Ames Yavuz

Catch the last days of Christopher Bassi’s ‘New Monument,’ concluding this Saturday 6 July. Bassi “engages with oceanic currents, “knows the mangroves as kin,” and “makes sense of the dreamlike and surreal sensibilities of shells as monuments,” writes Dr. Bronwyn Bailey-Charteris in an accompanying essay. Images: Installation views of Christopher Bassi’s ‘New Monument’ at Ames Yavuz, Sydney, 2024. #ChristopherBassi #NewMonument #AmesYavuz #SoloExhibition #Sydney

Referencing Käthe Kollwitz’s woodcut “Die Mütter” (1922/23), Isaac Chong Wai’s (b. 1990, Hong Kong) ‘Die Mütter’ depicts performers moving in a circle. They sing dirges and lullabies in various languages. Revolving around the ideas of death, birth and motherhood, the work, responds to the rhythm of histories marked by wartime experiences and places the grief engendered by Kollwitz into a transnational discourse. See Chong’s ‘Die Mütter’ in ‘MEMORY/MYTH’ at Ames Yavuz Sydney at 114 Commonwealth Street Surry Hills until 13 July 2024. Media: Isaac Chong Wai, ‘Die Mütter’, 2022, two channel video, 14:00 minutes. Courtesy of the artist and Zilberman. #IsaacChongWai #AmesYavuz #MEMORYMYTH #Sydney

Brook Andrew is currently featured in ‘MCA Collection: Artists in Focus’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), a series of exhibitions that highlight bodies of work by significant artists in the permanent collection. Andrew’s ‘Loop. A Model of how the world operates’ (2008) is an immersive wall drawing of Wiradjuri patterns and slowly throbbing spirals of neon, inspired by ancestral patterns carved into shields and trees. Andrew draws on traditional memory in order to challenge our relationship to the inheritance of tradition in a society built on activities of trying to forget Aboriginal culture. These dazzling visuals serve as a metaphor for our hypnotic attraction to consumerism and spectacle. Andrew says, “For me, the pattern is a matrix. It’s covering the surface and coding this structure and the people who experience it. … The overall effect: Free will or submission?”. ‘MCA Collection: Artists in Focus’ is on view until 3 August 2024. Images: Installation views of Brook Andrew, ‘Loop. A model of how the world operates’, 2008, ‘MCA Collection: Artists in Focus, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2024. wall painting, animated neon, electrical components, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008. Photographed by Zan Wimberley. Courtesy of the artist and MCA #BrookAndrew #MCA #ArtistinFocus #MCACollection

Wishing Mehwish Iqbal a happy birthday! Iqbal’s practice spans printmaking, painting, textiles, sculpture, and installation. Her work provocatively explores womanhood, courage, liberation, and power. The artist addresses migration, refugees, power monopolies, commodification of human agency, and hybrid identities, revealing the fragile and complex state of individuals. Iqbal presented ‘Arz-e-Pak’ in ‘The Belly and the Members’ at Ames Yavuz Sydney in February. The piece intricately weaves spirituality, poetry, and memory into the essence of the land. In ‘Arz-e-Pak’, the artist explores the cycle of life, resource exploitation, and human-caused chaos, portraying a maternal figure witnessing conflict. Inspired by contemporary unrest, it envisions war-torn landscapes visited by celestial beings, highlighting nature’s resilience amidst unsustainable environments. Images: Artwork of Mehwish Iqbal, ‘Arz-e-Pak’, 2024, paper, hand-embroidery, in-lay of 24-carat silver leaf, silkscreen, 100 x 106cm; and profile of Mehwish Iqbal in her studio. Photo by Anna Kucera. #MehwishIqbal #Birthday

