Reproduced from
bROARdsheet COUNT TO
TEN 1992
Celebrating ten
years of Roar/Roar 2 Studios, Brunswick St. Fitzroy
Melbourne’s then
longest running artist-run gallery and studio spaces
Original source
material available from:
The State
Library of Victoria.
10 YEARS IS A
LONG TIME. FROM ROAR TO ROAR 2 by David Slattery
Roar mutated
into Roar 2 in January 1988. Since its inception many things had remained the
same at Roar- the principles of its operation continued (primarily with the aim
of maintaining a space run by and for artists who wanted to organise their own
exhibitions), the artists involved changed over time- yet a common and
seemingly unshakeable misconception persisted amongst the public that Roar’s
purpose was to act as some kind of showcase for “Neo-Expressionist” art.
It is argued elsewhere in this
broadsheet that this was never in fact part of Roar’s brief.
The history of the gallery belongs therefore to all
the members that have been associated with Roar/Roar 2 over the last ten years.
Even aside from
this question of perceived style, it is apparent that, as most of the original
group had ceased to have any association with the gallery after about 1983,
visitors saw a continuous and changing range of exhibitions that continued
until the present, that defied any easy categorisation of style. This diversity
of style, it can be suggested, has been one of the strong points of the
gallery. Visitors saw a vast range of art of different temperaments and varying
standards that elicited a wide range of audience response.
We created Roar 2 to symbolically
dissociate the gallery from the so-called “old Roar” and to show that the
venture that was conceived with such enthusiasm in the early 80’s had gone on
to develop and mature in its own right. Roar Phase 2 really began in 1984 when
the old guard had left for further adventures but it was several years before
the artists who were then running the gallery felt it opportune to make the
point that, while things were still being run as always at Roar, things were
somehow different. The style was different and no longer fitted the stereotypes
that people were only too willing to create around the work of artists and
artist-run spaces.
John Hinds created the new logo
and collectively we worked to create a smoothly run gallery which was not
operating always in debt as people commonly supposed it should. Throughout this
process the one constant that remained was the regular supply of shows that
continued to sustain the daily life of Roar 2.
Opinions differ as to how
successful Roar/Roar 2 has been. Some assess the size of opening night crowds,
the trendiness of crowds/styles, the number of red stickers etc. And while
these success indicators reflect very much an individual’s viewpoint, the
“bottom line” of the success of the gallery is the fact that it has existed and
presented a continuous stream of exhibitions from its opening night in 1982
through to the present almost all organised and presented by the artists
themselves. This “chain of events’ has had it’s broken moments shows that have
fallen through at the last moment, hastily organised substitutes, the
substantial debts, particularly in the early ‘80’s, that threatened the
continued existence of the gallery and the perceived successes and failures of individual
artists and their exhibitions. Yet this thread has held and the strength of the
gallery is witnessed in the work of the many artists that are associated with
these two exhibitions that celebrate 10 years of Roar/Roar 2’s operation.
Many highlights of Roar/Roar 2
remain unrecorded- works have been viewed by th public, artists have moved on
to bigger and better ventures, works have sold and a myriad of other events
have happened against the backdrop of the gallery confines, all of which attest
to the fact that something did, and continues to, happen at Roar/Roar 2. Yet,
in the end, each individual artist from the thousands who have shown work at
the gallery will have a personal opinion as to the success or otherwise of the venture for them.
10 Years is a long time,
particularly for a self-funding artist run exhibition space. Roar 2 plans to
continue and may, given the willingness and energy of its constantly changing
members, evolve into its Roar 3 variant. Those currently at Roar 2 have discussed
the possibility of ultimately procuring an additional building and setting up a
complex of studio spaces and perhaps the time will come when this becomes a
reality.
When Roar Studios turned into
Roar 2, in effect we broke with the public misconception of what Roar was and
stated that Roar was not to be associated with any particular group or
ideology. Roar was set up, in 1982, and incorporated in 1983 as a public body.
As such it has existed and developed on the strength and input of the vast
range of people who have made up its membership over the years. The history of
the gallery belongs therefore to all the members that have been associated with
Roar/Roar 2 over the last ten years- and it is this fact that is being
celebrated in this range of exhibitions.
It may come as a surprise to many
people that Roar 2 is solvent. People commonly assume that Roar is or should be broke. While this
was often true in the early days and while things in particular looked very
shaky in early 1985 with the arrival of threatening solicitors letters over
debts of several thousand dollars, through good fortune, the hard work of the
members and the timely arrival of the occasional grant, Roar/Roar 2 has pulled
through and over the last five years has achieved a secure financial footing
for itself- a rare feat for an artist-run venture of this type.
The question of funding has
always been a source of vigorous debate amongst the members. Some feel that
Roar has been very neglected by the funding bodies and feel that more should
have been directed our way. Others have argued for a more independent line and
that Roar should have nothing to do with funding bodies.
It is clear that Roar has
received relatively little in the way of outside funding, that we have adopted,
partly through choice and partly through necessity, an independent mode of
operation, that the little funding we have received has been at times very
timely and has assisted the gallery to keep operating and that additional
funding could have and could be put to great use. In particular funding from Vic Health has
allowed us to celebrate our tnth anniversary in a more comprehensive manner
than might otherwise be possible and that we are happy to be associated with
such an organization with its clear message of positive living for the public.