JAMES HOOK - 'The Art of Wine' 23rd October - 5th December 2009

Freerange Gallery showcased James Hook's debut print exhibition 'The Art of Wine'.

James is a viticultralist and wine maker based in McLaren Vale, South Australia. Jame's hand crafted boutique wines are under the 'Lazy Ballerina' label. Over the past couple of vintages James has managed to capture real and interesting moments of the processes of the ‘Art of Wine’ in his photography.

The result was a unique crafted suite of digital prints that reflected a selection of vineyard scenes at various times of the day, varying stages of vintage, through to the fruit, people, interiors & their apparatus and machinery that make up the breathing and behind the scenes functioning of wineries.

When viewing James’ body of digital prints, it becomes apparent that James has been able to interpret and portray his imagery with a honesty that is underpinned by a strong sense of design, colour & form. Take ‘Just a Little Crush’, pictured. What is depicted is the grape juice spilling out after being crushed, though just as poignant as the image’s content for James is the sheer graphic splash of vibrant red.

All digital prints have been printed exclusively for ‘The Art of Wine’ exhibition, and are for sale solely through Freerange Gallery.

'Tree Museum' SALA Exhibition - July 31 - 26 September 2009

Freerange Gallery's 'Tree Museum' mixed artist project coincided with Adelaide's SALA Festival (South Australian Living Artists).

The exhibiting artists were required to source trees that hold significance to themselves personally, the community or beyond. Through it's fables and mixed mediums, the thematic exhibition intended to investigate concepts such as: the provenance of the trees and their associated custodian/s. In so doing, highlighting the responsibility and ownership of the trees- for the custodian, the local community and broader society, and acknowledging the importance of local landscape heritage and conservation value of the selected trees.

Exhibiting artists:

David Hamilton Lesley Redgate

Michal Kluvanek Margaret Sanders

Christina Kerkvliet-Goddard Deb Tucker

Gail Kellett Robin Turner

Vicki Reynolds Annette Vincent

: Annette Vincent

: Lesley Redgate

: Lesley Redgate

: Gail Kellett

: Margaret Sanders

: Robin Turner

: David Hamilton

: Michal Kluvanek

: Christina Kerkvliet-Goddard

: Vicki Reynolds

: Deb Tucker

'How Long is a Piece of Thread'?

Late June - 28 July 2009

A true visual feast for the eyes!

'How Long is a Piece of Thread'? showcased an array of textile treasures collected and carted back by our Gallery's Director, Deborah Tucker, from her recent trip to India & Nepal. The items were NFS.

Here is a small taste...

: Ethnic Skirts, Rajastan

: Antique Ornamentation, Camels, Horses, Tents, Garments

: Antique Wedding Sari

: Silk & Georgette Saris

: Silk & Brocade Fabric

Ronald Gericke retrospective Exhibition

: Self Portrait, Oil, 1948

: Gum Trunk, Watercolour, Late 50's

: Reclining Male Nude, Bronze, 80's

Ronald Gericke Retrospective Exhibition

'Life of a Man' - He wasn't bored in his life!

23rd April - 30th May 2009

The recent retrospective exhibition reviewed the life work of the man Ronald Gericke, reflecting the process of developing a piece of art, (& documenting it’s process & progress). The purpose and drive of the exhibition was two fold. Firstly and most importantly, the retrospective provided a platform to celebrate ‘The Man’ - Ronald Gericke, and his incredible exploring and imaginative mind. Secondly, the exhibition allowed the opportunity to showcase the diverse array of Ronald’s ideas and his art. In the process, the viewer was invited into Ronald’s world of inquiry and wonder.

The exhibition included early drawings, working drawings, watercolours, paintings, wooden work and terracotta & bronze work.

The exhibition was curated with an educational frame work in mind for senior art high school students in the region.

Background to the man Ronald Gericke 1932 – 2008:

Ronald Gericke resided in McLaren Vale, and was a practicing artist up until his death at the end of last year. His life story and what he achieved and accomplished was rich, vast and diverse.

His mother was a teacher, and encouraged him from a young age to be creative. Wherever he was taken he was recording and making drawings.

His life story saw him be:

A sports person in gymnastics, football, rowing, fencing, swimming

and body building. He was a male model.

He was heavily involved in theatre- acting and stage set design.

He was a costume designer.

A practicing artist, that also included study in sculpture under the established SA sculptor John Dowie.

