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Q&A with the Volunteer Gallery Guides: Stephanie Watson

Stephanie Watson tells us about her experiences as a gallery guide.

What’s your background in art history and how did you get involved in being a gallery guide?

A book on great painters and great paintings which I saw as a child captivated my interest which has continued ever since. I have done several art history courses.  When I left full time work I wanted to put something back and for me guiding at the Gallery was the obvious choice.

Where do you get all of your information about the artists and their artworks for your tour?

There are many sources, books, our files, the internet and importantly the wonderful sharing of information by fellow guides.

Have you ever been to New York?

Yes, twice with plans to return. I think once you have been to New York it is very difficult not to find something special about it.  There is so much diversity, energy, enjoyment and relevance to our time.

Do you have a favourite piece in the exhibition?

I like Saul Leiter’s untitled photograph of a snowy street scene. I like the subtle interplay of colour, the emphasis on the abstract shapes with the gentle overlay of snowflakes.  The shapes and restrained colour remind me of a Morandi still life.

Do you have a favourite exhibition or piece of art that you have visited?

The Anish Kapoor at the MCA in Sydney is a lovely exhibition.  I also love the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence.  My favourite piece is Michelangelo’s “Pieta”.

Who is your favourite artist of all time?

That is a hard question – there are so many:  Medieval altar pieces, the Renaissance artists and sculptors to Degas’ horse racing paintings, Delacroix,  the Dutch painters, Turner, or in Australia Lloyd Rees and Brett Whiteley.

Other than AGWA, which is your favourite gallery that you’ve visited?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Which of the photographers in Picturing New York would you most like to invite to a dinner party?

Margaret Bourke-White – what stories she could tell! But I would be happy to host any of the photographers. I am entranced with this exhibition.  I never really thought much about photography and I have learnt a lot about New York the amazing photographers and photography itself.  It is also nice to remember that in Australia this exhibition is exclusive to our Gallery.

Taking flight: Katy Steele wows artbar

After a good few days of suffocating mid-April heat, the rain came down over Perth as the sun set on another humid autumn day. The drizzle heralded the first ARTBAR event for 2013 and the homecoming of Perth sweetheart, former Little Birdy frontwoman Katy Steele.

Having called Brooklyn home for the past 2 years, Katy was the perfect artist to perform as part of the Picturing New York exhibition. The concourse was opened to a sold out crowd, who enjoyed a wander through the exhibition before the night’s musical delights. Ben Witt of The Chemist was first to take the stage, captivating the audience with a powerful performance. His set ranged from soft and soulful storytelling to gritty guitar riffs dripping with intensity. Meanwhile, VJ Zoo provided the atmospheric backdrop with their enchanting visual projections upstairs.

Katy Steele then took to the stage to the cheers of a delighted home crowd, who were raring to hear material from her soon to be released debut album. Steele told Side Street Sydney, “I’ve always loved the idea of NYC. The largeness, the intensity, the struggle. A lot of my idols have either come from New York or moved there at some point, so it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. There has never really been a chance in my life before now to have a break, or to pursue other directions.”  And the change brought – among other things – a new album and a new sound for Steele. Her debut album was inspired by living in Brooklyn. She says of finding this inspiration, “The album completely delves into me finding my current strength. I found myself over there.”

The pint-sized superstar took to the stage with a more refined 80s aesthetic than fans of Little Birdy might be used to, and this new look matched her punchy new synth-laden sound. New single Fire Me Up with its sensual sound and seductive melody showcased Steele’s powerful command as a solo artist.  Rocking an asymmetric patent leather mini skirt, gold lame halter and her signature long black bangs, Steele returned to her hometown in style. Her powerful and distinctive voice filled the Gallery, soaring over the 80’s synth, heady rhythms and pumping drums which dominate the new album release.

Long time fans were treated to a couple of Little Birdy classics during the evening. Relapse punctuated the performance of her new tracks, and Brother was welcomed by a roar of familiarity from the crowd as she returned for a well-earned encore. The audience were captivated by the energetic showcase of her new sound, and AGWA are among Katy’s hometown fans in our anticipation of her debut album.

Check out our exclusive interview with Katy here.

The next ArtBar event is Tex Perkins on 9 May.

Posted by Emma Kroeger

Photographs by Court McAllister

Slow Art Day set to provide diverse discussion and debate

Alan Ruda has a lot of questions – questions to which he does not purport to hold the answers.

They are at the heart of why he decided to become a volunteer gallery guide 11 years ago. Alan poses a few of these questions as AGWA sits down with him to learn a little more about the upcoming Slow Art Day to be held on Saturday 27 April at noon.

He has questions of ‘why? that he hopes to unpack in detail as part of this new initiative at AGWA. Slow Art Day will open up a forum of artistic discussion, allowing visitors to delve deeper into the stories behind a selection of photographs. It will be a “different way of experiencing a tour”, Alan says.

