Darlinghurst Blog: Art and Culture: Love Postcode 2010

This Sunday an exhibition of photographs captured by mobile phone cameras is opening in Darlinghurst. The pictures were entrants in last year's Oxford Arts Festival's Love Postcode 2010 competition, which invited people to submit photographs taken in the Darlinghurst and Surry Hills area - both share the 2010 postcode. 

It was only the second year for the Oxford Arts Festival, which was established to celebrate the Oxford Street area, which in City of Sydney "Villages" parlance is known as the "Cultural Quarter", given the artistic characters, creative businesses and galleries that line its streets.

The Love Postcode 2010 competition, which was held for the first time in 2011, attracted dozens of entries depicting the area's residents, landmarks, pets and streetscapes - all shot through the lenses of mobile phone cameras.

Some of the entries can be viewed at the Oxford Arts Festival's Facebook gallery here. 

Curator Polly Chin describes them as a "fascinating and intimate look into one of Sydney's oldest and most notorious precincts", and says they will be displayed with the stories behind the snappers, which adds another layer of interest.

I only embraced mobile phone photography about a week ago when I signed up to the Instagram application. The app allows you to snap photos, edit them slightly and caption them before posting them on to a site - which can only be used by mobile phones - where they can be viewed by other Instagram members.

It is strangely addictive. 

I took the photograph above at the Surry Street playground on Sunday. My Instagram photographs are also instantly fed to my Twitter site, so if you are interested in seeing them, please follow me via the link at the left of this blog page. My twitter username is @Violet_Tingle and my Instagram name is violettingle

Anyway, here are the first prize and second prize winners from the Love Postcode 2010 competition, which I may be inclined to enter this year:

First prize: Untitled, by Sheridan Mills.

Location: Stanley Street, East Sydney.

Second prize: Deranger, by Tom Christophersen.

Location: Sophia Street, Surry Hills.

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The winners and a selection of entries will go on show this Sunday from 3-5pm at the Vientiane Restaurant and Gallery, on the corner of Oxford and South Dowling streets, which is across the road from the Beauchamp Hotel and right next door to that place that plucks designer eyebrows.
The exhibition will be on display throughout the month of February.

For more details visit the Tap Gallery website.

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Vientiane Restaurant and Gallery

Shop 1a, 1-11 Oxford Street

Paddington NSW 2021

02 9380 7414
Wednesday to Friday: 12pm-3pm
Monday to Saturday: 6.30pm-9.30pm

www.bamboostickyrice.com

Darlinghurst: Street Art: Oxford Art Prize

Saturday was sunny and promising so I set out with my friend, Crystal Kaye, to explore the neighbourhood and it wasn't long before we made a discovery: dozens of colourful canvases strung along the fence poles of the Darlinghurst Court House.

The six-hour Oxford Art Prize exhibition, made up of 100-plus works, was part of the Oxford Arts Festival, which runs until October 30.

The inaugural 12-day festival was designed to promote the arts, artists, restaurants and retailers of Oxford Street and Darlinghurst, which is surprising seeing as I had never heard of it.

The festival's online home is this blog that has posted just two stories since April, and has only one follower - even less than My Darling Darlinghurst.

I love a festival, especially if it's local, but it's a shame when they fail on the publicity front and don't attract the punters.

There were even mimes and other performers, including this wonderful band, to entertain the potential crowd:

The outdoor exhibition also coincided with the Sydney Sustainable Markets, which are held every Saturday at Taylor Square, so apart from art, there was lots to look at:

Compact Vegie Garden On Show

Himalayan Orchids For Sale

I'll be writing a more comprehensive account of the markets on a later visit, because on this day Crystal and I were having a fine time judging the art. The Oxford Art Prize also allows the public to vote for their favourite work. We didn't plan on it, but Crystal and I ended up voting for the same painting:

Inside and Outside in Darlo, by David Wilson

Crystal thought Wilson was the most talented artist on show. I liked his absurd characterisations and the painting's sense of debauchery. Wilson's style also reminds me of the work of veteran newspaper cartoonist and illustrator Bruce Petty.

Meanwhile, the three real judges - Dean of COFA Ian Howard, the National Art School's Stephen Little and art dealer David Rex-Livingston - were busy scratching their chins as they tried to pick a winner:

Crystal and I asked the man manning the desk when they were going to announce the winner, because we had other adventures to carry-out. But he was a bit vague and only said it would be announced between now and 4pm. Which was about two hours away.

So we wandered off and came back an hour later, asked around and learnt that the winner of the People's Prize was this striking photograph on canvas:

Augenblick, by Mandy Schone

We never learnt who won the Oxford Art Prize and the festival blog so far hasn't announced the winner either.