Past Residents
Matthew Hunt
Using diverse media and a ‘make do’ and ‘DIY’ philosophy, Matthew Hunt refuses to maintain a cohesive continuum and in turn continues to start again fresh each time he makes something. Taking self-effacement to a new level, Hunt fully admits to not being an Art Genius, of essentially being lost and not knowing what he’s doing. Yet he is driven by notions of freedom, social and political relevance and blind optimism. Pragmatics aside, Hunt navigates a difficult path of personal subjectivity and cultural objectivity. He disembowels both his past and current day-to-day life and charges it with a subtle and sometimes blunt social/cultural critique. He explores various knowledge systems and patterns evident in contemporary life, ranging from the nuances of the everyday to the complex negotiations of institutions and high culture. Much of his work is language based, and an internal and external dialogue, it is the residue of signs and of narrative. Hunt’s ‘project’ is a lonely one, one persons attempt to find something, something undefined. And it is this non-definition that allows for a prime site of discovery, linkage and potential togetherness.
Matthew Hunt (born 1967) has exhibited in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Indonesia and New Zealand. He has exhibited extensively in Australia and has received multiple Australia Council for the Arts and Western Australian Department for the Arts project and new work grants. Hunt has participated in residencies at Christophe Merian Foundation, Basel Switzerland; Artspace, Sydney and The International Art Space Kellerberrin Australia (IASKA). Hunt self-published an extensive monograph titled Backwater in 1996 and has been publishing zines on his work and writing with Dr Robert Cook since. Hunt lives and works in London.
Matthew Hunt, The Stack, 2013, Watercolor, gouache and oil paint on plywood and pine, Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist.
Matthew Hunt, The Escort, 2012, Dyptych on scraperboard, 24 x 39 1/2 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Matthew Hunt, Close Encounters, 2012, Pine structure, fluorescent light, concrete, books, paper mache, found wood, T-shirt, 94 1/2 x 118 x 106 1/3 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Matthew Hunt, Diamond Face, 2012, Watercolor on arches paper, 17 3/4 x 17 3/4 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Matthew Hunt, MySpace (After Kelly), 2012, Scraperboard, 11 x 9 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Residents from Australia
John Barrett-Lennard
John Barrett-Lennard is interested in relationships between a sense of centeredness and of transience, states of in-betweenness and contemporary hyper-mobility. His current projects consider the spaces between locatedness (often tied to place, origins, accent or cultural history) and cosmopolitanism. He is keen to explore the distance between particular and focused contexts, and larger forces, changes, dispersed networks and widely shared experiences. His curatorial work may take the form of projects with individual artists, group or thematic exhibitions and of critical writing in a range of settings. They often involve consideration of influences and conjunctions, and how these are mediated, reinterpreted and represented by artists and institutions, both in the arts and in wider social settings.
John Barrett-Lennard is a freelance art curator and writer. He has wide experience gained over nearly three decades, curating a broad range of innovative projects in contemporary art and art museum settings as well as in non-traditional and public spaces. He has been responsible for curating major national exhibitions, including the Australian pavilion at the Biennale of Venice and the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art. As a gallery director he has led a major contemporary art space and two large university art museums. He initiated ARX, Australia’s first major exchange project involving Australian and SE Asian artists. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the art history program at the University of Western Australia. He lives and was born in Perth though completed much of his education in Canada.
Rodney Glick, Everyone, No. 9 2008 from God-favored: Rodney Glick surveyed, 2008, Carved and painted wood, 82 2/3 x 27 1/2 x 27 1/2 in. Courtesy of the artist and Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia.
Imants Tillers, Lacrimae Rerum (for Dzidra) from Imants Tillers: The Long Poem, 2007, 10 x 28 ft. Courtesy of the artist and Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia.
Lyndal Jones, Deep Water/Aqua Profunda, 2001, Video installation. Courtesy of the artist and ‘Deep Water/Aqua Profunda’ Australian pavilion, Venice Biennale.
Simryn Gil, A small town at the turn of the century, 1999-2000, C type print. Courtesy of the artist and Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Australia.
Dennis Del Favero, Requiem, 1999. Courtesy of the artist and Curtin University of Technology, Perth and the Neue Galerie, Graz.
Residents from Australia
Past Resident2014: Mondriaan Fund
Melanie Bonajo
Melanie Bonajo examines the paradoxes inherent in ideas of comfort. Through her videos, performances, photographs and installations, Bonajo examines subjects related to progress that remove from the individual a sense of belonging and looks at how technological advances and commodity-based pleasures increase feelings of alienation within the individual. Captivated by concepts of the divine, she explores the spiritual emptiness of her generation, examines peoples’ shifting relationship with nature and tries to understand existential questions by looking at our domestic situation, ideas around classification, concepts of home, gender and attitudes towards value.
Melanie Bonajo’s work has been exhibited and performed in international art institutions, such as De Appel Arts Centre, Amsterdam; Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw; The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; The Moscow Bienniale; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul and PPOW Gallery, New York and her films have played in festivals such as International Documentary Filmfestival (IDFA), Amsterdam and Berlinale. In 2012 she initiated the collective Genital International which tackles subjects around feminism, participation, equality, our Earth, ‘Politics beyond Polarity’ and ‘Revolution through Relaxation.’ She wrote for several art magazines, was creative editor of Capricious magazine and curated shows such like the QQC performance festival about pop music in visual arts at the Paradiso, Amsterdam. She published several books including: Modern Life of the Soul, I Have a Room with Everything, Spheres and Furniture Bondage. In 2013 she released an album with her band Z▲Z▲Z◎Z◎ called Inua. Her work as alter ego MatrixxBotanica has been spotted in urban and rural spaces.
Events & Exhibitions
2020Solidarity: Support ISCP
May 1–May 31, 2020
Melanie Bonajo, Diversion, 2011, HD video. Courtesy of the artist.
Melanie Bonajo, Dream Station Space, 2013, Architectural sculpture, music, performance. Courtesy of the artist.
Melanie Bonajo, Matrix Botanica: Biosphere above Nations, 2013, Performance. Courtesy of the artist.
Melanie Bonajo, Genital Panik, 2012, Participatory performance. Courtesy of the artist.
Melanie Bonajo, Progress vs. Regress, 2012, Performance. Courtesy of the artist.
