Australia at the 1997 Venice Biennale - Kwementyai Kngwarreye, Yvonne Koolmatrie, Judy Watson: Fluent

Australia at the 1997 Venice Biennale

Kwementyai Kngwarreye, Yvonne Koolmatrie, Judy Watson: Fluent

17 June - 9 November 1997

Kwementyai Kngwarreye, Yvonne Koolmatrie and Judy Watson's representation in the 47th Venice Biennale is the first time Aboriginal women have been exhibited at the most prestigious international event in the visual art world's calendar.

"Like the many canals that weave through Venice, the exhibition explores the subtle connections between works which suggest a continuous ebb and flow between modernity and tradition, art and craft, painting and sculpture, abstraction and narrative. fluent celebrates and pays tribute to the survival of Aboriginal culture on the international stage, reflecting the culture and creativity of both regional and urban communities." (Curatorium)

The title, fluent, not only suggests the visual fluidity of the artists' works and the intuitive nature of their creation, it also connotes the oral traditions of Aboriginal culture and the many languages that make up Aboriginal Australia.

Kwementyai Kngwarreye, Yvonne Koolmatrie and Judy Watson create individual, bold and contemporary interpretations of a heritage that is 40,000 years old. These artists exemplify the challenging and innovative direction both urban and regional Aboriginal art has taken in the past decade.

KWEMENTYAI KNGWARREYE passed away last year and was believed to be in her eighties. In accordance with Aboriginal custon, the full name of the artist is not written or spoken out of respect for the deceased and their family. The substitute Kwementyai (meaning 'no name') and the artist's skin name, Kngwarreye, is used.

Kngwarreye is considered to be one of the most significant of Australia's contemporary artists. Her work is represented in major public and private collections in Australia and overseas. In 1992, she was the first Aboriginal artist to be awarded an Australian Artists Creative Fellowship. Kngwarreye lived a traditional lifestyle and worked on a cattle station in the outback of Australia in her youth. After a lifetime of traditional cultural practice, Kngwarreye was introduced to non-traditional art practices in her late sixties. Initially working with batik, it was not until over a decade later that Kngwarreye found the medium she came to master, painting on canvas.

fluent focuses on Kngwarreye's 'stripe' paintings which suddenly appeared in late 1993, disrupting her famous fields of shimmering dots. A spiritual analogy is made between the stripes of her paintings and the traditional body paint of Kngwarreye's awelye, yam dreaming cycles.

YVONNE KOOLMATRIE is recognised as one of the leading weavers in Australia, practising a rare form of Ngarrindjari weaving traditional to the Riverland country of South Australia. Originally intended to exist in the physical world of water, Koolmatrie's weavings are seemingly weightless and reveal the hand of the artist. Made of sedge grass reeds from the River Murray, chosen for their strength, colour and fragrance, Koolmatrie's weavings have an inherent gracefulness and balance which distinguishes her work.

JUDY WATSON, unlike the other two artists, trained in a formal academic system. As a Waanyi artist, Watson has said her work is about "memories washing over me". She regularly travels to her country in North West Queensland (Waanyi country), to draw inspiration from her rich personal and communal histories. Using principles of abstraction she exposes the hidden stories of the Australian colonial experience. The rich deeply textured surfaces, etched with innumerable marks and meanders, are breathtakingly beautiful. Her fluid painting style is enhanced as her unstretched canvasses float on the wall.

Watson has travelled extensively and held international residencies in Banff in Canada, Bhopal in India, Tuscany in Italy, Lillehammer in Norway and New Zealand. She was a recipient of the 1995 Möet & Chandon Fellowship and undertook a one year residency in France.

Australia's 1997 Venice Biennale curatorial team, consisting of curators, Hetti Perkins and Brenda L.Croft and coordinating curator Victoria Lynn, make an ideal blend of professional indigenous and contemporary art expertise.

HETTI PERKINS of the Arrernte people is an independent curator based in Sydney and has worked as a curator of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative and The Art Gallery of New South Wales. BRENDA L. CROFT of the Gurindji people is a practising artist, an independent curator and was General Manager of Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative. VICTORIA LYNN is Curator of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The exhibition fluent has been supported by The Art Gallery of New South Wales. The assistance of Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative is gratefully acknowledged. This project has been assisted by the Australia Council, the Federal Government's arts funding and advisory body. The support of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commision is also acknowledged.

MICHAEL LYNCH, General Manager of the Australia Council, is the Commissioner for the Australian Pavilion.

Australia has officially participated in the Venice Biennale since 1954 when an exhibition of Sidney Nolan's work was presented. From 1978 the Australia Council became involved in selecting the artists to be exhibited and commenced funding Australia's participation, securing a site for Australia's own Pavillion in 1988.

