ASCENDANCE: TREVOR WEEKES

ASCENDANCE: TREVOR WEEKES

What is evident in the series of exhibitions under the banner Just paper is a cacophony of art which would not have been possible without the unique qualities of the relationship between artist and art gallery – and key to that statement is the idea of the relationship. But what is that relationship and how has it worked for the various artists Maitland Regional Art Gallery (MRAG) has collaborated with over the past ten years?

When Joe Eisenberg first arrived at MRAG he came with a huge suitcase full of well established relationships and one of the first things he did was to pull out of his suitcase a list of names of people willing to assist MRAG to reach its potential. Joe’s list also included the names of artists who he had collaborated with in the past or who he had targeted for future collaborations once he relocated to the Hunter. One of those many artists on his vast list was Trevor Weekes.

Joe first met Trevor in the 1980s when Joe was working for the Crafts Council of NSW in King St, Sydney. It was through his office window that the young arts administrator spied what curiously looked like a flying chicken in Macquarie Galleries across the road. Intrigued, Joe went in to the art gallery and met the Director and the artist. The

following year Macquarie Galleries moved to Clarence Street where Trevor exhibited The Perfect Trojan Horse and there Joe made one of his first art purchases, a limited edition screen print art book documenting the life of the Trojan horse. Such is Trevor’s wonderful sense of humour and fascination with all things mechanical whether bird or animal.

A few years ago Joe as MRAG Director/Curator invited Trevor to create new work for the space within MRAG that Joe calls the atrium – the large 8 metre high space leading to skylights and balconies above. With this invitation Trevor conceived the exhibition you now see around you in the atrium: Ascendance, a stellar constellation of birds perched on the walls as well as in ascending flight.

As Trevor says about his latest exhibition at MRAG:

From childhood, birds have fascinated me. My artworks for the past 40 years have centred around birds of every shape, size and colour. The content of my work always speaks of something related to the subject, be it the extremes of the Teach your Chicken to Fly training manual or the genetically constructed New Bird.

In most cases the exhibitions speak of the interaction between humankind and animal. Good or bad.

Ascendance was inspired by memories of visiting museums as a child. Particular exhibits impacted on me at the time and have stayed with me. One exhibit in particular was a collection of tiny hummingbirds. Taxidermy specimens mounted on branches and crammed into a glass case, their innate beauty preserved for eternity; the compendium of colour, reminiscent of the contents of a jewellery box. Travelling full circle, it is interesting that one of the first artists to intrigue Joe as a young arts administrator would be Trevor Weekes and now his exhibition Ascendance will be one of the last installed at MRAG which Joe will oversee as Cultural Director in the art gallery he has nurtured and, dare I say, masterminded for over a decade.

Joe and Trevor have collaborated for a far longer period than the last ten years. Trevor has supported the numerous schemes Joe concocted during his time as Director of New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM) when NERAM could only exist though donations and various philanthropic supports. Trevor has also employed his long lasting and trusted relationship with Joe to open doors for others, introduced his students to Joe and MRAG and together they have supported and encouraged many emerging artists in their own evolving careers.

Like two peas in a pod, Trevor and Joe are brothers in art. They do what they do, they cannot help it – they support each other, they support others. Joe and Trevor have developed a uniquely productive, positive and interesting relationship and like the unique qualities demonstrated in the Just Paper project, which could only have been made possible because of deliciously fruitful relationships, its beginnings may be decades long, its legacy will continue.

by Kim Blunt Gallery Curator

(left page) Trevor Weekes, Home (Detail), 2015 ink on Bristol board, 120 x 180 cm

A GALLERY OF PEOPLE