Die Welt Kompakt Feature + Pop Up Exhibition

Lots happening! I am excited to present a selection of works at the Pop Up Fashion Berlin Autumn Edition opening tomorrow night for Berlin Art Week, event details here.

And tomorrow I will have a double colour centrefold in Die Welt Kompakt. 

"Die hängenden Skulpturen der australischen Künstlerin Elizabeth Delfs lassen den Betrachter jede Orientierung verlieren. Vor einem schwarzen Hintergrund rotieren sie langsam. Sie scheinen sich der Schwerkraft zu widersetzen, zu schweben wie Quallen im Wasser. Morgen in WELT KOMPAKT"

Installation Photos - Sur la Montagne Exhibition with BERLIN ART LINK

Saturday night opened my exhibition at project space Sur la Montagne on Torstrasse. The exhibition was a snapshot of new work that I made during my residency last year and the show was produced by BERLIN ART LINK. Check out some install photos below  as well as a few pics from the afterparty at KIM Bar, and read more about the project HERE! And check out some more photos on Artstars HERE!

Chloe, Monica and Anna from BERLIN ART LINK

All photos courtesy of BERLIN ART LINK

BERLIN ART LINK Day & Night Exhibition at Sur la Montagne, Berlin

On May 19, BERLIN ART LINK (BAL) launches the “Night & Day” Series, extending its international contemporary art platform into the Sur la Montagne project room on Torstrasse. The new series presents emerging artists from Berlin and abroad for a one-night opening and one-day exhibition, offers another dimension of engagement to the work of artists and curators that BAL has collaborated with or featured on its website. The inaugural show will present the work of Elizabeth Delfs.

Originally from Australia, Delfs will show a series of recent works, including a large-scale textile wall installation and hanging sculptures falling into the space of SlaM in a two-day exhibition. Her practice explores the nature of constructed space and how perceptions of the environment are built through utilizing architecture and garment construction to investigate their shared theoretical and production strategies.

BERLIN ART LINK’s “Night & Day” series will showcase cross-over artists that work within the fields of visual art, architecture, design and fashion.

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EXHIBITION INFO

Facebook Event Page

SUR LA MONTAGNE (SlaM)
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 19; 7 – 11pm
Exhibition: Sunday May 20, 12 – 6pm
Torstrasse 170, Berlin 

BERLIN ART LINK is a Berlin-based online platform for contemporary art which highlights the best of the Berlin contemporary art scene with interviews, articles, documented studio visits, selected weekly event listings and blog. Updated daily by a distinguished international roster of photographers, artists, critics, curators, BERLIN ART LINK diligently extracts and presents the most exciting facets of the city’s dynamic art scene. With an expansive network throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East and extensive knowledge of these regional art markets, BERLIN ART LINK realizes art events, projects and media content through connecting individuals, corporations and non-profit organizations with a network of international art professionals and creative resources.

Sur la Montagne (SlaM) is a non-commercial exhibition and project space operating since 2009. Besides art exhibitions and their A.I.R. program, they host a variety of cultural events such as readings, debates and poetry slams. In addition, the space periodically transforms into other settings, such as a shop, a restaurant, a club, or even a hotel. SlaM’s internationally recognized hotel concept, Hotel Minimal by Herresthal und Kadel, a bed and breakfast in the SlaM storefront, a space that is both an installation and a living space, was a pre-stage and the origin of the upcoming A.I.R. program. 

Studio Photo Shoot! By Katherine York

I was lucky enough to have my wonderful friend Katherine York take a few shots of my studio recently for a few articles about the upcoming Open Studio event I am hosting during the DMY Berlin International Design Festival. She did such a gorgeous job! Check out more of her work on her website HERE. 

"I get the feeling, that you, are laughing at my face?"

Workshop with American artist John von Bergen - Wedding

Yesterday I participated in a day long workshop with American artist John von Bergen in his Wedding studio. John has been in Berlin for around ten years, having trained at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Organized by the Berlin Collective, the workshop revolved around mold making – a process which is core to the artists’ practice. John went through a series of techniques that he has learnt mostly through trial and error and gave us some insider tips on different materials, suppliers and manufacturers in Germany. John’s work is often site specific and his ability to integrate objects and installations into the architecture of a space is seamless, and often leaves the viewer pondering how it is created and questions the nature of the material. To gain an understanding into how he technically puts his work together was a fascinating insight into his sophisticated art making abilities. Not many artists are so generous to share their material research in such a manner, making it a real privilege to spend time with him in his studio.

For more info about John’s work check out his website as well as a great interview with BERLIN ART LINK with some great photos from his studio. There is also a really great article about a residency John did in Miami last year on Artslant where he talks about the process of getting gun parts from Miami to Berlin in the name of art which you can read here.