After an insightful stroll through the Picturing New York exhibition, Alan invites visitors to sit down over coffee to discuss the photographs – and the ideas they inspire – at great length. Alan calls the slow art day “a kind of art club – a book club for art lovers” in which he will be asking questions such as “What did you see?” “What did it mean?” and, “What is the message?”

Alan has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the stories behind the photographs in Picturing New York, and recounts from the top of his head stories which vary from Bourke-White’s experiences trying to document Gandhi’s funeral to an architectural history of some of New York’s greatest landmarks.

Alan talks of how the production of inexpensive cameras saw the birth of a kind of citizen journalism (one very different to the citizen journalism we see in social media today), and allowed people to document their own experiences of life in the Big Apple for the first time. This rich social history is at the heart of the street photography in Picturing New York, and, in turn, the discussions that Alan will be leading on Slow Art Day.

If you are interested in exploring the changing role of documentary photography in the 20^th century, the democratisation of the image-making process, or indeed, fundamental issues such as photography and truth, the Slow Art day is perfect for the analytical and enquiring mind.

Slow Art Day will be held 27 April at 12pm.

The tour will be free, but tickets to the exhibition must still be purchased. Tickets available here.

Posted by Emma Kroeger

Q&A WITH THE VOLUNTEER GALLERY GUIDES: Karen McKay

Karen McKay tells us about her experiences as a gallery guide.

Karen leads a tour group through Picturing New York

What’s your background in art history and how did you get involved in being a gallery guide?

I studied a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) and a Grad Dip Education (Secondary Teaching) at University. Then, after a stint teaching in various country schools I chose to leave the full-time system in order to return to the Perth metro area, where I commenced relief teaching. After teaching TEE Art History and arranging and accompanying school visits to AGWA, I decided to combine my ongoing art interest with my ‘freer time’ by applying to become a gallery guide as it was the perfect vehicle to continue my education/learning role whilst indulging my passion – art .

Have you ever been to New York?

Yes, in March/April 2012. I was lucky to visit MoMA and saw many of these photographers works in-situ, as well as the fabulous retrospective exhibition of Cindy Sherman. I found that just observing and existing in the metropolis of New York provided an awareness of the diversity and contradictions of humanity within the urban environment – an environment in which the Picturing New York photographers had carte blanche.

Is New York a particularly special place for you?

Absolutely, it is like the other great cities of the world such as London or Paris which you have seen so many times in various media and mediums. You already have an impression of the city before you even visit,  however, nothing ever beats ‘ground-truthing’, which is your total immersion in a city for an extended period of time.

Do you have a favourite piece in the exhibition?

Like all exhibitions that I tour, I tend to have a new favourite every fortnight. At the start of the exhibition it was ‘Welders on the Empire State Building’ by Lewis Hine – part of his iconic and heroic construction workers series. It is such a strong composition with all the design elements working.

This fortnight it is ‘Marion Anderson, contralto’ by Richard Avedon. A strong portrait which captures both the personality of the performer as well as the visual aesthetics of the photographer.

Do you have a favourite exhibition or piece of art that you have visited?

Paris, The Louvre, ‘Liberty Leading The People’ by Eugene Delacroix

Other than AGWA, which is your favourite gallery that you’ve visited?

The National Portrait Gallery, Canberra

More information about guided tours of Picturing New York  available here.

Posted by Emma Kroeger

Photographer Max Pam Talks Picturing New York

The story of Max Pam’s fascination with photography is one of travel, curiosity and an interest in different cultures. As the artist behind one of the latest photographic additions to the permanent collection, AGWA sat down with Max Pam to hear about his practice, and his experience of the  Picturing New York exhibition.

Max was inspired to experiment with photography after fleeing suburban Melbourne in his late teens in favour of international adventure. Wanderlust called, and his true passion for cultures was ignited in a journey from Calcutta to London by car. He then began studies at art school in London, where he learnt how to translate his passion for travel into photography. “It really fine-tuned my ability to work my sensibility for culture into visual media.”

Since then he has travelled for decades, documenting the way he interacts with the world. He says, “My process is driven by a continuum of interest in other people… travel is critical to my creative development. It’s part of the visual stimulation of a new environment and way I react to it.” Max’s first photographic show was held as part of the Arles Photo Festival in 1986, and to him it heralded his arrival in the creative industry.

He says of the Picturing New York exhibition, “It is an incredibly dense collection which maps MoMA’s history.” The exhibition showcases photographers that Max believes to be some of the great modern practitioners of the form. “All of the greats were either from New York, or worked there.”

The exhibition also gave Max the chance to see the work of Diane Arbus, a photographer who shaped his career after he serendipitously discovered her work in the art school library in 1970. “Up until the moment I discovered Arbus, photography was interesting to me but I didn’t know what I was doing. She taught me how to photograph.”

