News

Regrettably, we have had to cancel Justin Clemens's talk on Cao Fei and Second Life that was to have taken place on 11 June at 6pm.

We are pleased to announce the artists in this year's Brisbane Airport Fresh Cut 2009: Aaron Burton, Sarah Byrne, T. P. Kerr, and Hiromi Tango. Each receives $5000 towards the creation of work for the show from our major partner Brisbane Airport Corporation. The exhibition opens early July.

We have initiated a writer's residency in collaboration with Eyeline magazine. The 2009 Eyeline/IMA writer-in-residence will be prominent critic and academic Anthony Gardner. Originally from Melbourne, Gardner currently lives in London. He will spend three weeks at the IMA from mid-April. We are also pleased to announce that our 2009 regional resident is Ipswich artist Lincoln Austin, who is known for his optical works. Austin shows with Andrew Baker Art Dealer in Brisbane.

Every year the IMA presents Fresh Cut, our pick of emerging Queensland artists. This year's show will feature four, who are either at art school or up to six years out of art school, and have not shown at the IMA before. Each will be given $5000 to develop work for the show. This support has been generously provided by our major partner, Brisbane Airport Corporation. The artists will be selected by a panel comprising IMA Director Robert Leonard, artist Jemima Wyman, and QCA Gallery Director Simon Wright. The panel will work from its knowledge of local art practice, but eligible artists are also invited to submit portfolios by Friday 17 April. These should be emailed (to robert@ima.org.au) or posted (to Fresh Cut, PO Box 2176, Fortitude Valley BC QLD 4006). Submissions will not be returned. One of the selected artists may also be invited to present a work in the new Brisbane Airport international terminal. We would like to thank Brisbane Airport Corporation for their visionary support for this project. Fresh Cut 2009 opens in early July.

Last night twenty-five-year-old filmmaker Aaron Burton won our inaugural $10,000 Jeremy Hynes Award. Burton was chosen by a panel consisting of IMA Director Robert Leonard and artists Jay Younger and Craig Walsh. The Award was presented by Doug Hall, 2009 Australian Commissioner for the Venice Biennale. Robert Leonard says, 'The panel was hugely impressed by Burton's short films, particularly two keenly-observed portraits of socially marginal characters from 2006, Princess of Paradise (about a cross-dresser who persists in wearing a pink bikini in public in Surfers Paradise in the face of threatened prosecution) and The Point (about an Aboriginal man railing against Captain Cook’s presumption in claiming the country). Burton has perfected a manner of low-budget documentary filmmaking combining video footage and still photography and interweaving the personal and the political. He's already produced a remarkable and substantial body of work. We expect great things.' The award will be made every two years to an experimental Queensland artist in the name of the late Jeremy Hynes. [image: Aaron Burton]

We are teaming up with Room40 and Kick Arts to present Japanese psych-folk duo, Tenniscoats, in Cairns, as part of their Australasian tour. The BBC described Saya and Ueno Takashi’s music as 'gorgeous'; Village Voice called them 'one of the most unique groups to emerge from Japan in recent years'. COCA, 96 Abbott Street, Friday 13 February at 7pm.

Bree Jackson has left the IMA to follow the yellow brick road. She is now in L.A. We wish her well. Our new program assistant is Ross Manning—one of the artists featured in our recent exhibition The New Fresh Cut 2008. Welcome, Ross.

In 2009 we are offering a four-week residency for an artist from regional Queensland. It's a great opportunity to have quality time in Brisbane, meeting and networking with other artists and arts workers. We provide travel expenses, a weekly stipend of $525, and accommodation in one of our centrally-located apartments. Applications should include up to ten images of your work, an abridged CV, a brief outline of the activities or project you would like to undertake while here, and an indication of how you think the residency would benefit your practice. Deadline for applications: 31 March. Contact Vanessa.

In January we team up with Audiopollen to present a concert by two legends of underground music, Eugene Chadbourne (USA) and Mani Neumeier (Japan). A guitarist and banjoist, Eugene Chadbourne scrambles Nashville country music, bluegrass, and rockabilly, with free jazz and noise. In his hands traditional forms bristle with humour and anarchist energy. His work combines a kaleidoscope of rock and jazz guitar techniques, the chaotic structures of Charles Ives's symphonies and Frank Zappa's dadaistic pieces, a demented sense of humour, and a tone of punk irreverence. Chadbourne has cut a remarkable track through the world of new music, collaborating with the likes of Jello Biafra, John Zorn, Fred Frith, Derek Bailey, Kevin Blechdom, Camper Van Beethoven, They Might Be Giants, Violent Femmes, and Sun City Girls. German percussionist Mani Neumeier is a pioneer of free jazz, krautrock, and kosmiche. He founded the seminal group Guru Guru, Acid Mothers Guru Guru (with Japanese psych-lords Acid Mothers Temple), and Harmonia, and has played in countless engagements with Damo Suzuki, Peter Brotzmann, and other key figures of non-conformist music. Chadbourne and Neumeier will perform sets solo and together. Tuesday 20 January at 7pm. [image: Eugene Chadbourne]

If you are a Queensland artist and not a member of Artworkers Alliance, you should be. For over twenty years, Artworkers has provided artists with industry advice on all aspects of professional practice: exhibitions, writing applications, art prizes, business plans, insurance, contracts, marketing, and more. For just $27.50, IMA members can now become Artworkers affiliate members and receive all the benefits of individual membership. Email info@artworkers.org, or visit www.artworkers.org.