Artistic Director of the 19th Biennale of Sydney, Juliana Engberg has revealed details for the Asia Pacific’s largest contemporary visual arts event, to be presented free to the public from 21 March until 9 June 2014 at five venues across Sydney.

With more than 90 artists from 31 countries, Engberg commented at an event held at the Sydney Opera House: “At its heart, the 19th Biennale of Sydney celebrates the power of artistic imagination. You Imagine What You Desire is an optimistic biennale that presents an exploration of the world and contemporary aesthetic experience through the inventions and desires of well-known artists, as well as many exhibiting in Sydney for the first time.”

Marah Braye, Chief Executive Officer, Biennale of Sydney added: “Juliana Engberg is curating a much-anticipated exhibition that will be remembered by audiences for many years to come. We are thrilled to be working with a group of exceptional artists, many of whom are developing new projects especially for Sydney.”

In addition to the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), venues for the 19th Biennale of Sydney include two heritage-listed locations: Carriageworks, a former rail yard; and Cockatoo Island, a former prison and shipyard in Sydney Harbour. The 19th Biennale will also present works at Artspace and include several performative projects in Sydney’s CBD.

Inspired by the exhibition title You Imagine What You Desire, Scottish artist Nathan Coley is creating a new multi-venue work. Known for his thought-provoking text-based installations constructed from lights and scaffolding, Coley’s works will be installed at various Biennale locations across the city.

Eglé Budvytytė, Choreography for the Running Male, 2012, performance, 30 mins.

Areas of the city will be infiltrated during the Biennale’s opening weeks with a range of performative works and events designed to alter the sense of the everyday. Lithuanian artist Eglė Budvytytė will activate busy streets with her work, Choreography for the Running Male (2012–14), in which a group of men run through the city gesturing emotions ranging from shame to seduction.

Douglas Gordon, Phantom, 2011 (video still), stage, screen, black Steinway piano, burned Steinway piano, monitor, dimensions variable.

At the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, the double-height gallery space will feature a site-specific video installation by renowned Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist, commissioned especially for the 19th Biennale. Elsewhere at the MCA, the Biennale will feature the work of acclaimed Scottish artist Douglas Gordon, the first artist to win the Turner Prize in the field of video. Gordon will present a large-scale, mixed-media installation featuring the haunting voice of musician Rufus Wainwright. The dramatic installation, Phantom (2011), takes the audience on a rapturous journey. Darkness and light, tragedy, and salvation through redemptive love are the ideas and emotions encountered here.

In 2014, the Biennale takes over the newly expanded space at Carriageworks, with works that explore the language, materials and narratives of the theatre and film worlds from which contemporary artists take inspiration for reinvention.

Artists at Carriageworks include Austrian artist Mathias Poledna; Israeli-born Yael Bartana; and Dutch artist Gabriel Lester. Working on a new commission and large-scale work, Lester will speak to the cinematic and its penchant for seductive illusion using modelling techniques and the unique architectural interior of the space. The Biennale of Sydney and Carriageworks will also co-present the world premiere of a new work by celebrated British artist Tacita Dean.

Artspace returns as a venue partner for the 19th Biennale, presenting work from artists including Ugo Rondinone, Maxime Rossi and Henna-Riikka Halonen.

See the full list of exhibiting artists here.

More: Website | Facebook | Twitter

A body of work by Liz Bradshaw which explored cybernetics as a metaphor for knowledge: or more precisely, for the idea that everything can be said through a series of zeros and ones.

Find out more about the project, and about the artist here.

There are 37 days left – get yourself featured in our 50×50 promotion and in the running for cash prizes. Find out how here.

Step into the streets of Sydney and feel an inviting hum of wonder blaze around you. Wide city streets, full of activity, slowly spread out into magnificent yacht filled bays weaving around the meandering coast. Made up of many different areas, Sydney is an incandescent mesh of sundry villages. Each part has its own distinctive residents, atmosphere and elusive forms of creativity waiting to be discovered: galleries hidden in residential areas, markets by the beach, and pop up designer boutiques in bars or abandoned shops.

The scaffolding of art and design societies here is constantly expanding and interchanging. Everything feels new and exciting; almost raw. Waterloo, Paddington and Surrey Hills are home to some super galleries in Sydney.

Ambush Gallery in Waterloo recently held THE KEG SHOW, an exhibition of beer kegs designed by twelve artists. Sponsored by the Element Advocate programme, THE KEG SHOW was curated by Rick Bannister with each sale going to a charity of the artist’s choice.

Another superb exhibition was on recently at China Heights Gallery in Surrey Hills. THIS IS HOW WE ROLL was a group exhibition organised by J’aime Fazackerley by 24 Australian and international artists who share a common love for skateboarding and its culture.

Claire Orrell had some beautiful work at this show:

I loved her work so asked for some details about her life and work. This is what she said; ‘I hail from London, but have been out in Sydney for just over 4 years. I studied Graphic Design at Nottingham Trent and then worked in an agency in the UK for 3 years. Then I came over here on a working holiday visa as a challenge to myself to try and and live in another country and ended up staying. I freelanced for the first year and then got a job doing the design for the Museum of Contemporary Art where are stayed for 3 years. In March this year I went back to working in a commercial design studio. I miss working in the arts but I wanted a mix of clients again.

Recently though, although I get to work on a lot of illustrative projects through my day job, I’ve really wanted to start creating my own work. I’ve had some freelance contracts over the last 6 months where I’ve got to explore this and I’ve also started doing my own artwork again. I only just got my residency and a series of 6 month contracts at the MCA made me feel very unsettled. I’m so glad I’ve started again, It makes me feel so happy and inspired (i’m sure you know the feeling!). I’m also exploring animation and my housemate (a filmmaker) and I recently got into the top 5 of an animation competition at Sydney Opera House, you can view it here: http://play.sydneyoperahouse.com/index.php/graphic/868.html

I’m hoping to be able to develop this side of my work more in future and to continue to evolve my own creative practice.’

There was also some great work by Lewis (Dr Dolomite) Buttle, Gibson Fox, J’aime Fazackerley and Leo James.

Another good place for exploring is Paddington, a beautiful residential area in Sydney, packed with buried delights. The Saturday markets are filled with young designers and the whole area is dotted with brilliant shops and galleries. You can also have a game of lawn bowls, which is surprisingly popular with young people here. It also leads to Rushcutters Bay, where you can have pancakes and watch the boats come and go.

The best part about working in Sydney is that you can live on the beach, watch the waves roll in while eating breakfast, surf every day if you like, and still feel the glow of that not-so-distant hum. It is not easy to find the hidden gems of Sydney, but the hush-hush is exceedingly endearing.

//////////

My Creative Scene is an insight into different creative & cultural happenings in cities where your members and readers live. Browse through more insider guides here or contact us to write about the arts scene where you are.

]]> https://thisiscentralstation.com/my-creative-scene/mcs-sydney/feed/ 0