2014 Jan Cleveringa Artwork- "Fade"

2014 Jan Cleveringa- "Fade"
Installation Sculpture,
20,000 T5 Fluoroecscent Light Tubes,
Beams Festival, Chippendale Sydney

“Fade” is a luminous installation artwork about change. It talks about technology being replaced by the new. It is a metaphor for cultural formation where new things like technology, products, words, processes, attitudes, symbols and signals all get shared, digested and either become redundant (or used less) or simply kept as part of the dominant Hegemony, or slowly fade away- depending on its’ usefulness to the consumer or participant having the ability to change the product while it is being shared and digested and as time moves forward.

2014 Jan Cleveringa Artwork- "Fade" Light Installation NAVA Soup Session 3 My Pitch 29.08.2014 Raising Monies for Art

NAVA Soup Session Pitch 29.08.2014

Hi and welcome everyone…

My name is Jan Cleveringa….

Please come and talk to me anytime…tonight!

I want to talk to you about my passion for creating art. I want to share with you my journey and want you to be part of it….invest in it…. and be part of my trajectory further into the art world.

I have an arts practice that has been going now for a short while and I am a serious F/T... emerging artist.

My art is mostly about cultural change and Australian Identity.

But I will talk about me at the end…..if I have time.

I will get stuck right into it. ….I really ‘NEED’ your money for an art work next month.

I have been accepted into Sydney’s Chippendale… Art Precinct’s …BEAMS Art Festival… it’s next month on the Saturday the 27th. You should all come along as it’s a fantastic night of great new art…they block off about 7 streets and there is a huge range of different art, music and dance. They had 10,000 people see it last year.

Well….my artwork is an installation sculpture that uses light…..but not necessarily electricity.

I HAVE 30,000…. 1.2m ....fluorescent light tubes………………….. My art work has been accepted. ….. I already have them in storage…..on pallets…..My artwork is called….. “FADE”.

FADE talks about ….technology changing and …….slowly becoming redundant over time...FADING...from fluorescent lights to the new cheaper running… environmentally friendlier…LED lights …over time …and ……HOW it impacts on OUR culture and ….HOW we relate to this change. The technology FADES and the NEW comes in.

Fluorescent light was such a big thing…cheap and bright when invented… and now gradually being replaced over time.

FADE….much…. like…. how the mobile phone has created a new social change in our lives…24/7….and where a new language was created ….like OMG, BRB, …LOL …ROFLMAO etc… so too….will new lights also change how we interact at night, in the backyard, entertaining friends etc. ….(Changing light globes also show that we are moving to a Greener Culture).

So…..What do I need??????

I need your investment for a ….

- 4 tonne truck….. Can you imagine the logistics!!!!!
- Some wood panels
- Glue
- Perspex boxes
- Some ….Luminescent paint

- And … for documenting the art work…….. as part of my growing portfolio…. for applying to galleries as well.

So now … you know ……what your money is going too….. directly!

Can you imagine STACKING 30,000 fluoro light globes???? ……..And you can be part of it!!!! ….. Feel them…..imagine them…...

Did I mention….that….I am actually doing this artwork at my own cost and that BEAMS is all unpaid using volunteers. It’s all for the Sydney community. It provides an exciting new spectacle.

So if you want to volunteer….let me know as well….that would be fantastic!

So now… a bit about me….. I am a Western Sydney artist who began as an artist publicly only a few yrs ago…. A late starter.

I have been a constant finalist in some well-respected art prizes like the Blacktown City Art Prize, the Mosman Art Prize, …..as well as the Campbelltown, The Hawkesbury and other prizes. I am a painter, sculptor, Installation and video artist and my practice keeps exploring and growing.

I was awarded a 6 month Studio Residency at the Blacktown Art Centre last year …… and this year…. I finished a 2 month Studio Residency at the Purple Noon Gallery, at Freemans Reach near Windsor.

I also have a B. Arts from Sydney University majoring in Psychology…I went to Sydney College of the Arts and have a M. Mgt from the University of Technology, Sydney (in Community Management).

