THE ART OF WRITING AN IMPORTANT ONE

By Sasha Grishin, The Canberra Times 24 March 2005

As a teenager, one of my favourite treats was the journey to Mildura to attend the Mildura Sculpture triennials. What was so unique about that experience was not only that you saw a wonderful cross section of contemporary sculptural practice and heard endless papers and presentations on sculpture, but that you were trapped for several days with a group mof more then 100 sculptors, critics and art historians, all staying at the same hotels, all drinking at the same pubs and all talking around the clock about sculpture.

The experience was unforgettable and it disappeared the moment the triennials shifted to Melbourne.

Recently I experienced something similar in Macka, in northern Queensland. Two years ago the multi-million dollar regional art gallery and museum was built in Mackay and drawing on an embryonic collection of artists’ books, the energetic director, Robert Heather, decided to make Australian artists’ books the focus of the collection and the subject of a major national exhibition.

Last year the first “Focus on Artists’ Books” was held featuring the work of Melbourne based artist Bruno Leti. This year the second “Focus on Artists’ Books” program featured a major exhibition from the Editions and Artist Book Studio from the ANU School of Art – plus an exhibition by two Brisbane based artists Wim de Vos and Adele Outteridge.

What was particularly special about the event was that some 130 artists, writers and critics from all over Australia gathered in Mackay and for a couple of days there was a total saturation in the discussion of artists’ books and printmaking.

The artists’ book is a curious hybrid creation which probably appeared self-consciously over a century ago where frequently artists and poets combined to make precious objects which brought together prints, verse and the bookbinder’s craft.

Over the years, the artists book has taken on every conceivable manifestation and has attracted many of the major names in Australian art. In Canberra, with the closure of the Graphic Investigation Workshop, the curiously named Edition and Artist Book Studio came into being in 1996. The exhibition which has travelled to mackay represents the first decade of operation of this studio under the leadership of Di Fogwell.

It presents a galaxy of some of the major names in book art and printmaking, including Peter Herel, Udo Sellbach, Robin Wallace-Crabbe, Lukas Kandl, Helen Geier, Bruno Leti, Martin King, Ros Atkins, Euan heng, Inge King, Andrew Powell, Fiona Foley, Katharine Nix, Meg Buchanan, Tanya Myshkin, Jorg Schmeisser, John Pratt, Patsy Payne and Danie Mellor,

In my mind the gathering in Mackay signified two things. The first is that the Australian artists’ book and Australian printmaking are amongst the most important art forms which are attracting some of the best talent in the country. Secondly, it is essential for regional art galleries to specialise to receive recognition within the national art grid.