Just to clarify everyones(mostly worng) preconceptions, this is the go
and maybe now this thred can die.Let this be the knife to burry it. THE END
The selection for display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales is made by a member of its Public Programs Department (it is the only exhibition in the Gallery not managed by curatorial staff). The choice is made from the work of around 1000 students who have gained a mark of 45 or more out of 50. Their art is brought together in the Homebush marking centre, and deciding on more than 600 pieces, representing about 50 students, takes around a week.
The process takes the opposite approach to a curated exhibition, which begins with a theme and ends with a selection of works to suit that theme. For ARTEXPRESS it is the reverse: works are selected individually and then considered in terms of the way they go together or could be displayed to present some logic, theme or experience for an audience.
Selection is made initially on individual works, with the emphasis on highly resolved material and/or concepts, lack of clichés, level of maturity and sophistication, and that 'something' that demands attention - something powerful, clever, witty!
Final selection depends on the way works can 'talk together' to form a cohesive exhibition experience. ARTEXPRESS bridges the gap between classroom practice and public presentation - between the developing practice of students and the professional practice of the Gallery. Presented in the context of the Gallery's collection and temporary exhibitions, it must meet the Gallery's standards.
From year to year, students focus and refocus between global and local themes, and the processes and materials they use to communicate their ideas. What stays the same is the energy and honesty, boldness and passion, quirkiness and humour they bring to their art.
The exhibition has created its own markers of relevance and excellence over the 21 years that the Art Gallery of New South Wales has been one of its showcases and, for the past fourteen, its principal venue.
Tristan Sharp
Senior Coordinator of Education Programs
Art Gallery of New South Wales