Image: Image: Who am I Here?, 2009. Ink on paper

GALLERY 1

Mongrel

Drew Bickford

Breeding bastards. The mongrel represents an indeterminate state of being. As the progeny of misfortune, or perhaps aberrant by design, these hybrid forms sit awkwardly in a world that embraces monstrosity only as a spectacle to outrage and appall. The mongrel thrashes violently in a str uggle between its eugenic failings and the shame of its dubious origin. The consequences of this fierce internal battle can be both malignant and legion.
Drew Bickford lives and works in Sydney. He primarily works with illustration and sculpture to explore his ongoing obsessions with crime, deformity and horror. He has participated in exhibitions at Blacktown Arts Centre, MOP Projects, Inflight Hobart, Art Sydney at Fox Studios, Firstdraft Gallery, Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Loose Projects, Greenhill Gallery, Adelaide, and Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne.

Image: Surface Value, 2009
paper collage on acid free paper
image size: 21.3 x 16.3 cm
framed: 28.3 x 23.4 cm
Courtesy the artist

GALLERY 2

Global Roaming

Nana Ohnesorge

In her solo show Global Roaming, Sydney-based artist Nana Ohnesorge presents new two and three-dimensional works inspired by her travels between Australia and Europe. In Global Roaming, random finds and accidental encounters provide a starting point for portraits and sculptures which juxtapose and recombine discarded gems and rekindle them with irony and poignancy. In a playful exploration of history, pop culture and kitsch, the work evokes psychological and symbolic associations relating to identity, mortality and collective memory.

German born Nana Ohnesorge started her arts career as a self-taught collage artist in the late 1980’s, and her work was soon included in many prestigious art prize exhibitions and galleries. In 2005 she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the National Art School in Sydney, majoring with high distinction in painting and winning several prizes, and graduated in 2006 with First Class Honours. During and since her studies, Nana has won some major art prizes, was selected for the Sulman Prize (AGNSW) two more times, and has been a finalist in many other prestigious art prizes. She has completed several artist residencies and continues to work with MOP Projects, where she held solo shows in 2006 and 2007 and has been involved with various projects and exhibitions.

This year her work has been selected for the Hazelhurst Art Prize (on paper) and the Blake Prize for Religious Art, and in September her first solo show in Adelaide opened with Hugo Michell Gallery.