Arbus’ explorations in double portraiture were of particular interest to Max, who does a lot of autobiographical photography himself. Indeed, he is publishing a book entitled Double Portraits in Paris this year, along with another book, Supertourist, which anthologises photography from his travels.

Max Pam
Shadow Series (detail from the series of 26) 1971-1972
silver gelatin photographic prints
State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia
Gift of Dr Jann Marshall, 2002

See Max Pam’s work Shadow Series as part of Your Collection 1960-1980.

Posted by Emma Kroeger

Free Audio Tour with MoMA Curator of Photography, Sarah Meister

The images in the Picturing New York exhibition reveal the city’s diverse and dynamic history through the telling medium of photography. It’s hard to not be swept up in the romanticism and nostalgia of Lewis Hine’s snapshots of a burgeoning metropolis, or Weegee’s idiosyncratic documentary photography capturing kooky scenes in the night.

The exhibition is, however, not just a showcase of the city’s history. The individuals behind each photograph each have a personal story – of their methods, their interests, their triumphs and their failures. An insight into these histories grants each image a whole new depth of meaning.

Those who are intrigued to discover the mysteries of the lives behind the photographs will love the Audio Guide tour, led by MoMA’s own Curator of Photography, Sarah Meister. There is something extra special about hearing the stories behind the photographs, told with passion and lyricism by the New York based curator, who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of New York’s photographic history.

Download the free audio tour to your mp3 player or smartphone before you arrive, or listen online while you visit, with AGWA’s free wifi.

The complete audio guide tour is available for free here, or from the iTunes store.

Posted by Emma Kroeger

Q&A with Katy Steele

What inspired you to pack it all up and head to New York?
There was many reasons why I felt the desire to leave Australia. Most of the reasons were internal reasons, wanting to experience life and music without the support network of a whole band. I wanted to feel challenged, humble and feel like I could start again in more ways than one.

What is it about the city that draws creatives from around the world?
Not exactly sure, but probably the vast and colourful history helps. I think the feeling that you can start from scratch if you want is a huge factor. There is no city in the world like it.

How much was your forthcoming album inspired by living in Brooklyn?
All of it. The album completely delves into me finding my current strength. I found myself over there.

What was the inspiration for “Fire me up”?
It’s a very sexual song. It’s a lot about exploration and asking for what you want. It was the first song that really felt right for the new direction.

How will performing as part of the Picturing New York exhibition shape your performance?
It will be nice to see pics of my new adopted home on show. My bass player on the night is from New York so I’m sure she’ll be happy to check out the exhibition.

What kinds of distinct New York sounds can the audience hope to hear from you?
Heavy rhythms, dirty vocals and pumping drums.

Can you reveal any surprise covers that you will be playing?
Nope

You’re a pretty active presence in the Instagram world – what did you love about being able to capture and share your experiences of New York?
I love being able to share how I feel with just an image. I am a very visual person so it works out great for me.

What is the best place you have ever performed?
The Art Gallery of WA.  Also the State Theatre in Sydney was pretty rad.

As a Perth girl, what are you looking forward to about coming home and what do you love about Perth?
I love my family obviously. I am looking forward to being back in  the house I grew up in. But I also really miss the nature and open space. Really looking forward to doing the 13km  bike ride around the Swan river.

Q&A with the Volunteer Gallery Guides: Jenny Tomlinson

Jenny Tomlinson tells us about her experiences as a gallery guide.

What’s your background in art history and how did you get involved in being a gallery guide?

I have been interested in art since childhood, having visited AGWA regularly as a child with my family. I was a member of the Friends of AGWA for over 30 years before training as a guide. I also completed a Certificate in Art and Design at TAFE some years before becoming a guide.

Where do you get all of your information about the artists and their artworks for your tour?

This is gleaned from the internet, the guides library, files in the guides room, local library and own library of art books. We also have a study group from our training year who all work together on the various exhibitions, sharing our information.

Do you have a favourite photographs in this exhibition?

I have three favourites! Winter, Fifth Avenue 1893, Alfred Steiglitz. He waited in the snow for 3 hours to take this photo then printed it to resemble the impressionist paintings of the time. It is a soft image and he has succeeded in his goal in promoting photography as a fine art. I also loved how Lewis Hine captured his admiration of the strength and bravery of immigrant workers in Welders on the Empire State Building 1930. The composition truly captures the competition to construct the tallest building in New York and, indeed, the world. Brooklyn Bridge 1914  is also an amazing image. The composition is very pleasing with the rule of thirds evident. The fact that the photographer is unknown is a pity.

Which of the photographers in Picturing New York would you most like to invite to a dinner party?

