Here's a little review of Ross' work, on the interesting blog, Artpals.

http://artpals.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/prelude/

Ross Coulter on RRR Community Radio

Hey kids!
If you are anywhere near a radio* this Thursday, the 11th of Feb, check out an interview with Ross Coulter on Smart Arts, hosted by Richard Watts at around about 10am. Ross will be discussing his current exhibition at Seventh Gallery, titled Prelude.

Go Ross!

*If not, get near one.

Opening February 3rd, 2010 - Ross Coulter, Kent Wilson & Joanna Anderson

This is our first Calendar show for 2010, and what a great start. In Gallery One, for his installation titled Prelude, Ross Coulter has created an airy installation using paper planes - the room at first appears to be filled with IKEA pendant lamps, but upon closer inspection, these clusters of angular paper reveal themselves to be dozens of paper planes all taking siultaneous nose-dives.

The centrepiece of this work is a large concrete plinth, reminiscent of Rachel Whiteread or Bruce Nauman's 'A Cast of the Space Under My Chair', but here the conflict of flight and heaviness is literally compounded, as paper planes collide and embed themselves within this weighty - both metaphorically and literally - object.

In gallery Two, Kent Wilson's Plane of Composition, although not related to paper planes per se, still resonates with Ross' almost entirely white room: Kent's sculpture is also almost entirely white, apart from several objects carefully placed upon it.

A pyramid of speakers project a little water spout which sends a trickle of water down a perfect semi-circular groove to two pools, one containing a bonsai and the other a webcam. From the speakers emanates the weird cracking noise of the artist breaking twigs from two significant trees in melbourne, one related to indigenous Australians and the other to European settlers. Here, this self conscious gesture is slowed down and made aesthetic.

In the Project Space, Joanna Anderson has created an intimate drawing/sculpture titled CARE FACTOR, that encapsulates a kind of 'teenage girl's bedroom' aesthetic - a string of fairy lights that dangle around portraits of friends, family and other people we assume the artist admires...or perhaps not? The deflated balloons suspended in the centre of the arrangement lend a kind of fragile emotionality to the work, while the double-mantra 'Don't be Scared, don't be Scared' makes you wonder whether or not there is reason to be frightened here...

We Don't Need Another Hero

For the apptly titled group show, We Don't Need Another Hero, curator by Amy-Jo Jory invited artists, writers and friends to create an artwork in response - negative, positive or indifferent - to their hero. The list of accompanying idols was impressive, and hilarious, ranging from Steven Hawking and 'Bruce' [Willis...I think?] to Anais Nin and Helen Clark. There were even some artists referred to!

Those involved chose to express their love, hatred and/or mistrust of famous folks in all manner of ways, making for a thoroughly entertaining and often hilarious exhibition. There were, for the more serious amongst us, plenty of works which engaged with art history and theory as well.

The opening event showcased several performances, including a song by Rory from Gaslight Radio, about Robin Adamson - a taxidermy enthusiast who was jailed for stealing stuffed birds from Sydney Museum.

Another excellent show at Seventh, and a really fun opening.

Congratulations everyone on your great work!

CHRIS LAWRENCE from PHILLY [That's, like, in the U.S.A., Right?!]*

Over the December break, we decided it would be a shame to let Seventh wallow in the heat and overbearing absence of art that an empty gallery so easily suffers from...So we invited an artist from Philadelphia, Chris Lawrence - a soon to be MFA Graduate from the University of Pennsylvania - to come and have a month or so long resdiency in the space, in which he could construct an installation throughout the entire gallery.

Chris rose eagerly to the challenge, and created an immersive and engaging installation, utilising a combination of found objects and

sleek materials. Channeling Jessica Stockholder and Ingvar Kamprad, among others, Chris' main construction appeared as a kind of elaborately broken machine, combining hi-tech electronics and brutally smashed lenghts of timber.

At the closing event, once the work was complete, Melbourne's own My Disco generously performed to the crowd. The event was literally earth shaking. Those guys rock out very loud and hard. Their minimal art-rock instumental jams complemented Chris' work beautifully.

On the whole, a really exciting show. Thanks heaps Chris for making the voyage to Oz and creating such a beautiful show for everyone! And thanks to My Disco for shaking up the foundations a bit...

*apologies Chris for this gross cultural generalisation.

Seventh Super $ell-Out Sale 2009

Whew.

Thank God [He/She's partly to blame] that the festive season is drawing to a close.

A lot has been happening here at Seventh: December saw our annual fundraiser, the Super $ell-Out Sale bring in flocks of art-lovers, collectors and general philanthropic beer-swillers to peruse the goods - and for some - make a lifetime investment in a work of art. The event was a great success, with a 'significant sum' raised for our 2010 program.

Thanks again to all who came and supported us and our artists! The community spirit was flowing freely. And an even bigger, special thanks to all our artist from 2009, and to those from our 2010 calendar who donated work to the sale. You guys are why we're still here.

xo