Annual Manual-Showing until 19th June

Well it sure is a woolly winter Tuesday here at Object! It's been chilly of late, but we are cosy up in the gallery with the aid of our trusty heaters and so there is definitely no excuse for not visiting us especially with Annual Manual: A Guide to Australian Design Now in its final weeks! This exhibition curated by Office for Good Design is a significant award show of Australian emerging talent. 8 outstanding finalists have been judged by a panel and the winners have been awarded the opportunity to have a solo exhibition in Object's Project Space in 2012. Apart from the 8 finalists, there are also 10 more names to watch playing on the gallery AV. You will have to come in and see the winning pieces for yourself but for now, here are some pictures that show the breadth of design in this show.

Thomas Llewellyn (VIC) DRAWING BOARD

Emily Nam (VIC) BODY, CLOTHING,OBJECT,EXPERIENCE

Daniel Emma (SA) D.E

Meredith Turnbull (VIC) EARRINGS, OBJECTS, SCULPTURES

Esther Stewart (VIC) PORTABLE COMPACTIBLE

Kristel Britcher (SA) SUSPENSION SERIES RANGE & CRYSTALLINE COMPOSITION 1

In-ah Shin (NSW) ANOTHER: BEING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER

Aly De Groot (NT) GHOST NET BASKETS

All images from Annual Manual: A Guide to Australian Design Now 2011

All Photography: Jamie Williams

Exhibition opportunity in the Collector's Cabinet!

For all those glass artists, and in conjunction with the Ausglass 2011 conference being held in Sydney in January 2011, Object is dedicating it's Collector's Cabinet to glass. We are looking for your stories...

OPEN CALL OUT FOR GLASS SUBMISSIONS: we want to know your stories!!
Object presents an open call out for artists, of any stage of career, to create a glass artwork that is collectable, covetable and engaging. It will be displayed in the Collectors Cabinet at Object Gallery from the 20th – 30th January 2011 and will form one of the exhibitions that will be part of the AusGlass Conference 2011 Peripheral Vision www.peripheralvision.org.au

What you will need to do:
· Find a piece of glass in a second hand store that will be suitable for cold-working (remember to collect your receipt) or ask a friend to ‘gift’ you a blank (remember to document the story as to how this came to be)

· Cold-work it in any way that you like, perhaps it reflects the shape and feel of the original piece, perhaps it re-invents it from Nanna to nice, it’s up to you!

· Write a 50-100 word explanation about where the original piece came from, or who gifted it and your relationship to them. These stories will be displayed with each piece.

All the pieces will be available for sale, so this will be a great chance for collectors, family and friends to own a one of a kind piece. Please note that due to the size restrictions of the cabinet, the object cannot be larger than 30 x 30 x 30cm. Limited spaces available so click here to get more details from our gallery staff.

Blue!

Object Gallery is currently showing two exhibitions. Blue in the main gallery has been curated by Object's own Kylie Johnston and Annette Mauer. It features the work of 9 makers from around Australia: ceramists Gerry Wedd, Honor Freeman & Mel Robson, glass artist Brenden Scott French, textile artist Lucille Martin, jewellers Brenda Factor & Melinda Young, book sculptor Nicholas Jones and mixed media artist Emma Davies. Each maker has responded to a phrase relating to the colour blue to provide inspiration for the new work shown in the exhibition. The results are absolutely stunning (if we do say so ourselves!) here is a slideshow of Blue:



You can read more about Blue here

As a special retail treat to accompany the Blue exhibition we have given our entire Collectors Cabinet over to blue work by a diverse range of makers represented by Collect - there is an abundance of exquisite glass, ceramics, jewellery, textiles and objects - all in blue!

Accompanying Blue in the Project Space is Big: Sydney's Small Studios a collaborative project by designer Stephen Goddard and photographer Keith Saunders that features a glimpse behind the scenes of 12 of Sydney's independent design studios. Aside from the fascinating subject matter, the exhibition design is pretty neat too! Here is a slideshow of Big:



You can read more about Big here.

Both exhibitions are a part of Object's Spring Series an exciting and innovative exhibition and event program that runs until October. Find out more about the Spring Series here.