the fiasco of Guildford Lane Gallery of Melbourne
the extended version

Guildford Lane Gallery, Redleg, Robert Cripps

Guildford Lane Gallery is run by the toxic Robert Cripps. AVOID THIS GALLERY ASSIDUOUSLY!
Had I been aware of him, or had information on him been available prior to our agreeing to exhibit at Guildford Lane Gallery I (and my co-exhibitor, Lee-Anne Raymond) would NEVER have dealt with him. This page expands on criticism already made about the experience of exhibiting at his gallery [exhibitions].

There are several words with which I can describe Cripps: poisonos, vile, repellent, malignant, racist, liar, bellicose, bully, stupid.

Cripps also runs Redleg a transporter of art
can you trust Cripps' Redleg?

Much money was spent by myself and my co-exhibitor Lee-Anne Raymond to make this show a success. This has turned out to be a waste of money. The owner, Robert Cripps, had, at the time of writing this, still not paid us for work that sold during the show [payment was eventually made over 6 weeks later - after we sought legal advice]. Payment of moneis owed was only secured when we were forced into 'agreeing' to terms which were never in the original contractural agreemnet with Cripps, but which he demanded we agree to. He gained 'agreement' by placing us under financal duress. That he procured 'agreement' by duress renders this 'agreement' legally voidable.

During the course of the exhibition he, by his actions, circumvented our capacity to promote our work. Cripps turned the exhibition into an expensive debacle for us, but he made a profit on it.

Below: a photograph of some of the works exhibited at the June-July exhibition in 2009. The exhibition was of never-before exhibited works by myself and Lee-Anne Raymond. A fully illustrated catalogue was published to accompany the exhibition. (the catalogue can be purchased here). Essays which are featured in the catalogue were pinned alongside our artwork in the exhibition.

Cripps is a self-confessed racist [the new-left Nazis]
He is a manifestation of the new-left who have adopted the sentiments Hitler expressed in his Mein Kampf, but who believe that, though theirs and Hitler's sentiments are the same, their racism is a 'justifiable' one [new-left Nazis].

	Cripps took exception to my explanatory essays. Some of my essays juxtapose quotes from both the Old and New Testaments alongside Hitler's Mein Kampf, to show that Hitler's racial exterminations were Biblical (religious). [An assessment of Hitler's Christianity] Hitler wrote: "...I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord." Mein Kampf p.60, Manheim translation. Hitler's enmity of Jews is based on 1 Thessalonians 2.13-16 from the New Testament [details].
				above: one of Cripps' many disclaimers (circled)
Yet it was not the exposure of the Biblical basis of Hitler's racism that Cripps took exception to. His actual objection was to my quoting from the Koran, particularly 9.38-52, in which the god of Islam, "Allah", guarantees automatic "martyrdom" to those who are killed while in the act of killing non-Muslims. According to Cripps, quoting the Koran is insensitive to "Palestine", because he is opposed to, as he said, "the Jew's state in Palestine." He then accused me of "racism"! (Neither "Israel" or "Palestine", or the conflict there are mentioned in the exhibition) For Cripps the actions of "Palestinian" (Arab Muslim) suicide murderers in killing Jews are justified. My quotes form the Koran show unambiguously that these acts are crimes committed on behalf of Islam. These quotes mean: - that the Jews killed in Israel are victims of Islamic intolerance; - that the Jews have not brought the situation upon themselves by their actions to which "Palestinians" are reacting. The Koran predates the existence of the modern state of Israel by over 1300 years; - that his hatred of Jews is exposed for the outright racism that it is. Cripps, who does not know the difference between opinion and fact, placed disclaimers everywhere in the exhibition. The "Disclaimer" reads: "The management would like to state clearly that the views and opinions expressed in this exhibition are those of the artists, and not in any way representative of the views or opinions of the management, staff or volunteers of Guildford Lane Gallery." The quotes from the Koran though are NOT an opinion. What quoting from the Koran achieved was the exposure of Cripps for what he is: a racist.
							below: detail of Cripps' disclaimer Unfortunately, some of the photographs are not in focus (limited depth of field). When Lee-Anne and I visited to photograph our exhibition on 25 June 2009, he followed us, harried us, ranting, ordering us out of our exhibition, even though we had a legal right to be there, and he had no legal means of executing his demand. He is a bellicose bully limited in erudition and of limited intellect.
	According to Cripps, my essays were unintelligible, lacked artistic essence (whatever that might mean), and read like legalese. The eyes of his volunteers ("the girls"), he said, "would glaze over" as they tried to comprehend the incomprehensible. In an email received 26 June 2009, Cripps wrote: "also ensure that myself, gallery staff and volunteers will also not be approached by Demetrios without prior notification, as he has made myself, staff and volunteers feel very uncomfortable" The above email was Cripps' response to our email in which we wrote to object about his conduct while we had been photographing the exhibition on 25 June 2009. His intimidatory behaviour included him walking to within a few inches of me to tell me that I threaten him, and thrusting his finger to within an inch of me to tell me he was frightened of me, and to tell me that I breeched our contractual agreement because he claimed that my art was racist. (A gallery visitor who was present witnessed these bizarre antics.) Rebuttals by Lee-Anne to Cripps' bizarre rants were met with the retort "you are a sarcastic woman". With regard to the above Cripps email, no discussion about the themes of my art occurred with anyone from the gallery other than with Cripps himself, for anyone other than Cripps to feel "uncomfortable". Cripps' conduct thoughout was thoroughly disgraceful. Since the staff and volunteers at Cripps' Guildford Lane Gallery acquiesce to, and agree with, his hatred of Jews and are in disagreement with me, then it would be a disservice to them if they were to remain unacknowledged and anonymous. Those who I know by name are: Yollande Pickett, Sarah Webb, Melanie Trojkovic, Stacy Jewell, and a Danielle all ethically deficient; they were carbon-copied into emailed correspondences and were aware of the situation. It is my stance that an action or inaction should never be without consequence. Like the Nazis before her Yollande Pickett might in the future claim to have been following orders.