Rave mag interview.

Rave mag did a cool little story on the gallery:

"SARAH WERKMEISTER takes a look at new Fortitude Valley art space NINE LIVES, a boutique gallery and creative space with the intent to showcase leftfield, pop culture and fringe efforts from creators both local and international.

Aptly named Nine Lives, this project has been started by a group of people, ranging from photographers, to filmmakers, graphic designers and more – Lachie, Matt, Chad, Sam and Stew are just five of the crew I meet today – some who have a penchant for sport of the extreme variety, and some who don’t. “The reason we’ve called the gallery Nine Lives is because there’s nine of us all trying to put it together”, says Chad. The gallery is starting up as a sort of kickstart for creative genres not being looked after in our sweet little town.

Just above Mellino’s Café in the Brunswick Street Mall, these nine creatives have rented the previously disused room and transformed it into a respectable space for showing art, with a homely, buzzy feeling that you find hard to ignore when leaving. It came out of their desire to create a space catering for the uncatered-for; art that isn’t for the white box’s sake, but for life instead. “We want to bring in all the artists that 90% of other galleries reject,” Matt says.

What I find most amazing about it is that they did it all off their own backs, without government grants and bowing down to the institutions that practice the same strategies year in year out. If you’ve been to China Heights in Sydney, loved 610 or The Whitehouse, read Monster Children or Juxtapoz (not for the advertisements), you’re bound to find this gallery quite intriguing.

Their opening show has quite a stunning line-up, with Mr. Mark Drew (who co-runs China Heights in Sydney), displaying some of his screenprints of tapes that we all know and love. Drew is influenced by the things around him, incorporating strong design elements, sometimes fashion, and sometimes representations of those moments that we never want to forget. He has quite the Ice Cube “I don’t give a f**k” attitude.

Another artist participating in this show is Darko, who also designs clothing and t-shirts. His tough, almost pop, iconography is bound to stay in your mind after a single viewing. Using elements of collage, text, and traditional illustrative design, Darko questions the quest and leaves us with a little wonder. Centering on the abject and the absurd, local artist Nick S also uses collage, but in a more minimal sense. Drawing reference from personal experience and, I gather, lucid dreaming, his hilarious and strange drawings conjure up those feelings we thought we never liked. There is also some photography work in this show, namely by a photographer called Luke Shirlaw (from local design company The Kingdom Of Sad Machines), who takes amazing party photos of his friends forgetting their woes. Some other artists featured in this show include Joel Birch (also TKOSM), Yimmy Yayo, Rob Scott, Glenn Manders (Bad Teeth), Megan Cullen, Elana Mullaly and Luke Newman (Bare Bones).

One of the main goals of the gallery is to set up some sort of network for the community, nab some international acts here and there, and hold workshops where people can come along and learn something without pressure. They also encourage partnerships with galleries from down south, and want to put Brisbane on the map as far as the whole creative vibe goes. Their influence seems to stem from a great list of galleries and that whole West Coast of America vibe, where thirst actually is everything, and people don’t stop. With the help of Carpenter-in-Residence Joel Morris, building the gallery in five weeks has certainly proven that. They also encourage multi-disciplinary practices and collaborations, and you’ll find not only 2D works coming up, but also digital and sculptural works.

Some other shows approaching include artist French and a collaboration with Monster Children. Film nights are in the pipeline, which should be exciting seeing as the only place you can really view awesome, locally-produced video clips and short films lately is either on Rage, at universities, or under the deafening noise of a nightclub.

They’re only open on the weekends at this point, which is a good time if you’re in the Valley and want to quickly have a look at some art, get sidetracked, and then remember that you have to see a band that night. It opens this Friday and is open each evening over the weekend. If you feel like a bit of a rest from the chaos outside, and an au naturale buzzy feeling, why not check it out after dinner or before a band!

NINE LIVES opens on Friday Oct 24 at 7pm, above Mellino’s in the Fortitude Valley Mall, and remains open all weekend. www.wehaveninelives.com"