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Every year I photograph Matthew Mitcham, Australia’s gold-medal Olympic diver, award-winning cabaret performer and television entertainer, in my studio.

Each portrait is taken under similar conditions.  In a sense these portraits are snapshots of the relationship between photographer and artist’s muse and they continue to track the development of this young man. 

MMXVII marks the 10th portrait and the 10th year of this ongoing series.  That’s a decade!

Hi,

I wish everyone a really successful and fun filled 2018.

Well I’ve made a few of those “New Year Resolutions”….one of them is to be more active on this blog and on social media.   I petered out somewhat towards the end of last year, but I am picking up the ball again and here’s to a more regular blog entry.

In fact, I am very positive about this year.  It’s going to be a good one….I feel it in my waters (don’t you hate that expression?).   I am looking forward to working again with my fantastic clients and to see what surprises are in store, what we can create together this year.  New clients I haven’t worked with yet….I look forward to meeting you.

Matt struts “the boards” again with his new show, “Under the Covers”.

These days, Matt has traded the diving board for another kind of “board”, the boards of the stage, as they say.  I had the pleasure of shooting some production shots at the dress rehearsal and performance of the latest addition to his cabaret repertoire.

Under the Covers has been created by the same team who devised Matthew’s previous multi-award-winning musical comedy, Twists & Turns, namely Matthew together with award-winning director Nigel Turner-Carroll and international cabaret sensation Spanky (aka Rhys Morgan), with accompaniment by Matthew Ogle.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself while shooting this brand new, sparkling, feel-good production.  Matt’s talent is seemingly limitless.  At times, it was difficult to keep focus on the job at hand. I found myself caught up in the jokes, the songs, the clever parody between the two main protagonists and the general infectious sense of fun.  

However…. I concentrated on getting the shots and decided to return another time to sit back and be entertained as one of the punters in the seats.

Here are some of the shots taken at the Hayes Theatre in Sydney in mid-September. If you want a good night out, check the performance schedule, and go to see Under the Covers. It will put a smile on your face.

Behind the scenes in the dressing room before the show……..

UNDER THE COVERS 

Written by Matthew Mitcham and Nigel Turner-Carroll

Director –  Nigel Turner-Carroll

Musical Director –  Andrew Bevis

Choreographer –  Holl Sheils

Lighting Designer –  Kym Halpin

Production Manager –  Lachlan Fletcher

Performed by –  Matthew Mitcham, Matthew Ogle, Rhys Morgan

After spending almost a month in Europe working on various projects, I flew into Sydney a few days ago.  I seem to be more jet-lagged than I can remember previously, waking up in the middle of the night with the feeling that there is some kind of grey veil over my brain.  In contrast, on the way over to Rome via Abu Dhabi, I experienced almost no jet lag and I was firing on all cylinders the very next day. They do say that jet lag is always worse in one of the directions….I can’t remember which one, but from this experience, I would have to say it’s going from East to West!

The time away was well spent.  In fact it was amazingly spent!

Firstly, my exhibition, “Spot The Arab”,  at Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea in Rome (see previous “blog” entries further down this page) was extremely well-received.  I would like to thank Giuliano and Bruno, the two directors of the gallery, for their support and creativity in making the event such a resounding success. Who would have thought….an exhibition about prejudice and stigma, using the stereotypes of what an Arab looks like, staged in the Jewish Ghetto, in the home of the Catholic Church, staged by an Australian photographer. Anything is possible!

A big thank you to Jonathan Turner, my host in Rome. He is not only is an amazing curator and art critic (his input to my exhibition in terms of providing advice and various writings was critical to its success), but also the most generous and welcoming friend and host. He is also an accomplished cook and I was privileged to eat at one of the best tables in all of the Eternal City.

Next, I flew from Rome to Israel.  I was asked to stage a fashion shoot as a practical pre-text to get me to the Holy Land.  I shot for Refael, a stylish fashion boutique in one of the swanky parts of Tel Aviv. The shoot went very well and everyone was happy, including the designer, the model and the stylists.

