 |
||||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|
Disclaimer: All information contained in the Schooldays magazine website is material supplied by the writers and advertisers. Schooldays magazine bears no responsibility for any claims made by the writers or advertisers. All information is for educational purposes only, it is up to the reader to make a decision of integrity.
© Schooldays magazine 2009-2011
ArtExpress 2010
As any parent or teacher of a Year 12 Visual Arts student can attest, creating a Body of Work for the HSC is an absorbing and challenging experience.
An impressive accomplishment in itself, in addition, each year a selection of talented Year 12 graduates are awarded the prestige of having their completed Body of Work exhibited in ARTEXPRESS.
Now in its 27th year, ARTEXPRESS is a series of visual arts showcases exhibiting across the state annually. It provides young people with the experience of having their artistic endeavours displayed in a professional context, and viewed by the general public in substantial numbers. It opens each year with a run of four shows in the Sydney metropolitan area, including one at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, with regional venues displaying exhibitions throughout the remainder of the year.
In 2010, ARTEXPRESS added some new initiatives to its program, including a walking tour-type exhibition through the streets of The Rocks precinct, as well as a display of works in the foyer of the ABC Centre in Ultimo. From the 9,580 works submitted for marking in the 2009 HSC, 300 were selected for ARTEXPRESS 2010.
The artworks themselves traverse the spectrum of expressive forms, reflecting the comprehensive nature of the NSW Visual Arts HSC Syllabus. These comprise Drawing, Ceramics, Documented Forms, Painting, Graphic Design, Sculpture, Collection of Works, Photomedia, Textiles and Fibre, Printmaking, Designed Objects and Time-based Forms (which includes film). Such a diversity of artmaking practices makes for an extremely vibrant exhibition, as valid as any other in the art world. The exhibits, having been created by talented young adults, combine to deliver a show that is unique in its fresh, untainted approach.
The exhibitions are chosen by individual curators for each respective venue, in conjunction with the ARTEXPRESS Coordinator. Shows may explore a particular conceptual theme, as is the case with the Armory show at Sydney Olympic Park each year, or occasionally focus on certain stylistic values, such as the ARTEXPRESS 4D exhibition at Wollongong City Gallery in 2009. They reflect the candidature for the Visual Arts course from both metropolitan and regional areas, representing the full range of artistic styles presented for examination..
Artists are required to seek permission for any copyright issues that may arise, such as the use of music in short films. In this way ARTEXPRESS reflects the realities of artistic practice for a professional artist.
Each years’ exhibition is comprehensively catalogued on the official ARTEXPRESS website. This includes digital images of all the artworks for each expressive form, including all of the film and animation work. Students from the 2008 HSC and onwards are featured, and the resource expands annually to incorporate the works from each year. The website also features additional resources for students and teachers, as well as relevant information and links for nominated students and their teachers.
History
First displayed under the name ARTEXPRESS in 1982, the origins of the exhibition date back to the 1950s, with works being chosen from entries for the Leaving Certificate. In the late seventies the program began to spread out to regional areas, and in 1989 the Art Gallery of New South Wales became the principal venue for ARTEXPRESS. Since then, the exhibition has grown to become a significant cultural event with an international scope that has warranted ARTEXPRESS exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Macy Gallery in Columbia. The program has fostered and propelled the careers of eminent Australian artists such as Jasper Knight and Ben Quilty.
Each year, ARTEXPRESS purchases a number of student artworks from the current crop, incorporating them into the William Wilkins Memorial Collection, named after the first head of the New South Wales Department of Education in the 1800s. The collection boasts over six hundred outstanding artworks dating back to the ‘70s, which hang in the offices of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training and Ministerial offices including that of the Premier of New South Wales.
ARTEXPRESS is a joint venture of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training and the New South Wales Board of Studies, managed by the Arts Unit.
Currently exhibiting at Newcastle Region Art Gallery until 1 August.
For further information please visit the ARTEXPRESS website.
Reflection's by Alexandra Warden, (drawing) Tomaree High School
Pattern my World, (Printmaking) by Caitlan Morton, Kotara HIgh School
Gabo's Game (sculpture) by Christina West, Lithgow HIgh School
Portait of a Man by Isaac Hayes (painting),
Colo HIgh School
Pulse by Nicole Waugh (photomedia), Wyndham College
 |
