Knot, Touch, Trace - Carol Archer's exhibition at Creative Macau April 2-23, 2007

Installation shot of Carol Archer's exhibition, Knot Touch Trace, at Creative Macau (April 2-23, 2007). The title of the irregularly mixed media work at left is Suture (1997-2007).

Paltry Thing

Paltry Thing, 2007, 70 x 48cm,

latex, paper, silk dyes

Carol Archer 2007 Inner Harbour Mooring, Watercolour on Paper 31x26cm

Carol Archer1997-2007, Cell,

mixed media, 40 x 40cm,

Collection of Custodio Martin

Connecting + Places, Ties + Sense

Connecting, 2007,

30 x 30 cm, latex, acrylic, thread on canvas

Places, Ties, 2007,

81 x 65cm, charcoal, latex, acrylic, thread on canvas

Sense, 2007,

91 x 41cm, latex, paper, charcoal on board

Hide

Carol Archer, 2007, Hide, mixed media (unframed photograph), 95 x 70cm,
Collection of Custodio Martin

Carol Archer, 2007, Hide, mixed media on board, 95 x 70cm,

Collection of Custodio Martin

Penal Colony

Penal Colony I, 1997/2007, 49 x 64cm,
watercolour, paper, photomedia on board

Penal Colony II, 1997/2007, 49 x 64cm,
watercolour, photomedia on board

Penal Colony III, 1997/2007, 49 x 64cm,

watercolour, photomedia on board

Penal Colony I,II,III, 2007,

mixed media and photomedia on board,

Creative Macau April 2007

Knot, Touch, Trace 結、觸、跡 Nó, Tacto, Traço

Knot, Touch, Trace ( 結、觸、跡 ) is an exhibition of mixed media works by Carol Archer ( 區 勵志 ), an Australian artist who has lived in Macao for the past six years. The exhibition includes paintings of apparently insignificant details of the Macao cityscape: knots that hold together bamboo scaffolding, market stall displays, broken window shutters. Not quite inanimate, these knots record the touch of working hands. In less representational works, torn pieces of latex and paper are stitched together with thread and fine charcoal lines. Other panels show body surfaces through a screen of text, referring to the incarceration of untried civilians. The incomplete human presence in these works may be found in the knot, the touch, and the trace.

Knot, Touch, Trace is on at Creative Macau (the street-level gallery at the Macao Cultural Centre), opening Monday 2nd of April at 6pm. The exhibition continues until Monday 23rd of April.

About Carol Archer

Carol Archer is an Australian artist and researcher who has lived in Macao since 2001. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of Hong Kong and an English teacher at the University of Macau. An exhibiting artist since the late 1980’s, Dr Archer’s works have been exhibited in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy and Macao. Included in numerous private collections, a number of the artist’s works have been purchased by Artbank, an Australian initiative designed to showcase contemporary Australian art. Carol Archer was awarded a doctorate for her thesis on contemporary painting by the University of Hong Kong. She writes on art in Macao, Hong Kong and the region for publications such as Art Monthly Australia and Macau Closer. Recent publications include “Macao: an Art Historical Discipline Waiting to Happen?” in James Elkins’ edited volume Is Art History Global? (Routledge, 2006), “The Ambivalent Paintings of Judy Watson” in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art (Vol. 7, No. 2, 2006) and “Gifts and Transgressions: Marlene Dumas’ Underground” in Crossings Binghamton (No. 8, 2006). Further details of Carol Archer’s current art projects and collaborations are available at www.carolarcher.blogspot.com.

結、觸、跡 Knot, Touch, Trace
區 勵 志 Carol Archer

【結、觸、跡】是區勵志混合繪畫的作品展覽。來自澳洲的區勵志已來澳居住六年，其作品試以建築棚架上的繩結、市販攤位的佈置、破舊的百葉窗等等，展現澳門甚少引人注目的都市風貌。看似了無生氣的繩結，留有過去人們辛勤工作的痕跡。在區的另一些作品中，橡膠塊跟紙屑縫合後，再經炭筆淡掃成畫。其他作品則透過印有文字的透明卡片展現人體的表面，借此暗喻未經審訊的民眾被囚禁的遭遇。在是次展覽的作品中，您可在結、觸、跡裡找到人類留下的蛛絲馬跡。

展覽將於四月二日（星期一）假澳門創意產業中心－創意空間（澳門文化中心側）開幕，展期直至四月廿三日。

關於區勵志

區勵志博士是澳洲的藝術工作者及學術研究員，自二零零一年來澳居住。區現時是香港大學的訪問學者，並於澳門大學任職英文教師。其作品自八十年代後期起便在澳洲、香港、日本、意大利及澳門展覽。區的很多作品被私人收藏，其中一些作品更被澳洲藝術團體Artbank收購為當代藝術展示用途。她憑撰寫有關當代繪畫的論文於香港大學取得博士學位。區為Art Monthly Australia 與 Macau Closer刊物中撰寫專欄，並活躍於港澳寫作有關藝術的評論。近期發表的文章有《Macao: an Art Historical Discipline Waiting to Happen?》(刊登於James Elkins主編的Is Art History Global?)、《The Ambivalent Paintings of Judy Watson》(刊登於二零零六年第七期的Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art)及《Gifts and Transgressions: Marlene Dumas’ Underground》(刊登於二零零六年第八期的Crossings Binghamton)。欲知更多有關區勵志的藝術計劃及合作項目，請瀏覽 www.carolarcher.blogspot.com 。

Chinese translation by Hilda Tam.

