Curatorial+Co Gallery

Following its successful physical launch earlier this month, gallery and art consultancy Curatorial+Co. has today announced its program for the remainder of the year. The bespoke 300-square-metre gallery space within a Redfern warehouse presents a vibrant mix of work by contemporary artists, with upcoming exhibitions including a reflection on Australia's recent Black Summer, dynamic installation and performance work, a new sculpture/photography collaboration, and a series of underwater still-life photographic works reflecting on consumerism and our treatment of the environment around us.

Sophie Vander, Founder, and Director of Curatorial+Co. said: "It's been wonderful to see the excitement that has surrounded our new gallery space and its inaugural exhibition HERE WITH ME that featured work from all 39 of our artists. For the rest of the year, we are excited to deep dive into several of our artists' unique practices that engage with a wide range of mediums and topical themes including reflections on nature, the environment, and our place within it."

The next exhibition to be presented at the Gallery from 16-26 September 2020 will feature the works of Sydney-based painter Theresa Hunt and Adelaide-based ceramicist Kerryn Levy. Created in collaboration between the two artists, LANDSKEIN is a tribute to the Australian landscape devastated by last summer's bushfires. The exhibition will showcase 16 of Hunt's blended abstract paintings depicting the smokey haze that lingered across the country, alongside a collection of 13 of Levy's sculptural ceramic vessels titled Sleeping in the Forrest, created with only the colours black, white and green to represent the charred landscape, its ghostly remains and the signs of new growth emerging. Hints of gold leaf shine through the black-coated ceramics, highlighting Levy's perception of beauty in this scarred but enduring land.

Two exhibitions will be presented at the Gallery in October. From 14-24 October, Wollongong based artist Katrina O'Brien's solo exhibition The Unearthing of Words explores the intersection of art, music, and poetry with a selection of large-scale mixed-media works on paper suspended from the gallery beams. Using music and lyrics to guide her movements across the paper, O'Brien reflects on how poetry and stories in music can transport and lead listeners on a journey. The large works will be hung in a fashion that allows for a dance and music performance to play out amongst the hanging paper pieces.

From 28 October-4 November, paper sculptor Stuart McLachlan and photographer Simon Cardwell will present their new photographic series Acquiesce which, through the creation of mythical scenes, the pair pose questions regarding our impact on the natural world. Hand-cut paper sculpture skeletons sit amongst an organic ecosystem, created by the artists from living plants and rock. The works propose alternative narratives to those readily forced upon us. The duo imagines instead a post-human world, born from a past that has dethroned even the most resilient and prolific of species. The final photographs are at once intimate and overwhelming.

From 18-28 November, a solo photographic exhibition of works by Lilli Waters titled Disenchantments of the World displays a series underwater still life works depicting of Rembrandt-esque floral images that explore the complexities of wealth and indulgence, and how humans treat the environment in pursuit of prosperity. A looped short film by the photographer will also be shown in a pop-up cinema space within the gallery.

To mark the end of the year, a group show featuring over 30 works from the Gallery's stable of artists will be presented from 9-22 December. Further detail will be announced in the coming months.