2009 a visionary year in art

Last year was an intriguing one in the visual arts, which in true DIY-style found new and inventive ways to push art to the forefront of our consciousness.

The world, as it entered 2009, was still trying to work out Damien Hirst's successful 2008 weekend garage sale of £111 million ($245 million at the time) in the face of the economic crisis.

This is not to mention his £50 million skull sale the year before, which had everyone considering visual art less as a luxury commodity and more

as necessary cultural symbology. This had continuing ethical connotations as society cottoned on to the fact that art, just like any other capital, had the legs to provide not only economic stimulus but also symbolic revenue.

It was about purchasing cultural capital (see the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art which opened in 2006).

Last year consolidated this thinking and Perth's own continued reinvention/rebirth of its cultural centre signifies this; so too the continued purchasing by collections throughout the State.

I mentioned ethical connotations before and I think this was also a constantly emerging factor in art in 2009.

I have seen this in particular local shows this year, for example in Oscar Munoz' Mirror Image at PICA, the Fremantle Arts Centre's Yellow Vest Syndrome, Paul Caporn's Reconstruction Works at Turner Galleries and Patrick Doherty's New Paintings at Goddard de Fiddes, and also as an attitude to increased funding for public art.

This is about making our cultural capital visible, exemplified in the 2009 Perth International Arts Festival's visual arts content becoming more public space- oriented.

Art as an interactive source of public engagement leapt forward in Perth in 2009 and we should keep an eye out for more technology-oriented public art in the near future.

This is not only because of the abundance of mobile technologies but because art has rekindled a sensation of wanting to be at the coalface of public issues.

Locally this interactive need was seen from early on in 2009 in Experimenta's Playground at the WA Museum, Gina Czarnecki's Carillon projection works and Of Art and Music at the John Curtin Gallery.

Art has also been reignited in the public sphere by a plethora of Artist Run Initiatives (ARIs) opening in and around town in 2009.

This is a significant trend exemplifying a confident mood in the current crop of recent local art school graduates.

Perth's photographic scene made significant inroads in 2009 and I dared mention the possibility of a Perth School of Photography in one column.

Certainly with the entrenchment of FotoFreo and the continuing excellent showings at the Perth Centre for Photography, photographic art seems in good hands.

This was backed up by a number of significant shows including Transient States at the Lawrence Wilson Gallery and Richard Woldendorp's Abstract Earth at the Art Gallery of WA.

Indigenous art had a big year with some major shows illustrating the breadth of maturity in local Aboriginal art. The WA Indigenous Art Awards had its second offering in 2009 and the finalists' showing was diverse and radical with Ricardo Idagi taking home the main prize.

Other shows which spring to mind are Barbara Weir's beautiful work at the Holmes a Court Gallery, Nalda Searles' Drifting in My Own Land at the John Curtin Gallery, Gordon Bennett's retrospective and Larrakitj at the Art Gallery of WA.

There were many other enjoyable moments in the visual arts in 2009, nationally and locally. Australia's showing at the Venice Biennale was fantastic, with Shaun Gladwell's homage to Mel Gibson's Mad Max definitely a highlight.

Locally, Marcus Canning's and Adam Derum's works at Goddard de Fiddes were both quality shows, as was Imants Tillers' The Long Poem at Lawrence Wilson Gallery, Simon Pericich's Much Much More at the Fremantle Arts Centre, Takahiko Suzuki's Global Store for IASKA at Kellerberrin, Nick Cave at the WA Museum, Stuart Elliott's The Underpass Motel and Marion Borgelt at Turner Galleries, Katarina Vesterberg's Portals at Greenhill Galleries and Col Jordan's excellent Numbers and Other Spaces at Mossenson Galleries.

There were many more but with a list like that (what was your pick?) it's clear to see there's plenty going on in the visual arts here in Perth. I've a feeling 2010 is going to be another hectic one.