(Feature image: a portrait of Michael Glasheen by Juno Gemes)
Michael Glasheen has been a pioneering force in the fields of experimental film and interactive media since the late 1960s. For the past 25 years, living on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Glasheen has drawn and painted the Hawkesbury sandstone landscape of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park with the vision of creating art that becomes an immersive 360 degree experience — inviting the viewer to experience original large-scale drawings of major Garigal rock engraving sites in a totally original way.
Just prior to the opening of his exhibition, Garigal Country: Drawing on the Land at Manly Art Gallery and Museum on Friday 6th September 2019, Michael had a fall and broke his leg. While recovering from this, he had several small strokes. With typical resolve and determination, Michael is recovering, and with the support of the compassionate circle of his friends and family, he has been able to return home to his studio in Newport with 24-hour care.
Now, via a benefit exhibition of his work curated by Juno Gemes & Adrian Newstead at Cooee Gallery on 27-30 June 2020, funds are being raised to support Michael’s rehabilitation and, vitally, to enable him to stay at home, keep him out of residential aged care, and help to finance the extra services he requires and deserves. All income from the sale of Michael’s art works will support this purpose.
Please enjoy this selection of stunning images from Michael’s upcoming exhibition and — if you’re able — show your support by attending his exhibition.
Michael Glasheen I Drawing on the Land: Garigal Country
Paintings, Drawings and Works on Paper
360 Virtual Reality Benefit Exhibition
Curated by Juno Gemes & Adrian Newstead
27-30 June 2020, Cooee Gallery326 Oxford Street, Paddington, NSW, 2021
For information and online donations/sales please contact info@cooeeart.com.au.
MICHAEL GLASHEEN: ‘SEA EAGLE OVER THE EDGE’
MICHAEL GLASHEEN: ‘BLUE TONGUE LIZARD’
Michael Glasheen: Eal Spearing
Michael Glasheen: ‘Boin Station Panorama with Coromrant’
View the full catalogue for Michael’s exhibition
Michael Glasheen: A Biography (Annie Kelly)
Michael Glasheen: ‘Self Portrait of Artist Age 16’
Mick Glasheen was one of the most important multi-media artists amid the new wave of Sydney artists who defined the art world in Australia during the 1960s and 70s.
Born in Sydney in 1942, Glasheen studied Art at the National Art School (NAS), and Architecture at The University of New South Wales between 1959 and the early 1960s. His formal studies ended when, inspired by a visit of Buckminster Fuller in 1964, he began to create the 16mm film entitled The Evolution, which was released in 1966. In the May issue of Oz magazine in that same year, Glasheen produced a pop art centre-spread he called the ‘Oz Pop Shop Catalogue’ — a collage of advertising signs and package labels. From it came works that were included in the exhibition Oz Super Art Mart, at Terry Clune’s Kings Cross gallery, Sydney. This show was the first in which Mick publicly exhibited his artworks.They hung alongside those by Johnny Allen, Peter Kingston and Martin Sharp. In 1968, Mick became editor of the UNSW student newspaper Tharunka, and produced the Be Astounded edition, dedicated to Marshall McLuhan. In that same year Mick built a Geodesic Light Dome with electronic wizard Jacky Joy Jacobson, joining 5000 light bulbs to each joint of the structure, accompanying The Human Body Performances directed by Juno Gemes at The Powerhouse in Sydney.
Meetings in the back yard at the Yellow House: Dickie Weight, Peter Wright, Albie Thom, David Litvanoff. Photo by Greg Weight.
When, in September 1970, Martin Sharp founded the Yellow House in Terry Clune’s former gallery, Mick Glasheen became a founding member alongside Albie Thoms, Juno Gemes, Peter Kingston, Brett Whiteley, Peter Wright, Antionette Starkiewicz, George Gittoes, Bruce Goold, Greg Weight, Garry Shead and David Litvinoff. While at the Yellow House, Mick and Juno researched the sacred stories of Uluru over a six month period and prepared for their journey to make the film Uluru, the first film based on sacred stories embedded in the monolith.
In 1972, Mick Glasheen became the founder of Bush Video, a collaborative group of filmmakers, artists and experts in electronics and computer technologies, who together produced experimental video art. He has made numerous experimental films, videos and interactive media since that time.
Michael Glasheen: ‘Triassic Dreaming Triptych’
During the past twenty-five years, living on the northern beaches of Sydney, Mick has drawn and painted the Australian landscape with a vision of creating art based on an immersive 360-degree experience, with multiple vanishing points. Inspired by Aboriginal rock carvings, Mick developed a new way of drawing Country, in relation to the traditional custodians of the land.
This exhibition, Drawing on the Land: Garigal Country, is an extension of his previous shows held at Palm Beach, Newport, and the Manly Art Gallery. It is comprised of his most recent drawings and paintings, focusing on the Garigal rock engraving sites in the Kur-ring-gai National Park. The paintings were designed for viewing in 3D virtual reality. As Mick explains it: ‘the paintings in this exhibition are inspired by seeing the Aboriginal presence in the land continuing to talk to us’.
— Annie Kelly is an author whose work has appeared in Newsweek, LA Times and Belle Magazine, and who has published ten books through Rizzoli, New York.