the adelaide REVIEW january 2013
visual arts
National Photographic Portrait Prize
33
exhibitions gallery shop
11 January - 3 February TWO EXHIBITIONS
Elements of Nature
Christopher Sanders
A
Jeffrey Smart, Robe Panorama, 1948
Jeffrey Smart at Carrick Hill Continues until Friday, February 24
ustralia’s finest portrait photographers are on show at the Flinders Art Museum & City Gallery, as the gallery presents the work from the National Photographic Portrait Prize (NPPP) 46 finalists, including the winning portrait of Jack Charles by Rod McNicol. For the last five years the NPPP has been a prestigious portrait competition for both professional and amateur photographers with its $25,000 prize. Rod McNicol’s portrait of Aboriginal actor and singer Jack Charles was announced the winner in March 2012 with the competition first showing at Canberra’s National Portrait Gallery before touring the nation. Almost 1500 people entered the competition with NPPP Judge and Curator Joanna Gilmour saying that although it is hard to put in a nutshell why McNicol’s shot of Charles is special, the portrait confirms that photography can sometimes be more successful than other portrait mediums for its “sense of presence and its ability to draw you in, to make you want to know more about the sitter”. “Rod’s photo of Jack has that element in spades. It’s one thing to create a successful photograph, but it’s another thing altogether to create a successful photographic portrait – wherein the sitter is palpably ‘present’ or alive and not just an element of the image; and wherein it’s clear that the photographer is making very conscious decisions about how that presence might be captured. Though photographs have always been dismissed or disparaged by some critics as shallow, mechanical likenesses, I’d argue that the best photographic portraits have equal if not greater capacity for engaging a viewer.” Gilmour says no themes were more apparent in 2012 than previous years. “The 2012 NPPP reaffirmed that it’s a project that reflects the range and inventiveness of photographic portraiture in Australia. For the five years that it’s been running, it has always attracted a diverse range of entries from photographers who are taking different approaches to portraiture.” Two South Australian artists are part of the 46 finalists and have portraits showing at Flinders: Benjamin Liew and Alex Frayne.
contemporary paintings by Lisa Dalla Rosa Meet the Artist 2pm Sunday 20 January
Mixed Messages artwork created using mixed media by members of the Red House Group Inc
Roderick D. McNicol, Jack Charles, digital print (detail)
“Both photos are very accomplished in regards to technique, composition and so forth; and are very successful also in terms of that quality I was talking about in relation to the winning portrait – that ability to draw you in and make you want to know more about the sitters. Both photos also really capture something of the sitters’ personalities or spirits. “Alex Frayne’s photo – a portrait of a 70-yearold man named Trevor Murphy, photographed on the jetty at Glenelg – is one of my favourites in the exhibition and also has a great story attached to it. Alex’s statement about the work explains that Trevor has spent ‘endless days’ jumping from the jetty over the years and that he continues to do so despite his age. The portrait conveys a palpable sense of Trevor’s character and you get a strong feeling that the sitter considers himself ‘one of the boys’ despite the age difference between him and his fellow jetty-jumpers; it suggests something also of how addictive and exhilarating a pastime it must be – how it keeps him feeling young, as Alex has explained in the caption.”
(above) Lynette Brown (right) Bev Bills
Gallery M, Marion Cultural Centre 287 Diagonal Rd, Oaklands Pk SA P:8377 2904 info@gallerym.net.au
www.gallerym.net.au
10 X TEN
T’Arts 10th Birthday Celebration A decade of collective and collaborative work
18 January – 8 February
National Photographic Portrait Prize 2012 Flinders Art Museum & City Gallery Continues until Sunday, February 17 flinders.edu.au/artmuseum/exhibitions Opens: Friday 18 January at 6pm Opening Speaker: Ewart Shaw Arts Producer, Radio Adelaide
Retrospective
MCLAREN VALE VISITOR CENTRE
1st Feb – 17th March 2012 Stunning retrospective to honor the wood work of ROBIN TURNER with painitngs by Dridan, Danvers, Davis, Dallwitz, Hannaford, Leslie, Pearse, Prest, Redgate & Wilson
Phone: 8323 9944
Beside the sea (detail), photo by David Simpson
Port Adelaide Sailing Club (detail), Oil by Stefan Zarebski
ROBIN TURNER
ROYAL SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF ARTS INC. La Petite et Le Grande RSASA Members’ Summer Exhibition
T’Arts Artist Demonstration Saturday 19 January 2pm – 4pm Liz Wauchope – Silk Painting Kathryn Hill – ‘Encaustic’ (Painting with Bees Wax)
Free entry - all welcome!
14 December – 23 December 2 January – 25 January 2013 Big & small artworks, painting, photographs, mixed media, textiles, printmaking, sculpture. Artworks over a metre wide and under 20cm x 20cm (big & little).
Art Mart 16 December – 23 December Members unframed artworks under $200 – Cash & Carry. Gallery closed 24 December – opens 2 January.
Royal South Australian Society of Arts Inc. Level 1 Institute Building, Cnr North Terrace & Kintore Ave Adelaide, Ph/Fax: 8232 0450 www.rsasarts.com.au rsasarts@bigpond.net.au Mon- Fri 10.30-4.30pm Sat & Sun 1- 4pm Pub Hol. Closed.
Pepper Street Arts Centre Exhibitions. Gift Shop. Art Classes. Coffee Shop. 558 Magill Road, Magill PH: 8364 6154 Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 12 noon - 5 pm An arts & cultural initiative funded by the City of Burnside
www.pepperstreetartscentre.com.au