BLAZE FOURTEEN, Canberra Contemporary Art Space
Romany Fairall, Belle Palmer, Harijs Piekalns, Rachel Theodorakis, curated by Alexander Boynes and Dan Toua
4th September - 1st November 2020
Every year Canberra Contemporary Art Space (CCAS) exhibits the best of the region’s emerging contemporary artists in a survey called BLAZE. Artists previously exhibited in the annual exhibition have gone on to participate in prestigious exhibitions interstate and overseas including Primavera at the Museum of Contemporary Art, The Sydney Biennale and The National Digital Portrait Prize. BLAZE has become synonymous with propelling local artists onto the national and international stage, and is a highly sought after entrée into the art world for recent graduates.
This version of BLAZE brings together four artists who have graduated from the Painting and Sculpture Workshops at the Australian National University’s School of Art & Design (ANU SOA+D) - Romany Fairall, They have participated in exhibitions around Canberra over the past year - in contour 556, at the ANU School of Art, Belconnen Arts Centre, CCAS Manuka, the Gallery of Small Things, M16 Art Space, Megalo Print Studio + Gallery, Smith’s Alternative and Tributary Projects, and also have been recipients of the Capital Arts Patrons Organisation Emerging Artist Prize and the ANU Emerging Arts Support Scheme award.
BLAZE FOURTEEN is the first show at CCAS’s new home: curated by Alexander Boynes and Dan Toua, the exhibition features Romany Fairall, Belle Palmer, Harijs Piekalns and Rachel Theodorakis. What brings this show together, apart from fitting the loose criteria of showcasing the best of local emerging art, is the obsessive nature of all the works. Meticulously woven, glued, drawn and stenciled, the past year has forced us to stay in our houses and reflect on our inner worlds, and has no doubt encouraged obsessive practices to sustain us through a significantly difficult time.