I would invite Weegee (Arthur Fellig), who was quite a character from all accounts. He was the only photographer with a radio tuned to the police radio to make sure he was always at the action when it happened. Margaret Bourke- White would also be an interesting guest. She was a pioneer photographer in many ways as well. She was the first foreign photographer permitted to take photos of Soviet Industry, the first female war correspondent, the first female to work in combat zones and the first female photographer to work for Life Magazine. She took a photo of Gandhi in 1948 a few hours before he was assassinated and took a photo of Stalin smiling.

More information about guided tours of Picturing New York  available here.

Image Credits:

Unknown Photographer
Brooklyn Bridge c. 1914
Gelatin silver print
7 5/8 x 9 9/16″ (19.4 x 24.3 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
The New York Times Collection

Posted by Emma Kroeger

School competition winners inspired by gallery visit

Congratulations to the students of Spearwood Alternative School, the very lucky winners of the Sign Up Your School competition at AGWA. They won free tickets to the Picturing New York exhibition after they had the most members of their school community sign up to AGWA artmail than any other school in Perth. After hearing about the competition though a parent who is also a local Perth artist, art teacher Kerry Taylor got the school community involved through social media. As a school of only 100 students, the tightknit community truly got behind the competition, and their fabulous efforts paid off last week. Spearwood Alternative School has always been active in the AGWA schools programs, and this prize allowed the students of Years 5,6 and 7 to be treated to a special tour through Picturing New York, courtesy of us!

The kids had lots of questions for their tour guide, as well as their own ideas about the photographs and the city. Their favourite works were the portraits, and those that featured the iconic Brooklyn Bridge that they know so well. Kerry says of the students’ experience, “They loved it. A lot of them want to go to New York now!” They also really enjoyed the soundscape at the entrance, which Kerry describes as “a really sensory experience for the children” that really transports you to the New York of the past.

Picturing New York gave the students some stellar examples of the photographic techniques they have been learning in class – concepts such as the rule of thirds, perspective, depth, and even the question ‘what makes a photo good?’. The students were so inspired by their visit that they have now embarked on their own photographic challenge in class to ‘Picture the History of Their School’. Having seen some incredible street-photography capturing a city’s history at AGWA, they will now embark on their own project of exploring the history of their school, and bringing it to life through the magic of photography.

More information for schools interested in our education program available here.

Posted by Emma Kroeger

Greetings from New York

Central Park, New York

It has snowed a few times since I returned from Perth (here’s a picture I took in Central Park last week), and I find myself thinking wistfully about the coffee breaks we took during the installation of Picturing New York at AGWA, when the staff would convene outside in the Perth Cultural Centre and enjoy some lively conversation and the warm Australian air. I never quite figured out how to order a proper coffee in Perth, but I do have some advice for the winner of  the Check In Here to Check Out There competition about the differences between ordering coffee in these two cities (to begin with, no one will understand you if you use the words “flat” or “white”!).

Of course, there were other things I enjoyed about my trip to Perth (swimming at City Beach, exploring the map shop in Fremantle, and wandering around Kings Park over the weekend), but even if I had spent all my time in the Picturing New York galleries at AGWA I would have left happy. Lucy Harper did an amazing job of anticipating how visitors would experience the exhibition—how the cumulative and varied pictures of New York that the photographs offer might be enriched for an audience literally on the opposite side of the globe.  There are several significant details that most might take for granted, but that deserve special mention.  To begin with, one enters through a soundscape of New York City noises, and to anyone who has visited New York these will be very familiar.  When MoMA published the catalogue for Picturing New York, I made a selection of literary “pictures” of New York, and Lucy had the idea of including some of these enlarged on the gallery walls—something I had never done before, but which works very well within the space.  Again taking advantage of the unique gallery configuration at AGWA, Lucy suggested integrating several films (you can see some visitors enjoying one of these in her recent blog post), and we were mesmerized by these at the end of our long days with AGWA’s expert installation crew.

The talented and stylish Tika Bachu developed an iPad program that is also accessible within the galleries, and includes (among other things) interviews with several of my MoMA colleagues about our favorite places in NYC.  I could go on, but I’ll end with Lucy’s decision to paint the walls with large bands of paint ranging from deep grey for the earliest pictures in the exhibition, to clean white for the most contemporary work.  Coincidentally, I had been planning to paint the galleries at MoMA with similarly scaled bands of gray for Bill Brandt: Shadow and Light, which opened here earlier this month, and I believe anyone fortunate enough to visit both exhibitions will enjoy the parallel.

I hope everyone continues to enjoy the slice of the Big Apple on view at AGWA—we’re missing these treasures but it makes it all worthwhile to know how much audiences in Perth are appreciating them.

View the installation photographs from Bill Brandt: Shadow and Light through the New York Times online album.

Written by Sarah Meister, Curator, Department of Photography, The Museum of Modern Art.

