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FLIGHT

Group exhibition

21 January 2023 – 11 June 2023
Launch event:  21 January 2023
Supported by Sydney Festival

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
1 Powerhouse Road, Casula NSW, Australia

FLIGHT is a six-month exploration of flight at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. The program will run from January – June 2023 and has been developed in anticipation of the 2026 take-off of the Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport and the surrounding Aerotropolis.

Across every artform, we will dissect, discuss and deconstruct air travel, aviation, aerodynamics and the freedoms and perils that flight promises. The exhibition is simultaneously celebratory and critical, excited about the return of flight yet concerned about its ongoing impact on the environment. This will be an opportunity to re-engage with flight in all its forms after this unprecedented break from it and to critically engage with the impact of the airport and surrounding redevelopments.

Artists: Daniel Adgag * Isabel & Alfredo Aquilizan * Linda Brescia * Rebecca Brady * Chris Caines * Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council with Nic Walker * Fei Gao * Claire Grant * George Haddad * Claire Healy & Sean Cordeiro * Chris Hunter * Samuel Hodge * Christelle Hug * Yvonne Koolmatrie * Ida Lawrence * Emily Kame Kngwarreye * Anna Madeleine Raupach * Amy Perejuan – Capone * Pamela Rodoreda * Matte Rochford * Talia Smith * Garry Trinh

The exhibition also includes objects and artefacts loaned from Museums of Arts and Applied Sciences.

Image: AMY PEREJUAN-CAPONE, THE PLANE (DREAMER), 2019. CERAMIC ENGINE AND PARTS, ALUMINIUM, FOUND OBJECTS

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BASA-BASI / CHIT-CHAT

Solo exhibition

11-15 January 2023

Art SG
Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Singapore

ISA Art Gallery, Booth FC-15

Text by Övül Ö. Durmusoglu

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TALKING … AND OTHER BANANA SKINS

Group exhibition
17 June 2021 until December 2024

Curated by Michelle Houston
Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art
Bülowstraße 7, 10783 Berlin, Germany
Open Tuesday-Wednesday 10:00-18:00, Thursday-Sunday 12:00-20:00

Participating artists: 1UP, AEC INTERESNI KAZKI, AMARTEY GOLDING, ANA BARRIGA, ANDREAS ENGLUND, ANNA LUKASHEVSY, BILL POSTERS, BJÖRN HEYN, BROKEN FINGAZ CREW, DAVE THE CHIMP, DENIS CHERIM, DISNOVATION, EL MAC, FAISAL HUSSAIN, FAUST, FRANCO FASOLI AKA JAZ, HIJACK, HIN, HOT TEA, HUGO BAUDOUIN, HUH?, ICY AND SOT, IDA LAWRENCE, ISAAC CORDAL, JAN VAN ESCH, JEFF HONG, JIMMY TURRELL, JOSÉPHINE SAGNA, KNOW HOPE, LE FOU, LOOK THE WEIRD, LOW BROS, NOEMI CONAN, OLEK, RICH THORNE, ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS, SEPE, SIMON MENNER, SPLASH AND BURN, SPY, TEZZ KAMOEN, THE WA, VARIOUS AND GOULD, VERA KOCHUBEY, YOANN BOURGEOIS.

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TITIK KUMPUL (MEETING PLACE)

Group Exhibition
Art Jakarta
JCC Senayan: Jl. Gatot Subroto No.1, Kota Jakarta Pusat, Jakarta 10270, Indonesia
ISA Art Gallery: Booth C3
26 August – 28 August 2022
1 – 9 PM

Participating artists: Alexander Sebastianus, Arahmaiani, Aaron Taylor Kuffner, Bonggal Hutagalung, Gabriel Aries, Hadassah Emerich, Hannah Shin, Hardi Budi, Ida Lawrence, Ines Katamso, Jompet Kuswidananto, Jumaadi, Marisa R. Ng., Miko Veldkamp, Nico Dharmajungen, Sinta Tantra, Tara Kasenda, and Vanessa Jones.

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SPOILER ALERT

Group Exhibition
BPA// Raum
Sophie-Gips-Höfe, Sophienstr. 21, 10178 Berlin
27-28 August 2022
Opening Saturday 27 August, 18:00-21:00
Sunday hours: 15:00-18:00

BPA// Raum is pleased to invite you to Spoiler Alert, which (spoiler alert) is a critique geared towards cars and capital operating at the intersection of Sophienstraße and Gipsstraße by Berlin Program for Artists participants and friends. This is a crash course on acceleration and the roundabout ways in which reversal of artistic license is tiring to pedestrian routes of fueling understanding. In this show, artists take a departure from their usual practices to reinvent the wheel and invite passengers to co-navigate the complexities of adhesive geometric culture (bumper stickers) in which meaning is parallel parked.