The rest of the time I spent visiting parts of Tel Aviv (including a day splayed out on the wonderful beach that stretches the length of the city) and then Jerusalem and the Old City.  I have visited Jerusalem before…but I never tire of the magic of this city and always try to make a point of wandering its streets and market place.  A trip to Israel wouldn’t be complete without a meal along the sea-front at the old port of Jaffa, where the appetizers are brought out almost the instant you sit down, filling the table with all varieties of middle-eastern delights.  I am always completely entertained by the voracious efficiency of the waiting staff, darting backwards and forwards at lightening speed, clearing the dishes from an entire table of 6, plates and glasses stacked and piled in the air, in one go!  A big thank you to my host, Nitzan whose generosity abounds, as well as my dear friends Fabien  and Refael, who made my stay such a wonderful and enriching experience.

After pigging-out on 5 days of hummus, I flew back to Rome for some more Insalata Caprese which, by the way, I can never get enough of. It doesn’t get much better than fresh, delicious Italian tomatoes, fresh basil, the most superb mozzarella di bufala from Naples, drenched with virgin olive oil.  I think everyone, including Jonathan, was over my obsession with this dish by the end of my stay.

My exhibition is still running and I was asked to speak at a gallery visit organised by Giuliana Stella, an eminent art critic, curator and educator. This went very well. It was interesting for me to be able to interact with students from the Academy of Fine Arts and and members of the public, answer questions and hear thoughtful statements relating to my work.  A big thank you to Giuliana for organising this event.

Finally, the end of the trip was approaching.  I hurriedly made sure I had seen the most important things on my list.. .this included a visit to Naples and Pompeii….incredible!  A quick trip to London to catch up with old friends….thank you Fadi. 

And during the final week, the chance to meet up with more acquaintances from Italy, Scotland, Bosnia, Spain, Palestine, Canada and old friends who flew in from Malta and beyond. Thank you Marvic, Davide and Roderick.

Finally, a big thank you to all the people who welcomed me with such goodwill and openness during my travels and who contributed to the joys of the whole experience from start to finish.  You know who you are.  I also appreciate all my friends and clients here in Australia who I may have inconvenienced through my lack of presence over the past month.  Thanks for waiting and allowing me the time.  

I’m back and ready for the next chapter……

My bags are packed and I’m sitting on the sofa, waiting for the taxi to take me to Fumincino where I will board my return flight to Sydney via Abu Dhabi.

What a wonderful stay in the Eternal City! 

A huge thank you to all the people and friends that made this trip such a wonderful experience from start to finish.  I promise to pass on all the goodwill and love that was so freely shared with me, to the people I meet along my continuing travels.

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit London.

I visited some of the iconic landmarks in  this grand lady’s cache….always impressed by the constant reminders of my Australian culture’s roots.  I always felt some of these elements were so out of place in the hot desert-like climate of my childhood (the carefully manicured botanical gardens devoid of native plants, for example), but seeing all this “English” in the climate, light and environment it evolved in suddenly made a lot more sense to me.

Sadly, the events on the Tower of London took place during my stay.  Long live London!

On May 30, John McRae presented his Spot The Arab exhibition to a group of art and architecture students from the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Roma. He gave a floor talk about his working methods and his subject matter to 50 students attending the courses of Allestimento Spazi Espositive (Exhibition Space Design) and Metodologia della Progettazione (Project Methodology), under the tutelage of Professor Giuliana Stella. Australian curator Jonathan Turner then gave a tour of the large-scale Blow-Up exhibition at Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea, also in the company of Rome’s leading pulp fiction novelist Pier Francesco Grasselli (Ho Scaricato Miss Italia, and All’Inferno ci vado in Porsche).

I just spent four days in Tel Aviv, working on a photoshoot for the upcoming Refael Boutique, focused on creating a new portfolio of images capturing contemporary womens fashion, combining style and minimalism with a flamboyant edge. Together with rising star Refael and stylist Oded, and the young Israeli model, Hannah, we shot a sequence of studio interiors and street scenes under the midday sun.

