The artist...
Emma Hack
Diverse Multimedia Artist
Skin Illustrator, Photographer, Sculptor
Adelaide Festival Centre in association with
Gallery 139
presents:
Exotic and Native Mandala with Broadhurst Delights
Emma Hack’s Fringe Exhibition Launch
6-8pm
Wednesday 17th February, 2010
Festival Theatre Foyer
King William Street Adelaide.
EXHIBITION DATES:
17th February - 14th March, 2010
Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm
plus Festival Theatre performance times.
For her most recent collection, Mandala, Emma Hack has painstakingly camouflaged the human form into her hand- painted mandala designs. Exotic Mandala captures the beauty of art nouveau inspired designs with butterflies placed on her muse. Wallpaper Mandala, combines wallpaper designs in a collage background into which her muse is artfully blended. Native Mandala offers a utopian view of the essence of Australia in these stunning depictions of native wildlife; mammals, birds and reptiles appear to leap from the luscious native floral setting, seeming to overtake the presence of humans.
Emma began exploring the notion of camouflage, drawing inspiration from model Verushka who in the 1960s and 70s painted herself into rustic walls and naturalistic settings. When Emma discovered the iconic Florence Broadhurst range of wallpaper designs it provided the perfect inspiration, and she was overwhelmed at the response from Signature Prints who gave blessing for her use the designs and
granted Emma access to the Florence Broadhurst archives.
So began the Wallpaper collection of images that span from 2005 - 2008, and it was during this time that Emma began photographing her own images. Her first ever wallpaper camouflage took 19 hours straight to paint with more recent works taking anywhere from 8 - 14 hours, depending on the complexity of the design. It is an exhausting process for artist and subject alike; however the results are nothing short of spectacular.
These new collections can now be viewed on the collections page >>>
Please contact Gallery 139 for sale enquiries:
139 Magill Road, Stepney, South Australia, 5069
Phone: (08) 8363 6139 - Mail: info [at] 139.com.au
11am - 5pm Tuesday - Saturday
Gallery 139 was proud to present recent works by Emma Hack, opening Thursday November 5th 2009. Native Mandalas explores further the camoflague body art style Emma has received much acclaim for.
Iconic Australian Birds and Reptiles feature within the surrounds of Emma’s hand-painted Mandala backgrounds, exploring designs encapsulating the spirit of the featured bird / reptile.
Emma’s muse blends accurately into their circular patterns and become almost secondary on first sight of the works, the birds appear as if they are floating within the linear curves.
The opening was on Thursday 5 November, 6 - 8pm.
The exhibition ran until 22 November.
Opened by Greg Mackie - Deputy Chief Executive, Cultural Development and Corporate, Department of the Premier and Cabinet.
The opening featured the premiere showing of documentary 'Native Mandala'.
Special thanks to Teresa J Robinson (documentary filmmaker).
Special thanks to Scott from Remabi Park, Adrian from Animals Anonymous and animal lovers Tracey, Rachel and Donna.
Nibbles thanks to Claire and the team at Tincat Cafe.
Wine at the opening was sponsored by Langmeil Barossa and Redbank Emily.
www.139.com.au | 139 Magill Road Stepney 5069 South Australia | (08) 8363 6139
AWARD WINNING ARTIST, EMMA HACK WILL BE PAINTING HER MODEL AS A LIVE INSTALLATION ART FEATURE AT OBSCURA GALLERY THROUGHOUT THE LAUNCH ON SUNDAY 4TH OCTOBER 4-6PM.
The model was placed before a patterned wallpaper background and painted by Emma to illustrate the skill, vision and complexity of Emma’s art form. The viewer was able to see and understand the artistic process that creates the image before it is photographed, printed and editioned.
During Emma’s 20-year career, she has evolved into a diverse multimedia and photographic artist of world acclaim.
Emma has painted some of Australia’s well-known bodies in past projects, including Antonia Kidman, Imogen Bailey, Rachael Beck, Todd McKenney, Geoff Jansz and Laura Csortan.
The exhibition features 5 new limited edition images from Emma’s ‘Native Mandala’ collection as well as her ‘Panoramic Bodies’ collection, photographed in the expansive South Australian outback. Also featured are Emma’s famed Florence Broadhurst Wallpaper retrospective images, as well as works from her ‘Beautiful ways to die’ and ‘Fragile Dolls’ series.
Full collection launched in November 2009 at Gallery 139, Adelaide. Five released in early October - Frances Keevil Gallery, Double Bay, Sydney continuing on to Obscura Gallery St Kilda, Victoria.