What?

Participating artists: Orawan Arunrak, Benjamin Busch, Johannes Büttner, Rob Crosse, Simon Denny, Willem de Rooij, Grayson Earle, Sarah Friend, Tian Guoxin, Heyon Han, Tang Han, Calla Henkel & Max Pitegoff, Julian Irlinger, Sebastian Jefford, Paul Kolling, Ida Lawrence, Maness, Zoë Claire Miller, Simone Mine Koza, Shirin Mohammad, Nnenna Onuoha, Shirin Sabahi, Anna-Lisa Scherfose, Ernie Wang, Jasmin Werner, Arts of the Working Class.

Image: Heyon Hay

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FERMENTED FEELINGS

Solo exhibition
7-14 April 2022
Booth B1: ISA Art + Design

Art Jakarta Gardens
Hutan Kota by Plataran
Jl. Jend. Sudirman No.Kav. 54-55, Gelora, Kecamatan Tanah Abang, Jakarta, 12190, Indonesia

Image: Ida Lawrence, Good Intentions (Mau Beli Oleh-Oleh Untuk Tante) (detail) 2021, acrylic on canvas, 180 x 155 cm

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CASCADE

by Woven Kolektif
Curated by Leyla Stevens

20 November – 18 December 2021
Outer Space
420 Brunswick Street (cnr Brunswick and Berwick Streets)
Fortitude Valley QLD, Australia

Wednesdays – Saturdays, 10 am – 5 pm

Poster design: Nina M Gibbes

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A Bird In The Grass Is Worth A Thousand Hearts

Caitlin Hespe & Ida Lawrence
Curated by Katia Hermann

The duo show A bird in the grass is worth a thousand hearts sees Retramp re-vamped into a laboratory of play and possibility, in a reunion of sorts. Caitlin Hespe and Ida Lawrence are two artists who have been working apart from each other (most recently in Budapest and Berlin, respectively), though also in close contact. Through telepathic communication (or just regular phone contact, we cannot be sure) motifs merge and collide, and thematic encounters occur. In her drawings and paintings, Caitlin Hespe pairs images in surprising combinations through a new logic and sensibility. She makes leaps and links between associations and language and plays with the page as a space of illusions. Ida Lawrence’s canvases tell stories of mishaps, (mis)understanding and (dis)connection. Set between Germany, Indonesia and Australia — her homes at different times — her narrative paintings reflect recent observations, delve into distant memories, and chart her attempts to make sense of the world.

Opening Friday 10 September 2021, 5pm-9pm
Retramp Gallery: Reuterstr. 62, 12047 Berlin, Germany

Exhibition continues through Berlin Art Week, until 19 September
Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays 3pm-7pm

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Nothing’s Gonna Change My World?

a raum www publication

A pleasure to be included in raum www‘s stunning publication, an archive of 230 artists’ responses whose exhibitions have been postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic. All the results are shown from 13 August to 5 September 2021 at Berlin art space gr_und and printed in a book with greeting by Dr Klaus Lederer and introduction by Laura Helena Wurth.

Edited by Daniel Hahn and Johannes Mundinger
Designed by Daniel Hahn
Offset printing
24 x 17 cm
276 pages, coloured
Print / Binding Druckhaus Sportflieger
Edition of 250
20€ plus shipping – order through raum www

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Leila and the Poet – da la la la ti-ra-ta

Film by Jasmina Metwaly

It was a joy to experiment and collaborate (as Dog DJ, Senior Cut-Out-er-rer, Imperfect-Circle Advisor, Assistant Mind-Mapper etc) with Jasmina Metwaly and the team on this film project for MaerzMusik – Festival for Time Issues. An homage to the music, stories and philosophies of Halim El-Dabh, based on A Sonic Letter to Halim El-Dabh by Kamila Metwaly.

Available to watch for free (or with voluntary payment):
Leila and the Poet – da la la la ti-ra-ta
Commissioned by MaerzMusik – Festival for Time Issues
ca. 30 minutes
24 March – 30 June 2021

Image: Jasmina Metwaly, Leila and the Poet – da la la la ti-ra-ta 2021, film still

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(re) Visiting the archive

ADSR Zine

The one time I cooked (in 2019) was documented in ADSR Zine’s Edition 004 and the proof is also part of their archive exhibition!

