Sam Brooks, Reignite Adelaide
Image: Sam Brooks, Don’t Blink. Photograph Sam Roberts.
Sam Brooks
Don’t Blink, 2024
Topham Mall, Adelaide
Commissioned by City of Adelaide
Don’t Blink celebrates the City of Adelaide’s unique heritage and culture. With imagery picked from the archives which holds an extensive collection of photographs and drawings, artist Sam Brooks has contrast old and new to create a layered visual journey through time.
The meandering line of Karrawirra Parri (River Torrens) in the top right of the artwork speaks to the pre-colonial landscape, drawing parallels through nature, architecture, and time. The now demolished Adelaide Jubilee exhibition building appears top left, fading into the eighteenth-century hand drawn map of Adelaide, its roadways intersecting the building’s outline, overseen by the iconic monument of Colonel William Light.
The mural is a painting that references the evolution of Adelaide, narrating the story of the area’s transformation from early settlement to the city we know today.
Delivered in partnership with The City of Adelaide, this mural is the final Public Art offering associated with the Reignite Adelaide program which commissioned local artists to brighten and activate main streets and laneways across North Adelaide and the CBD. The project was developed to support local traders and provide employment opportunities for creatives.
See the other work in the series here – Time And Place, Good Job, Arab Steed & Hutt Street Cellars, Power People, Wolf At The Door, Nature Creates The Movement of Colours and a Joyous Soul
Artist Biography:
Sam Brooks is an Adelaide Based mural artist working in large scale, realistic murals. The content of Sam’s work focuses on telling historically significant and culturally meaningful stories about people, culture, history and human connection.
Completing a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing and Academic Research (UNISA), Sam’s work is influenced by his academic background in its historically accurate storytelling and photo-realistic approach to painting. The viewer’s curiosity is always rewarded with rich information and local folklore that enhances their understanding of the area and the culture they find themselves in.
In the pursuit of rich stories and cultural impact, many of Sam’s works can be found in the internationally recognised silo art trail, featured on the front page of South Australia’s art guide, and found all across Australia. From silos in Eudunda, water towers in Wagga Wagga, walls in Gulargambone and mining towns in Roxby Downs. Sam is always looking for interesting characters and rich gems of history that are waiting to be given a platform for the public to enjoy and uncover.
Sam’s distinct approach to his subjects and nuanced ability for storytelling has attracted many major brands for collaboration : Holdens, GH MUMM, REBEL, Australia Post, SCANIA, BHP, Variety, Guide Dogs and Hyundai have all employed Sam to tell their stories.
Images: Sam Brooks, Don’t Blink. Photograph Sam Roberts.
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