2015

Tropics > Tropics - Johor Bahur, Malaysia (October/November 2015)

Just like a flock of magpie geese moves north towards Asia, a group of artists, musicians and theatre performers are heading North to the equatorial Tropics of Johor, Malaysia for the Johor Bharu International Art festival (Oct-Nov) commencing with art workshops, an exhibition and introducing fine art and theatre all locally created and developed in Cairns.

Heat wave I & II focuses on the psychological, physical and emotional effects of living through a tropical summer. There is no escaping the repeated cycle of stifling heat and oppressive humidity as the atmosphere builds towards an inevitable downpour. With summer approaching once again, Rigley ponders the harshness of a climate which creates such a beautiful environment and anticipates the unavoidable reality of what the ‘wet’ season brings.

Get Kickin' - KickArts Contemporary Arts, Cairns (November/December 2015)

Get Kickin' is the annual fundraising exhibition for KickArts Contemporary Arts Members and includes regional and national artists.

With Others - Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns (November/December)

With Others shows what happens when artists are encouraged to take inspiration from each other – a triumph of collective creativity.
Devised by Regular Rick (Ricky Beresford), the exhibition explores the idea of collaboration and social interaction through art in a contemporary regional context.
Featuring a diverse collection of work from more than 50 of Far North Queensland’s leading and emerging artists, musicians and filmmakers, the project also engages a large cross section of the Cairns community in its development processes. More than 400 participants have had input into the exhibition, from government organisations, local businesses, community groups, schools and individuals.

Personal Histories II International Artist Book Exhibition - Academic Library, UNSW Canberra (October-December 2015)

The Personal Histories International Artist Book Exhibition highlights the dynamic world of contemporary artists' book practice, with contributing artists from over 16 countries who attempt to reconfigure and reignite our relationship with the book.
It intimately catalogues a perspective of individual life experience.
The exhibition explores various structures and content, with curator Robyn Foster inviting us to contemplate our evanescent relationship with books at a seminal point in history where technology has overtaken books as society's primary information source.

Further information about the exhibition can be found here.

Collectable Art Exhibition - Cairns Regional Gallery (October)

The Collectable Art Exhibition is the annual fundraising exhibition for Cairns Regional Gallery and includes regional and national artists.

5th Sheffield International Artist's Book Prize, UK – (October/November)

The aim of the Prize is to improve and develop the profile of artist’s books and to create opportunities for display and dissemination. Entrants were encouraged (though not obliged) to donate their books to build a Collection at Bank Street Arts. This is exclusively made up of entries to the Book Prize and is available for public view and shown intermittently in exhibitions and fairs.
Memory Landscape II explores the symbolic internal landscape of memory and the paths traversed to gain access to the core of an individual. Autobiographical in nature, the 10 etchings contained in the concertina book ponder how past physical landscapes from childhood are translated into current inner recollections.

You can view the Bank Street Artist Book collection here.

Books by artists - Webb Gallery Griffith University, Brisbane (July)

Curated by Dr Tim Mosely, Senior Lecturer at Griffith University, Books by artists showcases the works of artists from across Queensland. Artist books, altered books, artist publications, book art, book as artwork, book objects, livres d'artistes and photo books will be on display10-24 July in the Webb Gallery, Griffith University. The exhibition coincides with the abbe (Artist Book Brisbane Event) 2015, a conference and book-related program of events organised by the Griffith Centre for Creative Arts Research.

Further information about the abbe can be found here.

Thinking of Place - KickArts Contemporary Arts, Cairns (June - July)

This contemporary exhibition reflects 60 printmakers artistic expressions of the theme: 'Thinking of Place'. The exhibition is a collaboration between 4 groups of printmakers from New Zealand and Australia; with 15 participants from each location.

8 June - 18 July 2015, KickArts Contemporary Arts, Cairns
29 June - 18 July 2015, Eastside Gallery, Christchurch NZ
29 August - 16 September 2015,The Depot Artspace, Auckland NZ
11 January - 20 February 2016, KickArts Contemporary Arts, Cairns
April 2016, The Post Office Gallery, Federation University, Ballarat, Victoria

Northern Encounter - Impress Gallery, Brisbane (June - July)

Northern Encounter, works by Inkmasters Cairns Inc. members will launch at Impress Studio and Gallery, Brisbane, 30 June and continue through to 6 July. Later in the year, (July), the works will show alongside those of Kay Watanabe and Japanese printmakers at Canopy Art Centre, Cairns, Qld, as Encounter.
My mother bids me bind my hair is taken from the first line of a poem, relating to the act of parenting through the generations - for good or bad. The work considers the patterns within the human experience and ponders whether there are common underlying threads that connect all human beings through common circumstances and repeated experiences.

One dog is one, two, few - SOLO - Tanks Arts Centre (June - July)

One dog is one, two, few is a visual investigation of the bond between humans and their canine ‘best friends’. Enjoying a unique and dynamic relationship with their owners, dogs have established for themselves a niche within human society, often considered as a much loved member of the family. Rose Rigley uses mixed media to further pursue the elusive notion of memory, to gain a better understanding of the unusual compatibility between the two species and to argue that having only one good dog in a lifetime is never enough.

100book - Redland Art Gallery (March - May)

100book: A personal histories international artists' book exhibition highlights the dynamic world of contemporary artists’ book practice, with contributing artists from over 16 countries. The exhibition explores various structures and content, with curator Robyn Foster inviting us to contemplate our evanescent relationship with books at a seminal point in history where technology has overtaken books as society’s primary information source.

4 by 4 - Cairns Regional Gallery (March) & Brisbane Square Library (July-September)

4 by 4 featured books as sculptural form by four artists from far north Queensland (Barbara Dover, Claudine Marzik, Rosie Miller and Rose Rigley)and four artists (Susan Bowers, Fiona Dempster, Helen Malone and Adele Outteridge) from south east Queensland.
The works were also displayed at Brisbane Square Library during July through until September.

Rigley's book structures explored the temporal and fragile nature of memory. These sculptures became symbolic vessels for holding and preserving the artist's aging mother's fading recollections.

Sorority - Tanks Art Centre (March)

For the past 4 years Knock Knock has run its annual Women in the Arts exhibition in Cairns in celebration of International Women’s Day.
As a variation to our usual annual programming, this year the founding members of our group are joining with Tanks Art Centre to participate in ‘Sorority’, a cross-industry exhibition focussing on women’s collective approaches to art-making.
Alongside other artist-run initiatives, indigenous art centres and contemporary practitioners, Knock K...nock members Raewyn Biggs, Rose Rigley and Louisa Ennis-Thomas will present new work for this IWD exhibition.
Part of a larger series, A preserving nature: Family Keepsakes, examines the process of preserving memories through tangible objects and how these ‘keepsakes’ are displayed and translated.