REFAEL BOUTIQUE       Dizengoff 218, Tel Aviv

A historical survey of international photography, featuring the work of John McRae.

Staged in the prestigious Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea in the centre of the ancient city of Rome, Blow-Up is a review of a century of image-making, studying the innovations and dynamic nature of photography. Organized to coincide with the 2017 Venice Biennale, the Rome exhibition is entitled Blow-Up after the classic 1966 film by Michelangelo Antonioni, in which a photographer believes he has unwittingly captured a murder with his camera, in an ambiguous image lurking at the edge of the frame. The exhibition, curated by Giuliano Matricardi, also traces more than 20 years of the gallery’s activity in research in contemporary photography.

Blow-Up includes important photograph-based works by Nobuyoshi Araki (Japan), Matteo Basilè (Italy), David Byrne (USA), Erwin Blumenfeld (Germany), Sylvie Fleury (France), Thomas Glassford (UK), Nan Goldin (USA), Matthias Herrmann (Austria), Fritz Kok (Netherlands), Myriam Laplante (Bangladesh/Canada), John McRae (Australia), Francesca Martì (Spain), Tracey Moffatt (Australia), Erwin Olaf (Netherlands), Dino Pedriali (Italy), Maria Pizzi (Italy), Katharina Sieverding (Germany), Melati Suryodarmo (Indonesia), Inez van Lamsweerde (Netherlands) and Baron Wilhelm Von Gloeden (Germany). This multi-layered exhibition runs through mid-September, 2017.

The exhibition opening on May 18, 2017, was attended by many local and international figureheads, including artists (Francesco Impellizzeri, Myriam Laplante, Francesca Marti’, Jebila Okongwu, Maria Pizzi, Renato Grome, Francesca Tulli), collectors and journalists, as well as Roman nobility, designers, curators (Achille Bonito Oliva, Gianluca Marziani, Giuliana Stella, Jonathan Turner, Luca Barreca), the fashion crowd and many of McRae’s friends from Italy, Spain, Malta, Scandinavia, Australia and beyond (Laura D’Ambra, Stefano d’Argenzio, Federico Assenza, Marvic Camilleri, Chiara Cavarra, Stefano Cigada, Salahuddin Khan, Lorenzo Logi, Vittorio Mango, Maria Antonia Oliver, Vincenzo Persi, Rosa Purchas, Simona Rossi).

The exhibition features a solo show by Sydney artist John McRae. His ongoing “Spot the Arab” series, one work of which is currently hanging in the contemporary portraiture show at the Australian National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, is a suite of photographs exploring the stereotypes and prejudices of our attitudes towards Muslims today, McRae’s portraits are accompanied by a critical text by curator Jonathan Turner, who has regularly worked with McRae for the past decade. This is McRae’s fifth exhibition at Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea, the show is organized with the support of the Australian Embassy in Rome.

In Blow-Up, Francesca Marti’ is represented by two works: a diptych of black-and-white photographs of Cuban landscapes in torn canvas frames from her Tears series, and a new photograph from her series Cities in a Crooked Line showing a street-scene in Saigon, printed on zinc plate, then partly crushed. Tracey Moffatt, who has been selected as the artist in the Australian Pavilion at the 2017 Biennale di Venezia, is represented in Blow-Up by three older photographs. Meanwhile, a series of vintage prints by Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden (1890s), Erwin Blumenfeld (1940s), and from Dino Pedriali (1970s), includes Pedriali’s quartet of cultural figureheads: black-and-white portraits of dancer Rudolf Nureyev, sculptor George Segal, film director PierPaolo Pasolini and artist Andy Warhol. 

A section of the Blow-Up show is dedicated to photo-based works by eight women artists from the stable of Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea, all of whom have been featured in previous editions of the Venice Biennale.

