INSTABILITY [MARS] Gallery | 19 July - 18 Aug 2018

catalog essay: here

Tomb Entrance’ Ink on paper 192 x 112 cm (2018)

‘Liquid Cube analysis’ HD video still (2018)

‘Quad spiral’  Wood, enamel, synthetic polymer 80 x 40 x 80cm (2018)

LUMA | Beyond the Frustum

Opening: Wed 20 July 6 - 8 pm.

20 July to 23 September 2016

Curated by Paul Northam

LUMA | La Trobe University Museum of Art 

Catalog essay: here 

 

Deluge Rotations - New works

22 June - 17 July

Opening Saturday 25th June 3 - 5 pm. 

‘Deluge Rotations’ is a new body of work by Simon Finn. The works include, drawing, animation and sculpture and are a continued exploration into the variable syntheses between artist, environment and technology. Finn utilises the spatial and temporal capabilities of virtual representations as subject matter that comes into being somewhere between experimental verification and poetic speculation.

The presented artwork’s motif is an observation tower emitting a simulated liquid force from its core. The observation tower is intended to have dual symbolism: the first being that of power, oppression and its structural fragility, and secondly that of our ability to witness future natural events through vision and data interpretation. The violent toxic vortex flow being discharged from the center is emblematic of an internal and social deluge of indoctrination.

The range of static imagery generated through computation is staged and then re-imagined with the hand, using traditional drawing processes, and advanced machinery. This process allows Finn to observe an otherwise unattainable rupturing of time and facilitate a faceted network of production. 

MORE IMAGES COMING SOON....

NOW 16

The evolution of Australian art.


NOW16 is a group exhibition featuring new works by:
Abdul Abdullah, Penny Byrne, Simon Finn, Camille Hannah, Gregor Kregar, Sonia Payes, Kate Shaw, Chloe Vallance and Darren Wardle

In a special panel discussion moderated by Toby Fehily (Art Guide Australia Editor and Freelance Arts Writer), Frances Lindsay (Director of Australian Art at Mossgreen), Paul Sumner (CEO of Mossgreen) and Lisa Fehily (Director of Fehily Contemporary) will uncover the vision behind Mossgreen, including Fehily Contemporary's move to Armadale and the evolution of buying and selling Australian art in this country.
Speakers: Toby Fehily, Paul Sumner, Lisa Fehily and Frances Lindsay.
Saturday 5 March 2016, 3pm to 5pm

Details

• Exhibition dates: 2 to 24 March 2016
• Opening celebration and panel discussion: Saturday 5 March 3pm to 5pm
• Location: Fehily Contemporary
  935 High Street, Armadale VIC 3143

West Java, Indonesia 2015.

'Birth from destruction, death by construction'.

The sculpture is a large observation tower constructed from materials that once formed the houses of 36 now displaced families. The displacement is due to the local Government (Bandung, West Java) approval of the demolition of resident homes for a redevelopment project. I have worked in collaboration with the affected community to construct a symbol of power, oppression and its structural fragility. To be sure, the Tower will eventually fall.
‪

Constructed with the support of Gallery Soemadja, Bandung Institue of Technology and the Baur Project.

Arts Project Australia - Curator: Dr Vincent Alessi

It takes more than 140 characters to write a novel

17 October 2015 - 21 November 2015

Venue: Arts Project Australia Gallery

Opening: 17 October 2015, from 3-5pm

Steady State Expiration (2015) charcoal on paper 120 x 70 cm

This exhibition explores the use of digital technologies and the photographic image in the creation of paintings, drawings and ceramic objects. It posits that artists who use technology as the basis of their art making are extending the experience of the “digital eye” so as to reclaim an analogue familiarity. It will present works by artists who create directly from digitally-mediated and photographic images, arguing that the physical act of painting, drawing and object making, and the presence of the artist’s hand brings us closer to the physical world which we inhabit.

Curated by Dr Vincent Alessi, Senior Lecturer, Creative Arts, La Trobe University.

Featuring works by Alvaro Alvarez, Justin Andrews, Peter Ben, Erica Berechree, Alan Constable, Chris O’Brien, Simon Finn and Darren Wardle.

2015 Banyule Award Works on Paper

'INSPACE'
Space surrounds us; we are in space, as space is in us.
Space is private and public, it is emotional and psychological, and it can be transformed, stimulated and activated, or neutralized and void.
Space is subjective; it is social, cultural, and psychological.

judging conducted by:
Linda Michael - Deputy Director and Senior Curator at Heide Museum of Modern Art
Dr. Isobel Crombie - Assistant Director, Curatorial and Collection Management at NGV
Greg Creek - Artist, Senior Lecturer and MFA Program Coordinator at RMIT

Interview

'The CreatorsProject interview

Can you tell us about the process of creating your charcoal drawings? (e.g. using digital modelling to create prototypes…)

No problem, my latest body of work began as a simulation of a non-existent surveillance structure. The structure is loosely based on a variety of observation towers (Panopticon’s, fire lookout’s and tsunami observation towers) that were in a position of possible destruction. I began by visualising this devastated structure using a variety of 3D software’s, usually reserved for special effects for Films or other forms of Interactive entertainment. From here I have rendered the digital images from the screen using my hand, charcoal and paper.

