Kids Art Festival 2011

Visitor numbers were up and the rain stayed away, the Kids Art Festival 2011 was another full-on day of art classes, performances and fun.

Most art classes were held in the sheds this year and as such, they were a bustle of non-stop creative activity which lasted all day, an impressive feat of stamina from our brilliant teachers and their assistants.

The performance stage was a real highlight, showcasing the talented music and performance groups from local primary and intermediate schools. Other groups such as Lil Saints blew the crowd away & MC’s Kasina and Taups from New Native Dance Company did a great job of keeping the crowd entertained between acts.

Well done to the schools who participated in the ‘Proudly Kiwi’ exhibition displaying some real originality and ability with the visual arts. Schools involved this year were: Bruce McLaren Intermediate, Royal Road School, Kelston Int School, Rangeview Intermediate, Te Atatu Intermediate School, ACG Sunderland School (Primary & Intermediate), Western Heights School, Henderson Intermediate, Sunnyvale School, Peninsula Primary, Henderson Valley Primary, Henderson North Primary, Glen Eden Intermediate, Nga Kakano Christian Reo Rua Kura, Glen Eden Primary, Swanson Primary, Green Bay Primary/ Intermediate, Konini School.

Thanks to the Children’s librarians for their wonderful story time, Captain Fantastic and his mobile library & the Henna & face painters.
And a huge thank you to our excellent volunteers who came from Massey High School and Waitakere College.

We hope to see everyone again next year!

Art classes in the Sheds

MC's Kasina and Taups on the performance stage

Backstage

Schools art exhibition

Story Time with Auckland Library Children's Librarians Christine and Erica.

Captain Fantastic

Our excellent volunteers from Massey Highschool and Waitakere College.

Interactive sound installatio in the old Corbans wine vats by Sound Artist Sam Morrison.

Dampa bread with Riki Bennett.

Local Talent II

Students test their flying machines in 'Leonardo Always Wanted to Fly' class with tutor Eilis Galuszewski

A selection of art from the talented students who took part in our recent Children’s Easter Holiday Classes.

We would like to credit the individual artists, so please comment (below) if you recognise any of the artworks.

Life-sized self portraits with a difference with Tutor Mandy Patmore

The Enchanted Ocean with Tutor Boe Busch

The Enchanted Ocean

Oh What a Circus! with tutor Claire Hey

Oh What a Circus!

Maintenance work on the estate

On Monday the major maintenance work to the buildings of Corban Estate kicked off. Work is going to include re-roofing some of the buildings, earthquake strengthening and improvements to some of the infrastructure services below ground, such as water supply and sewage.

On the whole, CEAC is operating ‘business as usual’ fitting our classes and events around the work. However many of our artists have to vacate their studios while their roofs are being fixed, and (as pictured) the Pop-up Café is now camped in Shed 2, a VAST warehouse on the estate. Here they are, nicely set up in the left corner, keeping company with the whale.

Open Studio Weekend @ CEAC

A busy, rewarding weekend – if a little wet.
Photos in no particular order...

In conclusion

Rachael McKinnon reviews Selene Simcox: In Residence

After completing her BFA at Whitecliffe College Arts and Desgin, Selene Simcox is now in the
second year of her Masters of Arts Management.

The exhibition on March 11 was the culmination of her period as artist in residence at the Manthel van Reijn Studio. And it was her residency in the studio that was key to her artistic output.

Simcox's pieces negotiate the space within which she worked. There is a sparse, breeze-block, concrete and steel interior area and a modern courtyard with large concrete slabs on the exterior. Simcox collapses these boundaries by bringing textures from each area respectively into the other space.

By applying duraseal to the courtyard tiles and using a squeegee of warm grey paint to capture the surface, she is able to bring the surface inside and adorn the walls of the studio space. Inevitably, through the vehicle of Simcox herself, a human, organic and kinetic element is transferred onto the industrial texture. This also occurs as she paints onto vinyl on the breeze-block brick surfaces. The brick outlines are clearly visible but so is the curving of the squeegee held by the artist's hand; so is the dripping of the paint and the inconsistencies of pressure.

Simcox's work derives its meaning from the materials and processes that, in creating it, are employed. The Duraseal creates painterly illusions that cover adhesive factory-made building materials. The process creates dynamism and aesthetic, visual texture. The exhibit is not tactile, but serves to satisfy aesthetically. The sewn pouf installed outside on the courtyard as a means of creating some indoor space outside, invites touching and invites collapsing into - and yet its purpose is derived from the way it has escaped its boundaries as a indoor household item. More so, I think it becomes a significant element of hand-made labour nestled amongst the rigid lines of modern architecture.

There is a transience in the works. By imprinting - a nostalgic act for many people who have made rubbings of various textures when they were children - there is a documentation of textures that may one day be destroyed or changed. The imprints capture these surfaces as they were in one particular moment and then they are solidified as documented art. The textural repetition, created by her squeegee impressions of the various textures, prompts the viewer to consider the spaces they occupy and the textures that surround. These are textures that may once have resided in many people's blind-spots and are now being elevated through process. Yet, in repetition there is an emphasis on Simcox's role as artist - the way her hand is at work through each application of paint and the naturalistic movements juxtaposed against modern industrial and commercial spaces.