Performances / exhibition opening / launch of ADSR Zine 013
Wednesday 7 April 2021, 7pm
World Square, cnr George and Goulburn St
Sydney, Australia
as part of Now You Hear Her program

Exhibition
12-4pm Thu 8 April
12-4pm Fri 9 April
11-3pm Sat 10 April

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Buah Tangan exhibition in Art Jakarta Virtual

Adam de Boer / Hadassah Emmerich / Ines Katamso / Ida Lawrence / Sinta Tantra

artjakarta.com/virtual 
19 October – 15 November 2020
38 galleries + 16 art collectives

Artist Talk on Zoom: Friday 30 October
8-9pm Jakarta Time
Registration

ISA Art + Design
Buah Tangan works & catalogue
Jakarta, Indonesia

Image: Ida Lawrence, Oleh-Oleh Fails 2020, acrylic on canvas, 200 x 155 cm

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Bonniesongs Merch

Made a mind maze drawing for Bonniesongs’s Energetic Mind merchandise, drawing inspiration from the title track lyrics:

Energetic mind over body leads to anxiety
Grab your bike and ride and ride and ride and ride until the water

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StillStand mural project

Real thrilled to have been selected as one of 4 artists to paint the 8 x 15 metre wall of Urban Spree as part of the StillStand mural project! The open call asked for proposals for murals that highlighted the importance of art and culture during the COVID-19 crisis.

The selected artists are:
How To Kill a Graffiti (25 May – 5 June)
Ida Lawrence (6-18 June)
Coco Bergholm (19 June – 2 July)
Arbeitstitel ( 3-16 July)

And I get to work with a fantastic group of people who are bringing this project to life:

organisers/jury/curators: Señor Schnu • Urban Spree
jury/curators: Katia Hermann • Johannes Mundinger • Julia Benz
documenting team: Sophie Schermer • Lukas K Stiller • Sehr Bueno • Katja Aksenenka • Anna Neis

Urban Spree wall facing Warschauer Str. (near Warschauer Str. 54)
Urban Spree, Revaler Str. 99, Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany

Image: Ida Lawrence, I Fill My Days in Other Ways (in progress) 2020. Photo: Sophie Schermer

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4A KIDS

Thanks 4A for inviting me, getting creative about sharing art with audiences and supporting Australian artists during This Time. And how cool is the design!?! (very)

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BARA: embers

Exhibition extended & moved online: 2 March – 28 April 2020

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BARA: embers
Woven Kolektif

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INTER(SUBJECT)IVITY
30 UNDER 30

Excited to have my paintings hanging alongside works by this great group of artists: Hannah Shin, Ella Wijt, Ines Katamso, Patricia Untario, Rega Ayundya Putri, Ruth Marbun, Talitha Maranila, Andrita Yuniza Orbandi, Claudia Dian, Anastasia Astika, Natasha Lubis, Etza Meisyara, Melta Dessyka, Aisya Rosli.

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On Care for NSW South Coast fire relief

In solidarity with NSW South Coast communities affected by bushfires, Woven Kolektif is offering a special edition of 50 of our audio archive, On Care.

On Care is a 41 minute collection of audio recordings centred around moments of solace and care, with some incredibly moving contributions from our local and international communities. This audio was originally exhibited as part of Woven Kolektif’s collaborative installation, Breathing Room, that created a temporary gathering space at Cement Fondu Project Space in 2019.

On Care is available for $40+ donation to Bhenji Ra’s direct emergency relief fund, On The Ground And Beyond 2020. Bhenji is providing crucial community support to south coast residents and families affected by bushfires on Yuin land. We offer our gratitude and love to Bhenji and her support network for providing immediate relief for south coast families.

If you would like to purchase an edition of On Care, we ask that you make a minimum donation of $40 to Bhenji Ra’s Gofundme, and send a screenshot of your receipt to woven.kolektif@gmail.com. If you have the capacity to donate more than $40, we strongly encourage you to do so.

Image: Woven Kolektif, Breathing Room, photo courtesy Cement Fondu

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Woven Kolektif has been nominated for an FBi Radio SMAC (Sydney Music, Arts & Culture) Award in the Best Artist category. Thrilled! And amongst fine company!

Voting, until 31 January 2020: fbiradio.com/vote

Winners announced 11 February

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IN CONVERSATION: FX HARSONO X IDA LAWRENCE

Public Programs:

New Golden Record (based on the Voyager Golden Record)

Saturday 10 August 1.00pm – 3.00pm

Ages: 9 – 16 years
Participants will create images, write stories and make sound recordings on ipads, explaining our earth, the local area and human cultures to alien life. These collated creations will then be collected into a sound and image video montage which will be published on social media. Permission to photograph will be required to participate in this workshop.
Cost: $5. Bookings essential. Call (02) 9725 0190 to book or register online.
Fairfield City Museum & Gallery: 634 The Horsley Dr, Smithfield NSW, Parking off Oxford St

Imaginative Histories (sculpture and storytelling)

