Narelle Jubelin facts for kids

Narelle Jubelin is an Australian artist born in 1960. She has lived and worked in Madrid, Spain, since 1996. Narelle creates many types of art, including sculptures, prints, and multi-media installations. She is especially known for her unique "petit point" stitching, which uses a single thread. She has shown her art around the world for over 30 years. In 1990, her work was even featured at the famous Venice Biennale art show. Her art is part of the Cruthers Collection of Women's Art. Narelle's work often explores ideas about different cultures sharing things, the hard work of women, modern art styles, and how buildings and history connect.

Early Life and Art Studies

Narelle Jubelin was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1960. She went to the Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education. There, she earned a Bachelor of Education in Art in 1982. She then continued her studies at the University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts. In 1983, she received a Graduate Diploma in Professional Art Studies.

Narelle Jubelin's Art Career

Narelle Jubelin's artworks often turn large architectural paintings and photos into tiny petit point pieces. Petit point is a very fine type of needlework. It uses colored cotton thread and a special silk mesh. People say that by making big artworks into small stitched pieces, Narelle highlights the hard work women do. She also shows how slow and often unnoticed this kind of work can be.

Using Petit Point in Art

Jubelin's use of petit point needlework to recreate buildings and landscapes is a response to certain art styles. It connects to the simple, non-emotional types of art from the late Modernism period. This is especially true for the works of artists like Bernd and Hilla Becher. Narelle's art often looks at global issues from the late 1980s and early 1990s. These were times when Australia was thinking about its history, new technologies, and many different cultures.

Starting Firstdraft Gallery

In 1985, Narelle Jubelin helped start the Firstdraft Gallery in Sydney. This gallery became an important place for new artists to show their work.

Early Works and Messages

One of Narelle's first important works is The Unforeseen (1989). It features petit point art placed inside old wooden frames. The main stitched part shows a man going into a mining cave. This central part looks like the pupil of an eye. It is said to comment on how men explored and developed new lands in the past. It also highlights how women's achievements were often not valued as much. Using women's hobbies and home crafts is key to this artwork and many others by Jubelin. It helps to show that these crafts are just as important as other art forms. The eye shape in the artwork seems to watch the viewers. This makes people think about how they see and understand the art.

Representing Australia at Venice Biennale

Narelle Jubelin became well-known for her work Trade Delivers People. This artwork was shown at the 1990 Venice Biennale. She represented Australia at this major international art event. Trade Delivers People explores how different cultures share ideas. It also looks at how symbols from local cultures can be used globally, sometimes making them seem strange or foreign.

Connecting Places with Soft Shoulder

Soft Shoulder (1997) explores ideas similar to Trade Delivers People. This was Narelle's first artwork shown in the United States. It was displayed at the Renaissance Society of the University of Chicago. The artwork aimed to show how people and places are connected. It explored how these connections happen by chance, by fate, or through people moving and sharing things. Using petit point works, Soft Shoulder tried to link Chicago and Australia. It asked important questions about identity and what it means to feel like you belong somewhere.

Case No. T961301 and Remembering History

Case No. T961301 was first shown at the Tate Liverpool Gallery in 1998. The artwork included two round, stainless steel tables hanging in the air. On the tables were written notes, cutlery, petit points, and photos. These items were directly linked to four English women activists. They were known as the "Ploughshares Four." These women tried to stop a plane from being used in East Timor as a peaceful protest. They used everyday items like cutlery to damage the plane. This artwork by Jubelin helps people remember important actions from the past.

Major Art Exhibitions

The first big show of Narelle Jubelin's work was in 2012. It was called Vision in Motion. This exhibition displayed her petit point, collaborative, and video artworks. It was shown at three major Australian university museums: The University of Sydney, Monash University, and the University of South Australia. These works focused on buildings and environments. They explored the history of Australian Modernist art through women's crafts and needlework.

Exploring Home with The Housing Question

Jubelin's exhibition The Housing Question was shown in 2019. She created it with Helen Grace. This exhibition used text, video, and needlework. It looked at ideas of home, safety, and security. It also thought about issues like homelessness and people being displaced from their homes. The petit point works in this exhibition directly used photos of her family home taken by her father.

Where to Find Her Art

Narelle Jubelin's art is now held in many important public collections. These include the Albertina Print Museum in Vienna and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. Her work has been shown all over the world. Places like the José Guerrero Center in Granada, Artists' Space in Jerusalem, and the Marlborough Contemporary in London have featured her art. Since 1987, the Cruthers Collection of Women's Art has collected many of Jubelin's works.

Solo Exhibitions

• 2016
  • Primitive Flamenco, The Commercial Gallery, Sydney
  • Primitive Flamenco, Marlborough Contemporary, London
• 2013
  • Vision in Motion, Samstag Museum, University of South Australia, Adelaide
• 2012
  • Afterimage, La Casa Encendida, Madrid
  • Vision in Motion, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne
  • Vision in Motion, University of Sydney, Sydney
• 2008
  • Hairy Hair, Luis Serpa Projects Gallery, Lisbon
• 2006
  • Ungrammatical Landscape, José Guerrero Center, Granada
• 2003
  • Duration Houses, Mori Gallery, Sydney
• 1999
  • Case No: T961301, Mori Gallery, Sydney
• 1997
  • Soft Shoulder, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
• 1995
  • Soft Shoulder, Gray Art Gallery & Study Center, New York University, New York
• 1994
  • Soft Shoulder, The Renaissance Society, the University of Chicago, Chicago
• 1993
  • Estate, Galerie Knoll, Budapest
• 1992
  • Dead Slow, Center for Contemporary Art, Glasgow
• 1990
  • Trade Delivers People, Venice Biennale, Venice
• 1987
  • Re-presenting His Story, Institute of Technology, Architecture Faculty Gallery, Sydney
• 1986
  • His Story, Mori Gallery, Sydney