art
Julia Robinson’s solo exhibition ‘Split by the Spade’ and publication launches on 30th July at Adelaide Central Gallery.
Julia Robinson’s ambitious new installation ‘Split by the Spade’ is the latest entry in her ongoing series of odes to the folk horror genre. This exhibition promises to be a finely crafted, immersive experience by Robinson, highly esteemed graduate and staff member of Adelaide Central School of Art and the 2024 SALA feature artist.
Since 2003, Julia Robinson's textile-focused sculpture and installation practice has ruminated on enduring human narratives around sacrifice, sex, and death. Living and working on Kaurna land in Adelaide, South Australia but drawing on the folkloric and, importantly, folk horror traditions of her British ancestry, Robinson conflates humour and horror in ever more unexpected ways. In this, the first major publication dedicated to Robinson's practice, curator Leigh Robb, novelist and poet Hannah Kent, and visual artist Jess Taylor examine her work through their respective lenses and weave together the visual art, literature, folklore, and film most influential to Robinson's practice. The essays and poems contained within are accompanied by reproductions of key works in stunning detail which reveal the artist's keen understanding of historical costuming and sewing techniques. This monograph surveys over twenty years of a prolific and wildly imaginative visual art practice, that combines exceptional technical skill, fantastical invention and thoroughly researched cultural touchstones.
‘Split by the Spade’ will be on display at Adelaide Central Gallery from 30 July to 6 September as part of the 2024 SALA Festival.
ARTIST NEWS
We are delighted to share that Zaachariaha Fielding and Idiko Kovacs have been announced as finalists in the 2024 Wynne and Sulman Prizes.
Winner of the 2023 Wynne Prize, Zaachariaha Fielding has been named as a finalist in both the Wynne and Sulman Prizes. About his work in the Sulman Prize, Zaachariaha states: “I am one of nine children, Robert and Kay’s oldest. Since my birth, the songs of my Country have filled my soul. Alongside their beautiful lessons, came my responsibility to protect and celebrate this knowledge. These songs will always be the most immense joy of my life, my anchor and my kurunpa (spirit). They kept me safe as I grew up in one of the toughest places in Australia, amongst violence and sickness. While the brightest and loudest discussed how to close the gap, how to make First Nations people healthy and live another 20 years, Australia voted ‘no’. Some referred to my achievement of winning last year’s Wynne Prize as winning the lottery, as if it was a fluke. I’m left to wonder: will me and my mob ever have access to those ‘lucky numbers’?”
Zaachariaha Fielding, Who won the lotto?, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 200 x 152.4 cm
This work depicts the sounds of Paralpi, a special place found just outside of Mimili on the eastern part of the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, South Australia. ‘Paralpi is a place where people come to embrace and celebrate children,’ says Fielding. ‘They are taught by the Elders how to move and mimic their clan emblem, and, for Mimili, this has always been the maku (witchetty grub).’
Paralpi is an extension of Fielding’s previous Inma series (2019–23), which includes the titular work that won him the 2023 Wynne Prize. Fielding’s scratchy application of Pitjantjatjara text as a stylistic element used to outline and define Country also captures reverberations of bodies performing the act of inma (ceremonial song and dance).
‘When this inma is sung, the sounds of the soprano, alto, tenors and baritone are thick, hitting the heart and then returning to the ngura (country),’ Fielding describes. According to Fielding, who is also a finalist in the 2024 Sulman Prize, this is a cyclical process unique to Aṉangu culture, which celebrates one’s interconnectedness with the land.
Zaachariaha Fielding, Paralpi, 2023, acrylic and ink on canvas, 300 x 200 cm
About her work selected as a finalist in the Sulman Prize, Ildiko Kovacs shares: “Two-up is a gambling game played on Anzac Day. Tossing a coin upward and its inevitable falling are attributes of a certain kind of line. It isn’t a straight line, nor a singular line, but a line drawn from kinetic energy. A line fuelled with emotion, unpredictability and the excitement of chance.”
Ildiko Kovacs, Two-up, oil on wood, 220 x 90 cm
We would also like to extend our congratulations to Christopher Zanko who the gallery is excited to be working with in 2025.
Congratulations Zaachariaha, Ildiko, and all the finalists!
The Archibald, Wynne, and Sulman Prizes will be on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 8 June to 8 September 2024.
Hugo Michell Gallery invites you to the opening of Sally Bourke's 'Silence is just a sound' and Bridie Gillman's 'The Bend' on Thursday 18th April, 6-8pm.
Sally Bourke
Silence is just a sound
In Sally Bourke's exhibition 'Silence is just a sound', abstracted portraits serve as portals to the depths of memory. With a deft hand and keen introspection, Bourke captures the essence of silence—not as absence, but as a profound presence. Through her evocative paintings, she invites the viewer into a realm where silence reverberates with the echoes of the past, offering a nuanced reflection on the complexities of human experience. Her paintings beckon us to listen, to immerse themselves in the quietude where memories echo softly.
Bridie Gillman
The Bend
This exhibition has been made in response to a specific moment experienced while walking in Washpool National Park, NSW, on Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Ngarabal Country. A dramatic shift in light and atmosphere on a bend of the track that called us to pause. From within the bend – hanging, holding vines connect trees to each other, drawing lines to follow from one point to another, left to right, light to dark. This experience and the observations made, act as the starting point for the paintings, translated through colour and line.
Collected field recordings blend seamlessly with Reuben Schafer's instrumentation to create a captivating soundscape.
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Hugo Michell Gallery are proud to partner with Bird in Hand Winery for this opening event.
Please join us in celebrating the launch of these two exhibitions!
Hugo Michell Gallery acknowledges the Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the Adelaide region, and that their cultural and heritage beliefs are still as important to the living Kaurna people today.