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In July an (officially certified), beautiful baby boy is born. His parents name him Ronald Stephen Meerbeek.
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It was in this year that Ron Meerbeek moves from his native Geelong to start a four year Bachelor of Education (Art and Craft) course at
Melbourne State College where he quickly sets about becoming a living work of art (his infamous ‘Bird-shit suit’ influenced avant-garde
fashion for several seasons and his year long stint as the pyjama man of North Carlton is undoubtedly still indelibly etched in the minds
of the local children).
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After taking a year off to live in London, he graduates at the end of 1981, and his first officially documented exhibition comes in the
final year show at the Gryphon Gallery. As well as designing the poster and postcard, he displays three found-object sculptures.
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Gryphon Gallery (Australia).
16th - 27th November - The Sentiment is Genuine.
Unfortunately, no visual documentation remains of these works, so a written description will have to suffice.
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1: Pigs Can Fly: a vaguely pig-shaped, black-and-yellow glazed, ceramic pot with an explosion of toy pigs on springs erupting out of the spout,
and all of it suspended on a larger spring.
2: On the Road to Cairo: a sixties metal toy car is driving along a strip of white marble towards an oasis of plastic palm trees at the other
end, and all sat on a bed of the finest St Kilda sand.
3: Cot Death: The work was ostensibly a shadow originating from three photographic negatives taped roughly to a sheet of glass and hung in
front of a spotlight. Contained within the mechanism for projection was a small hurdy-gurdy which theoretically (if you could stretch up
the requisite ten feet), would play For Elise.
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It was in this same year that he executes the two record cover designs for Jo Jo Zep and The Sports, which can be found in
illustrations.
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In February of this year, Meerbeek moves back to London permanently and finds employment at the Record and Tape Exchange,
where he can indulge his twin pleasures of shocking people and listening to music.
He spends the next seven years combining work as a lowly shop girl with a duel career of artist and musician.
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It was midway through this year that Two Big Boys (TBB for short),
play their debut gig, appearing as the headline act at a
Movements Disco special event
at the Diorama. Featuring Ron Meerbeek and Stella Venucci on vocals, Birdie Chow Mien on guitar and tapes, and Harry Day on bass, the group present
a six song set of original material, as well as creating their own unique psychedelic visuals.
TBB are joined by Baxter Martin on saxophone and in October they present an all-night event at the Scala Cinema in Kings X, London -
again, in conjunction with Movements Disco
- where they present three cult movies, as well as performing an eight song set dressed in
all-white with Tex Avery cartoons projected onto them.
A tape of this gig is available for sale at the shop .
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This year also sees some of his cartoon strips published in several magazines.
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Crowd Magazine (Australia).
Issue 1: Youth Graphics in Art Galleries
Issue 2: Karen on the Dole
Issue 3: Interview with Derek Jarmon
Square Peg (Australia).
Issue 4: I want to be like my Cousin Karen - part one
Issue 5: I want to be like my Cousin Karen - part two
The Fred (London).
Issue 8: The complete Karen
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TBB begin gigging around London scoring prestigious support slots with Bronski Beat,
and in their first ever gig, the Pet Shop Boys.
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They also continue supporting good causes, such as a playing a benefit gig on 13-6-85 to raise money for this year’s Gay Pride event.
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The band start to receive some press attention, including a brief appearance in i.D.
magazine and a two page article in Zipper (!).
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More gigs, as well as time spent in Bedrock Studios recording their debut single.
The studio owner and producer of the record - Nick Biddle - joins the band on guitar.
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TBB finally release their only single -
Monkeys on Smack and
Nefertiti,
both with lyrics by Meerbeek
(limited numbers of the 7” are still available to purchase from the shop ).
The single garners good reviews, some of which are reproduced here.
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The band play solidly throughout this year, culminating in a headline gig at the Greyhound
in Fulham where they receive some of the best reviews of their career.
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It is in this year that Meerbeek also begins exhibiting his paintings and appears in two group shows.
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Young Unknowns Gallery (London).
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2nd - 25th March: The Immaculate Conception and Other Amazing Stories
He displays the painting, The Immaculate conception
(which can be seen in the paintings section).
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The Diorama (London).
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24th May - 7th June: The Outlook
He displays Acid…It’s Eating Her Face!
(which can be seen in the paintings section).
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$!@*? (Australia)
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Disposing of George.
A new Karen cartoon strip is published in a bizarrely titled
Australian cartoon anthology $!@*? (actual title).
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This will be the last year for TBB. The band play some gigs early in the year, after which Stella Venucci leaves the group,
to be replaced by Lisa Dawson Whisker.
