Images: Deidre But-Husaim, The Chuo Line, 2015, oil on linen, 102 x 102 cm, image courtesy the artist.
Kinetic Structures
19 January — 28 May 2024
Location: Adelaide Town Hall, Mankurri-api Kuu (Reconciliation room) and First Floor Gallery, 128 King William Street, Adelaide
Featuring: Deidre But-Husaim, Brad Darkson, Callum Docherty, H. Fleming, Rama Kaltu-Kaltu Sampson, Cynthia Schwertsik
Curated by Chira Grasby
ART WORKS Early Career Curator 2023
We traverse our city on methodical pathways, like ants carrying crumbs. Our daily routines usher us between checkpoints, through crowds, and across squares, while Adelaide’s gridded streets carry us on our journeys. We are ever moving. Scrambling to get one from one place to another, yet grounded by the structures and landmarks that surround us.
Taking namesake from the phenomena of Kinetic Architecture, this exhibition likens citizens to man-made forms in our contemporary built environment. Six South Australian artists present exploration into human movement through metropolitan cityscapes by analyzing the motion of daily life, and the realities of densely populated spaces. They attempt to reframe human presence in our urban landscape, with a focus on movement, man-made sites, and multiplicity. In many cases this presents as remnants of human existence – blurs and shadows, discarded objects, or structural fixtures empty of occupants. For others it’s an abstracted lens on urbanization, portraying density through color and shape, or presenting human painted forms in moments of rest on a canvas.
As permanent parts of our city we morph into architectural figures, existing as both the predecessors and inhabitants of our modern constructions. We provide the movement that our built environment cannot, and attempt to live in harmony with our fabricated habitat. Through this exhibition we can collectively reflect on the balance we teeter within, and use art as a tool to discuss how we integrate into the spaces that surround us.
Adelaide Town Hall is an accessible venue.
