Carnivale Exhibition a “Time of Madness” at Heathcote

The exhibiting artists, Jane King, Annie Q Medley and Anne Margaret Duff, worked with the mediums of oil, acrylics, photography and installations.

From the latin word for “farewell to meat” or “farewell to the flesh”, Carnivale is a term historically used for celebrations that encouraged people to let go of their everyday selves and embrace the carefree nature of festival.

City of Melville Curator Soula Veyradier said the Christian tradition of carnivale began as the celebration marking the beginning of Lent.

“It was the time of 40 days of fasting and abstinence to commemorate Jesus’ 40 days and nights in the desert,” Ms Veyradier said.

“The carnivale marked the time to use up all the meats and other delicacies which would be forbidden in the following six weeks, and to combine this with exaltation and celebration, which would also be forbidden.

“Today the term ‘carnivale’ has changed to include a host of contemporary festivities, events and occasions where there is an air of permissiveness, exuberance and excess, with an expectation that it will end. It is the last waltz and last supper combined.

“The exhibition seeks to make some sense out of the dichotomy of excess versus restraint, surfeit versus scarcity and the feast versus famine, which is inherent in the carnivale.”

Exhibiting artist Jane King said she and her fellow artists were inspired by the themes of carnivales and were pleased to work with the Heathcote Museum and Gallery.

“Historically, carnivale was the occasion, once a year, when madness was permissible and this had a strong influence on the work for the exhibition. In addition, there is a certain level of appropriateness to the Heathcote Museum and Gallery location since it is a former psychiatric facility,” Ms King said.

Carnivale will be officially opened at 6pm on Friday, 23 April. Please RSVP your attendance to the opening by Tuesday, 20 April 2010 to kaylene.poon@melville.wa.gov.au

Carnivale runs from 24 April to 30 May 2010 at Heathcote Museum and Gallery, 58-60 Duncraig Road, Applecross. Opening hours are: Tuesdays to Fridays 10.00am to 3.00pm; Saturday and Sundays 11.00am to 3.00pm and closed on Mondays and public holidays.

For more information contact City of Melville Curator Soula Veyradier on 9364 0155.

Artist biographies:

Jane King

Jane King is the Executive Director for Museums Australia (Inc) WA, the peak body for Museums, Galleries and Cultural Centres in WA.  Additionally she is a Board Member of the WA Arts Federation, the WA History Council and sits on the Advisory Panel for Edith Cowan University’s Certificate in Museum Studies.  She also sits on the assessment panels for Dept of Culture and the Arts’ Arts Development and Community Arts Network’s Catalyst grants.

Jane has extensive commercial sector management experience prior to moving into cultural management and holds degrees in Economics, Management and Fine Arts.

Jane has a strong theoretical background in visual culture issues and curatorial practice, and is a practicing curator and visual artist.  She is currently undertaking a Research Masters in Creative Arts/Cultural Heritage at Curtin University.

Anne Margaret Duff

Anne Margaret Duff is a Canadian born artist who grew up in the heart of Fremantle. Anne graduated from ECU in the late 80’s with a Bachelor of Education and lived and taught in the Kimberley region for many years. Upon the birth of her son, Anne returned to Perth to study and graduated from UWA with a Bachelor of Fine Art. Anne now operates a studio and Artists Collective in Willagee. Anne has exhibited at the Reflections Gallery, Culity Gallery, Heritage House, PICA and The Fringe Gallery. She is presently working on a project funded by The Australian Council for the Arts and is planning a solo exhibition for later in 2010.

Annie Q. Medley

Annie Q. Medley graduated from Claremont Art School in the early 1980’s; she has worked as a visual artist since then exhibiting her work in many solo and group exhibitions. Annie was an artist at Old Customs House in Fremantle in the mid 1990’s for five years. Her works have always had strong elements of Family, History and Memory and are often biographical in content. She is represented in the Town of East Fremantle Art Collection, Artbank and The Kerry Stokes Collection. 

Working mainly in oil paint, the last few years have seen a shift to photography and personal documentation of events perhaps influenced by her career as an archivist where documentation and photography play a big part in her daily work. The Royal Show works on exhibit started from this process and are still, as far as the artist is concerned an evolving piece.  Annie has a cottage in York and finds much inspiration there on weekends using her camera to document her ideas.