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Then ill-health forces Baxter Martin to also leave, and with their essential twin hearts gone,
the gig at The Cricketers will prove to be their swansong.
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With TBB disbanded and having quit his job at the Record and Tape exchange, Meerbeek spends the next seven years basically doing nothing.
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Meerbeek emerges from his cocoon and begins painting again. He moves briefly to a studio in Borough where he co-produces a drawing with
Gary Ratushniak which is then exhibited in Aaar exhibition.
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Canberra School of Art Gallery.
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9th - 24th August: Aaar (Australian Artists Against Racism).
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This is also the year he begins creating illustrations
for Positive Nation.
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Meerbeek moves to a studio in The Old Truman’s Brewery, where he remains for several happy years.
It was in the foyer of this beautiful building, as well as in an Old Street café, that he begins exhibiting his work.
He also appears in a group show at a Shoreditch gallery featuring two of his cartoons.
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Truman’s Building Foyer.
29th June - 16th July - Motherlava.
21st July - 18th August - Kate.
23rd August - 29th September - Angry Japanese Girl.
1st October - 1st November - Talk is Cheap (£500.00).
13th November - 13th December - Wormhead.
14th December - 14th January - Motherlava (reprise).
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Axiom Café.
29th June - 29th September - Hot Coals, Lava and a Poodle.
1st October - 1st December - Key Paintings for Future Allegories.
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Upstairs at the Clerks House.
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22nd July - 6th September - Keen City.
(he exhibited
I Want to be Like My Cousin Karen, and
The Ugly Cats, both of which can be found
in the cartoons section).
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Positive nation (London).
Issue 27 (February) - two articles
Issue 28 (March) - two articles
Issue 29 (April) - two articles
Issue 30 (May) - two articles including cover
Issue 31 (June) - one article
Issue 32 (July) - two articles
Issue 34 ( September) - one article
Issue 35 (October) - one article
Issue 36 (November) - one article
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Meerbeek continues exhibiting at Truman’s Building Foyer and the Axiom Café.
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Truman’s Building Foyer.
1st February - 1st April - Key paintings for Future Allegories.
1st May - 1st July - Spectrum Twelve.
1st July - 1st October - We Should be Dancing.
1st November - 1st February - God Fucks Dog.
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Axiom Café.
1st February - 1st April - Spectrum Twelve.
1st May - 1st July - You Should be Dancing.
1st July - 1st October - Cats and Babies.
1st November - 1st February - The Ugly Cats Versus the Baby Invaders.
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His illustration work at
Positive Nation continues for one more issue before
editorial restructuring forces him to take a break.
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Positive nation (London).
Issue 40 (March) - two articles
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Meerbeek moves to Mother Studios in Hackney Wick where he begins painting in his
Abstract Literalism style in earnest.
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He once again starts doing occasional illustrations for
Positive Nation.
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Positive nation (London).
Issue 52 (March) - one article
Issue 57 (August) - one article
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Away from the security of Truman’s Brewery and the Axiom, Ron Meerbeek begins exhibiting in other alternative venues including
Pinxtos
(situated in a restaurant at the base of the Barbican’s Shakespeare Tower),
the events room at
John Brown Publishers,
and the foyer of the
Ritzy Cinema.
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Pinxtos
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10th March - 10th April - Shoes of Imaginary Beings
(a selection from 120 paintings)
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13th October - 13th November - Shoes of Imaginary Beings
(a further selection from 120 paintings
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John Brown Publishers
July - September - Cats and Babies and Other Bits and Bobs
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Ritzy Cinema Foyer
1st December - Black Xmas / White Xmas
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Meerbeek produces a photographic series cataloguing a series of Andy Warhol billboards
that are appearing around London. He exhibits the results in two concurrent venues at the opposite sides of the globe.
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Pinxtos
March - April - Posters Around London
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Canberra School of Art Gallery
March - April - Posters Around London
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Meerbeek leaves his Hackney Wick Studio. All in all, a quiet year.
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Positive nation (London).
Issue 99 (February) - one article
Issue 100 (March) - one article
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Meerbeek joins the Studio 1.1 collective
(www.studio1-1.co.uk) - an artist run space in Redchurch Street, Shoreditch.
His responsibilities include the curating and installation of the shows, artist liaison and gallery maintenance.
The following is an edited list of some of the shows he works on.
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Studio 1.1 (London).