Selene Simcox in Residence at Manthel van Reijn Studio 2011

Selene Simcox Jump 2011 Acrylic on vinly 1220 x 300mm

Selene Simcox Repeat Repeat & Sideway Glances Acrylic on vinyl 1080 x 1240mm

Selene Simcox Repeat & Jump 2 2011 Acrylic on vinyl

Selene Simcox Sidewalk 2011 Acrylic on Duraseal on board 800 diameter

Selene Simcox Sidewalk 2 2011 Acrylic on Duraseal on board 570 x 600mm

Selene Simcox Untitled 2011 Acrylic on vinyl, polystyrene balls 1300mm diameter

Thrash it out in the creative moshpit @ ART Generator Network*

A series of events for entrepreneurial people working in the creative sector, talking about some of the big issues and bringing them down to earth.

We’re back, we're bold, we're loud and we're proud. ART Generator Network has taken some time out to restock and have four events where we'll thrash some things out - some could say entirely appropriate, as we are hosting these events on K’Rd… Our first event is:

Good luck is hard work
with Otis Frizzell and Qiujing Wong
Good luck is a collision of preparation, timing and connections - that's how a creative career evolves. Hear from Otis Frizzell and Qiujing Wong about their 'lucky' careers.
See below for more about Otis and Q…

Wednesday 13 April, 6.00 to 9.00 pm
@ The Function Room [Club Seven], upstairs at The Family and Naval, cnr Pitt St and K Rd
Come for a drink and some nibbles, a great time, some excellent networking and an inspiring room full of smart, creative people!
Tickets ($25) are limited! Get yours here

ART Generator Network | meet, network, know, grow & enjoy!
For more about the other fab guest speakers we have coming up, and tricky topics we are thrashing out, see here

ABOUT our marvellous guest speakers

Otis Frizzell is an artistic innovator, style leader, artist, hip-hop performer, radio personality, tattooist and graphic designer. Otis entered public life in his late teens as half of popular hip-hop duo MC OJ and Rhythm Slave. He has performed as Joint Force and Stylee Crew.
Otis has more than 20 years of public graffiti art experience. His first solo exhibition Opto 2000 produced with pop culture manipulator Mike Weston, marked the beginning of an innovative art production and management collaboration that has produced a playful and challenging stream of works, repeatedly setting a benchmark in artistic and technical achievement in the chosen media.
His work can be found at the Parnell Gallery, Lethams Gallery (Herne Bay) the Saatchi and Saatchi offices, Robbie Williams’ London management office IE Music, on KFC packaging, Breast cancer T shirts, Grand Prix Racing Cars, Drag Strips, Playstation Ads, numerous walls and backdrops, TV2 promos, record sleeves of pop artists such as Che Fu and more recently Tiki Taane and Fat Freddys Drop.
His broadcasting partnership with Mark “Slave” Williams carried the duo into a long running Wednesday drive-time radio slot on 95bFM called The Wednesday Special and then to hosting the Base FM breakfast show. The duo’s radio celebrity transferred to television with the award winning Mo’ Show.
In early 2005, Otis abandoned TV celebrity and the offer of a fourth Mo Show series, to focus on art projects working out of The Area studio with Mike Weston as half of the Art Brand, Weston Frizzell. As a solo artist and art collaborator, Otis is now enjoying life as a full time artist, print-maker and illustrator.
Borderless is led by Qiujing Wong, an entrepreneur and social change agent. At a personal level, Qiujing is committed to creative excellence, authentic leadership and building strong and meaningful relationships. She has a degree in Commerce and a Post Graduate Diploma in Communications and continues to further her own development in areas of leadership, business and social change.

Borderless is a Social Change Agency dedicated to inspiring positive change through commercials, films and creative campaigns. Since 2005, the Borderless team has been committed to change in a number of ways with highlights that include; inspiring support for grandmothers in Africa, moving youth against drugs in North America, driving press freedoms in Nepal, creating better relationships with China and most recently leading change in New Zealand through the creation of New Zealand's first nationwide accessibility programme.

Pop-up Cafe at CEAC

Delicious Kokako coffee and a selection of light culinary delights are now available You can find the pop-up café at CEAC on Tuesday - Friday from 9.30am - 3.30pm and on Saturday
10am – 4pm with live music.

Richard Ingamells and Sarah Roberts

SELENE SIMCOX IN RESIDENCE

Manthel van Reijn Studio presents - SELENE SIMCOX IN RESIDENCE

Monday 21 February – Friday 11 March 2011
OPEN STUDIO: Monday 7 March – Thursday 10 March, 10am – 6pm
ONE NIGHT ONLY EXHIBITION: Friday 11 March, 5.30 – 7.30pm


Auckland artist Selene Simcox is in residence at Manthel van Reijn Studio (Mt Eden) from 21 February to 11 March and continues to explore the relationship between paint and vinyl and the role that performance plays in her work.

“There are workman-like approaches in this work, rules and boundaries evolve like a fairytale or narrative around the development of each artwork. These rules and boundaries are given form by measurement, time and props that provide the framework for creativity to move through”.

The vinyl surface allows for the fluid movement of painting-in-performance to act upon it. The paint is moved with a squeegee, tracing the artist’s performance, stripping painting back to the barest moment, leaving a mark that becomes the only evidence that the artist has been there.

Selene Simcox graduated from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design in 2009 and has exhibited at The Bluecoat (Liverpool, England), Massey School of Fine Arts (Wellington) and recently at Corban Estate (Auckland). This is her first solo show.

Selene Simcox at Manthel van Reijn Studio, Banklink House, 12 Normanby Road, Mt Eden, Auckland, 21 Feb-11 Mar 2011. Entrance through Normanby Road Foyer or the Edwin St Carpark.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Selene Simcox, selenes@clear.net.nz, mob: 021 169 9084, www.selenesimcox.wordpress.com

UPDATE:
Selene Simcox was recently interviewed by Amy MacKinnon from The Aucklander,and by Karley Feaver.