'HOME'

By Tom Adair

Born in Melbourne in the eighties and immersed in graffiti subculture, the debut show for Tom Adair is a refined exploration of medium, a clear progression from an adolescence spent spraying walls with pressurised paint. The picture perfect homes dotted across flat dibond surfaces area personal response of longing for the idyllic family home and an appreciation of architecture influenced by a professional career focused around design and interiors.

Viewed from a far, new airbrush works by Adair appear as monochromatic colour images from the mid-century architecture era .Adair engages many processes while producing the romantic pieces, first documenting the dwellings using photography and digitally creating halftone renderings before spending countless hours meticulously airbrushing the works by hand. The addition of hand bent neon lights are used to accent each structure and invite the viewer closer to a more intimate level where the swirling electricity and softness of the air brush can be appreciated on a more personal level.

Adair plays on the idea of viewing distance and the perception of the perfect family when observed from the outside looking in, similarly in his work the pieces appear faultless, however on closer inspection imperfections and reality are revealed. No matter the level of imperfection each home holds the key to evoke an emotional connection, pleasant memories or prompt a narrative imagined by the viewer.

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'BE KIND REWIND'

By Donovan Christie

Christie’s work can be seen as very witty and nostalgic. Seemingly simple at first, the more you look; the more there is to see.Thoughtfully immortalising a period of time, he documents the scenes ofAustralia in this day and age as we are on the verge of a dying era. 

The self-taught artist has been a finalist in several major art prizes, including the Waterhouse Art Prize, Parklands Art Prize, Lethbridge 10000 and the BSG Small Scale Prize to name a few. In 2015 he was nominated for the Channel 9 Young Achiever Arts Award and in 2016 became the winner of the prestigious award. 

“As a 90s kid I have a vivid picture of what my home town(Adelaide) was to me; City Sk8, Magic Mountain, Night Train, and Tilt Arcade.All these places have left a lasting impression on me; however, with this fast paced world we now live in, people often forget what we used to have around us or even what we still do. My aim is to bring attention to the things that often take a backseat in our humble city, encouraging the viewer to pause and look at the landscape a little different. 

Each picture I paint has a connection to me, even if only subtle; I am placing a piece of me into each painting. Each painting has a personal story attached; I have been a part of the scene in which I am capturing. I choose to leave the paintings vacant of people and life, not only to give the air that something has or is about to go down, but to also allow the viewer to place themselves in the setting and recreate their own memory or narrative.”