Cees Krijnen
13th Feb to 24th Mar 2004 - Woman in Divorce Battle on Tour 2004
John Dougill
2nd Apr to 2nd May 2004 - New paintings
Carrie Yamaoka
21st May to 27th Jun 2004 - New work
Terry Smith
9th Jul to 8th Aug 2004 - One thing leads to another
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Meerbeek continues working at
Studio 1.1..
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Studio 1.1 (London).
Jo Longhurst
4th Feb to 6th Mar 2005 - Breed
Jefford Horrigan
29th Apr to 29th May 2005 - Drain
Darran Leaf
15th Jul to 14th Aug 2005 - fuck off
Anna Boggon
3rd Jun to 3rd Jul 2005 - little by little
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At the end of the year, Studio 1.1 takes over the entire offices of Art and Business in Southwark and stages
a huge group show entitled
Sleigh. Meerbeek exhibits his specially commissioned
cartoon
We don’t care about the old folk.
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Studio 1.1 (London).
Keran James
13th Jan - 12th Feb 2006 - ANOTHER PLANET
Chris Dobrowolski
24th Feb - 26th Mar 2006 - Offer Must End Soon
Annie Kevans
7th Apr - 7th May 2006, 8th Dec 2006 - 14th Jan 2007 - Girls
David Ben White
27th Oct to 26th Nov 2006 - Fantastical Lies; Supreme Truths
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This is the year that Meerbeek presents his semi-recent / semi-retrospective solo show at Studio 1.1.
Working in mediums as diverse as painting, installation, drawing, pen and ink and found object sculpture,
he literally fills the gallery with his work.
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Studio 1.1 (London).
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7th July - 6th August - T.O.E. (Theory of Everything)
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At the end of the year, he takes part in the Xmas show, exhibiting the
cartoon
The Awakening.
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Studio 1.1 (London)
8th December - 14th January - GROTTO.
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It was midway through this year that Meerbeek leaves Studio 1.1 - although he does appear in the Xmas show exhibiting the painting
Auto-fellatio.
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Studio 1.1 (London)
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7th December - 23rd December - Have yourself…
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In partnership with the artist Tom Estes, Meerbeek presents a short exhibition entitled
LOST GIRLS (found objects)
(www.myspace.com/lostgirlsfoundobjects).
He shows two found object manipulations -
Mary and Disco Kali.
It will prove to be his final flirtation with the wicked world of visual arts, and he has not made any ‘art product’ since.
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NO:ID Gallery (London)
25th - 28th September - Lost Girls (found objects).
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Meerbeek begins writing his first novel entitled
K’s World.
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Meerbeek continues writing, completing work on two further novels -
Heaven and
Severin and Persephone,
the novella Smell of Female,
as well as several short stories including
Queen of Brixton and
Other Queens of England which eventually find a home
on the website www.short-fiction.co.uk.
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He is asked to produce an artists monograph for the Australian publishers
SFA Press,
and in November, he begins work on
Persistence of Memory.
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Continues writing, producing a further three short stories and the genesis of another four novels.
Meerbeek’s manipulated photograph and short prose piece
Portrait/self appear in Antonio Nodar’s hefty tome -
From Portrait to Self Portrait.
His illustrated novella Persistence of Memory is finally released.
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In January of this year, Meerbeek returns to his old haunt, Studio1.1, to present a special performance for the official launch of his book,
Persistence of Memory.
His intentions are best explained in the writer's statement that accompanied the performance.
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“Ever since the desert had swallowed the entire east coast almost one hundred years ago, the great island continent had been effectively abandoned…”
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So says Ichnaea Chen in the novel, Persistence of Memory.,
when she discovers the object of her obsession was from the abandoned continent of Australia. But what caused the catastrophic exodus?
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In the - as yet unwritten - story, Lost and Found,
I will attempt to shed some light on these events by exploring what life is like for the few who were left behind.
From this ecological disaster, an entirely new type of city has emerged.
A city not fixed to a particular place, but a mobile fortress, able to travel across the whole nation, from shore to shore.
A city built in isolation, with citizens uniquely out of step with the rest of the world.
A city whose people are gradually becoming aware that the desert is at last receding and it will soon be time to emerge, kicking and screaming into the 23rd century.
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Armed with only a time line, a context-setting prologue, and a rough synopsis, for two days I will sit at the desk and write their story.
By projecting the words on the computer screen onto the walls, the audience will be able to witness the story unfolding, word-by-word, page-by-page, and chapter-by-chapter.
As each page is finished, it will be printed off and placed on the walls until - at the end of the second day - the completed Lost and Found
will run the perimeter of the gallery.
A hard copy of will also be available to take away and the story will appear on the artist/writer’s new website
www.ronmeerbeek.com the following day.
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