The Upholstery -
“Taking the Wank out of Art….”
Art Director: Daniel ‘Wally’ Wallwork

The Upholstery? How did it all begin?
The Upholstery was formed out of necessity & a stagnating contemporary arts scene in Cairns – I say that quietly so that I don’t offend anybody; just the need to exhibit y’know. Artist Charles Street had just completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts in Brisbane, he became interested in upholstery (the furniture) and began making art works with these techniques. When he came back to Cairns he started The Upholstery as a studio space & small gallery in Grafton Street. He soon moved next door into the Blue Room with visual artist Simon Tait, a few other friends and like-minded young visual artists moved in too. With Charles, Simon & myself along with Sophie Cadman & Samuel Tupou, The Upholstery Series of contemporary art was established.

The mandate then was to further our careers; to provide a real opportunity to exhibit and gain professional skills. It’s evolved into an entity that’s hitting all sorts of different levels. We’ve had a few professional artists step out of the Upholstery now and new & developing artists emerging – they range from young and old, it’s become a lot more than it was originally, but I think its better.

Could you explain an Upholstery show?
They showcase the freshest contemporary visual artists in North Queensland. We have prints, installations, new media, interactive works, performance and sound. We explore and experiment outside the constraints of traditional art institutions - we want to challenge our audience. This year we started with Essence because we wanted to say ‘This is what The Upholstery is about this year & what the essence of the artist is about.’ This one (Hi-way) came from sitting in a Park in Brisbane over looking the River, the story bridge and quite an industrial waterfront…. Hi way came up – we were looking at a highway, then Suburbia & Industria… Each Upholstery show is an oral, full body sensory experience.

How many people are involved?
It’s sort of fluxing out at about 10, 12 at the moment. There’s a core body of about 6 and we have other new members coming in, really interested in furthering their career & others that just dabble and come & go.

Are there any criteria that need to be met to be involved?
Technically there is. It’s gotta be contemporary, at least if its traditional mediums, it’s gotta be contemporary use of those mediums… i.e. if its watercolours then funky water colours?! Something different. It could be anything & anyone & any age, but it has to fit the concept for the show. Me, Sophie & Charlie are sort of the main body committee, if we like it aesthetically & conceptually, if we think it will work with the show then it goes in. It’s not really exclusive, it’s just a matter if you fit in the show or not. We’re trying to raise the professionalism of the group. We’re asking for certain things with expressions of interest & we want to see professional art standards be responded to; if you’re just slapping some stuff on to a piece of paper it’s not going to get through.

How have you been received within the Cairns general community?
The general community get confused – ‘The Upholstery? What, do you guys cover chairs?’ Cairns is a bit weird on contemporary art. The general population aren’t too aware of it, unless it’s got a rock band in it or something, I dunno. It’s starting to take on. Most of the artists involved all work and we’re out socially around town, so it’s attracting all those sorts of crew, which is really putting us in a new playing field. Art wise, we’re a bit of an entity, I don’t know if people know how to take us. We’re a bit semi-underground. We don’t mean to be it just sort of works out that way.

Do you like that?
Yeah I do, it gives us a bit of mystique. People know about us, they don’t know about us; they don’t know if we exist or not, if we have a space or not and then we sort of appear. People are now looking forward to us moving around from show to show, see what venue we’re getting next.

How do you fund your shows?
This one we’ve had RADF funding, Regional Arts Development Fund – which is supported by Arts Queensland & Cairns’ City Council. It’s a grant we’ve used to fund Hi-way and our next one Sideshow and we’ve put in for more funding later in the year. But previously (shows) like Essence were self funded. Artists pay a small fee to be in the show, that would cover rent and if there was any left over maybe something else like printing. We’ve got sponsors that cover certain things if we have any spare cash it will go into promotion. But this one (Hi-way) was all paid for so we can pay the artists this time.

How many shows have you had?
Since we started? About 14, 15. We’re in our third year now. It started off in a grungy little space with 5 or 6 friends and it’s just strengthened through the years. Hi-way has been the best. It came together really well, from the invite to the space to the press, the size of the work and the depth of the work. They’re not just small ones they’re bodies of work… that’s not really happened so much before with The Upholstery.

Is it difficult being up here?
I think it’s just as easy, to tell you the truth, to stay up here than it is to move down south. In bigger terms governments and organizations are looking more regional, the big centres have already had their push; Regional is the big thing, especially when hot spots like the Upholstery are rocking in the regional spots.
Art or Money?
I still do it for the art, but in realistic terms I also do it for the money. My stuff’s sellable, that’s not selling out that’s real terms. So many concepts have been explored & exploited and pushed & prodded. People have seen and know a lot of that stuff already, you can sort of just make art now for the sake of it – that it looks cool and doesn’t have to be so conceptually deep. But a lot of art is now accessing the real world, real world people and they’re getting real world feelings when they look at it.
It’s taking the wank out of art and putting it in real terms.

What’s coming up in the future for The Upholstery?
I’m starting to plan out next year’s calendar soon, we’re gonna get started with funding for that now. As for this year – Sideshow is July 11th, a week before the Cairns Show. That will be looking at anything to do with sideshow, emotions, freaks, fairy floss, balloons, rides, little fluffy lambs, the petting zoo, whatever. Then in September it will be Suburban; that will be set in a suburb, in a house and is a part of Festival Cairns. And then Industria in November will be in a shed or warehouse. It’s not such a hard core thing, industry can be anything from the tourist industry, to the food industry to hard core metal industry, anything, clothing, anything. People’s versions of thinking will change the way the show looks. Then there will be a Christmas show in December.

Where can people find you?
At www.theupholstery.com or they can e-mail me at wally@theupholstery.com

That’s pretty much the best way to find us…