Art In Preview

Claudio Kirac has enjoyed the ocean and photography since he was young, and now he will get to combine those interests at the ‘Bleach* Surfing the Fringe’ Festival.

Held on the Gold Coast, ‘Bleach*’ is a showcase of art, music, photography, fashion and film by over 30 local and international artists.

The festival is perfect for artists such as Claudio Kirac, who has an internationally recognised career with various roles including professional photographer, artist, designer and consultant. It was this knowledge of the surfing industry and graphics that resulted in him being involved with the festival.

“Ever since I was young I wanted to do art, it was all I wanted to do with my career. So I progressed through doing illustration, painting, graphic design and then photography just over ten years ago and I have just kept flowing with that for some time,” Claudio said.

“I still do my other modalities of work such as illustration and graphics, but photography has me travelling and paying a lot of the bills.”

Growing up around the ocean has certainly had an influential impact on his work. “I used to go to Ulladulla and Batemans Bay quite a lot because I was from NSW at Queanbeyan but ever since I was really little, and being a Pisces, I’m very much in the ocean all the time. “I did choose a career that takes me to Tahiti and Hawaii and Bali and all these other places which was unintentional but I find myself very coastal when I’m shooting. However I do go to other places — New York City, Tokyo, LA — so there’s quite a bit of contrast.”

Claudio said the ‘Bleach*’ festival will be able to help and inspire young people who wish to pursue their career in an artistic direction such as photography. “There’s such a broad range of working professionals in the industry who will all be visiting so it’s good to see their career span, and there’s a lot of up and coming photographers and painters as well. So having them alongside established people like Ted Grambeau is fantastic. It’s definitely out to inspire people to do what they want with their passion and do it as their career and not just as their hobby.”

‘Bleach*’ is not just a traditional art gallery. The festival includes mobile music truck concerts, children’s theatre performances and workshops, a street party in Currumbin, exclusive gourmet dining events and outdoor projections and cinematic experiences.

This makes ‘Bleach*’ the largest arts festival ever held at the Gold Coast. ‘Bleach*’ is also a timely festival. While the two-week festival is running, there will also be the ‘Breaka Burleigh Pro’, the ‘Kirra Teams Challenge’, and the world tour ‘Quicksilver Pro’ and ‘Roxy Pro’.

With this combination of events, there is sure to be many national and international guests coming to the Gold Coast, and Claudio agrees. “Even if it’s just the surf industry people, that’s a major influx of people to the coast,” Claudio said.

“Hopefully people will drive from other northern New South Wales towns and Queensland towns to check out the festival because it’ll be worth it.”

‘Bleach* Surfing the Fringe’ Festival runs February 11 – 26 at iconic venues and beaches on the Gold Coast spanning from Currumbin to Coolangatta.