Tristan Kerr, Reignite Adelaide

Image: Jason Sims, Light Shifter (Nexus) II. Photograph Sam Roberts.

Power People is a site-specific mural that pays homage to the origins of the location. A visual journey through time, starting with the post-war era of manufacturing machinery and transitioning into the vibrant present-day life of Hindley Street, now a thriving hub for hospitality and entertainment.

The mural unfolds across two facades, with contrasting geometric shapes that capture the essence of these two distinct eras. The convergence of these shapes symbolizes the harmonious coexistence of the past and present. Architectural lighting has been strategically employed, drawing inspiration from the glow of neon signage synonymous with the surrounding night-time precinct.

The result is a dynamic piece of art that encapsulates the evolution of the site, narrating the story of its transformation from an industrial past to a contemporary hotspot.

Artist Biography:

Tristan Kerr (born Melbourne, 1985) is an artist and typographer whose work reflects on cultural diversity, consumerism and advertising, and the tensions between subjects who exist within these worlds, as he combines fragments of street signage, mark making, graffiti and abstraction through his works. Through his practice, Kerr interrogates the ever-changing face of the city and its typographic ephemera, portraying the disregarded surfaces of urban life in his paintings, sculptures and large-scale installations. His fixation with fleeting urban street views was fuelled by the several years he spent working and exhibiting in Paris—as he noticed the disregarded shopfronts with fading hand-lettered signage, the sprawling graffiti and the torn metro posters that adorn the cities walls, forming part of its cultural archive. Kerr’s works encourage people to stop, look and question their surroundings, considering other possibilities for what public space might constitute. Kerr has exhibited locally and throughout Europe.  

Images: Jason Sims, Light Shifter (Nexus) II. Photograph Sam Roberts.

Additional Media:

Power People, Experience Adelaide

Power People Installation by Tristan Kerr, Australian Institute of Architechs

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