Media Release from the opening at barratt galleries 18th June

BARRATT GALLERIES.
HANKY PROJECT OPENING 18-6-10.
EXHIBITION DURATION 18-6-10 TO 23-7-10

Contact: Julie Barratt.
Email: info@barrattgalleries.com.au
Mailing Address: 5 Bugden Ave
Alstonville NSW 2478 Australia
Phone: 02 66280297

By Vaughn Pinxit, opening night MC.

On Friday the 18th June the Hanky Project was opened by Kaley Morrisey from Arts Northern Rivers. Dr Andrew Binns officially acknowledged the local indigenous community and discussed grief and the importance of grieving. Poetry readings were given by Dr Moya Costello, Angela Gardner and Virginia Barratt.

Julie has currently, this year, completed her first semester of the visual arts Honours Degree at SCU. I myself am a fellow Honours student with Julie, and looking back in retrospect am amazed at Julie’s handling of her workload – running the gallery, completing Honours work and assignments, concurrently coordinating the Hanky Project and as well as being a mother to 3 musical bachelors.

I would like to briefly share, ‘my’ interpretation and critique of this unique collaborative art project.

‘From the flames the phoenix shall rise’.
And so it is within the foundation of this myth that Julie has undertaken this metaphor to create the collaborative art Hanky Project. This project is borne out of the sudden passing of the Barratt family’s father, Gordon Barratt, late in 2009. The Hanky became an object of Julie’s observation and a sign of her fathers commitment to accessorise his personal wardrobe and keep a Hanky with him at all times. Hence the use of the Hanky as a sign, medium, material, object, metaphor and ultimately an art piece, which was the initial criteria for the artists involved in the project.
The second criteria forming this project, was the exploration of grief associated with the passing of relatives, family and friends. Around us – we have the outcomes of artists research and explorations, personal narratives, acknowledgements of respects, outpourings of emotions and heartfelt love for our dearly departed. Never have I seen, such sensitively inspired art-works in one exhibition. Diversity of skills include embroidery, printmaking, sculpture, altered form, to name a few. This exhibition, being a non-commercial show and represented as such during the call for works, has delivered a standard that is overwhelming.

The art-works totalling over 150, have arrived from the local area, across the State and Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England and Asia. Technology has played a part in this project by way of an online Blog, http://objectsofthedead.blogspot.com/
The Blog seemed to self generate a momentum that was unpredicted by Julie and hence the result of the Trans-Global participation of artists works.

The gold coin entry donations, orders for catalogue on CD’s, Jo Crockford Hanky’s and a future hard-copy printed catalogue book will fund touring of this exhibition to Regional Galleries.