Join us in Community Hall for a Q&A with Melbourne Now artist, Elvis Richardson, hosted by Wunder Gym Creative Director, Annette Wagner. As part of the Wunder Gym x Melbourne Fringe Festival arts program, Richardson has been mentoring artists from Melbourne’s Western region, who have been preparing artworks in response to the theme of ‘Recollection: Western region environment as creative playground.’ The Q&A provides an opportunity for participating program artists, invited Western region artists, other creative professionals and members of the public to gain insights on being a practicing artist.

This Wunder Gym arts program has been established in partnership with Wyndham City Arts and Cultural team, and Hobsons Bay Arts, Culture and Community team, supporting Western Region artists.

Speakers

Annette Wagner is a creative industries professional with over 20 years of diverse experience, and an artist currently completing her PhD at Deakin University. She has completed post-graduate studies in arts, marketing and business, developed curriculum for TAFE and currently lectures for the ‘Creative Enterprise’ program at Deakin University. Having completed design and art studies at Monash University, Central St. Martins, London and the Victorian College of the Arts, she continues to develop her own practice-led research and contemporary arts practice, exploring memory and water ecology. Both her professional journey and ongoing practice have cultivated a unique perspective combining strategic thinking and creative vision, as well as a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities that artists and arts organisations face.

In mid-2019, Wagner founded Wunder Gym, an arts program that facilitates curiosity and creativity by building connected and confident creative communities. Described as a cabinet of curiosity and a place to build a library of creative experiments to coach the imagination, the program involves established artists, creative leaders, philosophers and scientists as mentors. As Creative Director, Wagner partners with prominent arts events, institutions and LGAs to successfully deliver community arts programs with diverse exhibition outcomes, from publications to public installations.

Elvis Richardson is an artist who frequently collects and curates the objects and imagery of everyday life, gathering raw material from public sources and reconstructing them to comment on taste, class and the realities of being a working artist. Through various media, Richardson’s work employs formalism and satire to expose the inherent contradictions of modern-day, ultra-commodified life on Earth.

Richardson’s works are held in the collections of the NGV, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artbank, City of Fremantle, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Merri-bek City Council and the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art at the University of Western Australia. She has been the director of several artist-run initiatives, including First Draft (1996–97), Elastic (1999–2000), Ocular Lab (2008–10), DEATH BE KIND (2010–12) and True Estate (2017–18). She is also the founder of CoUNTess, a blog publishing data on gender representation in the Australian visual arts sector; www.countess.report.