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C e l l a r Sweatshop
Light Square Gallery
Weekdays until 16 March
Inhabited
Jessie Boylan and Bilbo Taylor
Higher Ground Inc. (Art Cafe)
Until 16 March
Breathing Room
Annika Evans
Seedling Art Space, Blackwood Forest Recreation Park
Season closed
If there is one social need that afflicts us regardless of age, race, gender or occupation it is the need for belonging. Feelings of placement and displacement, familiarity and alienation are global experiences, existing somewhere in each of our histories. At this time of Fringe and Festival wonderment it is little surprise that the idea of belonging remains at the forefront of thought for many artists. With this sense of 'place' comes an awareness of our environments - personal, local and global.
For the 'Cellar Sweatshop' (Light Square Gallery), the art object and the act of making becomes a transparent, involving process, with viewers belonging and participating in the space equally alongside the artists and art objects. The works evolving from the process describe the crises we face, both ecological and human, through an awareness of environment, materials and social responsibility. From plastic cities to reserved, recycled spaces, the 'Cellar Sweatshop' brings together an eclectic mix of humble materials, community voices and tactile experiences.
The sense of social responsibility and displacement are never more ripe than in the photography and audio exhibition 'Inhabited' by Jessie Boylan and Bilbo Taylor (Higher Ground Inc.). The exhibition portrays in beautiful photographic detail individuals - some now lost and others that remain - living with the effects of local uranium mining and radiation poisoning. The images put undeniable faces to places once unashamedly described as "uninhabited" and "lifeless". Their presence is unmistakable, with gazes directed at viewers with pride and belonging. 'Inhabited' brings to light people and places full of life and very much inhabited. Moreover, the exhibition reminds us that, for many years after we are long since gone and the photographs are crumbled to dust, the effects of radiation and mining will still remain, a tainted streak in our environmental and political histories and futures.
Locating Annika Evans' 'Breathing Room' proved a challenge in itself. Wandering the outskirts of the historic Blackwood building with an unsuspecting local and her golden retriever in tow, I was very much made aware of my own sense of place in and of the natural landscape. Like the minimal installation, the long drive home along the dangerously beautiful Belair Road allowed me plenty of time to ponder our local environment and our place between the natural, the built and the wholly mental.
It is interesting how things change when we remove ourselves from a space. Gliding into Adelaide after some busy weeks in countryside Tokyo (another story for another day) was like suddenly awaking from a dream of over-familiarisation. Now, seeing Adelaide with fresh eyes, I understand what drives these artists to tell the world of environments and places central to our being, and the preciousness of existence within such amazing spaces.
Lauren Sutter
Yami Lester, Wallatina Station, 2006. 'Inhabited' at Higher Ground
2008 Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition
Drill Hall, Torrens Parade Ground
until Sun 16 March
Viewers are generally guaranteed diversity when they embark on the annual 'Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition', and this year is no exception. Works by 24 artists graduating from the Academy's four partner tertiary art schools impart a range of styles, media and subject matter.
Many original works have made it into the exhibition, in particular Anna Spilsbury's Deer Me, which is evocative and delicate as the artist contemplates her past through fabric and thread. Combining canvas, maps, found objects and participation by random strangers, Adele Booth's The Post Building Project is a unique installation made possible by the postal return of small building samples from around the city, left by the artist for members of the public to find. Heidi Kenyon's installation Everything You Can Think Of Is True... sees avocado leaves cut and sculpted to create small fragile narratives that draw on positive and negative space, light and shadow.
Jennifer McPherson takes inspiration from 'domestic needlework methods', applying the delicacy and designs of such to her jewellery craft. Beautiful collars are worked in fine silver, bringing new dimensions to jewellery design.
Not surprisingly, the major painting contributions come from Adelaide Central School of Art. Angela Black's Frozen Series is quite remarkable in the way she captures movement on the canvas. Black's work sees young girls at play, speaking of times past, as viewers connect with the concept of youth and the perpetual experience of now and then.
Other standout works include beautiful blown glass, slip cast ceramics and photography. No grad show would be complete without new media and sculptural installation components, both of which appear here. From the real to the imagined, from the personal to the shared, this exciting collection of art is innovative and highly expressive in all facets.
Rick Clise
Art Images Gallery
until Sun 16 March
 Bold, bright, shiny, momentum, balance, colour, instrumentality, growth, beauty, fun. Adelaide based artist Rick Clise brings together all of the above in a collection of sculpture formed in steel (polychromed mild or painted mild) that is quite outstanding. With an eclectic professional background spanning experience in welding, robotics and ceramics, Clise's work is highly resolved, combining sweeping lines and geometric forms to create impressive and expressive contemporary compositions.
Clise's perpetual interest in relationships as source material sees pieces such as Togetherness, Family and Dancers taking on metaphoric human roles. Clise's exhibition is certainly worth the short trip to Norwood to see.
Scary Chicks & Boring Dudes
Aaron Schuppan & Stephanie Mountzouris
Urtext Studios
until Sun 16 March
Tucked away in Urtext Studios is a small but intimate space, transformed into a 60s/70s living room installation complete with neon lamp, record collection, roller-skates, fake flowers and all things kitsch (plus a few 21st century additions). As part of the 'Scary Chicks & Boring Dudes' exhibition, this installation seems so incompatible with its venue, but is such a wonderfully executed time warp. Loosely connected through era, the main body of the exhibition is made up of two series of photographic images that line the installation's walls - the scary chicks, and yes, the boring dudes. Set up as tableaux, the former resemble sci-fi villains and victims, their looks achieved with make-up, costumes and a range of weapons and props. The latter comprises a suite of small black and white images in psychedelic coloured frames, of really quite unremarkable male figures doing boring stuff such as study or loitering. Great humour, great exhibition, a Fringe 'must see' - just don't trip on the shagpile rug!
Nerina Dunt
Jennifer McPherson
My Prince Will Come
fine silver
20 x 17.5cm
Image courtesy of Mick Bradley and the
Helpmann Academy
Rick Clise
Construction 2
polychromed mild steel
50 x 60 x 22cm
Image courtesy of Art Images Gallery
(BELOW) Aaron Schuppan (photo) and
Stephanie Mountzouris (make-up)
Scary Chick
photographic digital still
Image courtesy of the Adelaide Fringe
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