Native Mandalas explores further the camoflague body art style Emma has received much acclaim for.
Iconic Australian Birds and Reptiles feature within the surrounds of Emma’s hand-painted Mandala backgrounds, exploring designs encapsulating the spirit of the featured bird/reptile.
Emma’s muse blends accurately into their circular patterns and become secondary on first sight of the works, the birds appear as if they are floating within the linear curves.
Baby Owl in Pine Needles
120x120cm 10 editions
80x80cm 10 editions
Collection - Native Mandalas - 2009
Channel 7 Sunrise Appearance, 16th April 2009:
(Video file - Hover over image to view play button)
Emma won the Renault New Generation Art Award for her Mixed Media images at the Weekend Australian ART Sydney Show on 26th October 2008.
'This was such an achievement for me! It will help me establish gallery representation throughout Australia and hopefully overseas so I can tour my work.'
All new images can be viewed in the collections and sculpture sections of this website.
Through dedication and a passion for her craft Emma’s 20-year career has evolved from beginnings as a children’s face painter and qualified hairdresser and make-up artist, to a body illustrator and visual artist of world acclaim.
In March 2001, Emma won the coveted 1st prize at the CIDESCO World Congress Professional World Body Painting Championship in Hong Kong. With Emma’s co-ordination assistance, the event was held in Adelaide the following year.
In 2004, The Adelaide Cabaret Festival utilised Emma’s exhibition skills to feature a collection of celebrities painted as their cabaret persona as an exhibition during the festival. Emma’s portraits of celebrity chef personalities Ian Parmenter, Geoff Jansz and Jason Roberts feature at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. In 2005 Emma collaborated with Deborah Paauwe in her Dark Fables collection, featuring Emma’s illustration on the faces of Paauwe’s subjects.
Emma’s Wallpaper 2005, 2007 and 2008 collections feature Florence Broadhurst wallpaper designs combined with her body illustration. Continuing the series in 2008, Emma introduced live native Australian animals into her work, presenting a unique challenge to her imagery and creative process. The works were exhibited during the Adelaide Fringe Festival, along with nude landscapes and a continued collection of Florence Broadhurst wallpapers. It was during this collection she began photographing the installations herself, evolving her talents further. Emma’s photographic images were exhibited at Art Sydney 08, and she was recipient of the people’s choice Renault New Generation Art Award at this event.
Keen to continue her professional development and explore new mediums, Emma travelled to China to participate in a large installation for Mont Blanc. While there she travelled to Jingdezhen, where she visited and was trained by artisans in the art of porcelain painting and met with her peers to discuss techniques. The result is a stunning collection of porcelain busts; a collaboration with ceramicists Gus Clutterbuck and Andrew Stock, which demonstrates her diversity across varied artistic mediums.
In 2009 Emma created the Panoramic Bodies collection, shot on location in the South Australian Outback. A team of acrobats and models was complied to create unique body forms in the striking natural landforms. The collection was exhibited as part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2009 at the Adelaide Airport Terminal (T1) and featured three metre wide panoramic images. Later in 2009 she was invited to attend the world’s largest textile design fair, the prestigious Premiere Vision, an international expo held in Paris, where she created a live installation on site by blending the human body seamlessly into a textile design with body painting techniques. Emma’s collection of Wallpaper images were also shown throughout the expo on large screens.
In her most recent collection, Native Mandala, 2009, Emma Hack has created striking circular background designs into which her models are camouflaged, each holding a native Australian bird, reptile or mammal. Emma has created an environment, which bears significance to the species, providing a safe haven into which it is nestled, and demonstrating the unique beauty of flora and fauna that is quintessentially Australian.
Emma’s latest edition of the ‘Mandala’ collection is ‘Exotic Mandala’, Emma muse are blended into Art Nouveau inspired, hand painted canvases with butterflies placed onto the human form, creating a fresh, multi layered effect. Emma upcoming collection, Wallpaper Mandala features a clever blend of Broadhurst papers creating a collage effect, into which her muse is blended to create the illusion Emma is renown for.
Upcoming Exhibitions
2010
- February 17 - March 14th -- Exotic and Native Mandala including Broadhurst Wallpapers, Festival Theatre Foyer, Adelaide, SA
- March 16 - 4th April -- Exotic and Native Mandala including Broadhurst Wallpapers, Frances Keevil Gallery, New South Wales
- April 22 - 25 -- New and Past Works, ART Melbourne, VIC
- 8th May -- Penley Estate Winery Coonawarra Arts Festival
- May -- Perth - NEW gallery to be announced shortly
- June -- Chapel Hill Winery
- July 12-19 -- New and Past Works, World Body Painting Festival, Austria
- September -- Exotic and Native Mandala including Broadhurst Wallpapers, Obscura Gallery, East St Kilda, VIC
- October 21 - 24 -- New and Past Works, ART Sydney, New South Wales
- November 11 - 29 -- New works, Gallery 139
Email Emma to stay in touch with new exhibitions.