While some artists might start with a pen and paper sketch and then translate this onto the screen, you tend to do things the other way round. Why do you choose this method?

I really like to idea of subversion, and in the case of my art practice I have enjoyed subverting the role of computer graphics to act as an initial sketch, or a place for conjuring, rather than a place reserved for refined final product. Translating these images into charcoal drawing allows me intimate contact and control over the final output and revel in the inadequacies of the human touch. In short it’s a kind of ‘Stone age approach in a meeting with technological innovation’.

How do you use 3D printing and other technologies?

I use the technologies primarily as tool for realising my ideas. I have been using these technologies for nearly twenty years now, so they are ingrained in my creative process.

You’re also a deep sea diver. Does this hobby have any influence on your art practice?

I do think that our experiences ultimately affect who we are and what we make, and as an artist mine have inadvertently affected me without a doubt. I do spend a ridiculous amount of time in the ocean, surfing, diving, and generally farting around. This obsession has taken me to Mexico, Indonesia, Hawaii, Fiji, Philippines, California and a huge amount of the Australian coast. This addiction is a muse, especially its abundant force above and feeling of gravity below.

What about special effects, do they come into play in your work?

The special effect technologies allow me to collapse, smash, break, and rupture at a fraction of the cost. Computer Graphics allows so many wonderful freedoms for me to play, not unlike building a sand castle and stomping it – which we all know is the best part. I am going back to Indonesia in a few months to build the observation tower ‘life size’ on the coastline where the tsunamis have made themselves known.

What interests you about scenes of destruction?

I find the duality in interpreting ‘destruction’ quietly amusing. What I mean by this is; on one hand it could be seen as metaphor for the ending of an old system, and in the other hand, an example of the exciting possibilities of new beginnings.

Is your view on technology ultimately optimistic or pessimistic?

I am leaning toward the pessimistic side, in relation to the long-term consequences of technology on culture, especially in terms of media control, politics and the rampant narcissism in social media. I am optimistic however, that with a controlled and measured investment, technology can continue to be a servant to us, so long as we heed the advice of the many great science fiction writers and avoid the machine rising above us.

'Foresight'

A small selection of the works installed for 'Foresight'.

'Foresight' exhibtion of new works (2015)

'Foresight' is an exhibition of new drawings, animation and sculpture.

Opening Celebration: July 25th - Fehily Contemporary (Melbourne) The exhibition runs until 15th August.

'Steady State Disruption' - Charcoal on paper, 200 X 100cm (2015).

Keith and Elizabeth Murdoch Scholarship 2015

Finalist. Margaret Lawrence Gallery (Victorian College of the Arts).

Hazelhurst Art On Paper Award

30 May 2015 - 26 Jul 2015

Synthetica Panel Discussion | The Future is Now: The Role of Art and Technology

 

Synthetica Panel Discussion | The Future is Now: The Role of Art and Technology

Dr Andi Horvarth (University of Melbourne), Dr Cameron Rose (Monash University) and SYNTHETICA artist Simon Finn for a discussion on the impact and interplay of art and technology on our lives and the world around us and its possible trajectory.

Moreland City Council Gallery

Sculpting

Work in progress for August exhibition at Fehily Contemporary.

Kauai Civil Defense Agency Presentation

April 2015:

It was great to meet with Elton Ushio, (Civil Defense Manager) and the generous people at the KCDA - Hawaii.

Kauai: Hanalei Bay.

ABC Interview

An interview to support 'synthetica' at Wangaratta Art Gallery exhibtion and floor talk.

Link to interview

Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre

It has been a wonderful opportunity to have the support and guidance from the insightful staff at the JATWC. The generous information they provide our region is humbling.

 February 2015.

Latrobe University Art Collection

'Conceal' and 'Reveal' (charcoal drawings - 200 X 100cm, 2013) have been acquired by the La Trobe University Museum of Art. The La Trobe University Art Collection is considered a major public art collection, comprising post war and contemporary Australian art works. The collection covers most media and periods of Australian art.

Bendigo Art Gallery

I have been selected as a finalist for the 2014 Paul Guest Drawing prize.

The Paul Guest Prize is a non-acquisitive cash prize of $12,000 which is held every two years, highlighting contemporary drawing practice in Australia. The Prize was initiated by former Family Court Judge, the Honourable Paul Guest QC and encourages artists from across Australia to engage with the important medium of drawing and to create challenging and unique art works.

2014 Stuart Black Travelling Scholarship Award.

I have been awarded the 2014 Stuart Black travelling scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to enable a graduate from the Victorian College of the Arts (school of art), who specialises in drawing, to undertake travel overseas.

I am particularly interested in further exploring the slippage between representations and experience of environments, from virtual to the tangible, especially in representing the catastrophic. 

I wish to investigate the possibility of working with communities on the Indonesian archipelago to respond to issues surrounding rising sea levels and its effects and causation.