"The Anti-Precious Moment"
275 x 120 x 245 cm (108" x 47" x 96")
MDF, polymer-gypsum, plexiglas, flocking, wall paint
2001
Installation at Silverstein Gallery, New York

"Ghost"
22 x 99 x 5 cm (9" x 39" x 2")
polymer-gypsum, wall paint, US cavalry sabre
2007
Collection of the artist

"Chronic # 4"
100 x 382 x 0.2 cm (39" x 150" x .08")
plastic, polymer-gypsum, graphite, rust paint, wall paint
2010
Installation at Kjubh Kunstverein, Cologne

John von Bergen received his BFA Degree with Honors at The School of Visual Arts in New York. In 2003 von Bergen moved to Berlin with an invitation from the Berlin Senate for Culture, Science and Research. Since living in Germany his work has been exhibited in various international museums, galleries, and institutions including Halle 14 in Leipzig, Wilhelm-Hack Museum in Ludwigshafen, The Pera Museum in Istanbul, and Smack Mellon in New York. He has lectured at institutions such as Kunsterverein Melkasten, The School of Visual Arts (New York), and European College of Liberal Arts / ECLA (Berlin). In 2011 an extensive interview with von Bergen was published in BOMB Magazine Online.

WONDERLAND: New Contemporary Art from Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan

I am pleased to announce that I will be showing several sculptures from the Revolutions series www.elizabethdelfs.com/gallery_12.html in a group show entitled WONDERLAND: New Contemporary Art from Australia at the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Taiwan curated by Antoanetta Ivanova, Associate Senior Curator, International Art, MOCA Taipei. 

As the title suggests the show is a survey of contemporary practionners from Australia, and accompanying the exhibition will be a 200 page colour catalogue in English and Chinese. The exhibition will go from the 10^th of February to the 8^th of April 2012. If you are interested in purchasing a catalogue email me at info@elizabethdelfs.com and I will let you know how you can do this.

You can download a free copy of the catalogue which accompanied the Revolutions exhibition at Freerange Gallery www.freerange.org.au  in Perth, Western Australia here www.elizabethdelfs.com/pdf/rev_cat.pdf

Other WONDERLAND artists are Kristy Boyle, Bindi Cole, Daniel Crooks, Anna Davern, Alex Davies, Julie Dowling, Matthew Gardiner, Matthew Gingold, Chris Henschke, George Khut, Fiona Lowry, Jasmine Targett, Jess MacNeil, Jon McCormack, Cath Robinson, Julie Ryder, Kuuki (Priscilla Bracks, Gavin Sade), Kylie Stillman, Josephine Starrs and Leon Cmielewski, Martin Walch and Yvette Coyle.

For more information about MOCA Taipei check out their website www.mocataipei.org.tw

A good start to 2012! Now all I want is some snow in Berlin! 

Australian House and Garden / Top 50 Rooms / Magazine Coverage

The October issue of Australian House & Garden featured an article which was a survey of the Top 50 Rooms of the best of interior design in private homes in 2011. Page 113 featured a room by interior designer Miriam Fanning of Mim Designs for a private residence in which a work of mine features. The sculpture is located in the entry of the east Melbourne residence - below is a scan of the article. If you would like a PFD of the article please email me at info@elizabethdelfs.com

Eness, AGIdeas and the Mobius - Melbourne

Earlier this year i was privileged to present a 20 minute artist talk about my practice to an audience of 2500 people at the AGIdeas International Design Week in Melbourne. AGIdeas http://www.agideas.net/agideas-2011/speakers/speaker?speakerId=59 is one of the largest and most prestigious design festivals in the world which offers an extraordinary program of events that celebrate design excellence and promotes the value of design driven innovation. I was pleased to present at AGIdeas in 2011 as one of 40 international creatives. 

Benjamin Ducroz - http://www.agideas.net/index.php?nodeId=82&speakerId=61 a Melbourne based artist also spoke about his work in stop animation film. He spoke about a project he was just about start filming in the days preceding the conference....and was asking for volunteers to come and help him! (Giving an artist an open mic and a willing audience is always a calculated risk!) But he must of had plenty of hands on deck to film what looks like a epic project. Both of our practices are influenced by the mobius strip - see the results in the below video - sorry i couldn't embed the VIMEO link.

http://vimeo.com/27461519

Also view highlights of the AGIdeas conference in the below clip.

Speaker highlights for me were:
Stuart MacLachlan, Illustration  http://www.stuart-mclachlan.com/ 
Brian Steendyk, Architect http://www.steendyk.com/
Something Splendid, Graphic Design http://www.somethingsplendid.com.au/
Sanky from ALLOFUS design http://allofus.com/
Francis Rings, Choreographer from Bangarra Dance Theatre http://www.bangarra.com.au/

And too many more to mention. If you are interested in creative practices try and get  along one year to the conference, it is well worth the money.

Studio Update - Early September

I am just finishing a work for one of my shows next year. For the past 18 months I have been working on a series of sculptures under the title Revolutions, part of my ongoing investigations of the nexus between architecture, dress and body theories. It’s a process whereby I turn simple 2D shapes into complex 3D outcomes. I take a shape which I cut repeatedly and connect together to create an object that expands and contracts. Working from the foundation of pattern and dress making, these sculptures are built to either be installed on the wall and floor, or more often hovering in space. In their passive state the works are flat objects and when hung extend into active 3D outcomes which vary in form and size depending on installation. Each work is non-orientable which confronts the ergonomics of the human body that I describe as organic infrastructures, with equal parts rhythm and chaos. I use stencils and spray paint to create colour and surface designs which evoke movement and changing mass. To see previous works from this series check out my website here http://www.elizabethdelfs.com/gallery_12.html and the catalogue from the exhibition here http://www.elizabethdelfs.com/pdf/rev_cat.pdf

 Piecing together the order - these works usually have between 30 and 50 pieces to them.

Two halves........

 ....make a whole.

First few weeks in the studio