MONA ROMA 1 - Artwork by Jamin, Tom O'Hern & Rob O'Connor

Jamin, Tom O'Hern & Rob O'Connor were commissioned to paint the new MONA ferry, MONA ROMA 1. It was 6 nights of painting, drawing and working collaboratively on the walls, glass and toilet doors of the catamaran.
The ferry was commissioned by the Roche Brothers, built at Incat, with the exterior camo design by Damian Scott and the interior design by Georgina Freeman.

I WANT CHANGE: Two Decades of Artistic Defiance, Disapproval and Dissent

Exhibition runs 20 February - 12 April, 2013

Curated by Michael Brennan

Artists: Michael Agzarian, Brook Andrew, boat-people.org, Bindi Cole, James Dodd, Fiona Foley, Jamin, Ash Keating, Deborah Kelly, Azlan McLennan, MEEK, Oliver Ressler & Zanny Begg, Van Rudd, Carl Scrase

"A shadowy figure sits cross-legged against a wall. Hands outstretched, he holds a placard above a beggar’s cup, scrawled with the text, “KEEP YOUR COINS, I WANT CHANGE.” MEEK’s iconic stencil, Begging for Change, sums up a sentiment that experienced a groundswell in contemporary art practice in Australia during the Howard era and has maintained an active presence to the current
day. The War on Terror, our treatment of refugees, the environment, gender and sexuality, Indigenous identity and the GFC have each figured prominently as political issues that have occupied artists and their practices over the past 15 years. I Want Change: Two Decades of Artistic Defiance, Disapproval and Dissent takes a snapshot of these issues and the often public, performative and socially engaging approaches embraced by artists to voice their protest, criticism and concern."

This large wall was commissioned by Ionata in Hobart for their rooftop lunch area. A very fun commission for a bunch of great people.

This large scale street art work was created in October 2012, next to the Theatre Royal on Campbell Street in Hobart. The work was commissioned by MyState, as both a permanent art work as well as an accompaniment to Polygot's 'We Built This City' which happened on this site on the 10-11th of November, 2012.

This was a fun series of works to paint, as I was working with spray paint 'free hand' but going for a 'stencil' aesthetic, or look. I had complete creative control over the project, and chose to represent the denizens of the city: humans and their not-so-domesticated companions.

A recent commission for an amazing couple in Hobart. It was a great pleasure, and at times a great challenge, to make this work. The scale is quite large and the dimensions certainly not standard! This work is a culmination of a few different styles I have been dabbling in over the years; it is mostly freehand spray paint, with some areas done with acrylic paint. Thanks for the opportunity to create this.

All for Pussy, and Pussy for All!, Jamin, 2012, enamel spray paint on plywood, 240 x 480cm

This work was created on site at the Rosny Barn over 4 days in August 2012 as part of the Influx exhibition curated by Tracey Cockburn.

I am pleased to announce that I was one of the winners of the inaugural Vectorizer Prize run by the Clarence City Council. Here are a few snaps of the work. It is a digital print measuring 1.2 x 7.2 metres.

These images are from a project I recently completed on the Raine & Horne building, Harrington Lane, Hobart. The work was completed over a few weeks in March 2012. Big thanks to Barry, Freya and the gang for being excellent clients: free creative license and a great big blank canvas! I'm very happy to have this one up in my home town.

Monalalia, Jamin, used sand paper on wood, 90 x 120cm


Monalalia was selected as a finalist in the 2012 Glover Prize for landscape painting.

Here is the statement as submitted:

‘Monalalia’ engages with the uneasy alliance between the Tasmanian landscape and those institutions and interests that so often define it. In this current period, my thoughts return time and again to MONA. The building is quite possibly itself in an uneasy alliance with the land it sits on. Though when I think of landscape, I tend to consider it in terms of the political landscape, or the social landscape or the landscape of ideas. In fact, I personally consider ‘landscape’ as sitting outside of the natural environment. It is in this context, of the constructed landscape, that I place this work.

This ‘painting’ has been constructed with sand paper, each piece hand cut and laboured over. Similarly for me, I see the natural environment as having been locked in a perpetual struggle of labour with humans, sometimes mutually beneficial, at other times one sided. Sand paper, being a man-made product from mostly natural materials, is most often employed to shape and refine other natural materials into serviceable or decorative objects. I perceive a relationship between this aspect of sand paper, and a western-historical approach to the landscape. We have shaped, defined, refined, cultivated and destroyed the natural environment in which we live, to make it serviceable, picturesque, acquirable and productive.

I find great personal joy in both the creation of art and in the natural world. ‘Monalalia’ evokes the former, yet presents the viewer with a bleak vision of the later. Here the natural environment is almost gone, reduced to a sliver of shoreline that supports the behemoth perched above. The building reflects itself, like a colossal Narcissus gazing into the water. And yes, Narcissus was beautiful.

Jamin, 2012

Here is a pic of my studio wall… inspired by some of the painting I was doing in Paris. In other news I have been selected as a finalist in the Glover Prize for 2012 with my work 'Monalalia', something I am excited by and honoured to be a part of. I will post a pic of this work and some more info down the track.

I am also something of a free agent at the moment, as my main gallery, Criterion Gallery, closed last year.

Also, here is an article from The Mercury about my residency in Paris:

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/02/06/298471_tasmania-news.html

IN his home town of Hobart, street artist Jamin is more likely than not to run into trouble when witnesses observe him creating his installations.

During a recent residency in Paris, it was quite a different story.

"I would spend the day painting a wall and elderly people would stop and talk to me, or applaud and encourage my work," Jamin said.

"That doesn't happen often in Hobart."

Jamin spent four months in Paris as part of the Rosamond McCulloch Studio residency mostly on the streets, painting, but also visiting the many museums and galleries.

"Paris has a vibrant culture of street art, it's very welcoming," he said.

"There are many legal-type walls, on buildings that are due for demolition and areas associated with urban culture."

Jamin said he explored the theme of masks during his time in Paris and was inspired by artefacts he discovered in various museums and art galleries.

"There was one particular museum, the Quai du Branly, which was devoted to art from tribal cultures, which had an incredible collection of masks," he said.

"My experiences in Paris were definitely horizon-expanding, and will certainly inform the work I will produce now. I would love to see more work on the streets of Hobart as well, I am sure there are some grey walls around that could use a bit of colourful decoration."

hopee@news.net.au