[-empyre-] Nick Waterlow's death

[Anna Munster]

Hi All,
Nick was a good colleague to me and many of us at COFA, where I and Michele Barker, who moderated a month on empyre last year, worked. We are all devastated - here one day, expected the next and then something so unfathomable.

Nick was a guy who was  a bit cheeky;  humorous and gentle and encouraging and invigorated by art, especially experimental art. I recently co-curated and exhibited in a show at the Ivan Dougherty Gallery where he was a director. At the opening, Nick got really excited about the different ways we had used monitors, screens and projections in a show that was completely DVD and new media based. He felt we'd pushed out of the black room-projection scenario and hit on something different.His excitement meant something to me, coming from someone with such vast knowledge of art over the last 30 years or so.

He was very open and interested in media arts and on new things to do with gallery spaces. Nick and I were were working on a committee to drive a new gallery and structure for local and international partnerships at COFA. His knowledge and openness will be sorely missed in that context.

Just to clarify - his grand-daughter has actually survived the incident. I hope that we will find some way in the next few weeks to pay tribute to him at the Gallery and I'll post on this list for anyone in Australia who wants to come,
best
Anna

A/Prof. Anna Munster
Director of Postgraduate Research (Acting)
Deputy Director Centre for Contemporary Art and Politics
School of Art History and Art Education
College of Fine Arts
UNSW
P.O. Box 259
Paddington
NSW 2021
612 9385 0741 (tel)
612 9385 0615(fax)
a.munster at unsw.edu.au
________________________________________
From: empyre-bounces at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au [empyre-bounces at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au] On Behalf Of Gianni Wise [gana at iinet.net.au]
Sent: Tuesday, 10 November 2009 5:05 PM
To: soft_skinned_space
Subject: Re: [-empyre-] Nick Waterlow's death

yes I am totally stunned. He was very much part of so many lives. And
to have lost such a young life in a grand daughter. I personally find
all of this hard to comprehend.   And so i am sure would so many others.
On 10/11/2009, at 4:54 PM, Timothy Conway Murray wrote:

> Dear Members of the -empyre- community,
>
> I am forwarding this fibreculture announcement from Melinda Rackham
> of
> the shocking death of Nick Waterlow, Curator of the Ivan Dougherty
> Gallery
> at the University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts, which
> hosts our
> server.   I'm sure you all join me in wishing Melinda and her
> Australian
> colleagues our very best.
>
> Tim
>
>
>
> We were shocked this morning to here of the tragic death of Nick
> Waterlow.
>
> Nick Waterlow director of Sydney's third Biennale and curator of the
> Ivan Dougherty Gallery was murdered last night. Nick and his daughter
> were found dead of multiple stab wounds, and his 2½-year-old grand
> daughter remains in a serious condition at Sydney Children's Hospital.
> Nick was an inspiration to many and mentored at least two generations
> of Australian artists and art administrators.
>
> Professor Ian Howard, Dean of the University of NSW’s College of Fine
> Arts, said the college was shocked and devastated at the news of Mr
> Waterlow’s death.
>
> ‘‘It is beyond belief and beyond reason that such a person of high
> standing, of such respect, could meet this tragic end.’’
>
> Speaking outside the college’s Ivan Dougherty Gallery in Darlinghurst,
> Professor Howard said Mr Waterlow was great mentor to students and had
> played a major role in three Sydney Biennales.
>
> ‘‘So this has international ramifications in terms of the loss of this
> great mind, this great curator.’’
>
> The Dougherty Gallery remained closed. A note placed on it’s entrance
> said it would remain closed until further notice.
>
> Professor Howard, who had known Mr Waterlow for about 30 years, said
> the curator was a great friend.
>
> His voice faltering, he described how only a couple of nights ago at a
> Bacchus ball ‘‘Nick was there in full swing as a 68-year-old acting
> like an 18-year-old back in the ‘60s. He was a great personality, a
> great friend, and a great family person.’’
>
> http://www.smh.com.au/national/randwick-killings-police-release-image-of-suspect-20091110-i5l0.html
>
>
> sadly
>
> Melinda
>
> Melinda Rackham
> melinda at subtle.net
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> http://www.subtle.net/empyre

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