Back And Much To Tell, First stop Brisbane...

So after a very long 23 hour flight, I arrived back at T5 early this morning to a very cold London, something I had forgotten as although the weather in Australia wasn't always brilliant sunshine, it was warm indeed! There is much to tell as I recall my trip, so much happened with the time just flying by as I flew in and out of 3 cities for work and pleasure. So first stop, Brisbane. I arrived to sunny skies in the early morning and spent a few days seeing friends and family, visiting the wonderful Surfers Paradise (just like I remembered 20 years ago) but much more built up and taking in the sights, which of course include the famous Crab sandwiches at The Spits. The city itself is relatively small with only 2 million people,  as you take a City Cat at dusk along the river, amazing views await you as you wind along the water underneath the wonderful Storey Bridge into the Southbank for dinner.

Then onto work, with a great talk at The Queensland Centre of Photography, which is a brilliant space in the centre of Brisbane with the wonderful Maurice and crew who made for a very relaxed and welcoming venue for my first talk in Australia. I would like to thank everyone who assisted with the organisation and all who came to the event, it was great to spend sometime meeting you all, and I will be sure to return soon! If you haven't seen QCP, take a look, as they have some interesting things planned and have a great collection of books. You can see more here: http://www.qcp.org.au/

With only a few days in Brisbane, much like my entire trip, it was important to get as much packed in very day as possible, also thus helping with the jet lag! So back into the city to spend sometime at the galleries and especially GOMA, Queensland's Centre of Modern Art. The building itself is incredible with hugh glass windows facing onto the River, letting that Queensland light pour in, (which if you haven't been is something quite extraordinary) its so bright even in full cloud! As I wondered around the rooms there was much on show, including the install of Cai Quo-Qiang's new exhibition, which sadly opened on the 23rd, which I missed. If you are around, you must make a trip, it looked very special from what I was witnessing of the install. A few artists worth mentioning are Latifa Echakhch, Lee Mingwei, Robert MacPherson and Gordon Bennett. Echakhch's piece above on the left, was a truly brilliant installation of paint and alcohol, which spilled onto the ground, filled with poetry and memorialism of lives lost, completely moving and stunning.  So with little time left, it was off to the airport for my next leg, Sydney for 1 day then, then onto Melbourne.

London - Brisbane - Melbourne - Sydney...

So the time has arrived! Many a long night preparing for this trip, but I am very excited and pleased to say it is finally here and I leave for Australia tomorrow. It is going to be quite a trip with 17 days, 7 flights, 2 talks and a workshop, in 3 different cities, but what an adventure to be had.

First stop will be Brisbane with an Artist Talk at The Queensland Centre of Photography, see here for more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/321412667996768/?ref=5

Then onto Melbourne for a Full Day Workshop and Talk, working with the Asia-Pacific Photobook Archive, see more details here: http://photobookarchive.com/workshops/

Finally onto Sydney with many meetings and hopefully a little bit of rest too on Bondi Beach!!!

Sneaky Peaks!

If you haven't yet seen my new publication, "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac" then you can now have a sneaky peak at what you can see in this great video produced by the photobookstore.co.uk. It shows you what you can expect of the publication, but also a little bit more, it's certainly not vague!

Click on the image or the link to see more: http://vimeo.com/78615563

Miss Titus' Stockists are...

Very, very pleased to announce that my new book, "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac" is now being stocked with the wonderful Claire de Rouen Books and the excellent Photobookstore.co.uk as well as with my incredible Publisher, b.frank books, don't miss out on getting your copy!

See here for direct links to all stockists: 

http://clairederouenbooks.com/

http://www.photobookstore.co.uk/photobook-miss-titus-becomes-a-regular-army-mac.html#.UnveTZTGUwI

http://bfrankbooks.org/product/miss-titus-becomes-a-regular-army-mac

First Reviews In Already!

Very pleased to see and hear that the reviews of my new publication, "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac" are coming in already! Josef Chaldek writes;

  

"Too long have we held the highest flame for truths within photographic 'representation'" - Brad Feuerhelm in his foreword to Melinda Gibson's "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac" (b.frank books - Roger Eberhard), a book that in every sense you have to work yourself "into" it. I confess I opened the (french fold) pages to not just peek behind the back of photos! Will spend more time with it, just to share the joy (of even the "unboxing") - have a look at this wonderful book.”

See the book on Josef's site here:  http://josefchladek.com/book/melinda_gibson_-_miss_titus_becomes_a_regular_army_mac#image-1

Publisher b.frank books launches "Miss Titus"

Very, very, very proud to announce that my Publishers b.frank books officially launched our new book, "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac" on their website today!!!

