JANIS WILL BE BIG.
JANIS WILL BE LOUD.
JANIS WILL BE HERE.
JANIS WILL CHANGE.
JANIS WILL MAKE AND TAKE.
JANIS WILL TALK TO THE PAST AND THE FUTURE.
JANIS is a project focusing on female art practice. JANIS promotes curatorial, writing and art projects by women. JANIS will contribute to ways of discussing and viewing female art practice. JANIS is dedicated to enabling female voices to be heard a little louder and to take up more space in the artworld, and subsequently, in the annuls of art history.
The CoUNTess trawled up the facts of inequity in the arts.
JANIS is just one small way to contribute to this imbalance.
JANIS II, 26 July – 17 August 2013
The Commercial and MCLEMOI Gallery, Sydney
JANIS II is co-curated by Kelly Doley and Amanda Rowell and will include a diverse range of painting, sculpture and performance from emerging and mid-career artists as well as two deceased artists.
JANIS II artists include Bonita Bub, Jenny Christmann, Sarah Goffman, Gail Haistings, Wendy Parmor and Sarah Rodigari.
Accompanying the exhibition will be a publication that includes short written contributions from a wide range of female writers from diverse professional backgrounds including Sue Cato, Louise Doyle, Anne Marsh, Chris Kraus and Anna Waldmann to name a few.
JANIS II points to women artists of the past, present and future and is born from the co-operative efforts of a range of female-run art organisations and professionals.
Image: Charlotte Posenenske in her studio
JANIS I
The first JANIS exhibition, JANIS I was held at Alaska Projects from 6-24 February. JANIS I exhibited the work of: Sarah Contos, Kelly Doley, Hannah Furmage, Zoe Robertson, Marian Tubbs and Justene Williams. Alongside the exhibition a publication featured the writing of Diana Smith and Amanda Rowell. You can download it here: Janis_Final_v7
Kelly Doley, Political Slogan #3 and Empties, installation view. Photo: Jessica Maurer
JANIS #1 opening. Photo: Kate Blackmore
Hannah Furmage, God Forgives, Outlaws Don’t, live performance. Photo: Jessica Maurer
Hannah Furmage, God Forgives, Outlaws Don’t, live performance. Photo: Jessica Maurer
JANIS #1 opening. Photo: Kate Blackmore
Justene Williams, Total Man Hours 722,784, performance installation. Photo: Jessica Maurer
Justene Williams, Total Man Hours 722,784, performance installation. Photo: Jessica Maurer
Justene Williams, Total Man Hours 722,784, performance installation. Photo: Jessica Maurer
Justene Williams, Total Man Hours 722,784, performance installation. Photo: Kate Blackmore
Justene Williams, Total Man Hours 722,784, performance installation. Photo: Kate Blackmore
Installation view, Marian Tubbs Phantasm, Strength as Insecurity and Sarah Contos, Motorhead. Photo: Jessica Maurer
Installation view, Kelly Doley Political Slogan 1 & 2, Marian Tubbs Phantasm, Strength as Insecurity. Photo: Jessica Maurer
Sarah Contos, Motorhead, 2013. Photo: Jessica Maurer
Kelly Doley, Political Slogan #1, 2012. Photo: Jessica Maurer
Marian Tubbs, Phantasm, Strength as an Insecurity, Piece 1, 2013. Photo: Jessica Maurer
Marian Tubbs, Phantasm, Strength as an Insecurity, Piece 2, 2013. Photo: Jessica Maurer
Kelly Doley Political Slogan #2, 2012. Photo: Jessica Maurer
JANIS #1 opening. Photo: Kate Blackmore
Zoe Robertson, Mercury, live performance and installation. Photo: Kate Blackmore
Zoe Robertson, Mercury, live performance and installation. Photo: Kate Blackmore
Zoe Robertson, Mercury, live performance and installation. Photo: Kate Blackmore
Zoe Robertson, Mercury, live performance and installation. Photo: Kate Blackmore
JANIS #1 opening. Photo: Kate Blackmore
JANIS Panel #1
The first JANIS panel was held at Artspace as part of Art Month on Saturday 23 March.
Titled Feminism in Contemporary Art: If Not Why Not?
“…I’d have better luck if I’d just called myself a “feminist” but I just couldn’t do it…Why should women settle to think and talk about just femaleness when men were constantly transcending gender?” ‘Aliens and Anorexia’, Chris Kraus, 2000, pg. 82
In light of recent discussions regarding feminism in contemporary art practice or lack thereof, this discussion panel will bring together an inter generational selection of artists, curators and academics to talk out the misconceptions, meanings and relevance of feminism in contemporary art. Contemporarily speaking there is no definable entity of feminist art marked by its stylistic features or content. What then makes contemporary art feminist? Is this demarcating of what art is or isn’t feminist redundant? Female artists consistently have their work read in light of their gender. Is this OK? What does this mean for feminism if gender concerns are assumed in work made by females? Is active dialogue about feminism in contemporary art important and if not, does this demarcate a generational shift? Further, where does the power and agency lie in making feminist art, for the female artists and the institutions that support it?
Panelists included:
Julie Rrap, Catriona Moore, Natalya Highes, Anna Davis and Jess Olivieri.
Video of the talk is coming soon so stay tuned! Link to Twitter feed and Art Month here
Image credit: Brown Council, Mass Action: 137 Cakes in 90 Hours, 2012, Image courtesy of the artists, Photo: Pia van Gelder
Julie Rrap has been a major figure in Australian contemporary art for over 25 years. Since the mid-1970s, she has worked with photography, painting, sculpture, performance and video in an ongoing project concerned with representations of the body. Her work has been selected for numerous international and national exhibitions. She currently exhibits with Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney and Arc 1 Gallery, Melbourne. More info
Catriona Moore received her PhD in Art History Theory from the University of Sydney where she now lectures in modern and contemporary art . She has written extensively on women and art from a feminist perspective, including Indecent Exposures: Australian Feminist Photography 1970-1990 and Editor of Dissonance: Twenty Years of Australian Feminist Art Writing. More info
Natalya Hughes is an Australian artist based in Sydney. She works mainly in painting and digital media. Her work has been exhibited in numerous group shows nationally and internationally. Natalya completed her BFA at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane in 2001 and a PhD in Art Theory at the College of Fine Art (UNSW) in 2009. She is represented by Milani Gallery, Brisbane and The Commercial, Sydney. More info
Anna Davis is a Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. She has curated many significant projects there since 2010. Anna has a special interest in ephemeral, participatory and media art practices and her writing in this area has been published in a range of publications. She has a PhD in Media Arts from COFA and her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. More info
Jess Olivieri creates work that spans performance, sound, video, dance and installation and her practice is concerned with the social and cultural factors that influence how we inhabit space. Jess is co-founder of the collaboration Parachutes for Ladies who have shown at numerous international and national exhibitions and festivals. More info
