House 1 - The Art Collector, John Kaldor
John Kaldor was born in Hungry in 1936 and emigrated to Sydney in 1949 after the communist takeover. He is probably best known for his work with the Kaldor Public Art Projects (large public art commissions that have bought important international as well as local contemporary artworks/artisits to the Australian public) and more recently as a philanthropist after his very generous donation of his art collection in 2008 (estimated to be worth AU$40m) to the Art Gallery of New South Wales (see the John Kaldor Family Gallery). Kaldor is a described as being a dedicated collector, supporter and patron of contemporary art (pop-art) and has been collecting and commissioning artworks since the late 1950s. He attributes his interest in art to spending time in Paris Museums as a child in 1948 after his family fled Hungry. He sees an important connection between art and society, referring to Venice (a place which he loves) as being remembered for its art and not it's naval power in the Middle-Ages/Renaissance. The way Kaldor sees it, Art can be used as an important tool to reflect contemporary society of a time, in his work with the public art projects and his desire to share art with the public he hopes to make snap-shots of society available to everyone.
House 2 - Artist in Residence (3 month rotation residence)
As a reflection of Kaldor's desire to bridge the gap between the public and contemporary art in Australia, the second house will be an Artist in Residence program in which an artist will live in for a period of three months to produce an artwork which documents/reflects the contemporary societal climate (people, issues, concerns, direction, movement, etc.). There will be a three month rotation of artists, four artists will live within the space (and four or more artworks will be produced) each year.
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