Australian Galleries is pleased to be exhibiting the work of Corey Black, Sebastian Conti, Charlotte Fetherston, Stafford Gaffney, Gala Grahovac, Melinda Hunt, Aarone Neill, Sylvie Veness, and Alice Xu in ‘Reunion’.
‘Reunion’ introduces 9 artists who present a glimpse into the future with their vibrant and cross-sectional practices. In this exhibition they present contemporary interpretations of the body, interactions with landscape, beauty of everyday spaces, effects of memory, exploration in ambiguity, and the possibility inherent in materials.
This cohort, each a recipient of the Australian Galleries Exhibition Award upon graduation from the National Art School, represents the multifaceted next generation of Australian art.
‘Reunion’ continues at Australian Galleries, Sydney until Sunday 12 February.
Corey Black (L-R): Cup 2022 sand cast and rubberised aluminium 32 x 20 x 5 cm; Production 2022 aluminium fusion print with custom machine cuts edition of 5 99 x 70 cm; Registration 2022 sand cast and rubberised aluminium 45 x 24 x 17 cm.
Corey Black harnesses new media and technology to create seemingly otherworldly forms with the use of digital printing, 3D modelling, and sand casting of plastics and metals. Black bends the practicalities of industrial methods to investigate our increasingly synthetic state of being.
Corey Black Vaping 2022 rubberised razor clam shells 42 x 40 x 5 cm, dimensions variable. Works by Aarone Neill shown from a distance.
Sebastian Conti, installation view.
Sebastian Conti’s energetic ceramics take on a layer of ambiguity – what is their form or function? Are they idols or architectural structures? Spikey spines and edges outline surfaces imbued with subtle mark-making and colourations that define their physical presence.
Sebastian Conti (L-R): Tower fragment X 2022 earthenware and glaze 43 x 34 x 10 cm; Tower fragment I 2022 stoneware and glaze 16.5 x 17 x 3.5 cm; Tower fragment II 2022 earthenware and glaze 31 x 29 x 9 cm.
Sebastian Conti (L-R): Tower fragment XI 2022 stoneware and glaze 44.5 x 38 x 10 cm; Tower fragment VI 2022 earthenware and glaze 34 x 25 x 7.5 cm.
Charlotte Fetherston (L-R): MPP1 2022 multi-plate etching on Hahnemuhle paper edition of 3 24 x 15.5 cm; MPP2 2022 multi-plate etching on Hahnemuhle paper edition of 3 24 x 15.5 cm; MPP7 2022 multi-plate etching on Hahnemuhle paper edition of 3 24 x 15.5 cm.
Charlotte Fetherston interprets the play of light and shadow in architectural spaces within her printmaking practice. Drawing on our connection with the built environment she composes dream-like spaces from a monochromatic arrangement of dappled light and long-fingered shadow.
Charlotte Fetherston (L-R): Fractured 2022 etching on Hahnemuhle paper edition of 5 24.5 x 15.5 cm; Elanora 2022 etching on Hahnemuhle paper edition of 10 24.5 x 9.5 cm; Site 2022 etching on Hahnemuhle paper edition of 10 20 x 18 cm.
Stafford Gaffney, installation view.
Stafford Gaffney’s painting reflect on the presence and absence of the body throughout a childhood permeated by religion and fairy tales. Drawing from the ritual of the confessional, ideas of saints and sin, and the contrast of full disclosure and secretive meaning Gaffney disguises the body as object, food, and loose reflected forms.
Stafford Gaffney Pull up to my bumper baby 2022 oil on canvas 76 x 152 cm.
Gala Grahovac, installation view.
Gala Grahovac plays with contradictory themes in clay – emptiness and fullness, fragility and strength, gestural and still. Utilizing the tenants of colour, space, shadow, and line, Grahovac produces expressive forms that celebrate abstraction and reinvent everyday objects.
Gala Grahovic Return 2022 paperclay 27 x 18 x 19 cm.
Gala Grahovac Floating 2023 paperclay and terra sigillata 26 x 21 x 3 cm.
Melinda Hunt (L-R): In transit: performative drawings made while travelling 1-12 2022-23 mixed media on 170gms Hahnemuhle paper 25 x 25 cm.
Melinda Hunt breaks down drawing. Mark making whilst in constant motion, embossing surfaces, and changing the texture of paper through wet and dry technique all in the employ of exploring ideas of memory and sentiment.
Melinda Hunt In transit: performative drawings made while travelling 1-12, installation detail.
Melinda Hunt My turn 2022 graphite, charcoal, pencil, metallic pigment and ink on 300gsm BFK Rives paper 106 x 70 cm.
Aarone Neill (L-R): Echoes of Titjikala 2022 steel, found objects, claypan water, fish, beetles and wildlife 96 x 135 x 0.5 cm; City leaves 2023 steel and organic leaf matter on Blackbutt wood base 65.5 x 30 x 14 cm; City leaves II 2023 steel and organic leaf matter on Blackbutt wood base 65.5 x 30 x 14 cm.
Aarone Neill’s contemplative steel works are the result of submerging and burying the metal in the landscape. Chemical reactions initiated by the naturally-occurring elements in the land and water imprint an array of patterns and tonal shifts on the steel surface. A true portrait of place appears.
These works are dedicated to Geraldine, who raised beauty from the mud and turned ancient Irish bog wood into a flock of geese.
Corey Black Production; Aarone Neill Echoes of Titjikala; Aarone Neill Tjintjira 2022 steel, found objects, claypan water, fish, beetles and wildlife 100 x 75 x 0.5 cm.
Aarone Neill (L-R): Ibis 2023 steel, organic leaf matter, ibis and insects on Blackbutt wood base 42.5 x 21 x 9 cm; Fieulamort 2023 steel, organic leaf matter, ibis and insects on Blackbutt wood base 42.5 x 21 x 9 cm.
Sylvie Veness Dear Elizabeth (details 1-12, 13-24, 25-36, 37-48) 2022 mixed media on paper 45 x 40 cm.
Sylvie Veness presents a personal compilation of memories and sensations within 72 ‘postcards’ that make up the series titled Dear Elizabeth. Using techniques common in printmaking, drawings, and textiles, Veness composes delicate and tactile abstractions drawing from her childhood spent on Elizabeth Street.
Sylvie Veness Dear Elizabeth (detail).
Alice Xu (L-R): Can we go now? 2022 oil on canvas 76 x 60 cm; Wavered constant oil on canvas 101.5 x 76 cm; Riveting 2022 oil on canvas 76 x 76 cm.
Alice Xu has an intense focus on the everyday and the ordinary. Through oil painting and ink drawing she records simple moments and conventional spaces with fondness and sincerity. The mundane scenes that could have been dismissed as a fleeting glimpse are rendered with tenderness and detail.
Alice Xu, installation view.
Alice Xu There’s a rumour 2022 ink on paper 100 x 82 cm.