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https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/aug/12/rose-nolan-artist-avoiding-social-media-and-slow-down>
"The Melbourne-based artist Rose Nolan has worked exclusively in a palette of
red and white since the 1990s, a decision she describes as “liberating”. When
she stopped thinking about colour, Nolan suddenly found she had more headspace
for her practice which, over 40 years, has spanned a remarkable range of
mediums, from colossal public artworks to small architectural models, wall
paintings, banners and flags, and self-published books and pamphlets.
You might have traipsed across her terrazzo-emblazoned floor work
All
Alongside of Each Other on the concourse of Sydney’s Central station. Or gazed
upwards at the towering words
Enough-Now/Even/More-so on the exterior of
Melbourne’s Munro Community Hub near Queen Victoria Market.
It was in the late 1970s when, fresh from a tiny Catholic girls’ convent, Nolan
entered the Victorian College of the Arts and went on to become a driving force
behind the now legendary artist-led collective Store 5, an artistic crucible
that shaped the work of some of Australia’s leading contemporary artists.
Between 1989 and 1993 the collective staged 150 exhibitions in the storage
space behind a Greek cake shop on Chapel Street.
“It was very sex, drugs and rock’n’roll,” Nolan says of the period. “Over that
four-year period, everybody’s work really developed. And we all had so many
relationships going on … It wasn’t always easy, none of those group situations
are, but it was really exciting.
“It might sound inflated but it did feel like we were making history … It was a
moment in time.”
Nolan, diminutive and dressed in black, is curled up on her couch in Richmond.
Around us are relics of a life spent immersed in Melbourne’s contemporary art
scene; works by her friend Kathy Temin and her late mentor John Nixon punctuate
hundreds of art books and ephemera. Her two cats, Dennis and Lillee (her
partner is a cricket nut), meander between houseplants and climb on to the
mid-century furniture.
Nolan’s house itself is an artwork: designed by OOF! Architecture, the
Victorian-era cottage has been refashioned into a white rectangle that spells
out HELLO on its brick facade. When I arrive there are gawkers taking photos of
it. It’s all over Instagram. “This happens a bit,” she says."
The TarraWarra Museum of Art is just down the road from us, so let us know if
you’re interested in seeing this exhibition!
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
