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Leongatha Gallery
The inexplicable, vertiginous urge to mark. Such an odd thing this will to leave a deliberate trace of your presence in a world where you try to cover your footsteps from predators lurking in the thick vegetation. Or in any other world for that matter. And what on Earth is driving you to snatch a snippet from the present moment and rip it from the flow of time? Trying something as futile as that?
In the beginning man created a scribbling on the wall. And more scribbling and doodles. And yet more. The wall was a cave wall (let’s say Altamira). The rest is history (heaps of it). The whole new world unfolded and unravelled itself before the scribbling creature.
She now acquired power to communicate with herself, gods and other humans. Those doodles and scribbles speak to us to the present day. We can still hear them.
E-hm, what has this unbecoming glorifying of wall defacing have to do with Leongatha Gallery, you might be asking yourself. Everything really. The exhibition “METROPOLIS” is showcasing work by Seldom and Kathleen O’Neill. The later is the silversmith and the former is the brother in arms of the hairy shaman girl who first indulged in wall defacing.
You are asking a wrong question anyway. The real question is: why is Melbourne the world capital of stencil graffiti (rubbing shoulders with Berlin, New York, London, Barcelona and Paris) and what is a contribution of Leongatha to the reputation that brings people from over the world to see the ephemeral beauty of scribbled on walls? Leongatha happens to be Seldom’s home for the time being. Seldom? Well, it is a street name. You may assume the identity on-the-fly for every type of activity, different one in different virtual communities - if you only had one-two boring identities all your life, it’s your choice (not the only legit choice you have in the modern world). It is not about names anyway, it is more to do with what inspires you, what makes your heart racing, what quickens your pulse and what stops you in your tracks. Kathleen executes her jewellery pieces with a precision and decisiveness of a samurai sword. Like Seldom, she is naturally driven to ever-changing, perpetually meta-morphing, brimming and pulsating metropolis. Mechanical toys, power tools, heavy machinery, industrial estates, spare parts, all gritty and fascinating world gets transformed in highly unique pieces made of solid sterling silver, titanium, fine silver, found objects, guitar strings, created with Zen purity. Farm inspired objects made of a ute tray and castration rings have the same deeply urban feel to them. The same buzzing thriving feel that enveloped 15 year old boy and sucked him in, made him leap from being a spectator to actively participating. Seldom cuts and paints what, where and when he likes. Seldom’s weapons of choice are spray and his xacto knife.
Seldom spends his free time cutting small shapes out of paper for hours on end. Seldom’s exhibitions: 2006 and 2007 Melbourne International Stencil Festival (the former was touring in various cities in four states of Australia), Fire Aid Charity ART Auction (Mel), Cut and Dried (Kongwak), Springfield Art Walk (Missouri, USA), I was Framed (Meeniyan, with C. Greaves), 696 One Year Birthday (Mel), Random Collective (Wonthaggi). Seldom as a feature artist and holding demonstrations and workshops: Springfield University, Sketch City, Melbourne Stencil Festival, Random Collective, Union Lane & Findley Alley Painting Production.
Street Art is essentially impermanent, it gets tagged, altered, pasted on, covered, buffed, bathed by the rain and faded and cracked by the sun. And it is welcoming it, embracing it. Like Kathleen fine silver ring that uses a pliability of fine silver as a part of her design, the ring changes shape whenever you knock and bang into things. Soul destroying confines of complacent and settling, gradual corrosion of truth and light brought by ossified, recalcitrant mediocrity and rampant consumerism, have nothing to do with this work. It is about reclaiming the streets from vacuous inanity of billboards and advertisements.
It is about bringing the light and magic of this cave wall back. It is a history of Australian art in the making. Not to be missed.
LEONGATHA GALLERY IS LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS! CALL AILEEN ON 5664 9291