A Valediction gathering was held at Damien Minton Gallery (583 Elizabeth Street, Redfern) in early August. At the time the gallery owner referred to “concentric circles creating a living, breathing, local contemporary visual arts culture” and addressed online supporters and friends: “It has been a pleasure and privilege to help create and service the circulation of ‘art money’ … thank you!”
Commencing in Newcastle in 2001, before moving to Redfern (initially to Great Buckingham Street) in 2005, the gallery in Elizabeth Street has been closed now for several months. “We simply ran out of money,” Damien explains. Still, his passion for works that engage the Australian cultural landscape remains. It’s a passion he now pursues as manager of Watters Gallery in East Sydney. “I’m thrilled to have been offered the position there,” Damien says. “I have a lot of respect for the directors [Frank Watters, Alex and Geoffrey Legge] and I get to maintain connections with local artists whose work I admire and value.”
In conversation, the former journalist and publicity agent is full of enthusiasm for local community, nurturing artistic talent and practice, and hosting interactive multimedia events. The reference to “magic” was made in the context of recalling a performance by pianist Chris Abrahams of The Necks. “We had this piano exclusively made in Newcastle by Stuart & Sons, a Rolls Royce of pianos, and a series of sensational solo performances.”
“It’s vital that an art gallery connect with the community,” he says. “Sydney has a special quality, an informality I really love. Snobbery is not Sydney’s style. In Redfern we worked hard to ‘knock down the fourth wall’ – to include the community as part of the art space. I do miss the amazing sense of community that’s so unique to Redfern.”
Not that he has left Redfern altogether. “We’ll stage another Redfern Biennale in 2015,” Damien promises.
The inaugural Redfern Biennale took its inspiration from the Instagram account of the Gallery, which featured surprising and provocative examples of beauty in the neighbourhood – detritus, ephemera. In March this year a highly successful event saw artworks displayed in Walker Street and surrounds – an example of what Damien calls “thinking outside the gallery”. The only proviso was that artworks not interfere with locals.
“I was thrilled with the response,” Damien says. “It was completely illegal, of course … but honest, raw and open. When there is too much concern for logic and organisation, art so easily loses immediacy and contact. I love that the event was held in a location not typically associated with high art. It’s inclusive and it challenges what counts as art.”
