Anne Davies is a Melbourne-based photographic artist. She is especially interested in photobooks that push the boundaries of telling and making in the pursuit of a rich story.
Concertina Books
One aspect of Davies’ art practice is devoted to making concertina books. Concertina books give her an opportunity to work on ideas, big or small, in a very intimate way. Over the last 6 years she has made one-off concertinas as well as a number of series. Some are unique while others have been made as a limited edition.
fence series
The Fence concertina books are part of an ongoing project ‘a good substantial fence’. The project explores the history and impact of fences in Old Eastside, a suburb of Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Each concertina includes a poem written by Davies.
The fenced laneways
don’t follow
the dreaming tracks
of the Mparntwe Arrernte people.
When it’s early morning
my mind begins
wandering
wondering.
What was here before?
High fences
Delineating inside and out
Separating private from public
Securing, protecting
Excluding.
untitled (abstraction with pop)
In this exploration of line and texture, an added dimension is created using cuts and folds to form a pop-out section on alternate pages.
YES!
Created during the Australian marriage equality campaign in 2017, the images for this concertina were taken by Davies in 2015 in Dublin. The photographs of wall art, posters and t-shirts indicate the vibrancy and creativity of the Yes! Campaign for marriage equality in Ireland.
edge
This series of three concertinas, inspired by the Australian coastline prompt the question: What do we know about edge?
Odes to food
This series of concertinas, inspired by Davies’ love of fresh food, were printed by Colour Factory
‘All the beautiful things…’
This is Davies’ first concertina and was made in a photo-concertina workshop at the Monash Gallery of Art. Davies acknowledges that the use of other people’s art is controversial but tells how the project emerged out of her curiosity about how women are portrayed by street artists on our urban walls. Where known, Davies has listed the names of artists who created the art on the reverse side of the concertina.
Davies took portraits of walls in Williamsburg in New York, then by converting each image into black and white and close-cropping the women’s faces she created new portraits of each woman. By zooming in on the faces and removing the colour she hoped to further reveal each woman. She constructed the concertina so that when approached from the left it is only possible to see the black and white portraits of women and when viewed from the right only the colour portraits of the walls are visible.
Exhibitions
Anne’s concertinas have been exhibited at the following events:
Melbourne Art Book Fair 2021
Melbourne Art Book Fair, NGV, 2020
Midsumma Queer Zine and Art Fair, Hares and Hyenas, Fitzroy, 2020
Open Spaces, Abbotsford Convent, 2019
Foto Book Fair, Ballarat Foto Biennale, 2019
Melbourne Art Book Fair, NGV, 2019
Melbourne Art Book Fair, NGV, 2018
Foto Book Fair, Ballarat Foto Biennale 2017
Melbourne Art Book Fair, NGV, 2017