Thank you…

I have some very exciting news!!! Earlier today I found out that I have been accpeted as the 2014/2015 Resident artist at the Wollongong Art Gallery!! I applies several weeks ago, I was notified that I had been short listed last week and had an interview yesterday. I wanted to share the good news with you all and send out a very big thank you to everyone; friends, family, peers, who have supported me thus far in my journey as an artist and creative practitioner. Thank you for buying works, your kind and constructive criticisms, words of encouragement, drinks, beers, coffee’s and food that so many of you have selflessly shared with me over the years, and not to mention the loaning, sharing and donations of various art materials and supplies. I would even like to extend a thank you to the people who did not support me, had only negative things to say about me and my work. Thank you to you because you taught me that no matter how many set backs you have, how many rejections, how many negative comments are made, no matter how hard it gets; or how hard people choose to make it for you, that you should never give up on your dreams and aspirations.

As many of you will know, art and painting are more to me than just a hobby, more than just a passion or something I am keen on. It is a way of life, I live it, I breathe it every day. An additional thank you to everyone who wished me luck and sent their congratulations today. I only say sorry to those who I didn’t get to text only because my regular phone is in for repairs and I have been trying to get everyone’s numbers back. But I hope this status reaches you, once again a big thank you to all.

Now I will be committed to sustaining a regular practice through the gallery’s residency program; much like I have been practising full time. However, this opportunity will afford me my own creative space; a studio within the Wollongong Art Gallery itself. Over the next 12 months I will be working and producing work to go towards and exhibition. I will also be engaging with gallery patrons and members of the great public through the gallery’s community engagement programs; giving artist talks, studio visits, workshops and more.

As some of you may know I am already painting towards an exhibition at the Wollongong Art Gallery called “Fractured Beauty” which will be in September, and I also have a commission to complete for a charity fundraiser in October. I will be quite busy over the coming few months and even busier over the coming year. So I will apologize in advance if I don’t get to spend much time with everyone of my friends, family and peers. I hope that you all understand the great commitment that I will be making over the next twelve months. Though I think that you all do. To the 2000+ people who follow me through my artists page, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr etc. I will definitely be continuing my posts on a regular basis. Posting progress shots and updates about my work and my working practice.

I’ll leave it at that for now, since I’m guessing this might be turning into a bit of an essay to read. But I really want to say thank you one last time; even though it could be said a thousand times more, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Artist of the month April: Guy Maestri

Daily posts of the work of the artist Guy Maestri on my artist page on Facebook. Like my page in the link below. Also follow me on Twitter and Instagram @nikuzo87

 

 

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Guy Maestri, “Luke’s Lane No.9”, 2014, Oil on linen, 87 x 77 cm.

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nik-Uzunovski-Artist/225201424159742

Place and Memory: An exhibition of recent work by Nik Uzunovski

So it is just around the corner, my first ever solo exhibition. I am excited, nervous, anxious, happy, sad, relieved and all the rest. I hope that everyone is able to make it. I of course understand that there are people who follow my blog who are from other countries and I am sure that you will be with me in spirit, for those who are in the state of NSW and more specifically the Sydney, South Coast and Illawarra areas I encourage you to come along to my exhibition and show your support for an emerging, local, young creative. Thank you.Image 

Artist of the week: Michael Dweck.

Michael Dweck (American, b.September 26, 1957) is a photographer best known for his photography that uses erotic and suggestive imagery. Though he was born in Brooklyn, NY, he moved to Long Island with his family when he was just three years old. After graduating from the John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, NY, he entered the Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn, as an Architecture major. The following year, Dweck changed his major to Fine Arts and Communications. He graduated from the school with a BFA in 1979. Three years after graduating, the photographer opened Michael Dweck & Campbell. In 1985, Dweck attended The New School for Social Research where he studied under Marshall Blonsky, a famous semiotician.

The photographer spent much of the 1990s focusing on advertising work; he opened the company Dweck & Campbell in 1992 before changing the name to Dweck! in 1999. He won several awards for his advertising work, including the Gold Lion at the Cannes International Festival, Agency of the Year from the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and the AICP Award for Advertising Excellence.

Though Dweck enjoyed his work in advertising, he closed his business in 2002 to give himself time for photography. His first exhibit came that same year, and he turned that exhibit, The End: Montauk, NY, into a book. During the initial run of the book, it was so popular that the publisher ran out of copies. The following year, Sotheby’s New York ran an exhibit of that work, making it the first time the auction house devoted a show to a living person. One of Dweck’s more famous projects is the series Mermaids, which he started working on in 2006. The series showed female models underwater in mermaid poses. Ditch Plains Press compiled the photographs from the series and released the images as the book Mermaids Collector’s Edition. Dweck’s work has been displayed at the Staley Wise Gallery in New York, NY, the Gallery Orchard in Nagoya, Japan, and the Fototeca de Cuba Museum in Havana, Cuba. Dweck lives and works in New York City and Montauk, NY

 

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Elisaveta 1, New York, New York, 2005, Silver gelatin print, (ed. 30), 40.6 x 50.8 cm

 

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Untitled, (further details unavailable).

 

Text and images: http://www.artnet.com/artists/michael-dweck/ 

 

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