Saturday 24 August 10.30am – 12.30pm

Ages: 9 – 16 years
Be led on a semi-fictional tour of the Vintage Village, to imagine and speculate on the significance and activities behind the buildings. After this tour, you will return to fabricate your own ‘artefact’, inventing their curious functions and histories surrounding them. Finally, your creation will be documented in the location they were first ‘discovered’. Permission to photograph will be required to participate in this workshop.
Cost: $5. Bookings essential. Call (02) 9725 0190 to book or register online.
Fairfield City Museum & Gallery: 634 The Horsley Dr, Smithfield NSW, Parking off Oxford St

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THE ESSAYIST

Curated by Jasmin Stephens

Benjamin Forster, Ida Lawrence, Jac Ball, Magda Stanová, Mark Hislop, Mitch Cairns, Nina Ross, Phuong Ngo, Pilar Mata Dupont

Opening Saturday 3 August, 2pm
Opening remarks by writer Astrid Lorange
Exhibition continues until 31 August 2019

The Cross Art Projects
8 Llankelly Place, Kings Cross 2011
Hours: 11am to 6pm, Thursday to Saturday

The essayist is an exhibition inspired by the literary form of the essay. It presents work characterised by the exacting thinking, careful observation and increasingly confessional aesthetic associated with contemporary essay writing. It is a mode of writing that has come to prominence through writers such as Maggie Nelson and Teju Cole. Against this backdrop of recent attention to first-person writing and the rise of digital readership, today’s essay making – at turns memoir, poetry, philosophy and criticism – is shaped by theoretical shifts relating to feminist, non-binary and embodied approaches to thought and feeling.

The exhibition and its works are not intended to replicate the format of the essay. Their cumulative effect might be to represent or elicit the qualities of an essay. In this exhibition, the artists are addressing a range of concerns. Their works explore private and shared cognition, sensation and allegiances across the body, language, landscape, history and family and include citations and influences drawn from disciplines such as cultural geography, environmental humanities and neuroscience. While reflecting a kind of essayistic disposition, they express different relationships to materials and to considerations of sensibility, structure and form.

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THE SOUND OF SHADOWS

Join Bianca Gannon and Ida Lawrence on an adventure through the music, art and food traditions of our nearest neighbours – Indonesia. As you journey through The Sound of Shadows you will play and wear endangered food-related musical instruments such as the duck herders’ Bundengan, try out traditional shadow puppets and sample delicious Indonesian food! Whistle while you work and providing food for thought! This performance involves sampling food. Please contact us if you or your child has a food allergy.

ArtPlay’s New Ideas Lab supports artists and children to work together to develop new arts experiences.

Age: 6 – 10 years. Each child must be accompanied by an adult. Please contact us if you or your child has any access requirements.
Location: ArtPlay, Birrarung Marr, Behind Federation Square, Melbourne VIC 3000
Sessions: 
Saturday 3 August: 10-11am, 11.45am-12.45pm
Sunday 4 August: 11.45am-12.45pm, 1.30-2.30pm
Cost: $16 per child, accompanying adult is free.
Bookings essential

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BREATHING ROOM

Image: Alfira O’Sullivan performing Weekends are for washing at the launch of looking here looking north. Image care of Casula Powerhouse Art Centre. Photography detail by Chantel Bann

Brisbane and Elsewhere Art UnTriennial (BEAUT)

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THE SOUND OF SHADOWS

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LOOKING HERE LOOKING NORTH

Extended until 17 March

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre with Woven Kolektif

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ASYIK CASULA: Indonesian Cultural Day

Sunday 10 February, 10:30am-3pm
Artist Talks 2pm
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
Free

At this year’s ASYIK, I am running a workshop called About Batik and participating in the artist talks.

ASYIK CASULA: Indonesian Cultural Day is an asyik day of activities for all ages (asyik meaning “fun!” and “enjoy!” in Indonesian slang). The day includes art workshops, dance and Acehnese body percussion workshops with Suara Indonesia Dance and performances by Sydney’s Indonesian community. The day concludes with a conversation with artists involved in the looking here looking north exhibition and a performance by Kartika Suharto-Martin. Indonesian food, traditional drinks and crafts will be available to purchase  on the day(please bring cash). Bellbird Dining & Bar will also be open.

Facebook event

ASYIK Program

Casula website

Image: Suara Indonesia Dance Group, photo by Astrid Jayengsari

*LOOKING HERE LOOKING NORTH

So looking forward to exhibiting some new (big!) narrative paintings of my experiences in Indonesia at Casula Powerhouse alongside my Wovens — Alfira O’Sullivan, Bridie Gillman,Kartika Suharto-Martin, Mashara Wachjudy, Sofiyah Ruqayah and Leyla Stevens (exhibition essay).

