Kay Abude is an artist based in Melbourne, Australia. She has an expanded sculptural practice working in large-scale installation, photography, performance, video and silk screen printing. Abude’s work is about work itself: the value of it, the effort, the inequality and insecurity of it, especially for artists. Her recent commissions include BE CREATIVE REMAIN RESILIENT, Mural Commission, The Showroom, London, United Kingdom, 2023-24; Smoko Room, Paul Selzer Prize, Fiona and Sidney Myer Gallery, Southbank, 2023; (DON’T) BE AN ARTIST, Flash Forward – Creative Laneways Project, The Hotel Windsor, Melbourne, 2021; NEVER WORK/ STOP WORKING, NGV Triennial EXTRA, NGV International, Melbourne, 2021; and WORK WORTH DOING, La Trobe Art Institute, Bendigo, Victoria, 2020-21. Abude was a studio artist at Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne from 2019 to 2022.
Kay Abude x Spacecraft Studio
LOVE THY LABOUR
1 - 25 November 2017
Installation and performance
Bus Projects, Melbourne
LOVE THY LABOUR is an evolutionary and discursive project that investigates the critical possibilities between the presentational space of the gallery and the production site of the studio. Developed in collaboration between artist Kay Abude, Spacecraft Studio and Bus Projects, the project will involve an incision between Spacecraft and Bus—through physically breaching the wall that generally divides these two spaces.
The collaborative and porous nature of the project is expressed directly by the removal of a section of Bus Projects / Spacecraft’s shared internal wall, thereby physically connecting Spacecraft Studio and Bus Projects for a period of four weeks. The work undertaken during the project period necessitates a day-to-day working relationship, sharing the logistical issues of security, programming, production and opening hours. LOVE THY LABOUR requires the two organisations to enter into a relationship of trust, an open exploration of the possibilities closest to home.
During a period of ‘work experience’ undertaken at Spacecraft Studio, Abude obtained hands-on print-making experience and insight into Spacecraft’s production and operations. This has subsequently informed the work in development, and will be embodied through screen printed wallpaper with the slogan “LOVE THY LABOUR”. This wallpaper will be continually installed throughout the exhibition as a repetitive action, that will become the context for a series of public programs, workshops and discussions—investigating and speculating upon the precarity of artistic labour, and the complexities of its economy.
Spacecraft Studio was established in Melbourne in 2000 by Scottish artist / curator Stewart Russell and English designer Donna O’Brien. Since then the studio has been committed to creating and communicating high quality contemporary artwork and design concepts through self initiated projects and collaborations with outstanding institutions, artists and designers. Works created at Spacecraft Studio have been exhibited and acquired for collections in significant Australian and international contexts, from the Tate Gallery London to the Tiwi Islands, from Art Basel to Paris Fashion Week. All of our conceptual thinking and research is discussed with our staff, makers and collaborators. We value the input and experience of all our staff and actively encourage and acknowledge their involvement in shaping our projects, and our future.
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