New: Australian Contemporary Decorative Arts
UNTIL 25 MARCH 2012
Gallery 19A
Free Admission
Australia enjoys a dynamic and innovative contemporary craft practice which is recognised
internationally for its excellence.
NEW! showcases twenty-three recent acquisitions and demonstrates the Gallery’s commitment to
the collection and display of contemporary Australian craft and design.
New work in ceramic includes Stephen Bird’s naughty and witty Adam & Eve I & II, as
well as pieces by Adelaide ceramists Gus Clutterbuck, Stephanie James-Manttan and Maria
Parmenter. Jessica Loughlin’s wall pieces focused on light I & II and Mel Douglas’s
Incline excel in sublime and contemplative glass. Masahiro Asaka’s Surge 7 captures the impossible
- the perfect surfing tube - and Massive Hooligan neatly exemplifies the colourful, provocative
glasswork of Tom Moore.
In jewellery, Lauren Simeoni and Melinda Young explore nature’s botany through semi-precious,
non-precious and found objects, while the exquisite openwork form, Drought vessel by acclaimed
silversmith Julie Blyfield, was acquired from her solo travelling exhibition. Blyfield was also
this year’s overall winner of the Waterhouse Art Prize. All three acquisitions were generously
funded through the Rhianon Vernon-Roberts Memorial Collection, which was established in 1992 to
support Australian contemporary jewellers; the collection now numbers 106 pieces.
Contemporary Indigenous craft is represented through the ceramics of Bluey Roberts and Dickie
Minyintiri. Dickie Minyintiri won the prestigious 2011 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Art Award. The major ceramic sculpture Bud – Bush lily is displayed in tribute to
the recent passing of Gloria Fletcher (Thapich), Australia’s most significant Indigenous ceramist.
Marvellous woven figures by Mary Katatjuku Pan and Naomi Kantjuri of the Tjanpi Desert Weavers are
displayed, along with a large basket by Pan. Vibrant textiles from Babbarra Designs in Maningrida,
central Arnhem Land, graphically illustrate ancestral spirits, woven traditions and bush foods.
NEW! provides the opportunity to view the majority of these important Australian craft and
design acquisitions for the first time.
detail: Julie Blyfield, Australia, born 1957, Drought vessel, 2009, Stepney, Adelaide,sterling silver, 12.5 x 24.5 x 23.0 cm, Rhianon Vernon Roberts Memorial Collection 2011, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, © Julie Blyfield, Image courtesy of the artst. Photograph: Grant Hancock