12 January – 17 March 2019
Launch: Saturday 19 January 2019 2-4pm, including a performance by Alfira O’Sullivan at 2:30pm
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, 1 Powerhouse Road, Casula NSW
Getting to Casula

looking here looking north is an exhibition by Woven, a collective of artists who each have continuing personal ties to Indonesia. Drawing on lived cross-cultural experiences, memories and observations in Indonesia and Australia, the artists’ works explore connections to family, place and culture, both familiar and unfamiliar. For some of the artists, their creative process provides an opportunity to strengthen these connections; for others, the work itself is a place to reflect on feelings of ‘between-ness’ or cultural and geographic disconnect. Other works share poetic and humorous responses to the complex and sometimes surprising realities of contemporary Indonesia, including Bali’s tourism hubs. In this exhibition, the artists express these stories, observations, meditations and imagined possibilities through performance, painting, installation, photography and video. 

 looking here looking north is presented as part of a suite of exhibitions showcasing perspectives on Indonesia along with intricately stitched quilts by Frances Larder exploring Indonesia’s colonial past and an exhibition of video works of characters and scenes by Jumaadi (one of my fave contemporary artists!) drawing on Indonesian shadow puppetry traditions to connect people, places, time, history, memory and nature.

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BONNIESONGS EP

Chuffed to have completed some illustrations for Bonniesongs’ EP Strings. This is my second project with Bonniesongs, after our stop motion animation collab. How’s this for a bargain – spend $15 and receive THREE of my artworks (printed on the EP cover, back cover and CD) AND over TWENTY-FOUR minutes of wondrous sounds!

Launch event at City Recital Hall, 2-12 Angel Place, Sydney
Thursday 6 September 2018, 9-10pm
Tickets

Hear/buy the EP

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BEING A BODY

Image: Alexandra Spence, Scores for bodies and/in time 2018, video still

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ASYIK BAZAAR

I am excited to be showing works alongside beauties by other Australian-Indonesian artists in this year’s ASYIK Indonesian art and culture bazaar! It’s a day of food, dance, art, craft and kids activities. Ayo datang ya!

Artists:
Mashara Wachjudy
Kartika Suharto-Martin
Sofiyah Ruqayah
Kyati Suharto-Martin
Ida Lawrence

Saturday 23 June 2018, 11am-4pm
Gumbramorra Hall, Addison Road Community Centre, Marrickville

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Thank you Dwi S. Wibowo for sharing your thoughts about my solo exhibition at Redbase Foundation!
(And for the shout out to the Fitri Graham Foundation!)
Read the review from Jawa Pos (in Indonesian)

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Thanks Haris Firdaus and Kompas for the review of my exhibition Jangan Lupa Bawa Oleh-Oleh Ya!

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JANGAN LUPA BAWA OLEH-OLEH YA
(dan apa yang kita ambil dari suatu tempat)

*RESIDENCY AT REDBASE FOUNDATION

Very excited to begin a residency with Redbase Foundation in Yogyakarta, Indonesia!
December 2017 – January 2018

