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Title Artscape: Artists At Work: Penny Byrne / Director: Turley, Louise
Published Australia : ABC, 2010
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Description 1 online resource (streaming video file) (27 min. 36 sec.) ; 166768254 bytes
Summary Penny Byrne is a double agent. A prim and properly trained porcelain conservator one day and a subversive political ceramicist the next. At first glance her artworks are perfectly transformed figurines. But on closer inspection what appear to be innocent statuettes from a bygone era are actually dark and humorous political artworks - little blue boys with attitude, courting couples in camouflage gear and milk maids with machine guns. Over the past four years Byrne has built a reputation as one of Australia's most exciting contemporary artists. Her art works are known for toying with the constrained, kitsch and decorativeness of traditional porcelain figurines. Originally from Mildura, Byrne trained in porcelain and glass restoration at West Dean in England, the most prestigious college for conservation in the world. Having become a highly-sought after conservator, she found herself rebelling against the tireless search for perfection in the restoration trade, and the artist was born."When I broke the first head off a figurine I felt really terrible," explains Byrne. "The thing about being a professional conservator is that you're trained to respect the sanctity of the object. The ethos is 'do no harm', and here I am with a hammer and chisel about to chop the head off a figurine - it's just anathema to my training and sense of professionalism." Byrne takes existing porcelain figurines (vintage and non-vintage) then changes their original intention by painting and adding various elements to them. Her art-making process may be deceptively simple (sawing off limbs, painting camouflage garments, swapping the heads and adding weapons) but as a trained conservator, Byrne's alterations are incredibly precise and long lasting. However, the real magic lies in the objects' huge satirical transformation, the underlying political references and the witty titles Penny gives her unique creations such as 'Banker Joker Wanker', 'Not Another Landmine Lamented Sallyanne', and her most ambitious work to date, 'The Four Horsemen of the 21st century Apocalypse'.Artscape follows artist Penny Byrne as she creates a whole new body of work for her upcoming show, Interesting Times
Notes Closed captioning in English
Event Broadcast 2010-04-27 at 22:05:00
Notes Classification: PG
Subject Art -- Exhibitions.
Ceramic sculpture.
Women -- Conduct of life.
New South Wales -- Sydney.
Form Streaming video
Author Begg Oam, Patricia, contributor
Byrne, Donnie, contributor
Byrne, Penny, contributor
Byrnes, Peter, contributor
Dunsmore, Amanda, contributor
Sullivan, Ursula, contributor
Turley, Louise, director