Weekly News Roundup: August 30, 2024
By The Editors
JUSTENE WILLIAMS with Sheila, 2024, bronze, mirror, five meters. Courtesy Griffith University, Brisbane.
Controversial Brisbane Sculpture Divides Opinions
A giant public sculpture dubbed the “large, lumpy lady body,” by Australian artist Justene Williams, is stirring the pot in Brisbane. Located in the recently opened Queen’s Wharf precinct, the work is a five-meter-tall bronze of a squatting woman with four breasts, titled Sheila (2024). Inspired by the sheela na gig—an ancient stone figure often associated with fertility and protection—the bronze explores the junction between myth, history, and contemporary culture, challenging traditional perceptions of female bodies in public art. “[I]t is a female form,” the artist told The Guardian, adding that “it’s not anything weird, it’s just that we are not used to seeing those kinds of forms in public art.” Reception has varied dramatically, with some critics deeming it “really unappealing, visually,” and others, including Australian art historian Louise R. Mayhew, celebrating the work: “This is a grittier, more truthful, more exciting, more vulnerable version of femininity.” While critics and admirers remain divided, most have conceded that Sheila will become a Brisbane landmark.
Portrait of NATASHA TONTEY. Courtesy the artist and Audemars Piguet.
Audemars Piguet Reveals New Indonesian Commission
Audemars Piguet Contemporary, the Swiss luxury watch brand’s art program, has unveiled its commission by Jakarta- and Yogyakarta-based artist Natasha Tontey, to be presented at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara (Museum MACAN) in Indonesia’s capital. Titled “Primate Visions: Macaque Macabre,” the exhibition marks Tontey’s first institutional solo show, featuring large-scale installations that examine the relationship between humans and nature, as well as themes of environmental and cultural preservation. Focusing on the endangered black-crested macaques of the South Minahasa region (where the artist is from), Tontey’s works explore ecofeminism, primatology, and technology by fusing video game aesthetics and fantasy fiction with Indigenous folklore. In a statement, she described the exhibition as “both a playful and macabre world filled with radical oddities.” Organized by Audemars Piguet Contemporary and led by curator Denis Pernet, the show is slated to run from November 16 to April 6, 2025.
Portrait of ALEXIE GLASS-KANTOR. Photo by Zan Wimberley. Courtesy Artspace, Sydney.
Executive Director to Depart Sydney’s Artspace
Sydney-based nonprofit Artspace announced on August 30 that executive director Alexie Glass-Kantor will step down in mid-September after ten years. Glass-Kantor joined Artspace in November 2013, and has since supported the organization in commissioning and exhibiting contemporary art both nationally and internationally. Among her numerous international curatorial projects, Glass-Kantor has curated several recent editions of the Encounters sector at Art Basel Hong Kong. She also oversaw the three-year-long renovation of Artspace’s facilities at The Gunnery and, for the first time in the institution’s history, secured a 35-year lease on the space. Additionally, Glass-Kantor spearheaded Artspace’s One Year Studio Program, which provides rent-free residencies for artists. Looking ahead, Glass-Kantor plans to advise organizations on programming, collaborative leadership, and arts advocacy. She will also continue to work as an international curator, supporting artists and institutions as they develop projects globally.
KATE NEWBY, Hours in wind (detail), 2024, cast glass, hot-worked glass, bronze, salvaged rope, dimensions variable. Photo by Zan Wimberley. Courtesy the artist and Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney.
Sydney’s MCA Unveils New Work by Aotearoan Artist
On August 29, Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia) unveiled a new site-specific sculpture titled Hours in wind (2024) by Aoteroa-born artist Kate Newby. The three-part sculptural installation marks the seventh Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace Commission, an ongoing program by MCA Australia which invites artists to produce temporary works that respond to the culturally significant site of Tallawoladah and the Warrane/Sydney Cove. Inspired by the museum’s harborfront location, Hours in wind is made of found objects, ceramics, and glass, exploring the poetry of everyday materials. MCA Australia director Suzanne Cotter described Newby’s creation as “a visually stunning and deeply resonant work that simultaneously anchors the MCA building and moves with the light, wind, and time.” The installation, which is displayed throughout the museum and its outdoor sculpture terrace, will be on view until September 4, 2025.
Installation view of ANISH KAPOOR’s Dismemberment Site I, 2003-09, PVC, steel, 25 × 25 × 84 m, at Kaipara Bay, New Zealand. Photo by Jos Wheeler. Courtesy the artist and Lisson Gallery, London.
One Bangkok to Showcase Anish Kapoor and Tony Cragg
A massive development in Thailand’s capital, One Bangkok, will unveil its “Art Loop” initiative, a two-kilometer route throughout the retail, office, and residential district featuring artwork and creative programs. The project has also commissioned permanent installations from British Indian artist Anish Kapoor and British sculptor Tony Cragg, which will become a part of the One Bangkok Public Art Collection. Throughout the process both artists received consultation for their works from professor Apinan Poshyananda, a member of One Bangkok’s Art and Culture Development Committee and curator of its public art collection. Poshyananda is also the chief executive and artistic director of the Bangkok Art Biennale, where the two works will be showcased in the upcoming edition. One Bangkok’s grand opening ceremony is scheduled for the end of October.
JYOTI BHATT, Self Portrait, 1967. Courtesy the artist.
Indian Artist and Educator Wins the Balkrishna Doshi: Guru Ratna Award
The Vastu Shilpa Foundation, founded by the late Indian architect Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, announced Indian artist and educator Jyoti Bhatt as the recipient of the second Balkrishna Doshi: Guru Ratna Award. Bhatt was awarded for “his exceptional contributions to visual arts and fine arts education,” as well as being an artist celebrated for his expansive repertoire of painting, printmaking, and photography. The initiative was established in 2023, in memory of Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi’s legacy as an architect and educator, “with the intent of bestowing it upon educators who diligently nurture an innate inquisitiveness and intuitive insight in the students within the realms of art, design, and architecture, within the Indian subcontinent.” The Balkrishna Doshi: Guru Ratna Award ceremony will be held in December, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in western India.
ZHENG BO, Phoenix (still), 2024, video. Courtesy e-flux.
Third Lahore Biennale to Focus on Ecology
The Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF) has revealed details on the third iteration of the Lahore Biennale (LB03), titled “Of Mountains and Seas,” which is set to open on October 5 in Pakistan’s second-largest city. Curated by John Tain, the former head of research at Hong Kong’s nonprofit Asia Art Archive, LB03 will feature around 60 artists from 30 countries, exploring alternative ecological futures through the perspectives of Pakistan and the Global South. The artworks, many of which are new commissions, comprise site-specific exhibits and installations that will be displayed at various locations throughout the city, including the historical Lahore Fort and the Shalimar Gardens. Free and open to the public, the LB03 will run through November 8, concluding its program with a Climate Congress where researchers, artists, and curators will discuss strategies to combat the global climate crisis.