Meet the Artists:
Citra Sasmita (Bali) & Ida Lawrence
Saturday 16 December 2pm

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HEADGEAR 6LC

MILS Gallery @ Lilac City

~~~Ida Lawrence~~~h.j.huwman~~~Simone Griffin~~~Adriano Rosselli~~~Eko Bambang Wisnu~~~Roman Stachurski~~~Siena White~~~Amelia Skelton~~~Nick Modrzewski~~~Harrison Witsey~~~ Eva Troyeur-Gibson~~~Joe Wilson & Chanelle Collier~~~Ryan Hancock~~~Nicole Toms~~~Yuta Matsumura~~~

Opens Friday 14 July 2017, 6-8pm
Lilac City, 101-103 Oxford St, Darlinghurst, Sydney, Australia
Continues until Sunday 16 July
Opening Hours: Saturday and Sunday, 12-5pm

Facebook event

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HOME ALONE 1: SOLITARY PLEASURES

Curated by Georgina Downey

Neville Cichon (SA), Anna Horne (SA), Ida Lawrence (NSW), Joanne Makas (NSW)
Lauren May (VIC), Catherine Polcz (NSW), Flore Sivell (FRA), Mel Jane Wilson (VIC)

Home Alone 1: Solitary Pleasures explores everyday individual domestic life as a key space of contemporary art in terms of experience, materials and conceptual reflection. It does so by enlarging aesthetically on the familiar and homely objects of the everyday, and their use in daily rituals around upkeep of the body and the home.

 Opening Friday 7 April 2017, 6-8pm
Floating Goose Studios
271 Morphett St Adelaide
Exhibition continues until 30 April

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WOVEN

Leyla Stevens, Bridie Gillman, Alfira O’Sullivan, Kartika Suharto-Martin, Ida Lawrence and Mashara Wachjudy

Opening Thursday 6 April 2017, 5:30-8pm
Performance by Alfira O’Sullivan and Suara Indonesia Dance, 7pm
Exhibition continues until 29 April

Woven is an exhibition and performance event that ties together the practices of six female Australian artists who each have personal connections to Indonesia. These connections exist through the artists having an Indonesian parent, being immersed in the culture and living part of their childhood in the archipelago, and living there more recently. The artists’ works explore the complexities of history, identity, memory and cross-cultural understanding – on both personal and national levels – and span installation, performance, painting, collage, photography, video and sculpture.

https://verge-gallery.net/2017/01/23/april-woven-translated-roots/

PUBLIC PROGRAMS :
+ Artist and curator introduction, April 6, 5:30pm- 6pm
+ Performance by Alfira O’Sullivan and Suara Indonesia Dance, April 6, 7pm
+ Discussion: A Third Space : Transience and Identity in The Transnational, April 20, 5:30-7:30pm
+ Monograph x Verge, April 22, 10:30am-4pm
+ Art crit and artist discussion, April 29, 1-3pm

Verge Gallery
Jane Foss Russell Plaza,
(near Wentworth Building)
City Road, Darlington.
University of Sydney

Tuesday – Friday 10am – 5pm
Saturday 11am-4pm
Closed Easter holidays and ANZAC Day

Image: Leyla Stevens, Wong Samar 2016, video still

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MILS BOOK

The late MILS Gallery (2009-2016) launched (catapult and all!) a book which features my two passions: art and admin.

Do yourself a favour and decorate your coffee table via the following link: milsgallery.com/hmls-001

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FITRI GRAHAM’S MELANCHOLIA: A RETROSPECTIVE

Curated by Ida Lawrence

Contributions by Kate O’Boyle, Kathleen Linn,
Monika Proba and Sebastian Henry-Jones

Opening 6 January 2017, 6pm
until 28 January
KINGS Artist-Run
Lvl 1 / 171 King St
Melbourne, Victoria 3000 Australia

The Fitri Graham Foundation and KINGS Artist-Run proudly present the first retrospective of Australia’s least celebrated artist, Fitri Graham. This survey honours the life, oeuvre and cultural legacy of Graham – a legacy which has not only shaped the visual arts as we know it today, but, as this exhibition reveals, one which has coloured so many of our memories.

Fitri Jane Graham (1922-1980) was an abstract painter whose exhibition Melancholia (1949) was ill-received by just about everyone. Art critics described it as “dismal”, “lifeless” and “depressingly bad”; the public was overwhelmingly underwhelmed; and Graham’s own mother suddenly, and without discussion, moved cities two days after the exhibition’s opening. Haunted by her exhibition’s “failure”, Graham never touched a paintbrush again.

However, Melancholia hadn’t been as unappreciated as Graham had perceived – imitations began appearing in the backgrounds of school, family and graduation portrait photography and, by the 1970s, had become the dominant backdrop. Realising this, Graham took legal action in 1974 against fourteen photography companies including Rise ‘n’ Smiles and Cherished Memories Photo Studio. Devastatingly, Graham lost.

To do Graham and her story justice, this long awaited retrospective features many of the original Melancholia watercolour studies and oil paintings, notably Melancholia IV, recently rediscovered down the back of a rental property pantry. Also on view are archives and artefacts from private collections and the Fitri Graham Foundation (and Estate) including exhibition reviews from 1949 and Graham’s belongings and diaries.

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NEITHER SPECTACULARLY SUCCESSFUL, NOR A SPECTACULAR FAILURE

