In 2012, our wonderful friends Roz and John gave us a great gift. They introduced us to the world of contemporary art.
From that first visit to Carriageworks, I was hooked. Now, four years later, Pete and I are members of the MCA and we make a concerted effort to get to as many local exhibitions as we can.
In Sydney, we’re truly blessed to have access to the White Rabbit Gallery, a privately funded space housing the extensive contemporary Chinese art collection of Kerr and Judith Nielson. Entry is free and the entire gallery is re-hung twice a year.
Their current exhibition is titled Heavy Artillery and I personally think it’s the best one I’ve been to so far. I’m a great fan of large works, and White Rabbit have really pulled out the big guns this time. Let me share a few of my favourite pieces with you…
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This enormous creation – European Thousand-Armed Classical Sculpture by Xu Zhen (2013 – 2014) – is a carefully positioned line of classically Western sculptures. When viewed from front on, they cleverly resemble the multi-armed Buddhist deity Guanyin…
The artwork is enormous, filling up the entire lower ground display area. I took this photo from the first floor balcony…
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Chou Chu-Wang has five paintings hanging in the exhibition. This is just a small section of The Hours (2015). When you see the painting initially, it’s hard to believe that it’s a) two dimensional and b) not a photograph. Instead, almost unbelievably, it’s meticulously hand painted. The artist creates his works with minuscule paint flecks – around 350,000 dots per square metre…
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He Xiangyu’s Tank Project (2011 – 2013) is a recreation of an old T34 tank in Italian leather. Sitting like a giant collapsed handbag on the top floor of the gallery, it invokes memories of Tiananmen Square while making a statement about China’s obsession with expensive designer goods.
One interesting thing to note is how brilliant the curatorial decisions made by the White Rabbit Gallery are in terms of display. Apparently the artist was delighted with how Tank Project was exhibited – on a black vinyl floor (note the amazing reflections) with black rusty painted walls…
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Hsu Yung-Hsu’s 2011-27 (2011) is an interesting and substantial porcelain creation. The entire work was handmade by the artist…
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Shinji Ohmaki is a rare Japanese artist in the White Rabbit collection. His Flotage-Tectonics (2013 – 2015) comprises 283 acrylic cubes, assembled to create a floating wall with meticulously copied map contour lines. The artists reflects on what the earth’s memory might look like. Because of the translucency of the acrylic and the design, the lines and patterns appear to interact with each other as the viewer moves past them – something which is impossible to capture in a still photograph. It’s definitely an artwork to view in person if at all possible…
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Liu Wei’s Density 1-6 (2013) is glorious! He has recreated 3D geometric shapes on a gigantic scale – these appear to be made from concrete or stone but are actually created from compressed paper taken from used textbooks. I found the display very soothing…
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Finally, a very poignant set of fourteen prints by Jiang Zhi.
Love Letters (2014) is a tribute to the artist’s wife Lan (Orchid) who died at 37. Each is a photo of a flower set alight and captured in that brief instant during which both the flower and flame are “in bloom”. I found them hauntingly beautiful, as if the burning flowers were on the verge of ascending through the flames to a higher plane…
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This is just a small snippet of the Heavy Artillery exhibition at the White Rabbit Gallery. The artworks are so substantial that it’s hard to do them justice in photos – if you’re based in Sydney and enjoy contemporary art, it’s definitely worth a visit in person!
White Rabbit Gallery
30 Balfour Street
Chippendale NSW 2008
Heavy Artillery is open 10am to 5pm, Wed-Sun.
The exhibition runs until 7 August 2016
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Just passed this on to a friend in Sydney. Wish i could see it too.
Love it all.
What an amazing place, thanks for sharing with those of us who are too distant to visit.
Beautiful photographs Celia, thank you for sharing.
You introduced me to this fabulous gallery. This exhibition is fabulous.
Greetings,
I simply had to write to tell you how grateful I am for this glimpse of your favorite show pieces!
If only I could see the entire exhibit… I now have this gallery on my bucket list. I first was smitten with contemporary Chinese art when I saw a couple Ai WeiWei works at Documenta. Then I was hooked completely after viewing an entire show of contemporary activist Chinese art.
Thanks for the wonderful photos and taking the time to share these works I may never have had the chance to see. Quite the incredible exhibit on many levels! The curation and the gallery space is a stellar treasure.
Cheers,
Anne W.
Seattle, WA
Oh how wonderful! I have to admit my fave is the thousand armed sculpture. I’m a huge fan of big sculptures by folk like Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth so this installation really appeals.
Thanks you so very much for sharing this with us. Your photos – and your descriptions – are amazing. And equally amazing is this fabulous exhibit – I wish I didn’t live half a world away!
I can just imagine you walking around and squealing with delight at everything. It all looks a bit quirky and interesting – especially the leather tank and the paintings that look like a photo. Unbelievable!
Over whelming and amazing.
Hi celia
Great post Coming to Sydney from Melb in early August and will definitely see this gallery. Also Kerr Nielsen is an idol of mine having followed his financial advice
Keep up the great posts
Regards Sue, Melbourne
Sent from my iPhone
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Sue, it closes on the 7th August – I hope you can make it, as it’s truly fabulous! :)
Thank you! Well I found utter peace in Hsu Yung Hsu’s porcelain panels with which I would so love to live. I remember being 23, for the first time in Japan, being taken to the just finishing Summer Exhibition at the Tokyo National Art Gallery. Sales exhibit. Modern art. Nought ‘Japanese’ but everything brought forth an ‘ooh’!! We had just moved into our first home with pretty bare walls and my FIL smilingly gave the nod. Nought was to be exported but the CEO of our Japanese firm had the connections . . . for the 23 year we were together I was thrilled to live amongst a number of Asian artist gifts such as these . . . a memory so many of those exhibits of yours created . . . wish I was there . . .
Amazing art here, thank you for sharing,Celia, I love this art
what a fabulous exhibition – the painting is quite extraordinary and the burning flower is very moving. It’s quite breathtaking that all that skill and talent is contained in just one man.
Ah – not just one artist – but still a wonder.
Lovely photos Celia, thanks for sharing xo
Celia, I’m thrilled beyond words to have been privileged to take this “tour” via your photos and descriptions. Incredible. (Your post title piqued my interest!)
These are very interesting pieces and I can certainly see why you and Peter are hooked. I like this genre too, what I totally despise are the wired pieces where the artist puts a large rock on a refrigerator. Or a toilet seat in the middle of a room. I’ve seen these at the Pompidou Gallery in Paris!