Giovanni Di Dio, Sarah Meister and Jude Savage sitting on a park bench inside AGWA.

AGWA Director, Stefano Carboni, Sarah Meister and Lucy Harper in Picturing New York next to Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photograph Near the Hall of Records, 1947

AGWA staff mesmerised by the films in Picturing New York.

Sarah Meister speaking at the opening of Picturing New York.

Quotes, notes and anecdotes: Guided tours of Picturing New York

On Wednesday afternoon, I joined volunteer guide Leonie and some other members of the public for one of AGWA’s free tours* of Picturing New York.  As a self-taught art history buff, Leonie has been at the Gallery as a volunteer guide for six years, during which time she has taken countless tours of the space for many different special exhibitions.

As we began the tour, Leonie stopped us in the corridor to listen to the recorded sounds of New York while the photographs were still hidden from view. The hum of hundreds of voices was punctuated every now and then by a solitary shout or a police siren, as some early 20^th century swing music played in the background. The scene was set, and we emerged into the Picturing New York exhibition and were met by images of the burgeoning city at the turn of the 20^th century. The works of Jacob August Riis and Lewis W Hine depict an early New York unlike the one we know today. As Leonie points out, just as photography was beginning to grow, so too was the city of New York.

We wandered past Alfred Stieglitz’s expressive work, which took on such a quality because he and his contemporaries wanted their photographs to tell a story that stood up against the works of the Impressionist painters. As Leonie showed us Margaret Bourke-White’s interesting shot from the top of the Chrysler building, she gave us a behind-the-scenes look at how Bourke White captured the image, in a photograph of her teetering on the edge of the building to get the right shot.

Having already wandered through the exhibition, it was incredible to hear the anecdotes behind many of the images, which cast an entirely new light on the artworks. Learning that Weegee developed his photographs in the boot of his car, that Henri Cartier-Bresson duct-taped his chrome Leica for ease of concealment and that Dianne Arbus practically followed people home to get the right shot really brought the images to life.

Each of us seemed to have our own interpretation of individual photographs. As we stood as a group before each photograph, there was a great degree of speculation, and as Leonie puts it, “the joy is in the conjectures.”

Having had the opportunity to wander through the exhibition a few times, I have been drawn to something new each time. The guided tour, however, has been by far the most insightful and intriguing. Having the seemingly endless knowledge of an expert really helped contextualise the photographs, add to their mystery and provide new insights into the incredible lives of the photographers.

Free guided tours* are conducted every day (except Tuesdays) at 2pm, with family friendly tours conducted on the first Sunday of each month.

Full schedule available here.

*A ticket for entry into Picturing New York must still be purchased.

Posted by Emma Kroeger

Weegee (Arthur Fellig) (American, born Austria. 1899–1968)
Coney Island July 22, 1940
Gelatin silver print
10 5/16 x 13 11/16″ (26.2 x 34.8 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Anonymous gift

Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864–1946)
City of Ambition 1910
Photogravure
13 3/8 x 10 1/4″ (34 x 26.1 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Purchase
© 2012 Estate of Alfred Stieglitz / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Jacob August Riis (American, born Denmark. 1849-1914) Bandits’ Roost, 59 1/2 Mulberry Street 1888
Gelatin silver print
19 3/16 x 15 1/2″ (48.7 x 39.4 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York Gift of the Museum of the City of New York

AGWA welcomes a new generation of volunteer guides

AGWA’s trainee volunteer guides were all inspired to join the team for incredibly different reasons. Some are studying art history, some are successful artists themselves, and some have fostered a lifelong love of art history that they want to share with others. Many were inspired to become a guide after taking one of the dynamic and interactive Gallery Walk-in Tours for themselves, or after hearing about the joys of leading tours from their volunteer friends. Whatever their reasons to volunteer, the volunteer guide program enables people from all walks of life to share their knowledge, passion and enthusiasm with members of the public who are keen to learn more.

The new generations of guides that are welcomed at each intake continues a long tradition of volunteering at AGWA. For over 35 years, volunteers have played a vital role in the day-to-day activities at the Gallery. The Voluntary Guiding Scheme originated with a group of ten volunteers who came together in 1976 in order to research the Gallery’s history. In 1977 they were asked to escort groups of school children through major exhibitions and the following year their position was formalised. Today they number approximately 80, and are an integral part of the Gallery team.

AGWA has welcomed over 25 new guides for 2013, and their year-long training program is now well underway. The trainees meet at the Gallery each fortnight for a tailored program of lectures and discussions. As part of their training they are also given a fortnightly opportunity to present an assignment on a particular artist or artwork. They learn not only about the history of art, but also about how to talk about art with members of the public. As one guide says, “they get you to see things you haven’t seen before.” The training process is all about being “taught to look in a new way.”

