Jane Simcock-Notes from a NY Travel Diary
An ambiguous figure in fur and shades totters towards us, armed with shopping bags. A diner assistant in latex gloves awaits her order, set against her blackboard bill-of-fare. A man and a woman turn from each other in profile, framed by train windows, as Lorimer Street slips by. These new images from Jane Simcock mine the bounty that is Manhattan.
“They are not intended as portraits of specific people,” explains Simcock, “but, rather, as observations on the alienation and anonymity of people who inhabit large cities, their eccentricities, and the masquerades they assume in their daily fight for survival. They are an examination of the human condition.” These new images from Jane Simcock were conceived on a trip to New York in the winter of 2009. Some have evolved from quick sketches, made on the run. Others are the product of a mere, fleeting memory, a chance subway encounter somewhere between Lorimer and 42nd Streets, a glimpse in a Soho crowd or a Chelsea gallery. Others, still, are composites of several ideas, drawn from different places and times. “During the course of their gestation, however, “ says Simcock, ”despite their meagre resource material, they have steadily grown to assume a life of their own.” In this show Simcock presents us with the clues, but in many ways these Manhattanites are a blank canvas, awaiting the imprint of any number of biographical narratives.
Jane Simcock has a BA in Art History and English and a Pg Dip in painting. She has also attended courses at the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney. She has had solo shows at the McPherson Gallery in 2004 and 2009 and has participated in various group shows.
The work will be on show at Black Asterisk from the 25th of November until the 11th of December - 10 Ponsonby Road, Auckland.
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Black AsteriskBlack Asterisk is a new gallery joining Auckland's creative community. The love child of artist Stuart Broughton, Black Asterisk originally started its life as a pop up gallery that had a successful sojourn on Jervois Road in early 2009. Buoyed by the success of creating a temporary exhibition space, motivated by the ongoing frustration of securing suitable temporary venues to show his work, and tempered by a desire to settle down to more permanent exhibiting, led to Broughton taking the plunge into a committed gallery operation. After much searching, finally in the winter of 2011 Broughton found a large, ugly duckling in the form of No. 10 Ponsonby Road to transform. Upon signing the lease, Black Asterisk as a permanent operation became a reality.
Because Black Asterisk aims to be exhibition orientated, its primary mandate is getting a whole lot of very good, largely unseen art in front of the public and available for sale. There is a steady rotation of exhibitions; both solo and curated group showings where new artists have their work hung alongside their more established peers and an exciting programme of original art events.
The gallery also operates as an attractive, well-lit event space for launches and art related community events, which bring the work to an even wider audience. Art works will also be able to be viewed and bought on an online gallery and Black Asterisk will offer a range of other art-associated services from framing to consultancy.
