BLACK HAT COLLECTIVE
Brendan Smith
Michael Phillips
Sean Phillips
Stephen Mok
Izabella Chabrowska
Black Hat Collective is a group of artists who have worked and shown together in various capacities for close to 20 years. This exhibition will feature recent works in a variety of mediums.
EXHIBITION OPEN HOURS:
Friday 17 Feb – 4pm – 8pm
Saturday 18 Feb – 10am – 3pm
Sunday 19 Feb – 10am – 3pm
In recognition of Black Hat Collective founder Peter Beiers.
Brendan Smith
>>… Brendan Smith’s … artworks are relics of contemporary life.
Drawing upon a myriad of art historical and literary references, found materials and a unique visual language, Smith’s works are antithetical to the Instagram age; his art invites you to slow down and spend time with each object, to consider its history and creation.
Smith is an observer who is inspired by other observers, those who seek to make sense of the world and their place within it.<<
Hamish Sawyer, catalogue essay, >>aides-memoires<< 2018
Brendan Vivian Smith started showing his work in 1986 after graduating from Seven Hills (now QCA Griffith University) in 1984.
He has lived in Sydney since the late 1990s & completed an MFA at QUT in 2003.
He currently teaches at Bundanon, the 1993 Arthur Boyd ‘gift to the nation’ art museum & wildlife sanctuary on the Shoalhaven River (Bundanon acknowledges the people of the Dharawal & the Durga language groups as traditional owners - ); & on the Gadigal Land of the Eora Nation in Sydney at WEA, the Workers Educational Association, est.1913.
@breadtoastsmith
Michael Phillips
Completed B. App. Sc. (Built Environment) Queensland Institute of Technology in 1982. Established studio in Brisbane Community Arts Centre (now Metro Arts) involving set and print design for Fluba Troupe (University of Queensland Architectural Review), TN! Theatre Company, La Boite Theatre and the Queensland Performing Arts Trust (Out of the Box, Early Childhood Festival).
Lived and worked in London in the late eighties, returned to Brisbane, continued art practice, with commercial work in arts publication (artist monographs, catalogue and book design), illustration and graphic design (printed matter, fashion, architecture and interiors) and screen printing (textiles and print works). Exhibitions both solo (12) and group (35) over the past 36 years—a mix of paintings, prints, small sculptures, public art and artists’ books. Completed Masters of Visual Arts Research at Queensland College of Art (2022) examining the role of the autographic and materiality in prints.
Represented by grahame galleries + editions.
@beansinsprint
Sean Phillips
Language is vast, decadent, changeable, a diamond, a quag
I use it every day
It’s like riding a bike: to do it you don’t have to know anything about the mechanics
It’s not like riding a bike: you can get it all wrong but you don’t fall off
Sometimes its power depends upon who uses it, sometimes the word is in and of itself, independent of the user
Some words were once powerful, but now they have lost that power, others the reverse. They have no control over this
It’s possible to take words and make them do more than the usual, but almost no one can do this
Words arranged in certain combinations can make us see things that aren’t there. For instance, sometimes I read a passage of Shakespeare and see a pommel horse routine
Letters are limited, language unlimited
Letters are beautiful. They have their own personalities and personal histories
Letters are limited in number, but in form they are like nature; a flower takes many forms, but a flower is not a tree
Pluto is no longer a planet. It’s doubtful Pluto knows this, but after all it might argue “I haven’t changed”. H is a ghost, a breath; it has and has not been a letter. It looks secure: H – it has the requisite architecture for a long and stable life, but its hold on being is more tenuous. It’s different, this letter; it exists, yes, but always in the antechamber of silence....shhhhhh.....
@gotchabythebooks
Stephen Mok
Brisbane artist Stephen Mok is known for his fun, colourful scenes that depict fanciful and wildly imaginative narratives. He is renowned for his distinctive cartoon-like paintings and drawings. His work has been featured in many forms, including collaborations with fashion label Easton Pearson, NRMA, and the design of various merchandise including products for QAGOMA and Newstead Brewery. His iconic work has become a fixture of the cultural landscape of Brisbane.
@stephenmokart
Iza Chabrowska
Textile artist Iza Chabrowska produces works using antique and repurposed fabrics, giving them new life as art objects. Her work utilizes traditional techniques of embroidery, quilting, and applique, bestowing these historical practices with a contemporary edge.
She also produces original jewellery and accessories under her label ‘sewn.’
@sewnwork