Already, the trainee guides are excited about giving tours to the public next year. They have endless praises to sing of AGWA’s guided tours program, which “is far more interactive and involved than any gallery I have ever visited.” As trainee guide Luka Deroyter says, the guides are “on a journey” themselves. They want the experience to be about “empowering the viewer” and opening up a forum of discussion. It is this more friendly approach that AGWA has become known for Australia-wide. The guides are most certainly experts, but instead of telling the audience what to think about a piece of art, the guides pose a number of questions (to which they don’t purport to have all the answers!). Guided tours at AGWA are about interactivity, involvement, and colourful discussion about art for everyone.

Although every guide is motivated to volunteer for a different reason, there is one thing they all have in common: a fervent and unbridled passion for art history that they can’t wait to share with you.

Find out more about volunteering opportunities here.

For information on guided tours for Picturing New York, click here.

Performance Piece set to reveal a history behind the photographs

This Friday sees another exciting addition to Picturing New York’s AGWA Nights program. Dr Alan Hancock will present New York, New York: A History in 20 Minutes. What sounds like the makings of a haphazard crash course in history will, in reality, take form as a 20 minute performance piece exploring the stories behind the photographs in Picturing New York in all their grit, glamour, dynamism and mystery. The theatre director, writer and lecturer will reveal the story behind the exhibition, and in turn, the story of the city of New York. “The performance is about the collision of photography and history. It will cast a new light on the the exhibition: the light of history,” he says.

And how, exactly, is he going to perform the daring feat of condensing 400 years of history into 20 minutes? The answer is simple: through the theme of growth, of moving forever upwards. This encapsulates the literal growth of the skyscrapers which sprung from the ground to form the great metropolis, as well as the sense of upward motion in the raw ambition that is tangible in the hopes and dreams of the people of New York – whether they are immigrants seeking a new life, or artists who come to the city hoping to reach the next echelon.

Dr Alan Hancock presents the history of a city that is constantly gazing skyward. As with so many visitors to the Picturing New York exhibition, New York holds a specific place in Alan’s creative imagination. It was the first international city he ever ventured to, and he did so as a teenager before the advent of the internet begun to provide travellers with visual preconceptions. His trip was an “amazing shock”, and it made a huge impact on him. He saw the New York depicted in so many of the photographs in Picturing New York. He describes it as “both wonderful and terrible”, and it is such contradictions that he will capture in his humorous, captivating and ­– naturally ­– fast-paced New York New York, A History in 20 Minutes.

Dr Alan Hancock will perform at AGWA Nights as part of the Picturing New York exhibition on 22 March.

Posted by Emma Kroeger

Motion Picturing New York @ Rooftop Movies

Now that FringeWorld is over, it’s AGWA’s turn to take over Rooftop Movies to present a mini-festival of classic New York City films. Each Monday in March, Rooftop Movies will feature a different quintessential New York film, each iconic for its own reasons. From the top floor of the City of Perth Roe Street Carpark, sit back and enjoy a silver screen classic against the backdrop of our own modest metropolis.

In the last two weeks, generous crowds have packed into the deckchairs on the lantern-lined rooftop to catch one of Woody Allen’s classics, Manhattan Murder Mystery, and Martin Scorsese’s iconic Taxi Driver. Next up in the line-up is the award-winning filmic adaptation of the musical West Side Story.

This is Romeo and Juliet, told by two rival gangs in the streets of New York City. The classic story of Maria and Tony is played out in song, in all its heart-wrenching glory. See the streets captured in Picturing New York come to vibrant life in the climactic and captivating tale of two star-crossed lovers living in New York’s concrete jungle.

In partnership with Rooftop Movies, AGWA has introduced a special ticket package for these four screenings – $29 for adult entry to Picturing New York, a Rooftop Movies NYC movie screening and one free popcorn – what more could you want!

More information and tickets available here.

Posted by Emma Kroeger

AGWA hosts the twitterati

Friday 1 March saw fourteen members of Perth’s twitterati flock to AGWA, smartphones in hand, for the gallery’s second tweetup event. They met for nibbles and drinks courtesy of AGWA in the Manhattan Lounge, overlooking our city, which was soon to appear rather modest in contrast to the grandeur of New York City on display upstairs! Each of the tweeps who had signed up early received the prize of free entry into Picturing New York.

Associate curator of Historical Art and Picturing New York project coordinator Lucy Harper, led the group on a guided tour around the Gallery – but this was no ordinary tour! As the tweeps wove through the gallery space, marvelling at the range of portraits, cityscapes and historical photographs, AGWA (known to the twitterspace as @ArtGalleryWA) tweeted questions about the exhibition that Lucy was answering during the tour.

