Dianne Longley » Latest news

2010 Fantastic Grotesque – Adelaide Central Gallery – July 30-September 4

dianne — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:55:49 +0000

‘Fantastic Grotesque’ at Adelaide Central Gallery is an exhibition of large and small prints, graphic works on wooden panels, small bronzes and a concertina artist book. The ideas and images in the works relate to the history of the grotesque where strangeness is more compelling than normality. These works are fantastic and imaginary; populated with curious and fantastic creatures, actual and bizarre plant forms, costumed figures, and symbols of chance, death and renewal. New works have been added to the ‘Fantastic Grotesque’ exhibition held in Broken Hill in 2009.
Fantastic Grotesque’ catalogue 6 pages 1mb
Imprint review by Pamela Zeplin ‘Fantastic Grotesque’ 1 page 1mb
Imprint article by Sasha Grishin about digital wood engravings 1 page 1mb

Gallery view Fantastic Grotesque, Dianne Longley, Adelaide Central Gallery, July 30-September 4, 2010

Above left: Fisher of Dreams, 2009, digital wood engraving, Oregon veneer on hoop ply, oil paints, Danish varnish, 210 x 50cm, edition of 4 (colour variation), (photographs by Grant Hancock)
Above centre: Greeting the Day, 2009, digital wood engraving, Oregon veneer on hoop ply, oil paints, Danish varnish, 150 x 72cm, edition of 4 (colour variation)
Above right: Hedging Dreams (of Prickly Pear), digital wood engraving, Oregon veneer on hoop ply, oil paints, Danish varnish, 110 x 74cm, 2010 (photographs by Grant Hancock)

Fantastic Grotesque – Fisher of Dreams, acrylic engraving on hand-coloured Rives BFK 300gsm paper, 76 x 110cm
(photograph by Grant Hancock)

Fantastic Garden Succulent Grotto – Terowie, polymergravure print, inkjet chine collé on Hahnemuhle 150gsm paper, on 400gsm paper, 42 x 59cm, 2009 (photographs by Grant Hancock)

2010 – Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery ’2010 Outback Art Prize’, July 23-September 5

dianne — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:50:12 +0000

I won the second prize non-acquisitive ($2,500) for my work Fantastic Garden Primordial polymergravure print. The judge of the prize Kathleen von Witt, said at her speech on the opening night “…but I award the non-acquisitive prize to Dianne Longley, for her ‘Fantastic Garden Primordial’. This is a wonderful example of printmaking technique – the surrealistic use of colours give a sense of the otherworldly, while the succulents, aloe, cacti and mesembryanthemums are striking examples of old-school dry landscape gardening – perfect for the outback.”

Fantastic Garden Primordial, 2010, polymergravure print, inkjet chine collé on Hahnemuhle 150gsm paper, on 400gsm paper,
42 x 59cm

2010 ‘Snakes and Ladders’ – international folio of prints curated by Kavita Shah

dianne — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 06:52:24 +0000

Snakes and Ladders originated in India as a game based on morality called ‘the ladder to salvation’. This game made its way to England, and was eventually introduced in the United States of America by game pioneer Milton Bradley in 1943. The game was played widely in ancient India and reflected the Hinduism consciousness around everyday life. Impressed by the ideals behind the game, a newer version was introduced in Victorian England in 1892, possibly by John Jacques of Jacques of London. This game was perhaps invented by Hindu spiritual teachers to teach children about the effects of good deeds as opposed to bad deeds. The ladders represented virtues such as generosity, faith, humility, etc., and the snakes represented vices such as lust, anger, murder, theft, etc. The moral of the game was that a person can attain salvation through performing good deeds whereas by doing evil, one takes rebirth in lower forms of life. The number of ladders was less than the number of snakes as a reminder that treading the path of good is very difficult compared to committing sins.

2009 – Advanced Photopolymer Printmaking Workshop – BHRAG – Sat October 31 – Sun November 1

dianne — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:05:56 +0000

I will be running another workshop at Broken Hill, during the closing weekend of my exhibition.
About the workshop: Explore the wonderful versatility of printing with photopolymer plates. This workshop offers participants the chance to explore at a more advanced level image and plate preparation. Previous attendance at photopolymer printmaking workshops or demonstrated experience in this printmaking technique is a prerequisite for this workshop.
Download notes for workshop

From left: Unfolding, intaglio print with inkjet chine collé, 41.5 x 29.5cm, 2008 and Balance and Counterbalance, intaglio print with inkjet chine collé, 41.5 x 29.5cm, 2007 (photographs by Michal Kluvanek)
Right: Dianne Longley (on left) with participants in the Photopolymer Printmaking Workshop held at the BHRAG in April 2008. (picture BHRAG website)

2009 Fantastic Grotesque – Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery – September 19-November 1

dianne — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:53:27 +0000

Many of the works in this exhibition were commenced while I was artist-in-residence in Broken Hill during July 2008, but I completed them later in my studio in Adelaide. The exhibition comprises digital wood engravings, artist books, prints, small bronzes and wooden panels with pokerwork and oil paints. The ideas and images in these works relate to the history of the grotesque where strangeness is more compelling than normality. These works are imagined spaces populated with curious and fantastic creatures, actual and bizarre plant forms, costumed figures, and symbols of chance and renewal.

The opening at BHRAG was great fun, with the three exhibitions attracting a large crowd. Great food and drinks, lots of conversation, and Pam Zeplin’s opening speech was especially clever, weaving together our 1983 ‘Mad Max’ road trip where we were almost run off the road by huge trucks, and comments about my exhibition. (Pictures of the opening by Craigh Marsden.)

Download ‘Fantastic Grotesque’ catalogue

2009 SA Printmaking Forum

kitka — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:19:40 +0000

In September an exciting printmaking forum was held in South Australia, hosted by the Print Council of Australia, funding assistance from Arts SA, and held at Adelaide Centre for the Arts. A big thank you to APC staff (Damian Kelly and Sue Forster), presenters Sasha Grishin ANU, Julie Robinson AGSA, Robyn Tait ArtLab, open studios Vicki Reynolds AC Arts and Marea Atkinson SASA, speeches by John Neylon and Ingrid Kellenbach, the APC committee members (Diana Davis, Akky van Ogtrop, Jackie Hocking, Georgia Thorpe, Carolyn Canty, Susan Baren, Filomena Coppola, Noreen Graham), the Adelaide exhibition installation team (Margaret Sanders, Sandra Starkey Simon, Vicki Reynolds, Amanda Lawler, Raphaela Mazzone, Mei Wong, Susie Lockery) and Adele Boag, who hosted the APC dinner, and food preparation team (Olga Sankey, Vicki Reynolds, Dianne Longley, Sandra Starkey Simon, Margaret Sanders and Craigh Marsden). (Pictures of SA Printmaking Forum 2009 by Craigh Marsden unless attributed otherwise.)

Download SA Printmaking Forum Schedule leaflet


Dianne Longley, Convenor of the SA Printmaking Forum welcomes the enthusiastic group gathered for the Forum lectures and presentations	Damian Kelly, General Manager of the Print Council of Australia, speaks about the PCA and introduces Sasha Grishin AM, FAHA, The Sir William Dobell Professor of Art History, ANU	Professor Sasha Grishin gave two lectures: ‘The digital intervention: The impact of digital technologies on contemporary printmaking’ (Tuesday) and ‘The contemporary artist book: A question of identity’ (Wednesday)

Audience for lectures and presentations on Tuesday September 15	Sue Forster, Editor of IMPRINT PCA, presentation: ‘Getting yourself into the media and staying there’	Dinner for PCA interstate committee members at Adele Boag’s home (picture Carolyn Canty PCA Tasmania)

A Moroccan dinner prepared by Adelaide PCA committee members and Adelaide team, was a feast (picture Carolyn Canty PCA Tasmania)	Flowers and strawberries for Adele and Dianne (Harvest Queens) at the end of a very happy evening (picture Adele Boag)	Open Studio at AC Arts with Vicki Reynolds, Head of Printmaking

Diana Davis, President of the PCA introduces Jackie Hocking and Akky van Ogtrop for their ‘Building Pathways’ presentations	Jackie Hocking, General Manager, Port Jackson Press Australia, and committee member of PCA presenting ‘Building Pathways’	Akky van Ogtrop, Vice President of the PCA and director and manager of major arts events, presenting ‘Building Pathways’

Lots of informal conversations at the ‘IMPRINT Launch’ and ‘Unveiling of APC Commission Prints’ (picture Sandra Starkey Simon)	The ‘IMPRINT Launch’ and ‘Unveiling of APC Commission Prints’, on Level 2, Adelaide Centre for the Arts, attracted a large crowd	‘IMPRINT Launch’ – featuring focus on South Australian printmaking, by John Neylon, author, curator and art critic The Adelaide Review