We had our opening night on Thursday 23rd April. On the night an auction of the majority of the art works took place. All the monies raised, with no commissiion taken, is being donated to the Southern Districts Memorial McLaren Vale Hospital towards the purchase of a well needed palliative care mattress.

The response was wonderful and over $2,300 was raised on the night!

Herbert Neetzel - 'Dunes & Thongs'

6th March - 11th April 2009

A Collection of Herbert Neetzel's thoughts surrounding ‘Dunes & Thongs’.

Thongs were brought back from returning Servicemen from Asia after WWII as gifts for their families & friends. First bewildered after 10 years they took on like a tsunami.

‘Dunes & Thongs’ – a single & mixed odd doubles collection, lost & found, yet another single thong on the beach.

Thinking on paper with watercolours, quirky observations & inner workings of social behaviour are drawn as field studies on metropolitan locations like Henley, Grange & Pt. Willunga.

The cultural space of the beach-

Details like thongs & things link together. You have the village (bathers) around the beach café (eski) in the distance, someone looking for his wedding ring with a metal detector. A young girl with the little black dog, the director’s chair occupied, the lovers sleeping behind salt bushes in the dunes, some lonely silly bugger looking for his lost shadow, the spirit stripped off the cliches.

What Happened to the Other Thong?

In between the lapping of the waves the silence that comes from the heart of a large seashell shadows fall, bringing on a temporary tangible formation of matter. The slanting light falls more obliquely on the dunes, it glows with soft burnish matte magenta shades & flesh pink specks.

Dune grasses, blind growth of course, is subject to it’s own laws. Some replanted freshly by Coast Care; it’s hard not to feel it is the result of some caring, nurturing agency, and some quality of devotion.

The Thong’s colour intervals are inspired by a beginners-guide to playing the piano -

Each of the white keys is associated with a colour. Thongs are arranged symmetrically where colours symbolise different spiritual/psychological states of mind.

A gap is a pause reading from left to right & right to left.

A black & white thong a fundamental full stop.

A left or right thong an acceloration or slowing of the melody’s movement.

'In the Blink of an Eye'

28th November 2008 - 31st January 2009

'In the Blink of an Eye' was Freerange Gallery's photographic and digital art summer exhibition.

The South Australian photographic artists featured were:

Lindy Downing, Liz French, Robert Griffiths, Michal Kluvanek, Mark Piovesan, Andrew Piovesan, Caleb Sutherland, Donna Tapfield, Deb Tucker, Mandi Whitten & Humna Mustafa.

Using various methods of conventional SLR photography, digital SLR photography and photoshop software, these photographic artists gave their perspective of the world around us. The result was a wonderfully diverse exhibition with each photograph telling a story.

Take the collaborative project between photographer Mandi Whitten & Henna artist Humna Mustafa. Mandi had photographed a suite of works depicting a journey of henna across world cultures, giving insight into how henna is used in various design forms and ceremonial practices. The supersized henna decorated human foot was a striking, evocative image.

Two of Michal Kluvanek’s works made direct reference to Patawarta Hill in the Flinders, a stomping ground for renowned painter Hans Heysen. The crafting and time Michal had taken to scout the specific site was reflected in the subtleness of light and form in his works.

The exhibition “sold off the wall” and was replenished throughout the summer period.

: Lindy Downing

: Lindy Downing

: Liz French

: Liz French

: Robert Griffiths

: Robert Griffiths

: Michal Kluvanek

: Mark Piovesan

: Mark Piovesan

: Andrew Piovesan

: Caleb Sutherland

: Caleb Sutherland

: Donna Tapfield

: Donna Tapfield

: Deb Tucker

: Mandi Whitten & Humna Mustafa

: Mandi Whitten & Humna Mustafa

: Mandi Whitten & Humna Mustafa

‘Germination’

Concluded: 29th October 2008

Featured artists:

Jim Duncan
Chris De Rosa
Liz French
Kellie Fergguson
Michal Kluvanek
Vicki Reynolds
Peter Sinclair
Quenby Sinclair
Donna Tapfield
Yve Thompson

Sprouting, growth, formation, development are adjectives that come to mind with Freerange Gallery’s recent exhibition ‘Germination’.

‘Germination’ was a thematic exhibition that explored the gestation of the
artistic process. The project required the ten featured South Australian artists
to submit supporting material to accompany their artworks. The chosen items symbolised in some form their initial conceptual ideas that began the artistic process.

The result was a diverse, rich exhibition depicting various subjects, styles, mediums and techniques that were all underpinned by the thread of the germination process.