Questions such as “Which photographers featured in #PicturingNY also directed the 1921 silent film ‘Manhattan’?” kept the crowd on their toes as they each rushed to be the first to tweet the correct answer. Prizes ranging from a Picturing New York catalogue to a retro camera pencil case and some Andy Warhol playing cards were awarded to those with the quickest thumbs (and memories!). The evening was rounded off with a twitter scavenger hunt, which saw the tweeps racing around the exhibition and tweeting answers to a series of questions.

The evening was enjoyed by all – and even saw AGWA trending for Perth on twitter, with posts such as this one from Olan Scott: I’m really enjoying how the @artgallerywa is using #SocialMedia in its #PicturingNY #AGWAtweetup to engage those attending the #tweetup. Quite the mouthful of hashtags!

Congratulations to victors Anthony (@antzpantz) and Amanda (@Amanda2238) who took home the awesome prize of 2 tickets to Katy Steele at ARTBAR on 11 April!

  Follow AGWA on twitter for the latest news on upcoming events, including future #AGWAtweetups.

Posted by Emma Kroeger

Game On! Championship off to an exciting start

Eight young couples signed up for AGWA’s Game On! session on Friday, 15 February. Each was in the running to win a free Picturing New York Last Hurrah! ticket valued at $35, and the opportunity to compete in the Game On! Championship to be held on Friday 10 May. Although Checkers was the favored game of the night, competitors Matteo and Francien (featured right) played an oh-so iconic Central Park game of Chess, with Francien coming up trumps!

The games were accompanied by RTRfm DJ Jo Lettenmaier, who presented an exciting program of New York Disco ‘n’ more. The games were accompanied by a sonic tour through the history of disco, from the original home of disco, New York City!

Congratulations to Francien, Sarah and Sascha for winning the last Game On! round. The next opportunity to compete is this Friday 15 March. Register here to be a part of all the fun and action!

Take home a Picture of New York

Now you can take a piece of the Picturing New York exhibition home with you, courtesy of the featured merchandise at the Gallery Shop. Ida Sorgiovanni and her team have brought in some special products for the Picturing New York exhibition, to present visitors with what Ida calls a “pocket of New York”. Drawing inspiration from the aesthetic of the camera, the twentieth century cityscape and Central Park,  the new range of products presents the highlights of the Picturing New York exhibition.

The Picturing New York catalogue ($32.95) allows you to share the magic of the exhibition with friends and enjoy the exhibition’s photographs from your own home. Complete with commentary on New York’s incredible history and its influence on photography, the book is a must for those who love the exhibition.

For those who came for the work of a particular photographer, there is a series of books available, ranging from Nan Goldin’s emotionally visceral Ballad of Sexual Dependency to Cindy Sherman’s performative A Play of Selves. If the exhibition has sparked your interest in the history or philosophy of photography, there’s Susan Sontag’s On Photography or  100 Ideas That Changed Photography. Those who simply love the appeal of old cameras will love Retromania: The Funkiest Cameras of Photography’s Golden Age.

The nostalgia of historical New York collides with the present in the shop, with a number of products that bring that 20^th century black and white film aesthetic back. Become the ultimate street photographer with a range of camera themed iPhone cases.

The camera lens itself has served as inspiration for new products, such as these quirky camera lens takeaway coffee mugs.

And if you feel overcome with inspiration to capture your own street photography scenes, you can snap up a range of disposable film camera with exciting effects ranging from a 2 image split to a pop art inspired four frame image.

Picture New York for yourself with this incredible range of products from the gallery shop!

Robert Cook’s curatorial insight at AGWA Nights

“There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.”  Henri Cartier-Bresson

Before street photography had developed into the artistic tradition that we know it as today, Henri Cartier-Bresson was discussing that moment which captures the eye of the photographer. These were the days before photography became accessible to any person with a smartphone. Cartier-Bresson and his contemporaries were artists – subversives who challenged the grandiose aesthetic aspirations of the photo-art of their time.  He and his colleagues provided a focus on the grit and grime, the real people who populate the streets of cities around the world.  We know this vision as street photography, and it is arguably one of the most popular photo forms today.

This Friday, the Gallery’s Curator of Modern and Contemporary Photography and Design, Robert Cook, will conduct an informal tour through the Picturing New York exhibition with a focus on the genre of street photography.  There is a complex subject-object dynamic hidden in every street photograph, an underlying social relationship which influences the photography process. Robert highlights different photographers’ methodologies, and their influence on the still image. While some photographers interacted heavily with the subject, cajoling them into the desired shot, others hid in dark alcoves, taking voyeuristic snapshots of unsuspecting people.

Robert Cook presents an insightful discussion on the foundations of one of the most pervasive modes of photographic practice today.  He brings his knowledge of the iconic street photographers to light in an exploration of their bodies of work, their ways of working, and their attitudes to the art.

