Affiliations: A Selection of 1989 Graduate Diploma work from Gippsland & Chisholm Institutes

About the exhibition
In 1989, Monash University negotiated mergers with the Gippsland and Chisholm Institutes of Technology. ln the discipline of the Visual Arts, these amalgamations coalesced what was essentially an academic community with ones engaged in the practice of art. The campuses of both Chisholm and Gippsland had large and notable Fine Art departments, teaching painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography, ceramics and woodcraft.

Affiliations was an exhibition of Graduate Diploma work by a selection of 1989 students from both art schools. Studying to this stage was usually the prelude to a career as a professional exhibiting artist. Indeed, the final evaluation of work at Gippsland Institute was undertaken in an exhibition format (in 1989, the Graduate Exhibition was held at Latrobe Valley Arts Centre, Morwell). At Chisholm, the Diploma was not awarded until the student had exhibited their work in a solo show of some kind.

Monash University Gallery believed it appropriate to commemorate the merger with an exhibition of work by Graduate Diploma students from both institutions. Affiliations not only provided an opportunity for Monash staff to see the high quality of work nurtured by their colleagues at Chisholm and Gippsland but also for campus students and members of the general public to become acquainted with the achievements of these aspiring young artists.

The ten artists represented in Affiliations included painters; sculptors in metal, wood and ceramic; and printmakers. All had achieved a high degree of excellence in their chosen medium. Having left the relative security of studying at an art school, these artists were establishing their own studio spaces and preparing to launch careers as professional artists. In several cases, the process of recognition, acclaim and support in the form of prizes, grants and commissions had already begun.

Text adapted from Merryn Gates, exhibition curator

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