Sylvie Fleury (France – Aperto, 1993 Venice Biennale)

Nan Goldin (USA – Real Venice, 2011 Venice Biennale)

Inez van Lamsweerde (Netherlands – Rietveld Arsenale, 2009 Venice Biennale)

Myriam Laplante (Bangladesh/Canada – Fondazione Bevilaqua La Masa, 2001 Venice Biennale)

Tracey Moffatt (Australia – Aperto, 1997 Venice Biennale, and Australian Pavilion, 2017 Venice Biennale)

Francesca Marti’ (Spain – Venice International Experimental Film and Performance Art Festival, 2015 Venice Biennale)

Katharina Sieverding (Germany – 1976 and 1980 Venice Biennales)

Melati Suryodarmo (Indonesia – Dreams and Conflicts curated by Francesco Bonami, 2003 Venice Biennale)

Il Ponte Contemporanea

Via Beatrice Cenci 9 / 9 A,

00186, Roma Italia

tel. +39 06 68 33 897

The exhibition runs through mid-September, 2017.

John McRae  – Spot The Arab – Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea, Rome

Text by Jonathan Turner

   Spot the Arab is a project based on portraiture by Australian artist John McRae, as a summary of various themes, ideas and concepts aligned to how he  reflects upon contemporary issues of religion, race, gender, orientation, nationality and freedom. He presents his work at Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea in a game-like yet very serious manner. It is a topical celebration of diversity, with a powerful message about tolerance.

“The solo show has been built around a large photo installation, a retrospective of my portraits since 2002 on the theme of the illusions and stereotypes of what is an Arab today. This looks at 20 people, photographed over the past decade in numerous countries and from different religious and ethnic backgrounds. Each person poses with props, often imposed by me, and enacts the role of what they consider an Arab to be today. The sitters include men, women and transgender people in the “guise” of Arabs, Muslims or people of the various factions of Islamic faith. It focuses on social fictions of femininity/masculinity, recurring themes in my work. I have asked each model to exactly describe how they identify, since in this way, we can over-ride preconceptions, stigma and prejudice.”

   McRae works within an international context, purposely blurring the lines between accepted norms while questioning such topics as nationalism, nomadism/migration and gender roles. In the past, he has created photo series in New York, Italy, Malta, Lebanon and Shanghai, as part of his complex research into the concept of shifting border-lines, psychological frontiers and the role of the portrait in society today. His work confronts the politics of imagery.

   “I tend to create works in series, often spanning different continents and time-lines, so that my shows introduce a multi-faceted and shifting perspective, never a single cultural viewpoint. My specific fascination is using the camera to break down stereotypes and visual codes, and today, this is more important than ever. In my portraits, I try to capture sly or hidden messages, and then juxtapose these with more blatant aspects of drama, styling and emotion, whether it is authentic or staged. It is always about intimacy versus theatricality.”

   Ali, a Lebanese-Australian national raised in Paris but who is currently based in London, has frequently modeled for McRae over the past decades. He, for example, provides a sharp description of how he defines his own identity. This gives additional weight to the complexity of McRae’s portraits.

   “My ethnicity is Arab, I see myself as Semitic too. I also  have Persian lineage,” Ali explains. “Gender is very fluid in the male body that I adore, so I project Macho Male. My religion: Agnostic, Neo-pagan, Baphomet Worshipper, Hermetic Qabalist, Neo-Platonic, Sacred Whore (I go as ‘London Arab Master’ these days). I love Shia-Islam too.” 

    “Only some of the models actually consider themselves to be Arab,” adds McRae. “Others from a broad variety of faiths have personally told me their open views of tolerance across border-lines. By mixing it up, this show aims to diffuse. In the current climate, I am drawing people’s attention to the aspects of how fear can be imposed or transmitted through a model wearing a simple costume, head scarf or beard, and how society and the media can radicalise the innocent.”

   This is John McRae’s fifth exhibition at Galleria Ill Ponte Contemporanea in Rome since 2005. John McRae’s work is primarily portrait-based, as demonstrated by his solo shows at GrantPirrie Gallery (Sydney), Mate (Berlin), ACAF (Shanghai and Sydney) and The Center (New York); such group shows as La Folia (Madness) curated by Achille Bonito Oliva for the 2010 in Ravello Festival in Italy, and Sailor Style at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney; his inclusion in many Australian portrait prizes (People’s Choice winner 2013 Australian National Portrait Gallery Prize, for his portrait of the late Margaret Olley), the Blake Prize, Olive Cotton Award, Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Award; and the publication of his imagery in numerous books and magazines in Australia, China, Germany, USA, Italy, France and beyond.