Garry Winogrand (American, 1928-1984)
New York City 1968
Gelatin silver print
8 7/8 x 13 3/16″ (22.5 x 33.5 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Purchase and gift of Narbara Schwartz in memory of Eugene M. Schwartz
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery

AGWA Nights Curator Tours with Robert Cook on Friday March 1.

Tickets available here.

Posted by Emma Kroeger

Shadows of a city: fleeting moments captured at AGWA

Just as shadows vanish, leaving no trace of their presence on a landscape, so too do uncaptured moments in time, receding ever further into the past.

Featured photographer of the Picturing New York exhibition, Henri Cartier-Bresson once mused, “Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again. We cannot develop and print a memory.”

The workings of shadow and light are central to the mechanics of photography, and to the way we read images. In the works of both Max Pam and Lee Friedlander, shadows are more than the result of light: they form an allegory for this notion of vanishing presence.

Friedlander’s work is a quintessential example of the urban social landscape photography of New York. His fittingly titled photograph, New York City, 1966 is a feature in AGWA’s current exhibition. It depicts the top half a woman from behind as she walks down the street, with the shadow of the photographer cast on the back of her fur coat and coiffured hair, almost mirroring her form. He captures in it the forced intimacy of New York City ­– the way in which we all exist within one another’s worlds in the teeming Manhattan streets. The viewer stands just where Friedlander would have stood to take the photograph – we are reminded once again that the viewer is just as much a voyeur as the photographer is. The shadow implies a certain presence, looming creepily over a stranger. Just as this imposed self-portrait in shadow vanished from the subject, so too did the moment in which it was captured.

Max Pam
Shadow Series (detail from the series of 26) 1971-1972
silver gelatin photographic prints
State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia
Gift of Dr Jann Marshall, 2002
Currently on display in Your Collection 1960 – 1980; Anything Goes

Max Pam’s Shadow Series (1971-72) is a part of AGWA’s permanent collection and is currently on display as part of Your Collection 1960-1980. Like Friedlander, Pam imposes his shadow on his subjects, implying his human presence on an otherwise deserted scene. Pam continues in the tradition of black and white photography, which intensifies the ghostliness of his quasi-portraits. His kooky 1970’s hairstyle is another reminder of the fleeting nature of time. The way in which we comport and style ourselves also changes, and our embodiments of years gone by recede into the past along with the shadows they once cast. Both of these photographers manipulate shadow to examine our presence in a space, and the temporality of passing moments.

The works in Picturing New York examine a range of photographic ideas, and their interplay with works on display in the permanent collection creates a dynamic and limitless artistic conversation. We invite visitors to the gallery to draw their own links between works in the permanent and temporary exhibitions, and explore for themselves the incredible exchange of artistic ideas.

By Emma Kroeger

Bureau of Ideas set to intrigue and inspire

Professor Michael Levine knows the New York depicted in many of the photographs in the Picturing New York exhibition. It is the place of his childhood. His smile is audible as he recounts memories of the Horn & Hardart automats, or stories of surprise encounters with the city’s kooky characters. Professor William Taylor on the other hand, is a native New Orleanian, but New York has just as much a place in his intellectual imagination as it does in Michael’s. He is particularly captivated by its aesthetic intricacies, “from its subjective dimensions of human experience to what is almost a history of urban form.”

As Professor of Philosophy at UWA, Michael will join Professor William Taylor from the school of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts for AGWA’s Bureau of Ideas to discuss Unspoken New York.

In Michael’s talk he will focus specifically on Susan Sontag’s seminal work On Photography, a collection of essays which changed the way we understand photography as part of our culture. The title of the talk, Unspoken New York is apt in reference to Sontag’s examinations of the medium. As Michael says, “In her account she makes a point of arguing that photographs don’t speak. We look at photographs and we think we hear voices but in fact they don’t speak.” As such, the exhibition remains silent until we gaze upon it, read its intricacies and bring our own perspectives.

Just as On Photography redefined our ideas of photography, so too did it alter the way Michael viewed the photographs in Picturing New York. “When I go in armed with this book, it brings the whole exhibition alive in a certain way.”

William will turn his discussion to the nature of the Picturing New York exhibition and its history as a collection. As he explains, “I’m interested in how thinking about collections is often as important as considering and analysing the individual image.” He hopes to ask a series of questions (to which he doesn’t claim to have the answers!) such as: What were the decisions that led to other kinds of images being left out? What can’t we see in the exhibition? What does this say about the anxieties and the politics of the photographic medium? “In a way, the thrust of my talk is about what’s not there – the vagueries of exhibitions”

The photographs in Picturing New York raise many of these questions, and both William and Michael encourage the audience to wander through Picturing New York constantly asking “why?”

Professor Michael Levine joins Professor William Taylor for the Bureau of Ideas: Unspoken New York as part of the AGWA nights series.

Tickets available here.

On Photography by Susan Sontag is available from the Art Gallery shop

Posted by Emma Kroeger