Exhibits,

Alex Achtem, Catherine Connolly, Stephen Palmer, Fiona Williams hesitation

Opening: Wednesday 2 July, 6-8pm Dates: 2 July-19 July 2014

‘hesitation’ draws together four artists for whom hesitance plays a significant role in the approach to, or process of, making work. By bringing them together this show will seek to examine the various uncertainties at stake in art, as a way of relating, representing, or taking action in the world.

Each of the participating artists work across an unfixed range of media, in which the choice of form, and process of execution, plays a crucial part in the trajectory of the work. Uncertainty is here considered a necessary condition of art’s exigency, propelling small decisions and confusions as the constitutive circumstances of production. In this sense the exhibition is tied to particular artistic strategies, but is also directed towards the more general questions of art’s capacity to intervene in social and intellectual life.

The exhibition is accompanied by a new piece of writing by Jan Bryant.

Alex Achtem’s current practice involves the collection and deconstruction of subjective experiences, often sourcing information and objects from specific generalized sites. Recent exhibitions include: The Cheaper Show No. 10 (Vancouver); Cutty for Contemporary Art (Vancouver); and Landscape Painting on Vancouver’s public transit system. Alex completed a BFA at Emily Carr University, Vancouver and Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam in 2011. She was a recent participant in the Work-study program at the Walter Phillips Gallery at The Banff Centre where she also participated in a summer residency with lead faculty Geoffrey Farmer.

Catherine Connolly’s practice investigates the ways in which emotional and psychological concerns may be extended into expanded sculptural practice. Recent exhibitions include: ‘Tencile 1’ (Dudspace, Melbourne); ‘The Mess Between’ (Blindside, Melbourne); ‘Each Action Equal’ (Level ARI, Brisbane). Catherine recently undertook a residency at the NARS Foundation in New York, and is currently completing her Masters at the Victorian College of the Arts.

Stephen Palmer’s work intervenes within various representational and aesthetic forms. Recent exhibitions include ‘The Mess Between’ (Blindside, Melbourne); ‘Forms of Deception’ (Light Projects, Melbourne), and recent curatorial projects include ‘The Task’. Stephen is currently a PhD candidate at the Victoria College of the Arts, and Lecturer in the Art History and Theory Program, Department of Fine Arts, Monash University.

Fiona Williams is interested in the difficulty of images. Recent exhibitions include: ‘Image/Air’ (Window, Auckland); ‘Housewarming’ (Bus Projects, Melbourne); ‘Fields and snow’ (Firstdraft, Sydney and Bus Projects, Melbourne). Fiona completed a BVA (Honours) at Monash University, Melbourne in 2006. Her work for this exhibition was developed during her second visit to Banff, Canada, as a residency participant at The Banff Centre.

Fiona Williams’ project was supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria.