Industrial Cathedral

Industrial Cathedral
"Industrial Cathedral" charcoal on paper 131 x 131 cm Jane Bennett. Finalist in 1998 Dobell Drawing Prize Art Gallery of NSW Finalist 1998 Blake Prize Winner 1998 Hunter's Hill Open Art Prize

About Me

My photo
Sydney, NSW, Australia
I'm an Industrial Heritage Artist who paints "en plein air".If it's damaged, derelict, doomed and about to disappear, I'll be there to paint it.
Showing posts with label Graham Jahn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Graham Jahn. Show all posts

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Barangaroo - Where Art, Architecture, History, Politics and Economics meet

The discussion "Why the hullaballoo about Barangaroo? Where Art, Architecture, History, Politics and Economics meet" was held on Sunday 10th March, in the courtyard of the Frances Keevil Gallery, where my solo exhibition "From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo" continues until Sunday March 24th.
This was a brave experiment.
Neither Frances nor myself have ever put together anything like this before.
Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery














It was well worth it! The conversation between the panel members was informative, entertaining and at times passionate and stirring. The audience was enthralled - many of them stayed on afterwards to ask questions, take photos and even get autographs!
Barangaroo discussion by Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
Meet the distinguished panel: 
From left to right : 
Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM
Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
And the facilitator for the event, the renowned investigative journalist, Quentin Dempster.
From left to right - 
 Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM, Quentin Dempster, and Frances Keevil, Director of the Frances Keevil Gallery.

Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
Dr Jack Mundey AO, is the legendary elder statesman of activism. He spoke movingly of the history of the famous Green Bans, in which as secretary of the New South Wales Builders' Labourers Federation (BLF), he led a successful campaign to protect the built and natural environment of Sydney from inappropriate development.
Apart from his unique credentials as a champion of heritage and sustainable urban planning, Jack had played an important part at the beginning of the story of the Barangaroo development.
 In 2006, Jack was a member of the jury to choose the design for Barangaroo. The jury had unanimously selected
 the design by the team headed by Philip Thalis - which bizarrely has now been completely discarded by LendLease, the developers of the site.
Incidentally, LendLease's design had come a distant second in the initial competition.

Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
Philip Thalis, deep in thought.
Philip Thalis is the principal of Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects. 
His design team won the competition to design Barangaroo - yet their design has not been adopted for the actual construction.
Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
Philip Thalis gave a thought-provoking speech pointing out flaws in both the process and the design.The contrast between the potential of what Barangaroo, could and should have been, and the unfortunate reality was made completely clear to the audience.
Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
John McInerney, previously for many years a Councillor of the City of Sydney, is now the "President of Australians for Sustainable Development". He has a wealth of experience in how councils and the State government interact throughout the stages of planning and development, and provided startling images of the impact of the Barangaroo buildings which are currently under construction.
Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
John McInerney examined many of the peculiarities of the entire planning process of the controversial Barangaroo project, and exposed some very disturbing implications for the future of Sydney. Most people in the audience had not previously grasped the consequences of some of these decisions and were completely gobsmacked.
Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
 
Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery

Alex Greenwich MP in action. 
His speech about the development of Barangaroo being used as a "Trojan Horse" to  force the displacement of the residents of Millers Point, was passionate and articulate.

Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
Dr Graham Jahn AM, Director of Planning and Transport at the City of Sydney.

Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
Dr Graham Jahn AM, added some background detail.

Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
Quentin Dempster was a wonderful choice as facilitator for the discussion. His polite, yet probing questions brought out the best in the panel. The chaotic and complex narrative of the planning process behind Barangaroo was revealed to the eager audience.

Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney - 3 champions of social justice.

Barangaroo discussion by Quentin Dempster, Philip Thalis, Dr Jack Mundey AO, Alex Greenwich MP, John McInerney, Dr Graham Jahn AM at the Jane Bennett exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery
Jack and me 















 
 
I can't thank all the participants enough for their wonderful efforts to make this discussion a success!
And I am just as grateful to Lynn and Frances, Directors of the Frances Keevil Gallery for stepping well outside their comfort zone to host this event at the gallery and to organize it so well.

Saturday 9 March 2013

Why the hullaballoo about Barangaroo?

 Panel Discussion at the Frances Keevil Gallery
Why the hullaballoo about Barangaroo? 

Where Art, Architecture, History, Politics and Economics meet
2 – 4pm Sunday March 10

plein air oil painting of Barangaroo and Millers Point by artist Jane Bennett
DH248 'The wharves and High St
from the Stamford on Kent'
2007 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm
It's that time of year again.
Galleries and collectors are slowly waking up after their annual summer hibernation. The Art market is as seasonal as fruit-picking. 
March is "Art Month".All of the galleries bring out the big guns to impress. 
My solo exhibition "From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo" is the signature event of the Frances Keevil Gallery for Art Month.
Instead of doing the usual artist's talk to accompany the show I thought that I'd try something a bit different.
The trouble with artist's talks is that they probably only really interest other artists.
So what would interest the average Sydney-sider?
How about ludicrous amounts of money, murky politics, waterfront real estate to die for ..... and a little whiff of scandal? Sounds very Sydney to me.
After a great deal of thought, many emails and even more phone calls, I have put together  a carefully selected panel for a no holds barred discussion about Barangaroo.
I hope that it will be a balanced yet informative discussion. Some past history and controversy will be aired, but it's an opportunity to discuss some of the many complex issues raised by the Barangaroo development in front of the exhibition of paintings I actually created on the site.
The  participants are:

Graham Jahn AM Director City Planning Development and Transport, City of Sydney
Dr Jack Mundey AO legendary activist and 'Grandfather of the Green Bans', who was also a member of the jury that chose the original design for Barangaroo
Philip Thalis principal of Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects, whose design team won the competition to design Barangaroo - yet whose design has not been adopted for the actual construction.
John McInerney
former Councillor of the City of Sydney and now President of "Australians for Sustainable Development". John also actually lives in Millers Point.