SIZE MATTERS @ THE SWICH

The SWICH Contemporary Art Space is pleased to announce our annual end of year group exhibition, Size Matters II, boasting over 50 original artworks from 24 participating artists from Ipswich, Toowoomba, Brisbane and Melbourne.

All artworks in this exhibition are 12”x12” and priced $150 and under, making original art accessible and affordable. The exhibition is comprised of artworks across a range of mediums including painting, photography, drawing, digital, mixed media and video installation.

The exhibition runs from 29 November and concludes on 23 December, 2011 at 2pm.

Normal gallery hours: Tue-Fri 9am-4pm and Saturday 9am-2pm
Extended trading leading up to Christmas will include Friday nights until 8pm and Sundays 10am-1pm throughout December.

SCOTT SIDEN SOLO SHOW

The SWICH Contemporary Art Space is proud to present Scott Siden, the Winner of our exhibition & mentoring package from the QT Ipswich Art Awards 2011.

Scott is currently studying visual arts at the Bremer Institute of TAFE and has exhibited in a number of group exhibitions. This is Scott's first solo exhibition, comprised of mixed media artworks exploring war, religion and political satire featuring Australian Prime Ministers and American Presidents.

The exhibition begins today and concludes on Saturday 26 November, 2011 at 2pm

All artworks are for sale and we have layby and eftpos facilities.

Gallery hours: Tue-Fri 9am-4pm Sat 9am-2pm
Extended hours for November: Friday nights until 8pm

Ipswich Enviroplan Photographic Competition and Exhibition 2011

ARTalk Philosophy Cafe - Nov 2011 (World Philosophy Day)

ABKIN: EXHIBITION EXTENDED

The SWICH Contemporary Art Space is pleased to host abkin, solo exhibition of new works by exceptional Ipswich based contemporary artist Gary Abkin.

Abkin, originally from California, completed his Bachelor of Fine Art in painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. He established his art career in California before exhibiting widely across the US over the last 10 years. Now based in Ipswich Abkin has created a new series working primarily in oils on canvas. Also on display are projections of his sketches.

Abkin’s work speaks from a new consciousness to transcend what we know to be real yet references the familiar in our landscapes. Abkin describes these new work as “a sense of place during a moment of being” and as “a look behind the eyes”.

This exhibition opened to the public on Tuesday 4 October and has been extended until the end of October - now concluding on Saturday 29 October at 2pm.

All artworks are original and are available to purchase, including the sketches. We have eftpos facilities and accept layby.

ARTalk Philosophy Cafe - Oct 2011 (ARTalk @ IAG)

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE: technology art group exhibition @ the SWICH

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE explores the key concepts and underlying effects of Information Technology and Cyber Culture on the way we live.

The artists' response to this theme are varied and include comment on the use of technology in war as well as in the everyday domestic environment. A number of the artworks express concerns of becoming overwhelmed and controlled by technology, where others revisit the the 'big bang' of computer technology and offer a new perspective on obsolete technology.

Artists from Ipswich, Brisbane and Melbourne have participated in this exhibition using a range of mediums from painting and mixed media to digital graphics and installation.




Through this exhibition we also welcome 3 new artists to the Ipswich Contemporary Arts Network:

Shannan Kingwell, Graphic designer
Michael Munt, Installation artist
Doug Nemeth, Mixed media sculptor

Exhibition opened to the public on Tuesday 6 September and will conclude at 2pm on Saturday 1 October.

Gallery hours: Mon-Fri 9am-4pm and Sat 9am-2pm
T. 07 32819192 for more info

ARTalk Philosophy Cafe - Sep 2011

The event is held in conjunction with:

SiA International Sculpture Symposium 2011

Proudly supported by the 

IPSWICH EMERGING ARTISTS SOLO SERIES - Supported by the Ipswich RADF

I'm pleased to announce that I have been granted a Regional Arts Development Fund grant to assist with staging the Ipswich Emerging Artists Solo Series at the SWICH Contemporary Art Space. This series provides the opportunity for 6 emerging contemporary artists based in Ipswich to receive mentoring in creating a new series of work, culminating in a 2 week solo exhibition for each artist. As a major part of this program I will mentor the artists to guide them through the process of creating, presenting and promoting a new body of work.

These 6 exhibitions will allow access by the wider community to a diverse selection of emerging artists work which in turn affects a greater understanding of the role of contemporary art in our community and how art can change our perceptions of ourselves and our local environment.

After a two month selection process the final artists selected are:

Allan Saunderson - Painting/graphic design
Ben Leadbetter - Art photography
John Grassi - Painting
Donna Dobbs - Millinery/sculpture
Annamaria Mays - Mixed media
Kylie Stevens - Mixed media

Congratulations to all the successful artists! I look forward to working with all of the artists and staging the exhibitions beginning in October 2011 and concluding in May 2012. Visit our Art Gallery Schedule page to stay updated on all of our upcoming exhibitions.

LeAnne Vincent
Director/Gallery Co-ordinator
the SWICH Contemporary Art Space



The Regional Arts Development Fund is a Queensland Government and Ipswich City Council partnership to support local arts and culture

the SWICH Contemporary Art Space celebrates its 1st Birthday

Since our first opening in August, 2010 we have staged 15 art exhibitions, 10 ARTalk Philosophy Cafes plus a number of community arts projects including the ART Relay at Rockton Artist Bazaar, ART for Ipswich (Flood charity art auction), Animated Spaces: Alive with music, theatre, poetry and visual arts at the Top of Town and the launch of SAVED a THAT Production production.

To celebrate this milestone we are now hosting 'One'- a 3 week group exhibition of artists from the Ipswich Contemporary Arts Network who have supported us throughout our first year, Live Action Mural Painting (Spark|Abkin|Davis) Saturday 20 August from 9am and our Birthday party, Thursday 25 August from 6pm including live musical performance and giveaways.

Artist lineup: Andrew Spark, Gary Abkin, Leanne Walker, Glen Smith, Craig Amos, Kylie Stevens, Sharon McKenzie, Claudia Manion, Kate Roberts, Wade Tuck and Todd Manion.

Exhibition dates - 16 August - 3 September, 2011

The SWICH Team would sincerely like to thank everyone who has supported us in various ways throughout our first year including the artists, community partners, local business and the general community. We have an exciting exhibition schedule planned for the duration of 2011 and well into 2012 and we look forward to sharing these events with you.