ART PARLOUR was an introduction for us with artists in their studios. We got great information as to what life is like after graduation. Alistar Gordon and Karen David our speakers asked us where we see ourselves in 2 to 5 years and how do we get there. In our smaller groups we discussed options like doing residencies and travelling to grant writing in order to generate funds to continue making work. We spoke with two other artists in their studios Ben Cove and Hugh Mendes. Ben mentioned to us that he had old work that galleries wanted to exhibit and he wouldn't allow them. He felt that his work had changed to much. I find this an interesting dilemma. I remember Tania Kovats saying something similar in a lecture. She had produced a body of work and it was gaining a lot of attention and sales. Her gallery at the time wanted her to continue making the same work and she didn't want to. She wanted to explore new ways of working and move forward in her practice. In order to do this she felt she had to change galleries. I admire the ability to stay true to yourself. I too have interests in many areas and many ways of developing work so this might be something I have to look into further.

 

Hugh Mendes does portraits of famous people's obituaries. He mentioned having a gallery in Los Angeles that represented him and sold many of his works. He also told us he would be doing a residency in California. I guess even when you are as established as he seems to be you can still benefit from doing residencies.