‘Unveiling APC Commission Prints’ – by Ingrid Kellenbach, Chief Executive Officer, Adelaide Central School of Art	Three of the PCA Commission Prints 2009 on Level 2, Adelaide Centre for the Arts	Interest in the speeches, by John Neylon and Ingrid Kellenbach (picture Sandra Starkey Simon)

Display of ‘SA Print Survey – recent works by city and regional artists’and ‘Helpmann Academy Partner Schools’ student prints’ (picture Sandra Starkey Simon)	Display of ‘SA Print Survey – recent works by city and regional artists’and ‘Helpmann Academy Partner Schools’ student prints’ (picture Sandra Starkey Simon)	Display of ‘SA Print Survey – recent works by city and regional artists’and ‘Helpmann Academy Partner Schools’ student prints’ (picture Sandra Starkey Simon)

2009-10 ‘Stories of our Making: contemporary prints from Australia’ – Curated by Jan Davis and Travis Paterson

dianne — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:42:28 +0000

University of West of England, Bristol: September 14-September 20, 2009
Tweed River Gallery: Friday 27 November 27-January 31, 2010
Stories of Our Making was curated by Jan Davis and Travis Paterson for IMPACT VI, an international printmaking conference in Bristol, UK in September 2009 for an audience of printmakers, curators, critics, collectors and academics. ‘Stories of Our Making’ presents a breadth of contemporary Australian printmaking with an emphasis on artists whose work reflects an investigation of Australian identity. Some artists speak of a very ancient engagement with the land, others relate the story of constructing a home in this place after losing a home elsewhere and others speak of their identity through reflecting on the development of cultural myths. Taken together, they provide fragments of a story — the making of this place that we speak of as Australia.

Page from the catalogue:

2009 Ganjifa, a folio of Indian playing cards

dianne — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:16:18 +0000

2009 Ganjifa, a folio of Indian playing cards, exhibited at Ira Raymond Room, Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide, August 31-September 20. The folio was curated by Kavita Shar. I am one of the folio artists, and gave an artist talk on September 17, 11.30am, where I spoke about the history and origins of European playing cards. I then talked about being involved in the Ganjifa playing card international folio, and my personal set of playing cards, ‘Cats, Cakes, Clothes, and Cups’ which I made in 1998.

2009 Ganjifa, a folio of Indian playing cards, exhibited at Ira Raymond Room, Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide, was a session of the SA Printmaking Forum. (pictures by Craigh Marsden)

2008 Residency and Workshops at Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery

kitka — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:58:26 +0000

In 2008 I was Artist in Residence for the BHRAG and ran two workshops in photopolymer printmaking for the gallery, one in April the other in July. I worked on two new artist books for my show at Barratt Galleries in September, 2008, ‘Remember to Die, Remember to Live’, and a miniature edition of ‘Theatre of Embarkation’. I was interested in photographing cacti and agave plants for my bronze casting from cuttlefish, and as source material for some future photographic photopolymer prints.


Cacti Cacti photo from Silverton, near Broken Hill.	Cacti photo from Terowie, on my drive to Broken Hill.

Remember to Die, Remember to Live
Concertina artist book, inkjet prints on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 188gsm paper
book closed 21 x 21 x 1.5cm, book open 21 x 378cm, 2008.

2008 Navigations – artist books & folios, & mixed media works, Barratt Galleries, NSW

kitka — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:50:20 +0000

Navigations’ was a selection of works covering a range of media including artist books, prints, and graphic works on wooden panels. Excerpt from Imprint review by Doug Spowart, “As one encounters Dianne Longley’s work there is undoubtedly a feeling of being drawn into a story. Characters emerge, symbols and images appear – they demand interpretation, their sequential flow forms language, creating the syntax within a narrative. Her works seem to connect with the childhood wonderment of things mysterious, sometimes scary and yet seductively alluring. But the work crosses over into deeper intellectual abstract concepts of existence, journey, experience, love and loss – a life lived and one’s own mortality. No single image is simple for Longley.”

Gallery talk by Dianne at Barratt Galleries on Saturday September 20 at 1.30pm, just before the opening at 2pm by Jan Davis.
(Panorama images of Barratt Galleries and artist talk by Doug Spowart)


Dianne with artist book ‘Remember to Die, Remember to Live’ (picture by Doug Spowart)	Jan Davis and Dianne at the ‘Navigations’ exhibition at Barratt Galleries 2008 after the opening speech by Jan. (picture by Doug Spowart)