Solo exhibition curated by Jane Gillespie, Sebastian Henry-Jones, Harriet Reid and An Sheng.

Opening Wednesday 19 October 2016, 6-8pm
Building 23, Sydney College of the Arts, Lilyfield, Sydney, Australia

Exhibition continues until 24 October
www.facebook.com/events/346214562436827/

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HEIRLOOMS: FROM THE LAWRENCE FAMILY COLLECTION (ON SALE NOW! HURRY WHILE STOCKS LAST!)

Last year my relatives contacted Christie’s in hope they would auction our family heirlooms. Disappointingly, Christie’s was unavailable and the fire sale we had instead did not yield enough to fund our bi-annual family holiday to Albury-Wodonga (planned for November 2016). It’s not too late to support this excellent cause – The Heirlooms will be on display and for sale again soon!

LOST + FOUND
Featuring Ida Lawrence & Penelope Hoess
Opening Monday 19 September 2016, 6-8pm
Exhibition continues until 29 October 2016 in Streetspace (viewable 24/7) and
the Curiosity Cabinet (viewable Mon-Fri: 4pm-Midnight, Sat: 2pm-Midnight, Sun: 2pm-10pm)

The Bearded Tit,183 Regent Street, Redfern, Sydney
thebeardedtit.com/art-1/

Facebook event

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FAILED RESTORATIONS

Full of confidence – and with the best of intentions – Ida Lawrence took to the streets (alone) with the aim of restoring the urban landscape to its former glory… but with very little knowledge of how that should look…

Solo exhibition of work I first attempted in Japan to be shown in Adelaide! Another first!

Opening Wednesday 6 July, 5:30pm
FELTspace, 12 Compton St, Adelaide
Exhibition continues until 23 July 2016
www.feltspace.org

www.facebook.com/events/213790929019668/

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REC ROOM

I will have some paintings based on board games, dart boards and sports fields in this group show curated by Hana Hoogedeure. Come play!

Opening Thursday 12 May 2016, 6-8pm
Interlude Gallery, Shop 11/131-145 Glebe Point Rd, Sydney
Exhibition continues until 28 May
www.interludegallery.com/news.html
www.facebook.com/events/1296627633684018/?active_tab=highlights

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PALE IMITATIONS

An historic collection of cultural artefacts — the common tea towel, the CHUX® wipe,
the shower curtain (Motif #7) — and the paintings, it is said, that inspired them.

Opening Saturday 30 April, 6-8pm
ArticulateUpstairs, 497 Parramatta Rd, Leichhardt
Exhibition runs 22 April – 8 May 2016
Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 11am-5pm
articulateupstairs.blogspot.com.au
www.facebook.com/events/191946957858612/

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BONNIESONGS MUSIC VIDEO LAUNCH

Been working with Bonnie Stewart on a stop motion video clip for Bonniesongs’ Dinogon.
To be released into the wild/Surry Hills on 1 April!

www.facebook.com/events/1674436262844818/

Listen here and imagine here in the meantime: soundcloud.com/bonniesongs

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DANCING FISH FLAKES AND OTHER HALLUCINATIONS
踊るカツオ節と幻覚

An exhibition of observations and imaginings from my trip to Japan and residency at Sapporo Tenjinyama Art Studio.

Sapporo Tenjinyama Art Studio Exhibition Space
20-23 November 2015, 10am-5pm

More information

View the exhibition

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RESIDENCY AT SAPPORO TENJINYAMA ART STUDIO

I have lots of woollen things ready for this one month residency in Tenjinyama Park, in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Yay!

October-November 2015

tenjinyamastudio.jp/en/

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HEADGEAR 5 / MILS’S 6TH BIRTHDAY

I have collaborated with Hana Hoogedeure on a work for MILS Gallery’s annual exhibition of masks, Headgear. This year the masked characters are from Macbeth – don’t miss the performances on opening night!

Opening Friday 10 July 2015, 6-9pm
MILS Gallery, 15 Randle St Surry Hills
Continues until 25 July
www.facebook.com/events/1440974122876437/
www.milsgallery.com/HEADGEAR-5

Image: Mask by Adriano Rosselli

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QUIET SUBVERSIONS Closing Feast

Saturday 27 June 2015, 3-5pm
Interlude Gallery, Shop 11/131-145 Glebe Point Road, Glebe

In celebration of a successful exhibition, Arthur Parker will be cooking afternoon tea for patrons, critics, friends, relatives, neighbours, former colleagues and other guests. Everyone is welcome! Arthur will be serving a traditional hi-vis meal: sausage and tomato sauce on white bread, with cake to cleanse the palate. Interlude Gallery will be kindly catering for vegetarians and people who appreciate nutrients in their diet.

www.facebook.com/events/1604922009756897/

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Art For Lifehouse Silent Auction

Thursday 25 June 2015, 6-9pm
The LivingRoom at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse
119-143 Missenden Rd, Camperdown

It is a pleasure to be a part of this fundraiser for The Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, a world-class integrated cancer treatment centre. I have donated a work, Sukajadi IV for the silent auction. Looking forward to this event, hope to see you there!

Tickets $20
RSVP via email events@lifehouse.org.au

