Sunday 23 February 2014

Jubilee Venn Diagrams? Clarence Valley Mayor's motives questioned



Josh Wodak 
Josh Wodak
Carbon Sink, Josh Wodak
Josh Wodak

Letter to the Editor on Page 9 of The Daily Examiner, 17 February 2014:

On the count of three
I attended the opening on Friday night at the Regional Gallery of an exhibition by Josh Wodak titled Jubilee Venn Diagrams.
I was there because Josh had invited me and a number of other locals to be part of his project. This entailed standing in the Clarence River and draping coloured ropes or holding and throwing coloured balls which represented rising sea levels, increasing carbon dioxide levels and increasing temperature.
It was an unusual experience for me, but as a project publicising climate change I was only too happy to get involved.
There were a number of other locals there for the opening of the exhibition, but it coincided with another exhibition opening Three of a Kind by local artist Graham Mackie and his associates James Willebrant and Soren Carlbergg.
Jude McBean in her opening address described the two exhibitions and explained that Josh could not be present as he was at another exhibition opening in Sydney.
The mayor, Richie Williamson was to officially open both exhibitions, but if you listened carefully to his address, which involved numerous references to cricket, drinking alcohol and generally to being a mate of the artist Graham, you would be forgiven for thinking that there was only one exhibition on at the gallery that night. I didn't see him even enter the room where Josh's exhibition was displayed.
This is not good enough from the head of our council. It was a bit rude and insulting that he didn't make mention once to the other exhibition and begs the question did he deliberately ignore it because of its environmental flavour or did he just not do his homework and was unaware that there was a second exhibition that he was supposed to be opening.
Either way it is not good enough Richie!
I think that a public apology is warranted.
This is no criticism of the gallery, Jude McBean or the three other artists.
Dr Greg. P. Clancy
Coutts Crossing

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