HIGH TIDE
new currents in art from Australia and New Zealand
14th February-9th April 2006
Zacheta National Gallery of Art
Pl. Malachowskiego 3
00-916 Warsaw, Poland
tel. ( 48 22) 827 58 54
www.zacheta.art.pl
rzecznik [at] zacheta.art.pl
In response to a Zacheta Gallery invitation, Callum Morton Melbourne based artist, recalled his student period when he used to eat At Helens Soup Kitchen, a diner operated by a Polish immigrant, and taught the owners kids English. In a reference to his earlier projects that touched upon the history of architecture loaded with meaning, Morton decided to bring Helens Soup Kitchen back to Poland. The project will take place near the Zacheta Gallery building, in the run-down modernist pavilions in the centre of Warsaw, now mostly housing exotic fast-food bars serving the kind of cuisine that has recently won the favour of Warsaws open-minded street clientele. A selection of Polish style cakes, coffee and tea will be waiting for hungry passers-by, and will certainly delight Varsovians giving a tour of Warsaw to their foreign friends, as it has recently become difficult to find a restaurant serving traditional Polish cuisine here. Thus the circle will be completed Polish cuisine will be brought back to Poland by a leading Australian artist who, in his student years, was catered for by a Polish immigrant.
The Callum Morton project will take place between 13th and 18th of March.
In the frame of it Warsaw based artist Oskar Dawicki will make his intervention On an Antipodean Side-road: My Australia.
HIGH TIDE is a bi-national survey exhibition presenting work by 32 artists and two collectives from Australia and New Zealand. It is the first major exhibition of its kind presented in Poland and the largest-scale exhibition combining artists from both nations staged internationally. The exhibition presents work across a range of media including drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, video and performance. HIGH TIDE is loosely framed by three themes Popular Visions, the Suburban, and New Outlooks and collects three generations of artists. The exhibition aims to introduce Polish audiences to contemporary art from Australia and New Zealand and reflect upon culture from both countries in an insightful and humorous fashion.
Artists presented at the exhibition:
Brook Andrew, Guy Benfield, Mladen Bizumic, Lisa Crowley, Bill Culbert, Destiny Deacon and Virginia Fraser, Ex de Medici, Mikala Dwyer, Shaun Gladwell, Matthew Griffin, A.L.A.N. Hsu, Peggy Napangardi Jones, The Kingpins, Maddie Leach, Daniel Malone, MINIT (Jasmine Guffond and Torben Tilly), Tracey Moffatt, TV Moore, James Morrison, Callum Morton, Ani ONeill, Michael Parekowhai, Patricia Piccinini, Rachel Rakena, Scott Redford, Ann Shelton, Jim Speers, Kathy Temin, Yvonne Todd, Francis Upritchard, Ronnie van Hout, Suzann Victor, Louise Weaver, Boyd Webb
Exhibition Catalogue HIGH TIDE new currents in art from Australia and New Zealand
Polish/English versions
with contributions by Agnieszka Morawinska, Kestutis Kuizinas, Magda Kardasz, Simon Rees, Robert Drewe, Blair French, Simon During, Ihor Holubizky, Greg Burke, Brook Andrew and Scott Redford
including also an interview with the artists (Daniel Malone, Ani ONeill, Michael Parekowhai) by curators Magda Kardasz and Simon Rees.
Publishers: Zacheta National Gallery of Art/Warsaw, Contemporary Art Centre/Vilnius
The exhibition is co-organized with the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body and has been supported by Creative New Zealand Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa.
Special thanks for the Australian and New Zealand Embassies in Poland for their support in producing the exhibition.