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Quiet Subversions: Paintings by Arthur Parker

This fascinating retrospective showcases the oeuvre of self-taught Sydney artist, Arthur Parker. Parker began his career as a house painter, went on to contractual graffiti-buffing work for the council, then, after an epiphany, turned his focus to the visual arts. This exhibition features select documentation of Parker’s early site-specific paintings, and recent developments of his current passion: still life painting.

I am putting on this exhibition, and have been working closely with Arthur since the beginning of 2014. He’s quite a character! Check out his biography: arthurparkerart.wordpress.com/about

Opening Thursday 18 June, 6-8pm
Exhibition runs 18-27 June 2015
Interlude Gallery, Shop 11/131-145 Glebe Point Road, Glebe

www.interludegallery.com
www.facebook.com/events/1593705467545181/

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HEIRLOOMS:
From The Lawrence Family Collection

Recently, it became necessary that I gather together the family heirlooms. At different times, these precious objects belonged to my great-grandmother Ethel, Third-Cousin-Twice-Removed Frank, Uncle Derek and, scandalously, Aunty Marjorie. Please note all items are for sale. Proceeds go towards the Lawrence family’s 2016 holiday fund to Albury-Wodonga, and the purchasing of a new cheese grater and wireless.

I’ve gone to a lot of trouble negotiating with various relatives in order to exhibit these heirlooms. I hope you can join me in celebrating my family’s knack for hoarding:

Opening Thursday 11 June 2015, 6-8pm
Gaffa Gallery, 281 Clarence Street, Sydney
Exhibition runs 11-22 June

www.gaffa.com.au/171181

View the exhibition

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IMAGINATIVE HISTORIES

Free kids’ sculpture and storytelling workshop

Young artist-archeologists (ages 8-12) are invited to join artist Ida Lawrence, on a creative ‘archeological dig’ of Leichhardt Town Hall. Ida is one of Leichhardt Council’s four Artists in Residence, and will lead participants on a playful sculpture and storytelling workshop: participants will ‘discover’ (ie. create) imaginative sculptural ‘artefacts’ and reveal their curious functions and histories.

Workshop date: Saturday 6 June 2015, 2pm – 4.30pm
To Book: Contact Ida on ida.r.lawrence@gmail.com by Monday 1 June.

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S.A.M.P.L.E.
Some Artists Making Performance Laboratory Experiments

Saturday 23 May 2015, 6pm

Arthur Parker and I have paintings in this art exhibition/performance night.

www.facebook.com/events/1595925757346092/

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ASYIK For Kids Festival

Leichhardt Town Hall, Saturday 2 May 2015, 10:30am – 2pm

Come to Leichhardt Town Hall this Saturday for a celebration of Indonesia’s arts and cultures. It’s being put on by Suara Indonesia Dance Group, who I’ve had the pleasure of dancing with since 2008. It will be colourful, sequinned, tasty, rhythmic, dancey, arty, crafty. I’ll be helping running the arts and crafts activities on the day – we’ll be making wayang, puppets. You can BYO kid, borrow someone else’s, or bring yourself and other grown ups. ASYIK!

http://suaraindonesiadance.com.au/page/ASYIK_Kids_Festival_2015

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LOST: Leichhardt Open Studio Trail

14 March – 15 March 2015, 10am – 4pm
The Demountable, 9 Marion Street, Leichhardt

My studio – The Demountable – will be open over the weekend for LOST. Come visit!

Map

More about LOST: www.leichhardt.nsw.gov.au/Community/Arts-and-Culture/Projects/LOST

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COOL COMBO

Curated by Adriano Rosselli

A collection of shields from Papua New Guinea alongside contemporary art work by:

Marissa Bagley, Eko Bambang Wisnu, Simone Griffin, H.J. Huwman, Kaspar Kägi, Vladimir Kravchenko, Ida Lawrence, Adriano Rosselli, Roman Stachurski, Nicole Toms, Harry Townsend,
Andy Townsend & Suzie Bleach, Eva Troyeur-Gibson

Opening Friday 13 March, 6pm – 8pm
Nishi Gallery, 17 Kendall Lane, NewActon, ACT
14 March – 29 March 2015

Mils Gallery
Art, Not Apart Festival

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RESIDENCY AT THE DEMOUNTABLE

I have been selected as one of four artists to undertake a residency with Leichhardt Council’s The Demountable Subsidised Studio Space Program.

Very exciting.

January – August 2015.

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AIR

Bridie Gillman, Eko Bambang Wisnu, Ida Lawrence

AIR presents three artists’ responses to their personal experiences between Indonesia and Australia. ‘Air’, as well as the English word for the substance we breathe, is the Indonesian word for ‘water’, highlighting the shared and often contentious air and water between the two countries.

Opening Wednesday 2 April 2014, 6pm – 8pm
107projects
107 Redfern Street, Redfern

Tea and Talk with the artists Sunday 13 April, 3pm
Exhibition closes Sunday 13 April
Open Thursday to Sunday 12noon – 5pm

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Read Fleur MacDonald’s little write up of my solo exhibition bloody woop woop / (n)desa: stories from Barmedman, Kliwonan and between on her blog SIX TO EIGHT. It’s nice.

http://www.sixtoeight.net/2013/03/mils-gallery-ida-lawrence.html