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Installation view, 'The Waiting Room' exhibition curated by Dr Daniel Mudie Cunningham, Artbank Sydney, 2016. Photo courtesy of Artbank.
For immediate release – 22 March, 2016
Artworks from the Artbank collection are often encountered in waiting rooms.
The Waiting Room is the latest exhibition from Artbank, launching on 12 May 2016, with works drawn from its extensive collection of Australian contemporary art and curated by Artbank’s Head Curator Dr Daniel Mudie Cunningham.
Says Daniel of the inspiration for the exhibition: “Waiting can be unpleasant and gruelling, a forced pause in our busy lives. The works selected for 'The Waiting Room' reflect on time, memory and a desire to draw attention to the way we understand and perform this taken-for-granted facet of everyday life. A familiar experience, the act of waiting is tinged with melancholy, regret, longing and unrequited desire. Waiting amplifies the embodied character of time, magnifying the ticking clock, the ‘melt of time’, bearing down on our collective mortality.”
These themes are explored in the collected artworks and borne out in three of the exhibition’s featured works: The Chosen, Redman (2003-4) by Cherine Fahd; The Artists’ Wife (1978) by Pru La Motte and Sound is Vibration, Colour is Light, Friends are Everything (2008) by Nell. Through these and other Artbank artworks, The Waiting Room explores ideas around time, love, success, frustration, impatience and unfulfillment, as well as the popular stereotype of the artist awaiting their ‘muse’, accentuating the importance of waiting in relation to the production and reception of art.
The Waiting Room forms part of Artbank’s expanded approach to supporting and promoting the work of Australian contemporary artists, and all artworks shown will be available for lease. The Waiting Room is open to the public and may be viewed at Artbank Sydney, 222 Young Street, Waterloo, Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am to 5.00pm. Visit the Artbank website for details of special showings and performances: artbank.gov.au/exhibitions
For over 35 years, Artbank has been at the forefront of the Australian contemporary art sector. Established in 1980 as a federal government support program, Artbank provides direct support to Australian contemporary artists through the acquisition of their work and promotes the value of Australian contemporary art to the broader public. Artbank funds its operations through a unique leasing programme; working with individuals, companies, governments and embassies in over seventy countries across the globe. With approximately 10,000 works by over 3,000 artists, Artbank holds one of the largest collections of Australian contemporary art in the world, which includes some of the best examples of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artwork produced over the past four decades. As the largest collector of Australian art in the country, Artbank’s support for artists is often applied early in their careers, with further acquisitions made at regular intervals to form an extensive and constantly evolving collection of Australian contemporary art.
Dr Daniel Mudie Cunningham is a Melbourne-born curator, artist and writer based in Sydney. Daniel commenced at Artbank in 2011, became editor of Artbank’s magazine Sturgeon in 2013 and moved into his current role as Assistant Director and Head Curator at the end of 2014. He has held curatorial positions at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery (2007-2010) and lecturing/research positions at the University of Western Sydney (1997-2007). It was here that he completed his PhD in Cultural Studies (2004) and BA Hons (Class 1) in Art History & Criticism (1997). Daniel has curated exhibitions at Artbank, Carriageworks, Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Gertrude Contemporary, Alaska Projects, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Blacktown Arts Centre, Performance Space, Plimsoll Gallery, Firstdraft Gallery and MOP Projects. His art practice has been exhibited extensively in Australia and is held in the collections of MONA, Macquarie University, Campbelltown Arts Centre and DLUX Media Arts. His most recent work True Colours (2016) was funded by an Australia Council for the Arts New Work (Mid-Career) grant and will be presented at Alaska Projects in April 2016. As an arts writer and cultural critic he has published widely in print and online, exhibition catalogues art magazines and journals, refereed journals and book anthologies. He has written artist monographs for Luke Roberts (IMA, 2012) and Katthy Cavaliere (MONA March 2016).