Make sure you check it out to see the publication and all the details for ordering the books here: http://bfrankbooks.org/product/miss-titus-becomes-a-regular-army-mac

A list of Stockists coming very soon indeed, keep watching for more information.....

This week, on Tuesday the 22nd October at 16:30, saw my first twitter interview with Genesis Imaging. It was a very interesting way to be interviewed, as you are obviously restricted to 140 characters for an answer, so your thoughts and answers are thought about in a different way. However I did roll over to a few tweets for those impassioned answers, where 140 wasn't nearly enough!!!

With questions and answers like this; 

Genesisimaging: How do you hope your work will be perceived by future generations?

Melinda_jgibson: Another impassioned answer! I think it's important not to focus on 'legacy' or how you want to be perceived, I think...

Melinda_jgibson: ...that leads to failure. I live and work in the present and for me if audiences see and appreciate my work than that is..

Melinda_jgibson: ...is all I could wish for, ultimately I do what I do because it makes me who I am and I wouldn't be Miss Gibson without it!

If you missed it, then look here for the interview in full and make sure you get involved in the next one, they have a great list of contributors: http://www.genesisimaging.co.uk/blog/askmgibson/

Asia-Pacific Photobook Archive - Workshop & Talk 20th & 21st November 2013 in Melbourne, Australia

 

I am very pleased to announce that I will be working with the Asia-Pacific Photobook Archive along with Unless You Will in November, as I do a Full day Workshop and Artist Talk over two days in Melbourne, Australia! 

The workshop will focus on photographic self-publishing, working with appropriated images and collaged-based production in contemporary photographic practice. Running from 10:00 am until 17:00 pm and are very limited, with acceptance of only 8-10 places. The workshop will be both insightful and exciting, as each person is really encouraged to produce new work, exploring how the photographic medium can offer up endless possibilities, as it twists and turns through the hands of each participant. The location of the workshop will be announced shortly. 

The artist talk, I will be in conversation with Dan Rule, director of Perimeter Books and writer for The Age and Vault as well as Heidi Romano, director of Unless You Will. The conversation will provide an opportunity for me to discuss my practice, current and future projects as well as answering insightful questions from the panel as well as from the audience. I am looking forward to what will be asked from both Dan, Heidi as well as the listeners! The talk will be taking place at the Edmund Pearce Gallery from 18:30.

For more information, please view here: http://photobookarchive.com/news/

More details here: http://photobookarchive.com/workshops/ 

Frieze Art Fair 2013

"Art fairs may be all the same, filled with schlock, shiny things, grim things, and things that make you wonder why galleries across the globe bothered to drag them all the way here, but there's always something to brighten your day as you wander the aisles. The 11th incarnation of Frieze is more manageable than most, with better lighting, wider aisles and a bigger spread of behemoth mega-galleries and startup spaces, young galleries and old lags. Not that the art is necessarily better, though the galleries seem to be trying harder this year." Adrian Searle

As Adrian puts it and so correctly, this years Frieze was indeed much more manageable, and what a great surprise and delight that was, I left without a headache from the lights, but this time from too many a Hix fix, a much better way to endure one! Friday saw me head out to Regents Park and descend on both Frieze London and Frieze Masters, to work my way through thousands and thousands of artworks from the worlds galleries, representing the best in the contemporary and the masters. As you arrive, through the many VIP cars stationed outside, the queues of visitors, what always strikes me is that we have now reached Autumn, Frieze for me always says, golden leaves, bright blue skies, a slight chill in the air and of course, artworks in tents! 

This year for me, I started alone, looking at everything in great detail, spending hours walking up and down each widened corridor, using the time I had to myself, silently taking in all the surroundings and having a plan of action, section, by section. Frieze London was first, and as I wondered through the fair, many wonders greeted me and I was absolutely thrilled to be so inspired by what I was seeing, rather than the usual overwhelming experience. There were many artists whose work I found, but a few to mention are surely, (shown in the photographs above, left to right) Hayley Tompkins at The Modern Institute, Dirk Stewen, Edith Dekyndt at Carl Freedman Gallery, Mary Westerford and Wien Lukatsch Gallery. I am always extremely excited to see The Approach, Maureen Paley, The Lisson Gallery, Matthew Marks, Gavin Browns' stands as well as many others, the list goes on!

For me these artists I mentioned above really stuck something with me, and now on reflection they are mostly women artists, which makes me smile indeed! I found that these works had a real sense of touch, a sensitivity to their chosen medium that felt honest, true and powerful. Each piece in its own way pulls you deep into the core of the painting, into the drawing which excites and inspires me. Tompkins paintings onto plastic are absolutely stunning and Westerford's large scale canvases with neon tubes have such an energy and movement, I became fixated on them. Wien Lukatsch Gallery presented a beautifully curated stand, showing a selection of their represented artists. 

