Wouldn't miss this show for quids as it always provides an eclectic selection of work, held together with the common denominator of good quality. Each exhibitor is a master of their chosen method and medium. Congratulations go to Tony Nathan who took the prize with his fine celestial-like archival ink jet diptych Untitled, 2005.
The exhibits offer a range of subjects and styles and not one can be faulted, making it difficult to select only one favourite. Still, I can try. There's Dawn Gamblen's The Other Side, a curious work that called me back again and again. Employing paper fasteners, the artist neatly composes a diptych that appears like modern 'tablets' each holding a message written in some alien script. Is it based on ancient Cuneiform writing, or perhaps a phonetic language from the stars, or a spirit cipher that holds the answer to life, the universe and everything? Even without translation, the work provides an interesting read.
Then there's the digital print on aluminium Terra Incognita – South Window by Christian de Vietri, another untranslatable exhibit that proves to be a delightful, mind-boggling experience. Here colourful pie-graphs measure percentages of all manner of stuff, from financial resources to insects and other animals, in relation to an unknown given. And Eva Fernandez captivates the viewer with her thought provoking comments on the Great Southern land in her archival ink jet print on canvas A Primrose by the Rivers Brim… This sepia toned triptych mixes the past and present with suggestions of the future in a layered image of trees, city buildings, chart lines, written records, a fence and spirits of ancestors in the form of butterflies.
I also appreciated the variety of paintings on display, in particular Joanna Lamb's well drawn acrylic on canvas Airport With Horizontal Stripes. Her clean lines and clear colours gives the image a true sense of the atmosphere, landscape, machinery and speed that surrounds these places. And the oil on canvas Bulwer St Deli by Garry Pumfrey, where the sharp light suggests idyllic yesterdays while graffiti on the door tells us it's modern times. But it was the stunning oil on canvas Persephone by Andrew Daly that made the show for me. Not only for its painterly surface but for how Daly successfully gives life to the subject of this portrait. I'm sure I saw her breathe.
Whatever your preference in fine art be they contemplative concepts, colourful abstracts or realistic imagery, you'll find something to please you here.