In Suburbia: Recent Detours
'Painting 259 (Beechwood Parade)', 2018, acrylic on board, 101cm x 110cm
In Suburbia: Recent Detours
Curated by Gavin Wilson
‘In Suburbia: Recent Detours’, is an exhibition project that features the work of 19 contemporary artists from across the country who probe, celebrate and question the notion of the great Australian dream.
As we look down the nation’s street of dreams so much has altered. A modest home in a secure community is now financially out of reach to the majority of young people. What was once considered a beacon of security is now evolving into a site of constant anxiety that too often erupts into tragic scenes of domestic violence. Nevertheless, suburbia, in all its disparate manifestations remains the living paradigm for the great majority of Australians.
The exhibition looks across a diverse spectrum of housing types and conditions in suburban environments from Perth, Melbourne, the Wollongong region, Sydney, Penrith, Lismore, the Northern Rivers and Brisbane. The scope and quality of the works is drawn from a select group of artists focuses on the physical and psychological spaces that characterise the suburban experience.
‘In Suburbia: Recent Detours’, is a timely project as the nation comes to terms with an ever-growing housing crisis.
Featuring works by: Adrian Doyle, Anne Wallace, Alan Daniel Jones, Catherine O’Donnell, Christopher McVinish, Christopher Zanko, Craig Handley, David Wadelton, Eliza Gosse, Ian Strange, Joanna Lamb, Nick Santoro, Noel McKenna, Peter O’Doherty, Rachel Ellis, Raimond de Weerdt, Robyn Sweaney, Tajette O’Halloran and Wade Taylor.
‘Painting 244 (Tamarisk Crescent)’, 2018, acrylic on board, 101cm x 110cm
'Painting 266 (Mike Kenny Oval)', 2019, acrylic on board, 143.5cm x 157cm
Artist Statement
In Suburbia: Recent Detours
In 1982, we moved to Cherrybrook. I was five years old. At that time, the area was largely virgin bushland and old farms with a few scattered weatherboard houses. Cherrybrook was at the beginning of its redevelopment. Intended was a network of new roads lined with modern brick dream homes.
'Painting 244 (Tamarisk Crescent)' is a painting of the house my parents bought off-the-plan. We lived in Cherrybrook for 18 years. Suburbia is not a particularly common subject throughout art history, even though suburban life is reassuringly familiar to many Australians.
I painted my childhood home because suburbia evokes memories of nostalgia, security and adolescence. ‘Painting 266 (Mike Kenny Oval)’ and 'Painting 262 (Beechwood Parade)' depict Cherrybrook with two small black and white heads poised above the surface. Looking inward, these textured craniums are a motif that represents a personal connection to the subject. Embracing concepts of a personal connection to the subject helps give my art practice purpose and meaning.
In Suburbia: Recent Detours
S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
8 March - 4 May 2025
