Artist and curator Fruzsi Kenez’s five-year dream of opening a gallery turned into a speedy five-month reality when she happened upon the ideal location in Adelaide Arcade.
Prowling the balcony level, eyeing off shopfronts and chatting with current tenants led her to discussions about the building’s history and opportunities for the future. Within an hour she had a verbal agreement to take over Shop 115, which would become the home of Peanut Gallery. Kenez called her business partner, graphic designer Caroline Gliddon, and the pair committed to the lease.
A City Makers grant from Renewal SA covered key renovation costs, and Kenez and Gliddon did the rest – investing their own money and elbow grease in to bringing the site up to scratch. There were walls to paint, hanging systems to install and a kitchen to demolish, all of which happened over a few hectic, caffeine-fuelled days.
It’s the latest indication that Adelaide’s arts community is fighting back. Dogged by a history of being forced to the eastern states to pursue their careers, the young creatives behind artist-run galleries and co-working spaces such as The Mill, Mâché, FELTspace, and Karma and Crow are cultivating a nurturing and sustainable ecology within their home state. Peanut Gallery is further proof of the talent and drive behind South Australia’s arts scene, and the ongoing need for creative spaces.
The gallery will officially open on September 30 with Of Land and Sea. “Think grand maritime narratives, rolling landscapes and mythical beasts,” says Kenez. She and Gliddon are committed to “supporting Adelaide’s emerging talents and position them among interstate and international artists and crafts people, many of whom will be exhibiting in Australia for the first time.”
In Of Land and Sea, locals Bohie Palecek, Peter Fong and Gary Seaman will feature alongside Victoria’s Tristan Kerr, Kyoko Imazu, Cat Rabbit and Katherine Wheeler, as well as New South Wales’ Emma Kidd, Portugal’s Daniel Moreira, and Cathy McMurray from the US.
Peanut Gallery will host regular exhibitions, each kicking off with a traditional opening night and closing with what Kenez describes as “a unique event relating to the theme of [the] current exhibition”. These will include poetry, live music, performance and more – plus a bar pouring themed drink specials.
Peanut Gallery
Shop 115, Balcony Level, Adelaide Arcade
0405 529 927
[email protected]
Hours
Wed to Thu 10am–5.30pm
Fri 11am–9pm
Sat 10am–5pm
Sun 12pm–5pm
