dream job ACTIVITY PRIMAVERA AT 25 OVERVIEW: Artists are involved in a whole range of activities which surround their artmaking practice, such as undertaking residencies, applying for grants and staging exhibitions. Find out more about the processes involved in the artworld by imagining your future career as a successful artist YOU WILL NEED: PROCESS: 1. IMAGINE YOU ARE A PRIMAVERA ALUMNI ARTIST, who after a long and successful career has been asked to return to the MCA as part of their Primavera at 50 exhibition. Consider how you may have got to this point as an artist. What has your career been like so far? 2. LOOK AT THE ANNOTATED CV’S OF PRIMAVERA AT 25 ARTISTS (below) to help you decide what your career path might look like. 3. WRITE YOURSELF AN ARTIST’S CV, which lists the main achievements you have had in your career as a professional artist so far. This may include: • education and schooling • exhibitions • grants • residencies • publications or articles written about you NOTE: Use real examples where possible! Research different university courses, galleries, grants and residency opportunities to include on your CV. Helpful sites to look at include: NAVA, Museums and Galleries NSW, Australia Council and Australian Commercial Galleries Association. REFLECTION: - Compare your CV with at least one peer. What were the differences or similarities in the paths you chose? Is there anything you might do differently? - How did your imagined career differ after you completed your CV compared your initial ideas in step 1? EXTENSION: There are many opportunities available for young school-aged artists, including prizes, grants and exhibitions. Research what might be available to you in your area and get involved! WWW.MCA.COM.AU/LEARN DREAM JOB : Artists’ CV Excerpts MIKALA DWYER Born 1959, Sydney. Lives and works Sydney EDUCATION 2005-7 Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK) (Berlin University of the Arts, Berlin), Klasse Stan Douglas 2000 Master of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts, The University of New South Wales, Sydney A solo exhibition exclusively shows the 1985-6 Middlesex University, London work of one artist 1983-6 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney, Sydney Many universities have their own university galleries and museums. SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS Sometimes these galleries have their 2016 In the Head of Humans, Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland, New Zealand own collections. Dämmerschlaf, with Nick Dorey and Clare Milledge, Artspace, Sydney 2015 Mikala Dwyer: MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia ACCA is an artspace dedicated to The Letterbox Marys, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney showing and supporting contemporary 2014 The Garden of Half Life, University Art Gallery, University of Sydney artists’ practice. ACCA does not collect Hollowwork, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne works, instead focusing on asking 2013 Goldene Bend’er, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne artists to create works. Artspace is a similar space in Sydney. SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2016 Quicksilver, Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art, University of A group exhibition shows the work South Australia of several artists in one show. These Soft Core, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney artists are selected by a curator, often Riddle of the Burial Grounds, Extra City Kunsthal, Antwerp, Belgium to fit a certain theme or vision. 2015 Dead Ringer, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts A biennale is large-scale international Hall of Half-Life, Stierischer Herbst Festival 2015, GrazMuseum, Austria art exhibition, which occurs every two Magnetism, Hazelwood, Sligo, Ireland years. It often occurs over several Believe Not Every Spirit, but Try the Spirits, Monash University sites in a city. Australia also hosts the Museum of Art, Melbourne Adelaide Biennale, whilst internationally, 2014 You Imagine What You Desire: 19th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney Venice is well known for its Biennale exhibition. SELECTED COMMISSIONS 2012 Egg Swing, Royal Hospital for Women Park, Paddington A commission is where an individual or (Commissioned by Woollahra Council) organisation hires an artist to create an artwork. Sometimes these are public art SELECTED STUDIOS pieces, commissioned by councils and 2015 Artspace, Sydney governments, which are then installed 2014-15 IMMA Residency, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin in the community. SELECTED GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS AND PRIZES 2015 Redlands Konica Minolta Prize (Winner) Studios or residencies, are 2014 Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award (Winner) opportunities for artists to spend time 2009 Fellowship Australia Council grant away from their usual environment. 2003 Woollahra Sculpture Prize Sometimes these are paid for or hosted by an organisation, such as 2002 Helen Lempriere Sculpture Prize (commended) Artspace. Residencies may provide a physical space to create artworks, or allow artists to travel. Artists often use residencies to create or develop new work in response to their experience. WWW.MCA.COM.AU/LEARN DREAM JOB : Artists’ CV Excerpts ABDUL ABDULLAH Born 1986, Perth. Lives and works Sydney Fehily Contemporary is an example of a commercial gallery. At commercial SELECTED STUDIES galleries, the artworks on exhibition are 2015-16 Masters by research (MFA), UNSW Art and Design for sale. Generally an artist is represent- ed by one gallery, who is in charge of 2006-8 Bachelor of Art, Faculty of BEAD, Curtin University of Technology, WA selling their work - However, an artist may have multiple galleries to represent SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS them in different cities or countries. For 2016 Burden, Fehily Contemporary, Melbourne example, Abdullah is also represented Coming to Terms, Mossgreen Gallery, Sydney by Mossgreen Gallery in Sydney. 2015 Coming to Terms, CHASM Gallery, New York, USA Abdul Abdullah and Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth Artist-run galleries or Initiatives (ARI) 2014 I See a Darkness, Future Perfect, Singapore are managed by a board of artists and 2011 Them and Us, Kings Artist-Run, Melbourne curators, rather than a singular director. Generally, artists can apply to exhibit SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS their work at an ARI. Artist-run spaces 2016 Jogja Calling, 4A Centre of Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney are dedicated to showing the work of The Public Body, Artspace, Sydney emerging, or younger artists. Beauty and the Beast: The Animal in Photography, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, USA Next Wave is an example of a bi- Painting. More Painting, ACCA, Melbourne annual art festival. It is dedicated to The Fraud Complex, Next Wave Festival, West Space, Melbourne showcasing new generations of artists taking creative risks. There are many HERE&NOW16, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Perth different art festivals in Australia, other Embrace, Kunstraum, New York examples being SafARI or Underbelly 2015 The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Arts in Sydney. Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane Primavera 2015: Young Australian Artists, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney The MCA is an example of a large, not-for-profit. public institution. The The Skin off Our Time, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia MCA collects (purchases) artworks and 2014 The List, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney commissions them. It does not have art for sale. Artists need to be invited to SELECTED AWARDS, RESIDENCIES AND GRANTS: exhibit at these institutions. 2016 Western Australian Multicultural Recognition Award Basil Sellers Art Prize (finalist) 2015 Sovereign Art Prize Hong Kong (Finalist) An art prize is a competition where artists enter works, often to a theme. 2014 Linden Postcard Show (First Prize) Winners of prizes may have their work Archibald Prize (finalist) bought by the institution, or receive John Fries Award (finalist) other benefits i.e. money. Perhaps the Rockhampton Gold Award (shortlisted) best known art prize in Australia is the Campbelltown Arts Centre residency Archibald Prize. Black Swan Prize for Portraiture (finalist) 2013 Bowness Prize (finalist) Grants provide monetary funding Blake Prize (finalist) to support artists. Grants are often 2012 PICA residency offered by different government bodies, Fisher’s Ghost Art Award (finalist) institutions or businesses. Artists must Interarts Grant – Australia Council for the Arts write an application to be awarded a grant. They may use the funding to Arts Project Grant, City of Melbourne pay for studio spaces, host exhibitions, travel or develop new work. WWW.MCA.COM.AU/LEARN.