2014 - 2015 Painting Catalogue

NANA contemporary art space Newcastle

7 - 28 Feb 2015

Candy 2014 Acrylic on canvas 120x110cm

Transitory signpost 2015 Acrylic on canvas 30x50cm

Un Holy Worship 2015 Acrylic on canvas 30x50cm

Super clusters 2015 Acrylic on canvas 30x50cm

Squirms and Thrive 2015 Acrylic on canvas 90x110cm

Dusted Ice 2014 Acrylic on canvas 110x90cm

                                                   

Globular Free-fall 2014 Acrylic on linen 80x60cm

Ashes to Ashes 2014 Acrylic on linen 80x60cm

Solace in memory 2014 Acrylic on canvas 110x90cm

 

Mineral Galaxy 2014 Acrylic on canvas 110x90cm

Disappearing act 2014 Acrylic on canvas 90x80cm

Fully Sick Acrylic on canvas 90x80cm

Fertility 2014 Acrylic on canvas 120x110cm

Candy Exhibition Opening

Saturday 14th March 2015

NANA contemporary art space Newcastle

Exhibition Runs 11 - 28 February 2015

What is CANDY ? An introduction by Ineke Dane

Squirm & Thrive 2015 Acrylic on canvas 90x110cm

CANDY 

11 - 28 February 2015

NANA contemporary art space Newcastle

When I walked into Madeleine’s Islington studio, at the back of her house looking over a garden (giant jacaranda tree with chooks beyond), Candy reminded me of a saying: first there was the word, and the word was replaced by flesh, and it never healed. With flesh, without word, the world becomes infinite, un-bound by parameters of language.

Madeleine’s fleshy landscapes are just that, open wounds, no beginning, no ending, rather suggestions of infinite manifestations, a never ending morphing of worlds. Internal organs become the landscape, become external, as intestines become mountains as fertility eggs become reservoirs. Colour is indiscriminate, purple jacaranda by pastel pink by brown by indigo. At times awkward, calmer as eyes adjust, what begins as unnatural steers now to a norm and a world where branches can be yolk.

And what of the things that live in these landscapes? They oscillate between craving the artificial and being umbilical-bound to the natural, a mental tug of war to find place and peace in a world of manufactured candy-like temptations. These temptations border beauty but before long fall to the realm of the grotesque; an overindulgence that ends in decay, a melting return to an amoebic state.

With Madeleine’s Candy we see a peeling back and reduction to the point where reality and what once was meet: is the world today, was it the Archean.

Ineke Dane

NANA contemporary art space warmly invites you and your friends
to the exhibition and opening event of CANDY
a solo exhibition of paintings by
 

MADELEINE CRUISE 

Evocative of real and imagined landscapes CANDY brings to life a luminous dream like state where the subconscious roams free. In a world of manufactured temptations beauty borders the grotesque and becomes an over indulgence ending in decay. 

11 - 28 February 2015

Opening Event: Sat 14 Feb 1 - 4pm

NANA Contemporary art space Newcastle

nanacontemporaryart.blogspot.com.au

Squirm and thrive 2015 90x110cm acrylic on canvas

Window Installation

Candy Parlour: Truffles, Gucci, Chanel, macaroon 2014

Mixed media installation. NANA gallery window

My art practice is an exploration of the subconscious through painting and sculpture. Using an abstract language I create hybrid objects and colourful spacious paintings that are fusions of the real and the imaginary.

Candy Parlour is a biographical work that recalls my experience as a shop girl at David Jones in 2010. As my first job out of art school I found myself living a strange paradox : As I was simultaneously seduced by the fantastical department store and repulsed by its superficiality. I was constantly battling the rule of two worlds, one that lured me with exotic fragrance, candy displays and lush fabrics and the other that bored me with routine and sales pitches. In the assemblage of Candy Parlour I found myself returning to my days of decorative window dressing, though perhaps with a little irony this time round. Interestingly enough I now run a gallery in a former David Jones building - so it seems dreams of some kind really do come true.

More Trophies from the collection

Monuments of the Everyman 1st - 31st October 2014

Saturday the 4th of October 2014 marked the opening of Monuments of the Everyman - an exhibition curated by myself and Jacqueline Larcombe at NANA contemporary art space Newcastle.

In this group exhibition artists from across Sydney and Newcastle were invited to create monuments that memorialised the everyday experience. In an exhibition designed to question the hierarchical value placed on certain people and events in society, artists were encouraged to create personal works that would stand in contrast to an exclusionary history.

With this concept in mind I created the work Achievement Trophies. Each of the 26 Achievement Trophies in this work is a monument to an everyday personal achievement. Over a two-month period I handcrafted individual trophies according to the daily achievements of various members of the public. Participants in this collaborative project shared their achievements via text message, Facebook and in person. Despite being made out of valueless materials, sourced from the bin, the Achievement Trophies work together to create an enticing visual spectacle that pays homage to the value and luster of everyday experiences. 

Below is the list of achievements that were featured in the Achievement Trophies and were catalogued in the exhibition program:

                        1.Went to my first theatre audition

2. Enjoyed a productive morning before Uni

3. Sold my first plushie / soft sculpture

4. Dyed 7 black hats

5. Planted an indoor garden

6. Got out of bed

7. Went on a date

8. Made my mum laugh

9. Got a hair cut

10. Peeled an orange in one go

11. Walked around the block on my newly replaced knee

12. Went to Tasmania for the first time

13. Found my stolen Vespa

14. Met my accountant for the first time

15. Repaired a broken vase on a grave

16. Grew my butt after 2 gym classes

17. Finished my road trip around Australia

18. Received positive class feedback

19. Didn’t miss my bus stop on the way to work

20. Shovelled stinky compost without vomiting

21. Taught an 8 year old to tell the time

22. Constructed an IKEA bed

23.Got 28/30 for a Uni assignment

24. Was less than perfect

25. Unblocked the sink.

During the opening event on Saturday the 4th of October, recipients of the trophies were awarded their prize in an informal ceremony. Including Chris Brown (pictured) who received a baton for creating an indoor garden.

Achievement Trophies exhibited alongside works by Rosie Deacon , Flynn Doran and Eleanor Hanlon.

Monuments of the Everyman forms part of the 2014 This Is Not Art (TINA) festival program that responds to the Critical Animals theme:  Possible Futures. The combination of sculpture, site specific work and performance showcased in Monuments of the Everyman can be understood as signposts of the present for future generations.