For ‘MEMORY/MYTH’, Martha Atienza (b. 1981, Philippines) presents ‘Tigpanalipod (The Protectors) 11° 02’ 06.4” N 123°36’ 24.1” E (1)’. This piece continues Atienza’s ongoing focus on “the people, the sea, and the land”, reflecting her passion for supporting local fisherfolk and advocating for more marine-protected areas along eroding coastlines in the Philippines. Proudly standing on the ‘bangka’ (fishing boat), the work depicts Antonio Dacamos Turib’s family, who came from the surrounding islands of Cebu and Negros in the last century to settle permanently on Mambacayao Island. The work seeks to highlight longstanding issues of land ownership and class, as families like Antonio’s are currently being forced to relocate to off-island government and non-government public housing projects. Atienza’s series, ‘The Protectors’ emerged alongside necessary acts of remembering and demands for social participation. See Atienza in ‘MEMORY/MYTH’ at Ames Yavuz at 114 Commonwealth Street, Sydney. The exhibition runs until 13 July 2024. Media: Martha Atienza, ‘Tigpanalipod (The Protectors) 11° 02’ 06.4” N 123°36’ 24.1” E (1)’, 2022, single channel video loop, no sound, 74:05 minutes. Courtesy of the artist and Silverlens. #MarthaAtienza #AmesYavuz #MEMORYMYTH #Sydney

Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan are featured in the collaboration between Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the National Gallery Singapore presented at the current Children’s Biennale ‘Planet Utopia’ in Dresden, Germany. This year’s Children’s Biennale continues the dedication to sustainable exhibition practices seen in the previous edition, transforming the Japanisches Palais into a world that invites visitors to see, hear, feel, participate and discover through works by local and international artists. Centred around the theme of ‘Utopia’, this Children’s Biennale delves into fundamental questions of human thought about existence and change. Art has always sought utopias – envisioning the future, creating alternative worlds, and exploring boundless possibilities beyond societal conventions. View the Aquilizans in ‘Planet Utopia’ at the Japanisches Palais, Dresden, that runs until 30 March 2025. Images: Installation views of Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, DWELL/IN/PLACE, Planet Utopia, 2024, Japanisches Palais, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Germany. Photographed by Oliver Killi. Courtesy of the artists and Künstlerische Leiterin Kinderbiennale #IsabelandAlfredoAquilizan #StaatlicheKunstsammlungenDresden #JapanischesPalais #ChildrenBiennale #PlanetUtopia

Opening 20 July in Singapore is “Paratext”, a group exhibition in which 7 new media artists map out novel ways of engaging with text as image–as symbols, as signs, as poetry. Curated by independent curator and arts writer Clara Che Wei Peh, “Paratext” draws from the rich history of text embedded in and/or presented as visual form. Featuring Emily Edelman, Jo Ho, Raven Kwok, Kapilan Naidu, Ong Kian Peng, Andreas Schlegel and Sasha Stiles, the exhibition presents works that are built on custom software, digital design and machine intelligence, and more. #EmilyEdelman #JoHo #RavenKwok #KapilanNaidu #OngKianPeng #AndreasSchlegel #SashaStiles #AmesYavuz #GroupExhibition #Singapore

Immerse yourself in ‘MEMORY/MYTH’, our ongoing group exhibition of global contemporary film and video installation. The exhibition showcases a diverse range of works from the sumptuous and surprising to the unsettling, exploring the entanglements between colonial histories and present-day perspectives. On view at 114 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills until 13 July 2024. Images: Installation views of ‘MEMORY/MYTH’ at Ames Yavuz Sydney, 2024. Photographed by Jessica Maurer. #AmesYavuz #MEMORYMYTH⁠ #IbrahimAhmed #MónicaAlcázarDuarte #BrookAndrew ⁠#FikretAtay #MarthaAtienza #RichardBell #SoumyaSankarBose ⁠#IsaacChongWai #ChoyKaFai #ClubAte #MónicadeMiranda #JoyGregory #AmritaHepi #MehdiGeorgesLahlou #JacobNash #StephenPage #KhandakarOhida #ThaniaPetersen #StanislavaPinchuk #LindokuhleSobekwa #ValentinaSoto #MikhaelSubotzky #EveTagny #Tromarama #BindiVora #JaydaWilson #DonovanWylie #PeterMann