THE ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au

Olympus IS-200 SLR

Olympus IS-200 SLR

Olympus IS-200 SLR

(c) Olympus

The Olympus IS-200 adds to this combination of performance and convenience. Although it has the versatility of a 4x zoom lens, it remains very compact and weighs only 640 g. To simplify handling further, it is also the first SLR with an integrated lens cap with the convenience of opening automatically when the power is turned on. The large-diameter aspherical lens has the high resolution that ensures outstanding quality, and the 28-110 mm zooming range is suited to almost every situation encountered in leisure photography. The wide-angle 28 mm setting is ideal for indoor shots and expansive landscapes, while the telephoto settings up to 110 mm are perfect for natural-looking candid photography and striking portraits. With its pushbutton operation, the Direct Mode Select function makes it easy to select the right exposure and make the most of the Olympus IS-200's SLR performance. The Aperture-Preferred AE system and the Long Time Mode also offer the creative freedom of choosing any depth of field or shutter speed. This attention to quality is similarly apparent in the sleek lines, sophisticated metallic color and metal details. Equally important, the IS-200's friendly operation and advanced features come at a very affordable price. And that makes the latest addition the IS Series the clear answer for amateurs who are serious about both photography and fun.

MAIN FEATURES

Compact, lightweight SLR with a built-in zoom lens 

The Olympus IS-200 features a built-in, high-resolution 4x zoom lens, while its L-shaped design reflects a relentless pursuit of optimal handling and holding balance. Not only is operation easy, but the new model is compact and lightweight, measuring just 123 x 88 x 115 mm and weighing only 640g. 

Integrated lens cap 

The Olympus IS-200 is the first SLR with an integrated lens cap that opens automatically when the power is turned on. 

High-resolution 28-110 mm 4x zoom lens 

Quickly and easily, the zooming lever covers a broad range of 28-110 mm. The 28 mm setting offers full wide-angle photography for outstanding results in indoor scenes, group portraits, expansive landscapes and architectural shots. And the telephoto settings up to 110 mm are perfect for striking portraits and natural-looking candid photography. For even greater telephoto possibilities, the optional teleconverter extends the maximum focal length to 180 mm. 

Twin Flash with GN18 power 

In addition to its GN14 flashtube for wide-angle and normal focal lengths, the IS-200 has a GN18 flashtube for telephoto shots. This solution offers a flash range of 4.5m with ISO100 color negative film and 9.0m with ISO400. The automatic changeover from one flashtube to the other is determined automatically according to the focal length and distance to the subject. 

Large-diameter glass aspherical lens 

The large-diameter aspherical glass lens delivers high-quality images with less distortion all the way to the edge of the frame, even at the 28 mm wide-angle setting. Along with ensuring outstanding quality, the lens design accounts for the compactness of the optical system. 

Direct Mode Select Button 

By simply pressing the Direct Mode Select Button, photographers can explore the advantages of SLR performance, confident that the results will be all that they want. The icons are easy to understand, and there are four modes suited to the range of situations. 

･ Stop Action Mode: To freeze fast moving subjects, the camera automatically picks the fastest shutter speed up to 1/2000 sec.

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Creative Functions 

Photographers who want to capture every nuance of a scene will appreciate the functions that offer an optimal combination of shutter speed and aperture for every lighting situation.

･ Aperture-Preferred AE: Complete control over the aperture range lets photographers select the F-stop they want, from the widest opening of F4.5-5.6 to the minimum of F22.

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･ Long Time Mode: The Long Time Mode is ideal for creative photography in nighttime scenes that are difficult to capture in a programmed mode-for example, the flow of automobile taillights or fireworks against a dark sky. With the aperture locked at F8, the photographer can choose from shutter speeds of 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30 and 60 sec. The shutter can be triggered from a distance with the optional Remote Control RC-200.

Versatile flash modes 

To make sure that flash photographs come out right, the IS-200's Intelligent Variable-Power Flash system checks the distance to the subject and automatically sets the appropriate flash intensity and aperture setting.

･ Auto: In low light or backlighting, the flash fires automatically, delivering the appropriate illumination for a correct exposure.

･ Redeye Reduction: This mode minimizes the redeye effect which spoils many flash portraits taken in low light. To make the subject's iris contract, a series of lower-powered pre-flashes is triggered before the main flash fires.

･ Fill-in: The flash fires every time in this mode. It is especially helpful when a photographer wants a natural look without the harsh shadows created by strong sunlight.

Other features 

･ Built-in dioptric correction: Dioptric correction of -2 to +1 is built in to compensate for any eyesight problems.

･ Optional accessories for enhanced creative control: IS/L Lens C-180 H.Q. Converter 1.7x For full telephoto photography, the compact and lightweight teleconverter extends the maximum focal length to 180 mm. It measures just 56 x 56mm, and it weighs only 100g.

･  Remote Control RC-200 The remote control triggers the shutter from as far as 5m from straight ahead of the subject or from 3.5 m at a 50degrees angle on either side.