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A review by scribepub
Kiffy Rubbo: curating the 1970s by Janine Burke, Helen Hughes
It is hard not to feel that the culture of the past 35 years has been the poorer without Kiffy Rubbo’s ongoing contribution. But this book testifies to what she gave in her time.
Owen Richardson, The Saturday Age
A reminder of what an extraordinary time the seventies was … I was amazed by what she achieved.
Suzanne Steinbruckner, Readings Monthly
Vividly recalls a leading light at a defining moment in Australian contemporary art.
Art Guide
Among the small but fast-growing cohort of art curators in Australia during the 1970s, Kiffy Rubbo’s light shone the brightest. Kiffy’s ideas for thematic exhibitions were unique for the period, and have echoed through artistic and curatorial practice ever since. The essays in this book are lively, informative, and moving. So, too, are her letters to her elder brother Mike — like her, a member of a remarkably creative family. This book attests to the ongoing impact of her commitment to experimental art, to her infectious enthusiasm for showing it, and to her loving spirit.
Terry Smith, Faha, Australia Council Visual Arts Laureate and Author of Talking Contemporary Curating
I was lucky enough to fall briefly, but memorably, within the aura of Kiffy Rubbo and her pioneering curatorial work during my 1975 visit to Australia. I met some wonderful women who have remained friends for decades. All our exchanges confirmed our passionate belief that women coming together and supporting each other in art and life would change the world ... still a work in progress.
Lucy R. Lippard, author, art critic, activist, and curator
This rich collection of memoirs and documents from a broad circle of artists, critics, friends, and family reveals Kiffy Rubbo to have been an extraordinary advocate for experimental art. A mentor of the avant-garde through the tumultuous era of the seventies, Kiffy Rubbo is a must-read for anyone with a passion for Australian art.
Dr Ann Stephen, Faha, author, art historian, and senior curator, University of Art Gallery and Art Collection, The University of Sydney
Kiffy Rubbo was ahead of her times. To my mind she was the first Australian curator of contemporary art. She believed deeply in the cause of advanced art and artists. She had an extraordinary empathy with artists — and patience! — which gave her a singular place in the Australian art world. How strange but how reassuring it is that a life that was devoted to relatively ephemeral events such as the management of a gallery, exhibitions, installations, and symposia lives on as a memory and source of inspiration to others. She would have been so pleased, so non-plussed and so amused!
Patrick McCaughey, art historian and author of Strange Country: Why Australian Painting Matters
Owen Richardson, The Saturday Age
A reminder of what an extraordinary time the seventies was … I was amazed by what she achieved.
Suzanne Steinbruckner, Readings Monthly
Vividly recalls a leading light at a defining moment in Australian contemporary art.
Art Guide
Among the small but fast-growing cohort of art curators in Australia during the 1970s, Kiffy Rubbo’s light shone the brightest. Kiffy’s ideas for thematic exhibitions were unique for the period, and have echoed through artistic and curatorial practice ever since. The essays in this book are lively, informative, and moving. So, too, are her letters to her elder brother Mike — like her, a member of a remarkably creative family. This book attests to the ongoing impact of her commitment to experimental art, to her infectious enthusiasm for showing it, and to her loving spirit.
Terry Smith, Faha, Australia Council Visual Arts Laureate and Author of Talking Contemporary Curating
I was lucky enough to fall briefly, but memorably, within the aura of Kiffy Rubbo and her pioneering curatorial work during my 1975 visit to Australia. I met some wonderful women who have remained friends for decades. All our exchanges confirmed our passionate belief that women coming together and supporting each other in art and life would change the world ... still a work in progress.
Lucy R. Lippard, author, art critic, activist, and curator
This rich collection of memoirs and documents from a broad circle of artists, critics, friends, and family reveals Kiffy Rubbo to have been an extraordinary advocate for experimental art. A mentor of the avant-garde through the tumultuous era of the seventies, Kiffy Rubbo is a must-read for anyone with a passion for Australian art.
Dr Ann Stephen, Faha, author, art historian, and senior curator, University of Art Gallery and Art Collection, The University of Sydney
Kiffy Rubbo was ahead of her times. To my mind she was the first Australian curator of contemporary art. She believed deeply in the cause of advanced art and artists. She had an extraordinary empathy with artists — and patience! — which gave her a singular place in the Australian art world. How strange but how reassuring it is that a life that was devoted to relatively ephemeral events such as the management of a gallery, exhibitions, installations, and symposia lives on as a memory and source of inspiration to others. She would have been so pleased, so non-plussed and so amused!
Patrick McCaughey, art historian and author of Strange Country: Why Australian Painting Matters