Catherine and Jennifer Strutt
The Busker on the Avenue – Gothenburg – Busk ye busk ye my winsome marrow, William Hamilton (1704 – 1754), 2006
Painted timber and aluminium, found images, printed images, nails and rivets
132 x 97 x 8.5 cm.
Represented by Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney
Artbank e-bulletin - May 2007
Welcome to Artbank’s latest e-bulletin, the first since my commencement as director late last year. We aim to keep you informed about our upcoming events and exciting new acquisitions.
I am pleased to announce Artbank’s new-look website which includes an online, and constantly changing, selection of works from our growing collection at ‘The Collection'.
I also take this opportunity to welcome Margaret Ainscow to the Artbank advisory board. She is our new West Australian representative and replaces Professor Ted Snell, who was also our previous chair. Margaret is a highly regarded textile artist and arts educator who brings a wealth of experience to the role. Congratulations are also due to Ted, who has recently been appointed to the Australia Council’s Visual Arts Board.
I look forward to communicating with you through this e-bulletin and thanks for your continued support,
Geoffrey Cassidy, Artbank Director, May 2007
Featured Artists: The Strutt Sisters
Identical twins Catherine and Jennifer Strutt – a.k.a The Strutt Sisters – were born in Newcastle, N.S.W in 1972. They grew up performing with their parents' bush band, ‘Coalbrook Ceilidh’, touring and playing at festivals around the world.
Made in a wholly collaborative manner – with Catherine creating the structure and Jennifer the painting – their nostalgic assemblages are influenced by their music and extensive travels. Both sisters experience synaesthesia, where the senses are confused and sounds, sights and odours may be mixed up, and this too informs their work, influencing the design and arrangement of shapes and colours.
The Busker on the Avenue was the first work by the pair to be purchased for Artbank. It was part of the exhibition ‘Festlig’ (Swedish for festival), held at Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney in 2006. The exhibition was a celebration of international festivals, from Canberra's Floriade to a Finnish wife-carrying festival and a national tractor-pulling championship in the USA.
Following a strong response from our clients, Artbank’s purchase of Busker has been followed by our acquisition last month of the Strutt Sisters’ Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
The Strutts have been exhibiting since 1994 and have been included in a number of group exhibitions in Sydney and regional New South Wales, including the Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2003. They have held eleven solo exhibitions together since 1995.
Artbank: Celebrating 25 Years of Australian Art
Launched by Artbank Director Geoffrey Cassidy on 11 May, the national exhibition, Artbank: Celebrating 25 Years of Australian Art, will be at Bathurst Regional Gallery until 24 June. This touring exhibition presents some of the best contemporary art and craft Artbank has collected since its inception in 1980. It includes works by John Brack, Tracey Moffat, Rosemary Laing, Boxer Milner, Lionel Bawden and Judy Watson. Artbank: Celebrating 25 Years of Australian Art is supported by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program, which provides funding for the development and touring of cultural material across Australia.