But ….. My most important accomplishment is my 4 beautiful kids. All girls.

What else?

I still work as a casual youth worker in Western Sydney but I also used to be a Manager looking after kids in Western Sydney. I ran programs regarding homelessness, young people, women’s refuges, Young Mums, Drug and Alcohol, Juvenile Justice programs and some Aboriginal Services …with… and for …….Aboriginal peoples.

I’ve worked in Community Welfare for about 20 yrs.

I did have a break…. and some people get a little shocked when I tell them…. but I was also a Funeral Director up the Mid north Coast for 2 years…. But that’s more about me ….exploring the world.

PICASSO once said …when asked….”What is your favourite painting ….that you ever did?” and he said, “It’s my next one!”

Overall, ….before my pitch FADE’s into your memories, … I would just like to say thank you all for letting me be part of today and …to my competitors and …everyone from NAVA and 107 for giving me the chance.

Thank you!

2014 Jan Cleveringa "You've Got Stars in Your Eyes" Interactive Installation

2014 "You’ve Got Stars in Your Eyes"
Microscope and Australian Flag
33cm x 11cm x 20cm
& Photograph
An Interactive Installation Artwork

“Looking, literally, through a microscope” the viewer is focused on the Australian Flag as part of Australian identity and more specifically on the smallest star in the Southern Cross. The flag is bedded down as a sticker onto a transparent plastic slide. A torch light hits the mirror underneath elucidating and reflecting onto the flag literally “shining a light” on probably the most prominent symbol of Australian identity. The circular image with a star shown here is a photograph taken through the microscope as a viewer/participant would see it. They would also see the various colours in the image that make up the blue and white colours in the print, perhaps, representing the various peoples and different attitudes that a democracy like Australia might represent through a flag when an issue arises in the national interest.

The artist is interested about how this symbol can be manipulated by people to achieve their goals and the dangers involved with regards to Australian Identity and how Australians see themselves For, example, the seeming political football about ‘Boat People’ and along with it the fears, myths and misinformation used and shaped by political parties, interest groups and individuals to achieve their goals in the community. This could also be said true about the subject of climate change in Australia as part of national identity as part of the dominant cultural hegemony of thought that exists (currently) and how it's formed, shared and digested as a population creating a future cultural direction.

“You’ve Got Stars in Your Eyes” is a serious artwork despite the sarcastic title and visual puns involved in the work. The title is a colloquial phrase from the artists upbringing that means to the artist- be warned about being blinded to dazzling things, about being a dreamer or about being starry-eyed to celebrity and charisma. (A phrase likely to be based upon Shakespeare’s words “All that glitters is not gold”.) It can be dangerous without discovering for one-self the seeming objective driven facts and making an informed decision rather than relying on trust and attraction. A person does not need to go far to remember the Flag of Nazi Germany in WWII to understand the positive and negative aspects of such a symbol as a catalyst for using and growing underwritten semiotic values and attitudes. It may seem an unfair comparison in this context regarding WWII but again we need to continually ask ourselves, “Have We got Stars in Our Eyes?” about any of these current and future issues about who Australian's are as a people and who you are personally.

2014 Jan Cleveringa"What On Earth Are We Eating Exhibition"At The Vanishing Point Gallery, NewtownAssorted Paintings

Cleveringa’s painting is an act of sharing, digesting, and reproducing a cultural perspective into something that is current, refashioned and new.

He raises issues about the symbols, signs and signifiers involved in the context of Australian identity.

The subjects,words and phrases he uses are from a perceived ‘Aussie culture.’ They create a semiotic awareness used in everyday life. They pose questions about cultural Hegemonies, group polarization, and the ingredients of what an ‘Aussie culture’ might be.

He uncovers change mechanisms, attitudes, world influences, technological change, political leadership, and other shared acts that create or reinforce Aussie culture.