In their multimedia video work, ‘Growing Pillars,’ Tromarama challenges our very notion of monuments: who owns them, and how do they come to be? Confonting the concept of monuments in contemporary society, questioning their ownership, iconography, and value. Commissioned by M+ Museum in 2023, ‘Growing Pillars’ weaves a tapestry of personal experiences by incorporating family photos, cherished childhood objects, and even cassettes, all animated and layered within a moving filmic sequence. These intimate elements are transformed into powerful symbols, reflecting the beauty of life, the comforting haven of home, and the enduring strength of memory. Inspired by a Balinese purification ritual, ‘Growing Pillars’ incorporates a cleansing gesture, further enriching the themes of growth and personal transformation. Tromarama, an Indonesian artist collective based in Jakarta and Bandung, was founded in 2006 by Febie Babyrose (b. 1985), Herbert Hans (b. 1984), and Ruddy Hatumena (b. 1984). On view in ‘MEMORY/MYTH’ at Ames Yavuz Sydney until 13 July. Media: Tromarama, ‘Growing Pillars’, 2023, single channel video, 11:46 minutes #Tromarama #AmesYavuz #MEMORYMYTH

Moses Tan’s first permanent public art commission, ‘A seat at the end of the long, long, long table’, is now on view at the newly opened Marine Terrace MRT station in Singapore. Engraved into the granite walls, Tan’s installation explores familial lines, histories, and entanglements, reinterpreting familial ties as constellations and personifying furniture inspired by the homes of Marine Terrace residents. As part of the ‘Art in Transit’ program, this project by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) celebrates local history and community. “I was interested in how different family members have different parts of the house that they enjoyed,” mentioned Tan. A seat at the end of the long, long, long table’ is a constellation of histories, roots, kinship and ties. Images: Moses Tan, ‘A seat at the end of the long, long, long table’, 2024, etching on stone, Marine Terrace MRT station. Photographed by @jonathantyl . Courtesy of the artist. #MosesTan #PublicArt #ArtinTransit #LTA #Singapore

@joy_gregory_studio (b. 1959, United Kingdom) presents ‘Gomera’ in ‘MEMORY/MYTH’ at Ames Yavuz Sydney. In ‘Gomera’, Gregory explores the relationship between landscape, language endangerment and local knowledge. She advocates for the cultural preservation of African indigenous languages, specifically N|u — South Africa’s oldest surviving language — which was initially declared extinct in 1974 and is spoken by an estimated twenty people. ‘Gomera’ is underpinned by Gregory’s deep research into language endangerment, for which she was awarded the NESTA Fellowship in 2002, and it was premiered at the Biennale of Sydney in 2010. See ‘Gomera’ at Ames Yavuz Sydney, running through 13 July 2024. Media: Joy Gregory, ‘Gomera’, 2010, single channel video, 10:03 minutes #JoyGregory #AmesYavuz #MEMORYMYTH

Ames Yavuz is delighted to announce the appointment of Owen Craven as Managing Director of Ames Yavuz Australia. Craven will join the Gallery in July to lead the two exhibition spaces in Sydney and drive the next phase of expansion in Australia. In his new role at Ames Yavuz, Craven will expand on the dynamic curatorial programming and grow the gallery’s roster of artists. “We are excited to have Owen join us to further our vision to facilitate uncensored and uncompromised ways of celebrating local and international art in Australia. Owen is extremely knowledgeable and well-respected in the industry and shares our passion to provide a platform for transformative and compelling artistic voices from around the globe,” states Can Yavuz, Founding Director.  Read the full statement on our website by clicking the link in our bio. Image: Profile of Owen Craven, 2024. #OwenCraven #Amesyavuz #Appointment