Ben Apfelbaum

SALON DES REFUSES 2021 @ S.H.ERVIN GALLERY

The Salon des Refusés was initiated by the S.H. Ervin Gallery in 1992 in response to the large number of works entered into the Archibald Prize that were not selected for display in the official exhibition.  The Salon – which takes its name from the renegade French Impressionists of the 1860s who held a breakaway exhibition from the French Academy –  is the ‘alternative’ selection to the official Archibald and Wynne Prize selections at the Art Gallery of NSW.   

Each year our panel is invited to go behind the scenes of the judging process for the annual Archibald Prize for portraiture and Wynne Prize for landscape painting and figure sculpture at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, to select an exhibition from the many hundreds of works entered in both prizes but not chosen for the official award exhibition. The Salon des Refusés exhibition at the S.H. Ervin Gallery has established an excellent reputation that rivals the selections in the ‘official’ exhibition, with works selected for quality, diversity, humour and experimentation, and which examine contemporary art practices, different approaches to portraiture and responses to the landscape

In 2021, 57 works were selected for the ‘alternative’ exhibition, with 35 from the Archibald Prize & 22 from the Wynne Prize by selectors Max Germanos, curator, 3:33 Art Projects; Katherine Roberts, Senior Curator, Manly Art Gallery & Museum  & Jane Watters, director, S.H. Ervin Gallery.

The Salon des Refusés follows the tradition made famous by Napoleon lll in Paris who insisted that the huge number of works which had been rejected by the Academy for that year’s Salon, be displayed for the public to view and judge.  The very first Salon des Refusés included works by Manet and Pissarro.  

Visitors to the annual Salon des Refusés exhibition can vote for their favourite artwork in the Holding Redlich People’s Choice Award, the winner of this much anticipated award will be announced on Thursday 12 August. 

The exhibition closes on the 15th August 2021.

 GALLERY DETAILS:

S.H.Ervin Gallery, Watson Road, Observatory Hill, The Rocks, Sydney. Tuesdays to Sundays 11am to 5pm (Closed Mondays) Admission ; $12 Full, $10 Concession $10, National Trust members, Children under 12 free. Telephone 92580173, Group Bookings 92580140

Craig Handley – The Performer 2021
Elzabeth Barden – On My Mind (Portrait of Ian Huag)
Katherine Edney –Self Portrait contemplating suicide
Michaye Boulter – A quiet uncertainty
Nicholas Harding – Heather Mitchell
Nick Santoro – The Flying Saucer
Rhoda Tjitayi ‘Pilati Tjukurpa
Sally Robinson ‘Veema Sahajwalla’
Tania Wursig ‘Chakita’

 

Rob Howe ‘India’
Steve Lopes – ‘South Grafton’

Featured image : Kathryn Ryan ‘End Of The Road’

 

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.