These paintings are about semiotically digesting supposed iconic ‘Aussie Foods’. What makes them Australian? How are they an act of culture, associated with producing, sharing, and digesting them both literally but also their related symbology, signs and signifiers? How do they promote, include, exclude and reinforce Aussie values in terms of Australian identity?

2013 "A Dinkum Anzac Bickie Mate"
Acrylic and Enamel Paint on Marine Plywood
60cm x 80cm x 4.8cm

2013 "A Humdinger Pav Mate"
Acrylic and Enamel Paint on Marine Plywood
60cm x 80cm x 4.8cm

2013 "Vegie Toast and a Cuppa Mate"
Acrylic and Enamel Paint on Marine Plywood
60cm x 80cm x 4.8cm

2013 "A Ripper Steak and Veg Mate"
Acrylic and Enamel Paint on Marine Plywood
60cm x 80cm x 4.8cm

2013 Jan Cleveringa"The Australian Identity Series"Collage Series

"The You Beaut Country and the Cricket BBQ"
Collage on Paper

This artwork is about the typical Aussie Cricket Barbecue (BBQ or Barbie) where people can be invited over to watch the Cricket on TV either whilst having the BBQ. It might also be a family affair at home.

The use of "The You Beaut Country" text comes not only from a phrase used in Australian culture but also comes from John Olsen's Video documentary some many years ago when he painted Lake Ayers when the rains hit and made the lake massive and full of life (A childhood memory of mine so to say).

The picture, though seemingly humorous using the visual pun of the cricket, is a serious part of Aussie culture in the Summer season and some of the glue that informs Australians that they are Aussies and part of Aussie culture. This may be true for the new migrants too who may learn about Cricket to be less culturally different to others. It exposes one way of fitting into Australian life and an opportunity not to be so different. There are plenty of semiotic undertones and signifiers here into Australian culture, its formation and production, for those theorists amongst us. Perhaps, it's part of the dominant Aussie cultural Hegemony.

Hit it for Six mate!

2013 "A Wilful, Lavish Land Holding up Australia Day"
Collage on Paper

2013 Australian Identity Series
"Scanning the Aussie Meathead My Homing Thoughts Will Fly"
Collage and Paper

2013 Residency (6mths)Blacktown Art CentreBlacktown City Council

2012- Jan Cleveringa "Fair Go Mate" Finalist- Fishers Ghost, Campbelltown City Art Prize

2012 "Fair Go Mate, Thumbs Up and Circular Saw"
Acrylic and Enamel Gloss on Canvas"
122cm x 152.5cm x 4cm

2010- Jan Cleveringa "Tony Planing Our Doors" Finalist Blacktown City Art Prize

"Tony Planing our Doors (The Endless Knot)"
Acrylic and Enamel Paint on Canvas
75cm x 100cm x 3.5cm
“Cleveringa devotes himself to capturing ‘a moment of experience’ by using the cultural symbols, semiotic signs and stories that surround him. He uses knowledge and images that he comes across from everyday life, work and other interests and invests this into his artwork.
Cleveringa is interested in the idea of culture as a shared experience between people. He sees his painting as act of sharing, digesting, and reproducing cultural experiences into something that is refashioned and new.

About This Work
“Tony Planing our Doors” is a painting that draws upon a moment of experience whereby a friend of the artist, Tony, in his generosity and selflessness came to the artist home to plane the bottom of the doors that no longer shut properly because of the swelling heat of the house. The artist was inspired by the act of altruism. The image of an electric planer is meshed with symbols of the day and interconnected with an event in time. The Kookaburra could be heard laughing in the morning, the Buddhist symbol in the right corner represents the artist attempting Yoga and spirituality during the week and the gum leaves perhaps representing the Australian spirit. The ants were inspired by Dali as a thought in the background about the art world and the Pop Art colours and dots were inspired by the artist love of Warhol and Lichtenstein. In the moment of experience there is a complex air of interconnectedness between the symbols but also a feeling of openness and simplicity. The painting is not only a reflection of feeling and gratitude but also a reflection of interconnected experiences making that memory in time.