Speaking of Australian Art Collector, the latest issue features a cover with Melbourne artist Monika Tichacek raising her arm in the name of publicity. Covers for AAC have been a very mixed bag indeed straying away from the original formula of featuring art on the cover into personality shots of artists without actually including their work at all. Perhaps inevitably, Ted Colless is the author of the Tichacek profile. If there is an ingénue artist in Melbourne Colless doesn’t know about, then they’re not worthing knowing about. Writes Colless:
“It was an unforgettable experience – or at least, it felt like it couldn’t be anything else – but, looking back, it now seems impossible to describe. It hangs there in your mind, unwilling to depart but staying obscure, almost as it could have been a dream or hallucination or something you only saw sidelong in slow motion, like cruising past a car accident. Not that you ever get a chance to look away from Monika Tichacek’s work…”
We haven’t felt this flustered since our last hot bath and a large beaker of glowing Absinthe. Phew.
The AAC cover, as we were saying, features Tichacek’s armpit which in some circles is a distinct no-no, but in biker magazines is seen as a definite plus, and had us furiously thumbing through the issue to see if we could find a few babes on hogs, one breast defiantly exposed for the camera. Crazy? The artist also sports some very impressive tatts which on o the left arm says “Love Sick” and on the right arm “Forever” each word over a blood-red heart. On her chest is a large flaming heart and cross complete with wreaths and two birds on either shoulder. Posed against a buttoned pink surface which may or may not be silk, the artist also has a wry smile on her lips. We know that there are people who think that this cover does not belong on an art magazine, but given that AAC’s last cover featured the back of Jennifer McCamley’s head looking at a pot plant, we know which one we prefer.