After a very successful Frieze London, I took a lovely stroll up to the Masters, where I enjoyed the much slower, more gentle atmosphere, having some lunch then looking at the classics. It was rather incredible walking from stand to stand, seeing Miro's here, Picasso's there, Renaissance paintings everywhere and a Michelin starred restaurant! For me, it was wonderful to see Robert Motherwell's "Brushy Elgy" painting, a sight that is too beautiful for words and Baldessari's which will forever inspire and excite me, the man is a genius. A truly different experience from the original fair, but a great addition to Frieze.

Then the early evening comes around and I meet with up with a good friend/collector of mine to enjoy our thoughts on the fair, talks and performances as well as a good few cocktails at Hix. As the evening draws to a close, it had been a delightful day and a fabulous evening, Frieze provided all that I had anticipated and much more.

See more here: http://friezelondon.com/ & Guardian Review

Normal Edition in A Limited Run of 120 Copies

“Cleverly placing the images inside bound pages also creates a permeable, yet physical question of the viewer. That which is to destroy the pages in order to “see”, which at its base is what photography has come to be about: That of the forced spectacle.” Brad Feuerhelm.

Melinda Gibson in collaboration with Kummer & Herrman produce a publication from the visual source material of Brad Feuerhelm’s Archive collection. The resulting publication is a limited, handmade book that is both mysterious and clever witted in its design. You are encouraged to look, open, tear the very pages the images are printed on, revealing others hidden behind.

The images above are from the Normal Edition, a limited print run of 120 copies and each and every book is signed, dated with the time of completion, location as well as a surprise revelation in each book. The foreword, written by Brad Feuerhelm is itself hidden within the insert cards that make up the front and back covers. At every stage, this publication offers up new ways of seeing and reading photography in all its guises. 

A list of stockists will be available very soon.....

The Tate In All Its Glory - Mira Schendel

Last weekend I took a special trip to meet a friend at the Tate Modern and we experienced not only a stunning view over the city sipping prosecco, but a truly unbelievable exhibition of an incredible female artist, Mira Schendel. Born in 1919 in Zurich to parents of Jewish heritage, Schendel was brought up in Italy and was later forced out of Milan and stripped of her Italian nationality resulting in her having to end her studies and pass through countries as a refugee. It was not until 1949 that she ended up in Brazil and began her inspiring career as an artist.

Schendels' work explores ideas surrounding aesthetics and philosophy, using asymmetrical shapes, mathematics, text and varying medias to examine the ideas of existence and experience. Her works have a fragility, a tenderness, a quietness that is so beautiful, as you wonder through the exhibition, every room you enter you are taken by her ability to master each and every medium she touches. The use of graphics, layout and lettering in her books, book covers as well as her larger scaled installation pieces are gentle yet powerful. You get a real sense of the women behind the works, as the sense of touch places an intrinsic role. The works on rice paper, for me took me to another world, a place where silence spoke louder than noise and where the Eastern influence meet the South American in such a gentle manner, a coexistence of ideas and ideals. 

Another piece that stuck me was the work titled, "Still Waves of Probability" which was an installation made up of almost transparent fibres along with text from the Old Testament 'Book of Kings' previously made for the 10th Bienal de Sao Paulo in 1969. These long, thin fibres, acted as a wall of diffusion, a mist to the other side. As they touched the floor, they flicked up and the curvature of their form resembled a Japanese drawing of the ocean, small waves on a wooden floor, truly stunning in each and every way.

Every work was a wonder and I can honestly say that I haven't been moved, inspired on so many varying levels, physiologically, creatively like this for so long that it has to be one of the most beautiful exhibitions I have seen all year, but almost years. For anyone who hasn't yet seen the show, it is a must and one that will leave you feeling fulfilled for months and shows the power of making great work.

See more here: http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/mira-schendel

Releasing My New Book... Day 5

Finally, Day 5 sees the release of my new publication, "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac." I am very, very proud of this collaborative partnership, working with the incredible Kummer and Herrman and published by the wonderful b.frank books this book is a true and honest publication that conceptually explores the notion of what it is to really 'see' and 'understand' with a firm nod towards the themes that surround book publishing, as you are presented with a question, to cut open or to leave closed?!

The book is in a Limited Edition of only 120 copies and a Special Edition of only 20 copies. Each and every book is handmade by I, (Melinda) and is signed and dated with the time of completion and location. The Special Editions are boxed, as above and have two photographic prints hidden inside the folds! My publisher, b.frank books will be stocking the publication directly from their website and other distributors I will release at a later date.

Additional press images will be available shortly of both editions including interior shots.

For all book sale enquiries please contact the studio at: studio.melindajgibson@gmail.com