Past Exhibitions
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010 Native Mandala, Manyung Gallery, Mt Eliza, VIC
2009 New Works & Past Delights, Gallery 139, Adelaide, SA
2009 Art Sydney 09, Royal Hall of Industries, Sydney, NSW
2009 New Works & Past Delights, Frances Keevil Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2009 New Works & Past Delights, Obscura Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2009 Past Delights – SALA Festival, Burnside Village Shopping Centre, Adelaide, SA
2009 Art Melbourne 09, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, VIC
2009 Panoramic Bodies & Retrospective Works, Adelaide Airport Terminal T1, Adelaide, SA
2008 Recent Works, Art Images Gallery, Adelaide, SA
2008 Art Sydney 08, Royal Hall of Industries, Sydney, NSW
2008 Retrospective Works - SALA Festival, Dare Hair, Adelaide, SA
2008 Retrospective Works, Melrose Gallery, Melrose, SA
2008 body.art.08 @ The Fringe Festival, Tin Cat Gallery and Café, Adelaide, SA
2007 Cowscapes and Painted Ponies, Paxton Winery, McLaren Vale, SA
2007 Cowscapes and Painted Ponies, Tin Cat Gallery and Café, Adelaide, SA
2007 Body Painting Broadhurst, The Arthouse Hotel, Sydney, NSW
2007 Oriental Delights, Tincat Gallery and Café, Adelaide, SA
2006 Yoga Collection, The Arthouse Hotel, Sydney, NSW
2006 Yoga Collection, Tincan Gallery and Café, Adelaide, SA
2005 body.art.05, Tincat Galley and Café, Adelaide, SA
2004 Adelaide Cabaret Festival, The Arthouse Hotel, Sydney, NSW
2004 Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide, SA
2003 Retrospective works, The Arthouse Hotel, Sydney, NSW
2003 Retrospective works, FAD Gallery, Adelaide, SA
2002 Petal Collection, Warehouse, Sydney, NSW
2002 Petal Collection, To Relish Restaurant, Adelaide, SA
1999 body.art.00, The Royal Hotel, Adelaide, SA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBIITONS
2010 Summer Group Show, Manyung Gallery, Mt Eliza, VIC
2010 Group Show, Frances Keevil Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2009 Xmas Group Show, Glenferrie Rd Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2009 Fashion as Art, Manyung Gallery, Mt Eliza, VIC
2009 Works on Paper, Francis Keevil Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2008 Retrospective Works, Brunswick St Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2008 Retrospective Works, Art Moments Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2008 Retrospective Works, Marie Hart Galleries, Adelaide, SA
2007 Catwalk Exhibition, Tincat Gallery, Adelaide, SA
2004 Erotica Exotica, Greenhill Galleries, Adelaide, SA
2002 Petal Collection, Greenhill Galleries, Adelaide, SA
COLLECTIONS
National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT
Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide, SA
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
‘A fine body of work’, The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, NSW, 29 Aug 2009
‘An artist’s body of work that quite literally brings the walls to life’, China Daily, China, 5 July 2008
‘Breathing wallpaper’, NY Daily News.com, New York, 5 July 2008
‘My girl’s a wallflower’, The Sun, London, United Kingdom, 6 May 2008
‘An artist’s body of work that quite literally brings the walls to life’, Telegraph.co.uk, London, 6 May 2006
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Press
Emma Hack has received much international and interstate press this year with stories featured in papers such as New York Daily, UK Telegraph, The Mirror, The UK Sun, China Daily, Spanish People Daily, CCTV , The Advertiser, Tasmanian Mercury, and Sydney Morning Herald. Read some of these on the articles page of this website.
Emma is also featured in many design magazines worldwide including ‘Platform’ magazine, India and upcoming ‘Le Tabure’ Magazine, Russia and ‘Home Concepts’ magazine, Singapore.
Emma was most recently featured in Trendhunter.com, ‘Artist Emma Hack, who lives in Australia, creates really gorgeous designs utilizing female models that she successfully blends in with their surroundings. The effect is beautifully crisp, vibrant, living three dimensional wallpaper.’
