 5th Auckland Triennale, curated by Hou Hanru in 2013. Public collections include The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, MCA, Sydney, AGNSW and GOMA, Queensland.
Claire and Sean have exhibited four times at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi since 1999.
Michael lectures on modernist, contemporary and Australian art, as well as other specialist areas such as classical architecture, sculpture and 17th century painting. His research interests include sculpture, Baroque art, portraiture, and art historical methodology.
Michael has been associated with Sculpture by the Sea since 2009 as curator and artistic advisor for the Bondi and Cottesloe exhibitions.
Hannah Hoyne is a sculptor, performance artist, researcher and lecturer. Her off- beat and surreal mixed media sculptures and installations contemplate an abiding interest in the human condition and our attempts at defining our conscious world.
She completed her PhD in Visual Art with fieldwork in India, Singapore and Malaysia at the Australian National University of Canberra in 2009, following a Master of Fine Art by Research at RMIT University of Melbourne in 2004 and a Bachelor of Fine Art with First Class Honours at the Australian National University of Canberra in 1996.
Hoyne has showcased her work in many solo and group exhibitions since 2002 and has received several notable awards and achievements such as the 2002 University Mobility Asia Pacific Scholarship to Korea, the 2004 Arts ACT Project Grant for A Cage Opera and residency funding at the Kuenstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Germany, 2010, exchange scholarships to Kyoto and Paris and she was a recipient of the 2016 Helen Lempriere Scholarship after her inaugural showing at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi. Hanna will also be exhibiting at this year’s Bondi exhibition.
Maaretta Jaukkuri studied English philology and art history at the University of Helsinki and went on to be Head of exhibitions at The Nordic Arts Centre, Suomenlinna, Helsinki. Jaukkuri is the former chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki where she was in charge of the exhibitions program and has freelanced as curator for the Nordic pavilion at the Venice Biennale, the European section of the Saõ Paulo Biennale and the ARS Baltica Prologue exhibition in Kiel.
Since 1989, Maaretta Jaukkuri has been the curator of the international sculpture programme ‘Artscape Nordland’. The project consists of 36 permanent site-specific sculptures by international artists in the remote and beautiful county of Nordland in North Norway. The project was granted the main cultural award by the Norwegian Cultural Foundation in 2015. At present Jaukkuri is curating a sculpture park on the theme of ‘Seasons’ in the area around the Hanasaari Cultural Centre in Espoo and is also engaged in the International Vasarely public art competition in Budapest, Hungary. She has also written articles and books on contemporary artists and art and has organised international seminars in Finland and Norway.
Virginia KingVirginia King’s interest in mythology and environmental concerns are major influences in her work. Her sculpture ranges in scale from fragile book-works, floating artworks, to large-scale permanent installations.
International commissions include Reed Vessel, an installation eighteen metres in length in Melbourne Docklands and Willinga Plume, ten metres in height, recently installed at Canberra Airport. Public artworks in New Zealand include the David Lange Memorial, Otahuhu, Auckland; Woman of Words, the Katherine Mansfield Sculpture in Wellington’s Lambton Quay and Hinaki Guardian on Hobsonville Wharf in Auckland.
During the Rising Seas-Floating Land Symposium in 2009 at Lake Cootharaba, Queensland, she created an installation of ‘word strings’ floating at the lake edge and suspended from paper bark trees. This aspect of her practice offers an interactive and experiential relationship to her work and to the eco system in which these works are placed.
Virginia’s vessel forms become symbols of exploration and migration, of nurturing and protection, symbols of life and survival. The objective of these works is to bring to the attention of the viewer, the fragility of our environment, and the global need for stewardship and conservation.
After his career in the Finance Industry, Ralf decided to focus his efforts within the not for profit sector and work primarily on his passion – sculpture. Along with other sculptors and art enthusiasts he founded sculpture network in 2004. Driven by the challenge to enhance the profile of contemporary sculpture, he created one of the largest organisations dedicated to the promotion and development of sculpture in the world. Ralf is a passionate collector of sculpture and contemporary art.
André is an entrepreneur and digital strategist. Always guided by his passion for the digital world he first started out as a blogger and digital consultant. He went on to work for a member of European Parliament, but quickly realised that his passion for communication and the lack of digital expertise in the non-profit sector offered him the opportunity to help NPO’s to get ready for the digital age. In 2015 he started helping to restructure sculpture network by adding a for profit branch which is partly owned by the non-profit organisation and the employees in order to create a lasting organisational structure for the future.
Louise Paramor graduated from the Western Australian Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting in 1985 and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Sculpture at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1988. Louise has regularly exhibited her work nationally and internationally, and has been awarded several grants and international residencies including an Australia Council Fellowship at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, 1999-2000. In 2010 she won the prestigious McClelland Sculpture Survey and Award.
The artist is well known for her large-scale public art commissions, which often combine formal concerns with a pop-inspired sensibility. Recent commissions include Panorama Station, Peninsula Link Freeway, Melbourne (2012), and Feeling Machines, Bowden Main Park, Adelaide (2016). Recently the NGV has invited Louise to take over a dedicated space of The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia with a specially commissioned installation involving a multitude of new paper sculptures that reference Louise’s earlier artistic practice, in conjunction with a survey of her recent colourful plastic assemblages. This exhibition, Palace of the Republic, is to commence on 17 November 2017, running until 18 March 2018.
Professor Lv Pinchang is a practicing artist and academic holding numerous positions in some of China’s leading arts organisations, associations and institutions. He is currently the dean and doctoral supervisor of the sculpture department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Lv Pinchang is also Vice Chairman of the China National Urban Sculpture Association; Vice President and Secretary General of the sculpture committee of the Chinese Artists’ Association and Deputy Director of the Arts Council of the National Urban Sculpture Guidance Committee.
Since 2010, Lv Pinchang has directed the “Summer of Steel” China International Youth Metal Sculpture Symposium and was the curator of the 3rd China International Sculpture Biennial held in 2015. Lv Pinchang has exhibited internationally since 2002 in USA, Norway, Korea, Japan, France and China.
Jess was the founding director of Vivid Ideas, and has curated events including Junket, TEDxSydney and Curating Participation. As a Public Art Curator her projects include Green Square Library and Plaza, 60 Martin Place and Barrack Place, and public realm activations at Quay Quarter Sydney.
Councillor Scully was elected to the City of Sydney Council in September 2016 as part of the Clover Moore Independent Team. In her role as Councillor, Jess is drawing upon her experience a creative industries expert, event director and public art curator, with over fifteen years’ experience in publishing, events, policy and cultural strategy. Through her projects, she uses creativity and the arts to engage communities in our knowledge economy, and with the public realm.
We offered an optional ‘day two’ of the conference on 3rd November which featured two walking tours to provide further opportunities for delegates to explore themes and continue discussions that arose during the conference. The details are as follows:
Guided Walking Tour of some of Sydney’s Significant Public Artworks
9.30am – 11.30am
Cost: $28 per person
Meet outside of the Art Gallery of NSW
The tour included works by artists such as Brett Whiteley AO, Jenny Holzer, Janet Laurence & Fiona Foley, Daphne Mayo, James Angus, Anne Graham, Harry Seidler AC OBE, Bert Flugelman and many more.
Guided Walking Tour of Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2017
1.30pm – 3.30pm
Cost: $28 per person
Meet in Tamarama Park
N.B. The coastal path has several stairs and uneven ground.
Both tours were led by conference master of ceremonies Stephen Bradley, Manager of Transfield’s Art Collection. Stephen has a wealth of experience and knowledge and has worked with Sculpture by the Sea hosting exhibition tours for the past three years.