One work from McRae’s Spot The Arab series (Matuse) is currently featured as a finalist in the 2017 National Photographic Portrait Prize at the Australian National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, and it was also included in the recent thematic exhibition at the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum near Naples, entitled “You no speak Americano original – Integration, discrimination, racism”.

    John McRae explains this portrait. “In my studio, I gave Matuse a bag full of clothing and asked him if he would select a “costume” and put it on, which he did. Wearing simple Arab dress, I intentionally depict Matuse as a metaphor for certain prejudices and negative attitudes, conscious or unconscious, that our society at times has been conditioned to project. Here, I  have purposely but subtly imposed such terms as “radical” and “fundamental” onto my willing subject, a modern young man who normally goes about in jeans and a t-shirt. Matuse is of Middle Eastern descent, and he is also a practicing Muslim.  He confronts the camera with openness, calmness and stillness. For him, the clothing is merely fabric, and not a signifier of any political stance or pretext. He also remains an honest young Aussie.”

   Matuse is a contemporary musician and performer who calls himself a ‘spiritual rapper’. In McRae’s portrait, it is interesting how the regal symmetry, the formal pose, the ornamental frame and Matuse’s austere attitude make him look stately and in command. He demonstrates an imperial detachment. But he is not expressionless. He approaches McRae’s camera lens with a direct confront. Any initial assumptions about who he might be are totally over-ruled.

John McRae: “As a viewer, can you tell who is Arab, who identifies as Arab, and in the end, how is this important, anyway?”

Spot The Arab, as part of the larger Blow – Up exhibition of contemporary photography at Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea, is supported by the Australian Embassy in Rome

I am taking part in an exhibition in Shanghai, China, as part of an Art Can Do fundraising project organised by ACAF (Australia China Arts Foundation)

I’M OFF THE ROME FOR THE OPENING OF MY SOLO SHOW AT THE ACCLAIMED GALLERY, IL PONTE CONTEMPORANEA, IN ROME

Super happy to be exhibiting, “Spot The Arab”, a new body of work, as part of their “Blow-Up” exhibition (See invite)

If you are in Rome between 18 May and 23 September…..drop in to the gallery and see my work.

My work has been included in an exhibition about integration at the CAM Museum in Italy.

 A handmade poster using my photograph of Matuse – Portrait of a Young Aussie,  has been included in a new group exhibition at the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum, near Naples in Italy. Promoted as the biggest exhibition ever realized on the theme of integration, “You no speak Americano original” aims at highlighting issues of discrimination and racism. It functions as an open call to all artists of any nationality, race, religion, age and sexual orientation to fight against intolerance. The exhibition is curated by CAM museum director Antonio Manfredi, in an institution which often specifically looks at the how contemporary artists view the conflicting worlds of politics, corruption and crime. The publicity poster for the show is in the form of an ironic portrait of Donald Trump as Uncle Sam, recruiting all artists to join his private army of distrust and racism.

The exhibition “You no speak Americano original” includes posters commenting on the themes of racism and prejudice, made by more than 100 artists, primarily from Italy, but also from Argentina, Australia (me), Austria, Belgium, Egypt, France, Germany, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, UK and USA.

Link to the exhibition

http://www.casoriacontemporaryartmuseum.com/it/you-no-speak-americano-original/

On Friday afternoon I drove down to Canberra with a friend for the launch and announcement of the winner of the 2017 National Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery,  This year marked the 4th occasion that one of my portraits has been shortlisted as a finalist in the prize.

I really appreciate being selected as part of this exhibition.  It comes with some standing since it’s a National Prize (this year 49 works were selected from a field of 3,000)) and also it takes place in the esteemed premises of the National Portrait Gallery in our nation’s capital, Canberra.  Thank goodness for GPS with all the circular traffic conditions.

