BREENSPACE is delighted to present Susan Gibb, curator at Society in conversation with exhibiting artist, Mitch Cairns. His current solo exhibition, 'Bass Principles' is on until 2 June. Mitch Cairns was born 1984 Camden, NSW, he lives and works in Sydney. Graduating from the National Art School in 2006, his practice includes sculpture, performative video and photography, but it is the act of painting that is of central importance. Borrowing from the traditions of slapstick comedy, early conceptual art and the history of Australian painting, Cairns readily embraces the tragic sentiments inherent to these genres. Cairns has held solo exhibitions with BREENSPACE (2008, 2010), MOP Projects, Sydney (2006, 07, 08), Locksmith Projects, Sydney (2008), Boxcopy, Brisbane (2012) and a two-person exhibition with Matthew Tumbers at Society, Sydney (2012). He has been included in group exhibitions at Hazelhurst Regional Art Gallery, Campbelltown Arts Centre and Firstdraft Gallery. Cairns founded ‘The Cosmic Battle for your Heart’ an artist-run space based in Sydney (2009–11), with Brian Fuata and Agatha Gothe-Snape, a survey of which was exhibited last year at Artspace, Sydney. He will be living and working in New York for the second half of 2012.

Susan Gibb is a curator based in Sydney. She currently runs a twelve-month independent curatorial project, Society, from her home in Redfern. Previously Susan worked as the Visual Arts Curator at Carriageworks, an Associate Curator and Project Manager at Campbelltown Arts Centre, and as a Curatorial Assistant at Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest. A recipient of an Asialink Arts Management Residency, Susan has also worked as a Curator-in-Residence at Green Papaya Art Projects, Guest Editor for plantingrice.com and curated an exhibition of Australian and New Zealand video art at the Ishmael Bernal Gallery, University of the Philippines Film Institute, in Manila, The Philippines. She has also written for national and international art publications including ArtAsiaPacific, Art & Australia, Artlink and Artist Profile.