Stunning Samstag exhibits for 2008
by Linda Hein
The Anne and Gordon Samstag Museum of Art is set for an exciting year of exhibitions following the success of
Penumbra - Contemporary Art from Taiwan.
The exhibition of works by some of Taiwan’s rising contemporary art stars was commissioned by the Samstag Museum in association with this year’s Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts and curated by Sophie McIntyre.
More than 7000 visitors viewed the dramatic ground floor installation and striking videos and photography that explore the shifting spaces between past and present in a country that continues to undergo dynamic cultural, economic and socio-political change.
It was the first time any of the five artists have shown their work in Australia. One of the artists, Kuo I-Chen, was able to take a rare leave of absence from compulsory military service in Taiwan to attend the opening of the exhibition.
One
of his major pieces, a nine-metre black and white photographic print
from his series Survivor, portrays an apocalyptic world in which
worlds collide and features images from the destruction left in the
wake of Hurricane Katrina.
I-Chen also showed video imagery of the lights of his home in Taipei, shot from a balloon far above the city, which he said related to the lonely distance between people living even at such close proximity.
"So close, yet so far away [from each other]," he said.
Penumbra also featured the beautiful Flov"er, by Huang Po-Chih, which captured the painterly and rhythmic motions of a flower dancing in space.
Later this month the Samstag Museum hosts Primavera 07, a showcase of work by Australian artists under the age of 35. Primavera was created in 1992 by Dr Edward and Mrs Cynthia Jackson in memory of their daughter Belinda.
It is the first time in its 16-year history that the Primavera series, which has a reputation for profiling emerging artistic talent from across the country, will be shown outside Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
The dynamic exhibition, curated by Christine Morrow, features two and three-dimensional as well as time-based work including painting, photography, installation, sculpture, video and ceramics in which the artists explore a variety of materials, surfaces and textures including cloth, canvas, sponge, foam and woodchip.
The exhibition will include works by SA artists Katie Moore and Honor Freeman, along with current Samstag Scholarship recipient, Jess MacNeil.
Director of the Samstag Museum of Art, Erica Green said this year’s exhibitions reflect the culturally diverse goals of the Samstag Museum.
"It’s a very exciting time for us," she said.
"Our inaugural exhibition, Wonderful World, late last year attracted huge audiences, and already this year we have had a marvellous response from the Adelaide community, with a level of interest and visitations well beyond what we expected so early in the Museum’s life.
"As the State’s second largest public art gallery, the Samstag Museum has the capacity to present exhibitions of considerable scale and ambition and our goal is to create projects of very high quality artistically that also challenge our audiences in a stimulating way. This year we are producing some special exhibitions of our own, such as Uneasy in June, that looks closely at the very latest new art emerging from Adelaide’s own artists. But our program will also bring the riches of the world’s visual arts to Adelaide."
A highlight late this year will be From Here to Eternity from the Victorian Tapestry Workshop.
Primavera 07 is on show from April 18 until June 6. For more information visit Samstag Museum website