The Ramsay Art Prize
Twenty-one Australian artists under 40 are vying for the inaugural Ramsay Art Prize. For many, it’s the first time their work has been displayed in the Art Gallery of South Australia – which would be reward enough, were it not for the $100,000 prize on offer. Visitors will be able to view all the competing works, which span a myriad of practices and mediums. Art Gallery of South Australia’s director Nick Mitzevich says the award offers “opportunities for artists at pivotal moments in their career”, and has “the potential to change the course of Australian art”. Finalists will be chosen by a panel of international judges, and the public can vote in the People’s Choice category.
The Ramsay Art Prize is at the Art Gallery of South Australia until August 27.
24 Frames Per Second and
Rife Machine
Capturing dance on screen is a formidable undertaking. The energy, athleticism and nuance underpinning physical movement is often tempered by the lens. 24 Frames Per Second does more than replay a live performance for a new audience, lacing together film, movement and visual art to form new interdisciplinary work. Produced by Carriageworks over three years, the program features artists at the forefront of contemporary dance practice, nationally and internationally: François Chaignaud and César Vayssié (France), Alison Currie (SA), Sophie Hyde in collaboration with Restless Dance Theatre (SA), Angelica Mesiti (Australia/France), Latai Taumoepeau and Elias Nohra (NSW), and Bidjara man Christian Thompson. The show is part of Physical Forces at ACE Open, a three-day program of dance performances and artist talks.
Also at ACE, Emmaline Zanelli presents a series of dreamlike, deconstructed photographic portraits in her new exhibition Rife Machine. The subjects are those closest to the artist – her friends, family and an ex-boyfriend – over which she lays textures and images from her own experience. She undoes, distorts and refashions people in work that “…swims between real and unreal, domestic and dream.”
Rife Machine and 24 Frames Per Second are at ACE Open until June 17.
The Home, The Habit
Iranian-born, Sydney-based artist Nasim Nasr’s practice spans two cultures and two homes. This collection of multi-channel video, photography, performance, sculpture and sound works embodies the experience of living with dual identities. Nasr investigates the interpretation of certain objects and actions by different societies – East and West – and how these impact contemporary perspectives.
The Home, The Habit is at Greenaway Art Gallery from May 31 to June 24.
Conjugate
Artists Véra Ada and Daniel Headland share a fascination with “controlled randomness and the unrepeatability it can produce”. Their show Conjugate combines samples from several bodies of work made by the artists, both separately and collaboratively. Ada has exhibited extensively as a solo artist and in group exhibitions, but this will be the first time Headlands has shown his printed works publicly. Headland is also a musician, exploring algorithmically generated music. He will be performing live at the show’s opening, and installing a unit from which visitors can mess with his algorithms throughout the life of the exhibition. Get a taste here.
Conjugate is at The Mill June 9-30.
Since the Invention of the Kiss... and It’s Complicated
SA artist Christina Peek recreates famous kissing scenes from Hollywood cinema. Her installations exist somewhere between a critique of and devotion to the idea of love, archetypes of which she says are “a driving cultural narrative in contemporary life”. This exhibition will inhabit the main gallery at FELTspace.
Jake Holmes’ It's Complicated is showing in FELT’s rear gallery. Holmes creates immersive 3D spaces using evocative screen prints. His focus is on creating space for audiences to examine the grey areas of complicated contemporary issues – be they political, social or scientific.
Since the Invention of the Kiss... and It’s Complicated are at FELTspace June 7-24.
Dan Thorpe Concert Series
Dan Thorpe has proclaimed himself “Adelaide's premier sad, gay, experimental musician”. He is performing a series of concerts at Hindley Street’s FORMAT each Thursday throughout June. Thorpe will present career-defining and new works, with each performance staged in a different area of the three-level gallery. Thorpe’s work swings from quiet, minimalist piano improvisation to fully electronic compositions and new music, fringed with ’90s emo. Thorpe says: “Think Nils Frahm, Ólafur Arnalds and Ryuichi Sakamoto, but a little bit bogan.”
Dan Thorpe and guests will perform at Format on June 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29.
