Title

Paris Days: The UNSW studio in Paris

Venues

Ivan Dougherty Gallery [2]. (7 March 2002 – 13 April 2002)

Date

(2002)

Summary

Multi-artist exhibition. Located: Australia (NSW).

Curator

Elizabeth Ashburn

Abstract

For centuries, a studio in Paris has been every artist’s dream. For painters and sculptors, writers and musicians, a studio in Paris is almost a rite of passage. Founded by Felix and Simone Brunau in 1965, the Cité Internationale des Arts enables artists from around the world to fulfil this dream. A huge modern complex of studios, the Cité is perfectly located by Pont Marie, overlooking the Seine and surrounded by some of the world’s most famous museums, galleries and architecture. Over 90 nations are represented here, some with a single studio, others with several.

For artists of all disciplines, a sojourn at the Cité offers a valuable opportunity to pursue one’s own work while mingling with like-minded artists from every corner of the globe, experiencing first-hand the cultural heritage and modern vibrancy of Paris.

The UNSW studio was established in 1995. Since then 25 scholars have successfully competed for residencies at the studios, generally staying for periods of between three and six months. As this exhibition reveals, the UNSW studio has been host to a range of visual artists, writers, architects, musicians and others drawn from the ranks of UNSW staff and postgraduates. There are contributions from Fay Brauer and Alan Krell of COFA’s School of Art History and Theory, musician and UNSW academic Roger Covell, Catherine De Lorenzo from the Faculty of the Built Environment, Nicole Ellis, Idris Murphy, Brian O’Dwyer and Peter Pinson of COFA’s School of Art, Ron Newman and Vaughan Rees of the School of Design, Debra Phillips and Lynne Roberts-Goodwin from COFA’s newly established School of Media Arts. Prominent postgraduate students featured in the exhibition include David Eastwood, Wendy Howard, Michael Neal and Deborah West. The exhibition is curated by Liz Ashburn from the School of Art, who was instrumental in securing UNSW’s studio at the Cité Internationale des Arts.

Today the Cité Internationale continues to be run by Madame Simone Brunau, who is travelling to Australia for this exhibition. [Gallery media, 2002].