Adelaide, Adelaide Fringe 2014

Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition

0 Comments 28 February 2014

Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition 2014

Reviewed by Alex Sutcliffe

The Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition and the Fringe both celebrate Adelaide’s art scene. However, where the Fringe revels in everything from amateur to established acts, the Helpmann has a singular, important aim: to showcase emerging visual artists. The works presented deliver formally and conceptually, and highlight the potential of Adelaide’s fledgling artists.

The Helpmann is comprised of select works by students graduating from Adelaide Central School of Art, Adelaide College of the Arts and UniSA. Presenting works from three very different institutions as a unified exhibition would be inherently difficult, but the Helpmann is not about curatorial continuity. Instead, it exists to shine a spotlight upon Adelaide’s emerging artists. Viewing the exhibition as a series of individual works proves much more rewarding than supposing a cohesive journey.

As it is an exhibition of students’ work, many of the pieces draw heavily from the styles or ideas of established artists, but this is a necessary by-product of an artist’s formative experience. In their own right, most of the works are both visually and intellectually pleasing. The installations and sculptural pieces prove noteworthy; John Blines’s ‘The Impossibility of Perception’ being especially striking.

There is one piece that draws this (inevitably disparate) exhibition together: Cheryl Hutchens’s installation ‘The Inside is the Outside: Alimentary Canal’. A vivid red thread running from the ceiling to the floor in the centre of the room, it provides the Helpmann with an identity and a focal point – fitting, as the work explores the role of the body in determining one’s identity.

Even without this work the Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition 2014 would still function as intended. It aims to showcase Adelaide’s emerging artists and, in this respect, the lack of a common theme is positive. The concerns of the artists here range from the environment, to identity, to the practise of art itself. From this alone the future of South Australian art looks exciting.

Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition 2014, Drill Hall, Torrens Parade Grounds, Victoria Drive, Feb 14 to Mar 16

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This post was written by who has written 18 posts on Buzzcuts.

Annie is a recent graduate of a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences from Adelaide University. She enjoys reading, playing Scrabble and looking at pictures of gorgeously ugly dogs. Currently fulfilling the life-long dream of working in a bookshop, she has aspirations to be an editor.

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