Launch of HARBINGERS: Care or Catastrophe Art Exhibition
Join us for our End of Year Celebrations as we present the launch of HARBINGERS: Care or Catastrophe, ALL WELCOME
- Friday 16th December 5.30pm
- Port Pirie Regional Art Gallery, 3 Mary Elie Street, Port Pirie
- Book via Eventbrite
- Exhibition runs daily until Sunday 5th February 2023
- Closed Christmas Day
The exhibition was recently shortlisted as an Arts SA Ruby Award finalist. The exhibition brings together work by five artists from across the State, living in or with strong connections to regional South Australia: Chris De Rosa (Port Elliot), Lara Tilbrook (Kangaroo Island), Ellen Trevorrow (Meningie/Coorong), Clancy Warner (Sellicks Beach), Laura Wills (Adelaide).
Comprised completely of newly commissioned works and spanning spatial installation, printmaking, textiles, sculpture, weaving and drawing, HARBINGERS draws attention to our inherent interconnectedness with the natural world and the complexities of humankind’s influences on our environments. Together the works address issues about systematic (mis)management of natural resources, endemic loss of biodiversity, rising sea levels, migration policies, catastrophic fire events and ongoing colonialism.
The exhibition title presents an ultimatum: care for our planet or face environmental collapse. This proposition, drawn from the artists’ practices and their works, offers both a sense of urgency and the potential of hope.
The exhibition was commissioned by Country Arts SA in collaboration with Murray Bridge Regional Gallery where it was first presented February – April 2022. The curators Lauren Mustillo (Country Arts SA’s Visual Arts Manager) and Fulvia Mantelli (Director, Murray Bridge Regional Gallery) worked with the artists for over two years to bring the exhibition to life.
“The artworks presented in HARBINGERS are incredibly ambitious, both technically and conceptually. The diversity of materials is impressive, featuring large-scale sculpture, installation, weaving, textiles, illustration and assemblage. The artists have been fearless in their approach, tackling critical and compelling issues relating the environment, which highlight both the need for urgent action and the potential of hope,” said Co-curator Lauren Mustillo, Visual Arts Manager, Country Arts SA.
Working with the curators for over two years allowed the artists to push the boundaries of their practices and create some of their most impressive works to date. Audiences can expect to see: work by master Ngarrindjeri weaver Ellen Trevorrow; an impressive floor-to-ceiling installation of an underwater scene comprised of papier-mâché mega-fauna and flora; 3 metres tall larger-than-life-size road sign made from a woollen blanket and thousands of native flora seed pods; a bronze and wood sculpture of figures in a boat which appears to be sinking into the gallery floor; and an expansive drawing which reimagines the life of flowers through their dreams.
Co-curator Fulvia Mantelli said: “Our organisations have a shared vision to promote and nurture regional South Australian visual art practices, as well as bring nationally recognised, conceptually and culturally diverse arts experiences to regional communities. As arts organisations we are well-placed to play an important part in transforming the way the arts are engaged with in regional South Australia. HARBINGERS captured the minds and hearts of the many who experienced it”.
HARBINGERS: Care or Catastrophe is commissioned by Country Arts SA and was developed in collaboration with Murray Bridge Regional Gallery, as part of the SPUR 2022 skills development and commissioning initiative.
Images and credits:
Laura Wills, A flower’s dream in a bed of flowers (detail), 2021, pastel and pencil into artist’s twin sons’ art class pages, assemblage of 36 A3 pages, total 178 x 252 cm. Photo: Rosina Possingham.
Chris De Rosa, Under here my dreams are made of water (detail), 2021, papier mâché, etching, giclee print, collage, wire, glass beads, sand, studio floor debris, pigment, polymer paint, wire, tape pu foam, spray paint, silk cord, rope, dimensions variable, approx. 300 x 300 x 300 cm. Photo: Rosina Possingham.