Past Residents
Past Resident2013: Foundation for a Civil Society
Miran Blažek
Miran Blažek builds his work as recorded time of the constant quest for the meaning of the ordinary things we interact with in everyday life in order to build personal, emotional and mental caches of images. In his work there is a series of symbols which constitutes an open story where the words do not meet the needs of visual representation. His works function through traces which indicate that they derived from painting.
Born in 1983 in Osijek, Croatia, Miran Blažek graduated with a BA from the Academy of Fine Arts, Zagreb in 2006 and completed his postgraduate studies in 2012 at Fine Arts Academy, Ljubljana. Since 2011 he has served as an external assistant in drawing classes at the Art Academy in Osijek. His selected soho exhibitions include Monochrome, Waldinger Gallery, Osijek, Whirlpool, CEKAO Gallery, Zagreb and Whirlpool the lost paintings at Kazamat Gallery, Osijek. Selected group exhibitions include T-THTaward@MSU, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagheb; Tu smo 3 (We are here 3) at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Pula; Radoslav Putar Award, Finals at Galzenica Gallery, Velika Gorica; Osijek-Pecuch/Eszek-Pecs, Nador Gallery, Pecs; Meeting point, Arab; The Essl Art Award, Glyptotheque, Zagreb and FONA, Kortil Gallery Rijeka.
Events & Exhibitions
Salon: Miran Blažek and Mark Ther
March 26, 2013
Miran Blažek, Still Life, 2012, Raw canvas on wall, 72 × 62 in. (182.88 × 157.48 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Miran Blažek, Whirlpool (Yugoslavia), 2006, Acrylic on wood, 39 in diameter. Courtesy of the artist.
Miran Blažek, Whirlpool (DDR), 2006, Acrylic on wood, 39 in diameter. Courtesy of artist .
Miran Blažek, Monument, 2012, Oil on canvas, 98 × 59 in. (248.92 × 149.86 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Miran Blažek, At The Right Place at the Right Moment, 2012, Burned carpet, 51 in diameter. Courtesy of the artist.
Past Resident2013: Canada Council for the Arts
Paul Dignan
The starting point for Paul Dignan’s recent paintings are squares aligned in an even grid. Within these squares there are individual compositions based on one original source drawing. These paintings challenge the viewers’ perception in that the apparent uniformity of the schemata gradually begins to dissolve over time allowing slight shifts to occur. The feeling of order is further disrupted by the placement of flat areas next to airbrushed areas that feign an illusion of depth. Within a limited and regular format the paintings offer endless shifting variations that initially engage the viewers eye before ultimately revealing a certain resistance to it.
Paul Dignan (born Dundee, Scotland) is based in Ontario, Canada. He has lived and worked there since leaving Scotland in 2003. He is a graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art, London and is a past recipient of The Rome Scholarship in Painting at The British School at Rome. He has received numerous awards from the Scottish Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council and The Canada Council for the Arts. His work has been included in shows at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje; FYR Macedonia and The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. His work can be found in numerous collections, including The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, The Unilever Collection, London and The Canada Council for the Arts.
Paul Dignan, Cota 1, 2011, Acrylic on canvas, 48 × 48 in. (121.92 × 121.92 cm). Courtesy of the artist and The Canada Council for the Arts.
Paul Dignan, Beamish 2, 2012, Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 36 in. (91.44 × 91.44 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Paul Dignan, Beamish 2 (detail), 2012, Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 36 in. (91.44 × 91.44 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Paul Dignan, Corridor 2, 2013, Acrylic on canvas, 60 × 60 in. (152.4 × 152.4 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Paul Dignan, Corridor 3, 2013, Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 36 in. (91.44 × 91.44 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Residents from Canada
Past Resident2012: Creative Australia
Kellie O’Dempsey
Through performance drawing, Kellie O’Dempsey explores liminal space and movement as narrative. With drawing as her dialogue, O’Dempsey spontaneously translates the immediacy of experience into line, form and gesture with charcoal and ink and more recently an electronic drawing device. Often working in collaboration with musicians, performers and artists, her process investigates the interconnected experience of human engagement. Via improvisation, elements of performance are translated into drawn works as an immediate means of response. Her work is currently focused on the synthesis of analogue and digital drawing.
Kellie O’Dempsey has developed installations in a vast array of spaces including: in the rehearsal studios of a ballet company (Queensland Ballet 2003), rock festivals, in The Barbican Theatre-London (2005) to commuters in subway during rush hour in Melbourne (2007). Performances and residencies include: Soundlabs, Italy, 2005-2006; Festival Internationale de Benicassim, Spain, 2005-2006; M on The Bund, Shanghai, 2009-2010; Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Art, 2011; Elephant Rock cliff face – BLEACH 2012; Live collaborative performance with Michael Dick, Brian Richie and the Tasmanian Improvisers Orchestra at MONA FOMA, Hobart, 2012, The 18th Biennale of Sydney and upcoming at Draw International, France, 2013.
Kellie O’Dempsey, Mona Foma, 2012, Live performance paper, ink, paint, digital project, and orchestra. Courtesy of the artist.
Kellie O’Dempsey, Mona Foma, 2012, Live performance paper, ink, paint, digital project, and orchestra. Courtesy of the artist.
Kellie O’Dempsey, Moving Lines, 2011, Live performance paper, ink, tagtool, and digital projector. Courtesy of the artist.
