News and Media

Alana Hunt

en masse, 2016

The good ol days of travelling… when the family would all pack into the freshly cleaned Camry, surrounded by bags and belongings. 40 minutes down the road we’d already be opening the chip packets there to keep us kids satisfied, only to have them gather around our feet and pressed into the carpet. After a while we’d get sick of chatting, playing games – throwing chips at one another and would just look out the window, watching the empty, dry, grassy planes pass by.

 

On one of these occasions in the early 2000’s there was a locust plague in regional NSW, this time the landscape wasn’t empty, but swarming with life, a beautiful and destructive spectacle that enveloped us (inside our car) En Masse for hours. Alana Hunt’s work evokes memories like these; of being caught in unprecedented times, between seismic forces and of feeling isolated; but only for a time. Now, as I work from home during the current pandemic and look out my window, hand plunged in a packet of chips, Alana’s work reminds me that these things are seasonal and that sometime soon as life returns back to normal, I might again resume travelling.

Staff Pick - Jack Harman

Meet the Artbank team

Jack Harman - Programme Officer/ Artwork Technician

Jack Harman is an artist, independent curator and daydreamer based in Sydney. He joined the Artbank team in 2018 as an Artwork Technician, using his extensive knowledge as an artist and installer he is able to install just about any artwork on any wall. 

His own arts practice is primarily a means to negotiate his internal curiosities and wonderings within a broader sociological and ecological context. Each project is conceptually driven, determining the choice of method and materials of investigation, with a particular interest in the photographic as translator of experimental processes, as well as his formative childhood years – he has produced sculptural installations, photographic, video and research based works.

Recent solo exhibitions include Waiting for Cache… (2019) and I think in pictures, you teach in words (2019) and selected group and curatorial projects; Photomechanical (cur, 2020) and New Lifeworld (cur, 2018). 

Artbank is pleased to present

Artist Talk: The Work of Art 

Curated by Sabrina Baker and Anja Loughhead as part of the Artbank Emerging Curator program - The Work of Art brings together a selection of works from the Artbank collection that interrogate our relationship to art and traditional notions of labour. The exhibition holds a mirror to the perceived value of arts practice in contemporary Australian society and fiercely champions its sustained and celebrated place within it.

Join curators Sabrina Baker and Anja Loughhead, and artist Darcey Bella Arnold as they discuss the physical, conceptual, material and emotional exertion tied to creative production and the importance of placing value on the - work of art.  

Event Details

What: Exhibition Public Program.

Artist Talk: The Work of Art 

When: Saturday 22 May 2021

Time: 12pm – 3pm

Program

12-1pm Exhibition viewing

1-2pm Curatorial walk through and discussion featuring, exhibition curators Sabrina Baker, Anja Loughhead along with artist Dacey Bella Arnold

2-3pm Exhibition open

Where: Artbank Melbourne, 18-24 Down Street, Collingwood, VIC

Image: Flys Alone Painting at Artbank Melbourne.

Banner Image: The Work of Art, Artbank Melbourne, 2021, photo by Christian Capurro

More information

Contact Artbank

Phone: 1800 251 651

 

20/20: Shared Visions

40 years of Contemporary Australian Art

Artbank Sydney - 20 November 2020 to 31 March 2021

Digital Catalogue available to download 

Artbank Artist Profile

Jodie Whalen  

Artbank is excited to announce a new acquisition by Sydney based multidisciplinary artist Jodie Whalen. Artbank recently invited Jodie in for a socially distanced chat about the acquisition of her work 'Sky Chamber I' and what it means as to be part of the Artbank Collection. It felt more important than ever to connect with artists inside the Artbank Collection and hear about the artists they admire, that excite them, that make them smile and that drive them to make work. 

"Artbank acquired my work a few months back, in 2020, which I have to say came at an excellent time. Like a lot of people 2020 has thrown a lot of set backs, postponements and cancelations and I found myself really not knowing what was coming next or what was coming up. So to have Artbank purchase this work was a nice grounding experience and it gave me some confidence to keep working."

Jodie Whalen

Working across experimental performance, installation video and photomedia, Whalen's work excavates the everyday, appropriating her own personal history and popular Western culture into symbolically dense immersive environments that encourage inward reflection for viewers. She draws on the concept of ritual as a signifier of the art making process and creates spaces that engage viewers in an all encompassing, multisensory cocoon. 

'Sky Chamber I' was part of a larger installation in the Create NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship at Artspace, Sydney, which incorporated collage, video and aromatic scents to create a space for the contemplation of Love. The work was also selected as a finalist for the Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award 2019. This work will be available through Artbank's leasing program soon!

Thanks Jodie for coming in and sharing your story with us!