Exhibits,

Tai Snaith Portrait of a Sunday Painter

Opening: Wednesday 29 April, 6-8pm Dates: 29 April – 16 May 2015

Giogia de Vivre painted for the love of it, but not without seriousness or meaning. She was a true amateur in that she cared little for the hierarchy of the art world and only ever followed her own instincts. Not unlike many female painters today who feel isolated from the art canon and at the same time exploited and marginalized by lifestyle trends (design blogs and fashion magazines) her paintings were constantly referred to as illustration or ‘interior decoration’ – making her work and life more relevant than ever before. Although she (de Vivre) was relatively unknown during her lifetime, she was celebrated by the art world retrospectively, after her death. For this project, Tai Snaith collects rare snippets of research of the artist’s life to paint the picture of a forgotten and inspiring woman ahead of her time.

Tai Snaith is interested in the point where still life becomes real life. How and why does an artist express her life through a series of pictures? With a practice which employs many different forms of research and materials and presents them within widely varying sites and contexts including collage, drawing, painting, performance, writing and publishing, her work is often personal, collaborative and experimental.

In addition to practicing as an artist, she is a curator, producer and writer. Tai has shown extensively both in Australia and overseas with her work held in both private and public collections. She has written for Art & Australia, Architecture Australia, Artichoke, Yen and Un magazine; is a visual arts reviewer on TripleR radio; and worked as a producer for the Next Wave Festival, Melbourne Fringe Festival and Melbourne Emerging writers festival. She has been the recipient of local and federal government grants and residencies and was this year’s winner of the acquisitive Banyule Award for works on paper.

Presented alongside the paintings will be a series of new texts from fellow artists and writers Veronica Kent, Sarah CrowEST, Minna Gilligan, Alicia Sometimes, Kelly Fliedner and Lyndal Walker. A limited edition publication will also be launched on the night.