Andrew Varano

False Walls @ Pet Projects, Nov 6 – 20

8 November 2016

The False Walls group exhibition at Perth’s Pet Projects is opening November 6 and running to November 20.

The show features work by Liam Colgan, Tanya Lee, Quintessa Matranga and Kimmo Modig to explore social convention and collaboration from a distance through a lens of boundary, defence mechanism and personal space. During the de-install of the show there will be a text released by co-creator of Pet Projects, Andrew Varano.

Pet Projects is run by Dan Bourke, Gemma Weston and Varano and is located in an industrial area outside of the Western Australian capital’s city centre, regulating a series of events and happenings.

See the Pet Projects website for details.**

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Status Effect episode #03 now streaming

14 October 2016

Episode #03 of quarterly podcast Status Effect is now streaming on Soundcloud, as part of a programme commissioning new long form audio pieces by artists, curators, arts writers and arts workers, running from November, 2015 to late 2016.

Produced by Andrew Varano, episode three features Australian artist Hossein Ghaemi collaborating with his mother Nahid Ghaemi who hold a half-asleep abstract conversation, between broken Farsi and broken English, touching on the solar system, prophetic dreams and song. London-based writer Steph Kretowicz draws parallels between The Hunger Games film franchise, and neoliberal self-interests, in life and the art market in a piece read by Brad Phillips and produced by Kimmo Modig.

Berlin-based artist Max Grau speaks about working from bed and its connection to contemporary working conditions for artists, but also more personally to his experiences with depression. Finally, Penny Rafferty writes about mortality in connection with the representations and distribution of images of the digital self online.

Music interludes for this episode are provided by Perth-based artist and musician, Mei Saraswati.

See here for Episode #02 and the Status Effect website for details. **

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Status Effect episode #02 now streaming

13 June 2016

Episode #02 of quarterly podcast Status Effect is now streaming on Soundcloud, as part of a programme commissioning new long form audio pieces by artists, curators, arts writers and arts workers, running from November, 2015 to late 2016.

Produced by Andrew Varano, the series explores how social and collective environments are composed and navigated through topics surrounding “subjectivity, reprioritising, diplomatic protocol, social anxiety, visibility and the possibility for care and empathy”.

In episode two, Berlin-based artist Hannah Black speaks about the potential for the freedom of children and Sophie Cassar writes on illness and the visibility of sick girls, and women online and in popular culture. Amy Hickman discusses the loss of the future and the spectrality of the present moment as characterised by photography and digital practices, while Tim Woodward takes a recent Skype interview as a departure point to explore the standardised, yet awkward and disembodied exchanges which the video chat and voice call service produces.

Music for this episode is provided by Tourist Kid.

See here for Episode #01 the Status Effect website for details. **

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Status Effect Episode #01 now streaming

26 November 2015

Episode #01 of quarterly podcast Status Effect is now streaming on Soundcloud, as part of a programme commissioning new long form audio pieces by artists, curators, arts writers and arts workers, running from November, 2015 to January, 2016.

Focussing on social structures within the contemporary art world, the podcast aims to explore how these collective environments are composed and navigated, and as such is interested in topics surrounding subjectivity, reprioritising, diplomacy, protocol, social anxiety, the possibility for care and empathy, social mobility and labour.

Produced by Andrew Varano, the first episode features contributions from Francis Russell, Jaakko Pallasvuo, Dan Bourke & Gemma Weston and George Egerton-Warburton, as well as music from Perth, Australia-based band Erasers.

See the Status Effect website for details. **

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Final Destination

10 May 2012

Better known for its mining booms and beaches, the town of Perth in Western Australia isn’t exactly what you’d call a creative capital. A 20-hour flight and worlds away from London, the clear skies and hot weather tend to foster a culture of sport and the outdoors, rather than any semblance of the cosmopolitan lifestyle. Urban it might not be but there is a fascinating element of the unreal in the wide roads and sprawling suburbs of this most isolated and bizarre of coastal cities.

Artist Jessie Mitchell. Photos courtesy of OK Gallery.
Artist Jessie Mitchell. Photos courtesy of OK Gallery.

With high rents, misguided governmental policy and physical distance against them, artists tend to seek out places east across the continent in cities like Melbourne and Sydney, or even overseas to find their audience, leaving few behind to contribute to the region’s greater cultural map. But there are some who stay and are making the most of it. One of them is the independent OK Gallery, run by artists and curators Gemma Weston, Jamie Macchiusi and Andrew Varano. Perched off one of the city’s high streets and across the road from the famed private men’s sauna, white walls and a freckle floor houses exhibits that are sometimes of a time and often of a place.

Continue reading Final Destination

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