Jus' Drawn by proppaNOW

To be opened by the Minister for the Arts, Mr Peter Batchelor

7 August – September 2010
Opening Friday 6th August 6-8pm

"Drawing is something that we do. As Aboriginal people, as Blackfellas, drawing is something we all do. For proppaNOW, it is an action, a tool, and a mechanism that we use to communicate our feelings and ideas and it is the beginning of our art-making processes. It is a human trait to recognise or sense the personal in Drawing. Engaging in and with drawing is to acknowledge the uniqueness we each possess as people and as individuals. But spending time with these works is really a window into how we, as a group of artists interact and engage with each other. As proppaNOW, Jus' Drawn is about the energy, easy dialogue, and enthusiasm that our friendships and familiarity with each other generates. Jus' Drawn is then an idea of who we are, where our ideas are drawn from, where we position ourselves in the scope of what we think is ‘Australia'. Jus' Drawn is what we do and how we imagine ourselves." Vernon Ah Kee, proppaNOW, 2010.

Jus' Drawn is the first exhibition of drawings by the Brisbane based collective 'proppaNOW' to be shown in Melbourne. ProppaNOW consists of urban Aboriginal artists who have already won individual acclaim, Richard Bell, Vernon AhKee, Gordon Hookey and Laurie Nilsen, as well as formidable emerging artists such as Jennifer Herd, Andrea Fisher, Bianca Beetson and Tony Albert. ProppaNOW dispels the notion that indigenous art needs to be from a remote area to be 'authentic'.

In this exhibition the artists deal with a range of subject matter and emotions. From the raw personal reflections of Jennifer Herd who is responding to personal loss and grief to Gordon Hookey's animal drawings which are comments on the environmental destruction of the planet.

NETS Victoria will tour this exhibition to regional Victoria through the support of the Helen MacPherson Smith Trust.

For more information and images please contact Jan Duffy 03 9534 0099 or info@lindenarts.org

Linden Rewards Young Artists

Victoria Reichelt and Devon Atkins are both happy artists following the announcement of two awards at Linden on Friday 25^th September.

Richard Moore, Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival announced Reicheldt as the winner of 3rd and final Melbourne Airport Innovators Award. The Award is a trip to the 2009 Venice Biennale including accommodation and some spending money.

Reicheldt won the award for her exhibition, Bibliomania: The Bookshelf Portrait Project, which was part of the Innovators series of exhibition held at Linden in 2008.

"My practice investigates the painter's engagement with objects, and how the tension between painting and photography can be explored through studies of various collections of items. Objects that are either threatened or superceded by 21st Century culture and technology are examined through painting, so reflecting people's changing interests and examining broader cultural concerns."

Devon Atkins is a graduating Honours Student at Monash University in the department of Art & Design. She has won an exhibition in Gallery 5 at Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts as part of the Innovators program in 2010 Program. In addition to the exhibition she will receive a $250 artist fee. Founded by Linden - Centre for Contemporary Arts and the Department of Fine Arts, Faculty of Art & Design, Monash University this is the first year of the Linden Award.

For further information or images please contact Jan Duffy, Program Director, Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts on 9209 6794 or info@lindenarts.org

image: Victoria Reichelt,
Bibliomania: The Bookshelf Portrait Project
Innovators 3
15 August - 14 September 2008