The City of Yarra has acquired the drawing Hare II by Adriane Strampp for its Contemporary Art Collection. Hare II was recently exhibited in Five Miles from the Sea at Victoria University.

Over 150 artworks were submitted by 80 artists from which nineteen works were chosen.

Hare II 2010 charcoal on Arches paper 76 x 56 cm 20101

Artspace
Level 17
Victoria University
Melbourne 3000

Five Miles from the Sea is a group show curated by Geoff Tolchard.

Five Miles from the Sea is a look at the incursion (Five miles from the Sea) of non-indigenous Australians and their resulting mark on the land. Whether it is the erosion of the land or the erosion of the quarter acre block, how are we shaping and living in the hinterland? Who lives five miles from the sea? What does it look like though the eyes of ten diverse artists, some from different parts of the globe, who have indeed made Australia their home?

Hare II 2010
charcoal on Arches paper 76 x 56 cm

Adriane Strampp : Artist Statement

In considering the impact of European settlement in Australia, one of the most invasive and damaging migrants (other than European man), is the rabbit.

Although originally arriving with the First Fleet in1788, it was Thomas Austin, formerly of Somerset, who is held historically responsible for the spread of rabbits when he released 24 rabbits and 5 hares at his property Barwon Park, near Geelong in 1859.

A lack of predators and mild winters provided an ideal climate for year-round breeding and by the 1900’s the feral rabbit population had reached plague proportions across Australia. Despite the rabbits’ devastating impact on native flora and the environment, the introduction of foxes as a remedy only worsened the situation as the foxes found indigenous birds and marsupials easier prey. In 1907 the infamous rabbit-proof fence was built in WA, a futile attempt to control the spread of rabbits, and later in 1950 Myxomatosis was introduced, causing a slow and painful death that ultimately the rabbits became immune to.

In 1863 the Acclimatisation Society of Victoria set up on Phillip Island a breeding colony for hares sent from London by the Zoological Society. Although introduced at the same time as rabbits, hares had less of an impact on the environment being slower to breed and non-burrowing, and their spread was limited to the more temperate climate of South-Eastern Australia.

This work is from a series of recent drawings titled The Animal Gaze, examining the fragile relationship between animals and the human race. The hare stares back at the viewer, a symbol of strength and vulnerability, segregation and marginalisation. We are both migrants to this land and the animal gaze serves to remind us equally of our imposition on their world.

The Victorian Acclimatisation Society was founded in 1861 in order to introduce European plants and animals in order to make the alien environment economically productive, and to feel more like home. It folded 11 years later as the extent their damage was realised. (Source: Museum Victoria)

Dianne Tanzer Gallery + Projects 2 – 23 April 2011
108 – 110 Gertrude Street Fitzroy VIC 3065

Opening hours:
Mon – Fri 10am – 5pm
Sat 12pm – 5pm

Adriane Strampp Tapirus indicus charcoal on Fabriano paper
105 x 225 cm

Adriane Strampp Choeropsis liberiensis 2011 charcoal on Fabriano paper 105 x 225 cm

Adriane Strampp Geochelone gigantea 2011 charcoal on Fabriano paper
105 x 150 cm

Hares, horses and stags have long featured in Strampp’s work, images of the hunted and the haunted, symbols of both strength and vulnerability. In conjunction with Strampp’s 2011 residency at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, Erlösung: The Animal Gaze is a project drawing exhibition that considers the animal gaze, and the relationship between the observer and the observed.

The animals in this exhibition are not cute; rather they are solid, monumental creatures drawn life-size, yet paradoxically they remain fragile and exposed. Their wary gaze regards us, guarded and measured, and they remain ‘in absentia’. In our desire for connection we long for our gaze to be returned, but as they look through or past us our projections are mirrored back, only to remind us of our imposition on their world.

Adriane Strampp is among the 31 finalists for this year’s John Leslie Art Prize 1 October 2010 with her painting Grey Garden oil on linen 152 x 152 cm.

The Vision Splendid – Beauty in the Natural World
John Leslie Art Prize,
Gippsland Art Gallery,
Sale,
VIC

2 October – 14 November 2010

Adriane Strampp Gaze 2010 oil on canvas 152x152cm

Adriane Strampp
Imaging the Gap: The Poetics of Connection
Wednesday March 31 5.30—7.30 pm
Masters of Fine Arts Examination Exhibition Faculty of Art & Design Post Graduate Gallery D2.09
March 30—April 1 2010