As one of the selected finalists, I arrived a 5pm for a reserved viewing of the exhibition.  This meant I had a chance to look at the works hanging in the lofty halls of the gallery without a crowd.  It also gives you a chance to meet some of the other 49 finalists before the speeches and the announcement of the winner.

My selected work is a recent portrait of my friend, Matuse…see below.

Portrait of a young Aussie, Matuse Peace, 2016

This is a portrait of a young Australian man.  It was taken in my studio earlier this year.

I gave Matuse a bag full of clothing and asked him if he would select a “costume” and put it on, which he did.

In this portrait of Matuse in simple Arab dress, I intentionally depict him  as a metaphor for certain prejudices and negative attitudes, conscious or unconscious, that our society at times has been conditioned to project.  Here, I have purposely but subtly imposed such terms as “radical” and “fundamental” onto my willing subject,  a young man who normally goes about in jeans and a t-shirt

Matuse is of Middle Eastern descent, and he is also a practicing Muslim.  He confronts the camera with openness, calmness and stillness. For him, the clothing is merely fabric, and not a signifier of any political stance or pretext.

He also remains an honest young Aussie.

At 6pm the doors open to the invited public.  I met Matuse, the model in my portrait, at the front of the gallery, together with a couple of other friends and we entered.

The winner was announced…and bravo to Gary Grealy for his beautiful portrait of Richard Morecroft and Alison Mackay.  Highly commended was John Benavente, Renaissance Rose and Brett Canet-Gibson, Mastura. (See NPG Portrait Prize)

After the announcements everyone was invited into the exhibition area to see the finalists’ works.  It is a great privilege to observe the reaction of the public to your work.  I love over-hearing the comments and looking at the faces of the visiters as they consider the portrait.  Matuse was equally engaged, curiously observing the public’s reaction to his image.  It was fun watching the visiters slowly come to the realisation that the young man wearing jeans and a base-ball cap, standing nearby,  was in fact the stately looking model in the portrait.  Some people asked him questions.   Kuei, the model in the neighbouring work by Kellie Leczinska, then referred to Matuse as “The Prince of Egypt”. 

All in all it was a special evening and a great event.  It’s refreshing to see such a high standard of excellence in photographic portraiture showcased in such a beautiful space.  Afterwards all the finalists and their friends were invited to a more relaxed event, so we could meet and mingle, where relationships and new connections can be formed.  The next day several talks were organised at the National Portrait Gallery in relation to the prize.  It was wonderful to hear from the 2017 winner, Gary Grealy, George Fetting (accomplished photographer and 2017 judge) and Elizabeth Looker (2016 winner) at the “Light Effects” talk.

A big thank you to Crowne Plaza Hotel for offering a night at their hotel as part of being a finalist.  Also a big thank you to all the work and creativity by those involved, for establishing such a prize and such a successful event.  This includes the generous sponsors and staff of the NPG, as well as the judges who had their work cut out for them…Penelope Grist, Assistant Curator, National Portrait Gallery; Dr Sarah Engledow, Curator, National Portrait Gallery; George Fetting, guest judge, photographer.    

For a look at the ABC news article including an interview with me, follow this link:   http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-31/national-photographic-portrait-prize-artists-explain-their-works/8396770

 Lastly…….

Don’t forget to lodge your vote for the People’s Choice Award.  You can vote on-line by clicking here  Then click on the button “Vote for your favorite”

I had the pleasure of spending the weekend at Hardwicke, the horse stud near Yass owned by my friend Philippa Torlonia, who divides her time between the bucolic pastures of Australia and the cobble-stoned frenzy of Rome. I snapped a few shots of the this beautiful landscape, and several magnificent thoroughbreds. The farm also produces excellent olive oil in a business operated by Philippa’s son Charles de Nanteuil, or Charley as we call him. As well as the award-winning La Barre extra-virgin olive oil, his company produces and distributes  a range of infused oils, vinegars and condiments. My personal La Barre favourites: lemon-infused olive oil, blood plum finishing vinegar and their classic Worcestershire sauce.

labarre.com.au