Current Artists

Andrei Ivanof

Junior

“Look, we’ve already taught you the formulae, just follow our instructions, complete your portfolio and you should pass ok, but if you want be a maverick the examiners may burn you.”
This is what the head tutor of the Art department told me during my last year of High School Senior Art.

I paint, design & create art out of necessity more than anything else. There are times when I just have to do a piece or work on a painting, well aware how inaccessible and virtually unmerchantable it may be.
I’m not overly interested in the designer whims of what is fashionably “Hip” or not in contemporary art today.
My creative response is a reaction to the thoughts and ideas that arise from my levels of consciousness, some profoundly eminent, others intangible, obscure and or metaphysical. I liken the creative process to a form of catharsis, a purging of self expression, a way of making sense of oneself from a deeper capacity.
I don’t like to put classifications on my work, needless to say I’m primarily an abstract artist going through a cheeky if you will “neo dadist having a laugh period” at the moment. I particularly like pop art, Abstract expression (50’s American, 80’s German) minimal and conceptual art. But all art can inspire and has its place, perhaps even homage’s to the over-exploited frangipani.

Damian Brewer

Hooker Kelly ( 2mx2m oil and aerosol on canvas)

Sydney born, Melbourne raised. Brewer started early, training in street art and hooliganism at an early age before specialising in photography. VCA tried to teach him a thing or two, but Brewer couldn’t wait for the punch line (degree) and went straight for the heady world of fashion photography. Starting out as a studio assistant, Brewer escalated quickly, running his own darkrooms and shooting covers with young starlets, and major campaigns for labels such as PERVERT. We suspect he dabbled in model management for a minute there too.

He has been heavily influenced in more ways than one, by the likes of Whitely, Warhol and Basquiat, but it was a visit to Florence that really messed with his head. He witnessed the perfect blend of fine art and street, watching masterful painters doing their thing live in cobbled piazzas. There was travelling, there was inspiration, there was Monte Marte, there was reality…

Melbourne again. Horribly inspired but dirt poor, Brewer channelled his creative juices into women, wine song, and chef-ing. Fine establishments like the Stokehouse (Melb) gave him a new sense of discipline, but once again came the call of the wild. Something blurry happened and suddenly he’s pulling taffy with a funky, arty, hardrock, candy crew. Then on to his next incarnation - another hapless sea-changer, Coolum’s first and only Candy Man.

We first encountered him there five years ago, up till all hours of the day and night inventing crazy flavours and patterns in exquisite sugary treats, for an impressive list of corporate clients including Virgin Blue and the Sheraton. Eventually it was the brides that did him in. One too many weddings…

We lost him again for a bit. Then painting brought him back (physically and metaphorically speaking). Inspired by the resurgence of street art in Melbourne and driven by debt, an avalanche of creativity spewed out of him as he struggled to make a living by the skin of his creative teeth. A gun for hire, a great technician, producing unsigned palette knife landscapes by the metre, for frighteningly large corporations (BHP), artful installations in Brisbane alleys for high fashion (Subfusco), and last but soul destroy-ingly least, various markets up and down the coast banging out stencils for peanuts to pay the rent.

What does it all mean? 1200 works sold in 2 years and nothing to show for it. He’s everything you’re looking for as an astute collector. He’s talented, he’s prolific, he’s desperate. He walks the line. He walks the walk as an artist. Who will be the Wendy to his Whitely following his untimely death, when suddenly the works are really worth something?

Ned & Joe (Blood Money)

Sterling Silver Made by Gemima

Tick Tock Earrings

Gemima - Wearable Art by Nicole Cagarkis

“ I was born and raised on the bay, in the inner city suburbs of Melbourne, in a Greek-Egyptian family who all love to cook eat talk create and be by the ocean.”

A self-taught silver smith with a keen sense of adventure, her travels have taken her to Italy, Darwin (and fortunately for us) 5 years ago, the Sunshine Coast, where she has developed a strong following. Her clientele are surprisingly diverse and watch each new collection with keen interest.

The earthy textured and toned forms explore her unique perspective on femininity. Secret messages, whimsical shapes and animal friends feature in this collection. Each subtle amulet is individually crafted in silver and entirely original. Bursting with ideas Gemima has no need to repeat herself.

“Follow your heart, giggle like a child or simply fly like a bird. Each piece tells its own story.”