Nó, Tacto, Traço
Carol Archer

Nó, Tacto, Traço, é uma exposição de trabalhos em mix-media por Carol Archer, artista de origem australiana que vive há seis anos em Macau. Esta exposição inclui pinturas de detalhes da paisagem urbana de Macau, aparentemente insignificantes, tais como: os nós de andaimes de bamboo, as tendinhas de venda nas imediações dos mercados, as persianas partidas. Não exactamente inanimados, estes nós registam o toque das mãos que as trabalham. Outros trabalhos, menos representados, pedaçinhos de “latex” e de papel são cosidos com linha e agulha sobre finos traços de carvão. Outros paineis mostram partes do corpo através de uma cortina de texto, referindo-se ao incarceramento de civis, sem julgamento. A presença incompleta do ser humano nesses trabalhos podem ser encontrados nos nós, no tacto e no traço.

A exposição Nó, Tacto, Traço é inaugurada na galeria CREATIVE MACAU (rés-do-chão do Centro Cultural de Macau), 2 de Abril (segunda-feira), pelas 18 horas.
A exposição encerra a 23 de Abril (segunda-feira).


Biografia

Carol Archer é uma artista e invistigadora australiana, mora em Macau desde 2001. É actualmente professora convidada da Universidade de Hong Kong no Departamento de Literatura Comparativa e ensina inglês na Universidade de Macau. Expõe desde os últimos anos da década de oitenta do século vinte na Austrália, Hong Kong, Japão, Itália, Macau. A sua obra faz parte de coleccionadores particulares e institucionais como o Artbank que é uma iniciativa australiana de mostra e divulgação da arte contemporânea australiana. A Universidade de Hong Kong conferiu a Carol Archer o grau de Doutor pela tese em pintura contemporânea. Escreve sobre arte de Macau, Hong Kong e região, para as revistas Art Monthly Australia e Macau Closer. Outras publicações mais recentes incluem: “Macao: an Art Historical Discipline Waiting to Happen?” no volume Is Art History Global? (Routledge, 2006) editado por James Elkins; “The Ambivalent Paintings of Judy Watson” no Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art (Vol. 7, No. 2, 2006); “Gifts and Transgressions: Marlene Dumas’ Underground” no Crossings Binghamton (No. 8, 2006).

Projectos de arte actuais e mais colaborações de Carol Archer estão disponíveis em www.carolarcher.blogspot.com.

Portuguese Translation by Lily Han.

The Opening of "Work of Macao Hands"

Work of Macao Hands: Watercolours by Carol Archer
澳門手作 : 區勵志畫展

“Work of Macao Hands: Watercolours by Carol Archer” opened at the Library Gallery at the University of Macau on Friday November 10. The paintings in the exhibition explore the rapidly changing city of Macao. These days construction is around every corner in Macao, and it is featured in some of the paintings in “Work of Macao Hands”. Although bamboo, tarpaulins and site-fences are represented, these pictures are not about the magnitude of construction sites or the looming presence of the structures and machinery that they contain. Instead, they focus on human-scale details such as hand-knotted bamboo scaffolding or the twisted rusty wire that secures a dusty blue tarp to a metal site-fence. The watercolour paintings in this exhibition also highlight the work of Macao hands that can be seen even in the “finished” urban landscape. Some paintings feature the electrical wires, pipes and wafting pieces of plastic that appear on the street frontages of some Macao houses. The ropes and hooks used to suspend produce, and the makeshift red lamps that light up market stalls, have been pictured in several works. The paintings in this exhibition are reminders that it is hands that continue to make Macao what it is today.

Also on exhibition from November 10 in the Library Gallery of the University of Macao is “Footstep: an installation by Carol Archer and Even Mak” (步足；足印 混合媒體裝置展覽 ：區勵志及麥綺雲). In this collaborative work Hong Kong ceramicist, Even Mak, and Carol Archer combine paint on paper with glazed terracotta elements to suggest the sensations of the moving feet as they contact the ground. The work was inspired by an interest in the physical effects of training regimes such as ballet.

Work of Macao Hands

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #8, 2006,

watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm, Collection of the artist.

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #5, 2006, watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #6, 2006,

watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm,

Collection of Kit Kelen

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #16, 2006, watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm

Collection of Adam Lampton

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #2, 2006,
watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm, Collection of Barbara MacGregor.

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #1, 2006,
watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm.

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #15, 2006, watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm,

Collection of Lyn Stoker.

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #11, 2006,

watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm.

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #11, 2006,

watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm.

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #6, 2006,

watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm,

Collection of Mette Hjort.

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #4, 2006,
watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm.

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #7 , 2006, watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm,

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #13 , 2006,

watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm

Collection of Keith and Becky Pharis

Carol Archer, Work of Macao Hands #10, 2006,
watercolour on paper, 59 x 42 cm.

Collection of Mette Hjort and Paisley Livingston

Knot works

New Territories

Sleep to dream/Shui yi meng

Tai Mo Shan/ Big Hat Mountain

Skin to Work series

Skin to Work series, 1998, latex and mixed media on board, 40 x 40 cm

(Collection of Artbank, Australia)

Skin to Work series, 1998, latex and mixed media on board, 40 x 40cm
(Collection of Artbank, Australia)

Skin to Work series, 1996, mixed media on foamboard, approx. 30 x 30 cm

Skin to Work series, 1996, mixed media on foamboard, approx. 40 x 40 cm

Dermagraph, 1996, mixed media on foamboard,
100 x 100 cm (Collection of Neela Griffith)