Untitled, 70cm X 100cm, ink and watercolour on paper, Anjo Bolarda, 2014
Presented by Boxplot:
25 April – 11 May, 2014
A new group exhibition in Bowden from 25 April to 11 May 2014 will feature a powerful collection of works on paper and canvas through which six established and emerging South Australian and Filipino contemporary artists contemplate the positive and negative connotations of the term Collaborator – exploring notions of identity, culture and religion.
Collaborator is the latest offering from Boxplot – an SA-based art initiative formed to exhibit contemporary art in alternative locations across Adelaide and create opportunities for artistic collaboration between South East Asian and South Australian visual artists. Boxplot was founded in 2013 by Adelaide’s Anna O’Loughlin and Filipino-born/SA-based artist Mark Valenzuela.
The Collaborator exhibition will be shown in a currently disused industrial warehouse in Bowden, showcasing works by three SA-based artists: Aleksandra Antic, Glenn Kestell and Mark Valenzuela – and three based in the Philippines: Rommel Joson, Anjo Bolarda and Tristram Miravalles.
Antic, a 2013 Fleurieu Art Prize finalist, and Kestell, a member of Central Studios, are two rising stars of SA’s contemporary art scene. Valenzuela, who resides in Adelaide and is a tenant at the Jam Factory Ceramic Studio, has a growing international career. His work is part of a group showcase at Artinformal in Manila from 20 March – 7 April (Heatwave) and he has exhibitions scheduled in Indonesia, USA and the Philippines later in 2014. For Joson, Bolarda and Miravalles, all of whom have well-established profiles in the Philippines and numerous awards and exhibitions to their names, Collaborator will be the first time they’ve exhibited in Australia.
At the project’s outset Boxplot partnered each SA-based artist with a Filipino artist and challenged each pair to work together from a distance to develop their works via email, Skype and Facebook, using the word ‘collaborator’ as a starting point for their dialogue.
“The works in the show are ultimately all individual pieces by the six artists, but they’re based on the concepts formed as a result of the interchange of ideas between each pairing,” says Boxplot co-founder, Anna O’Loughlin. “Collaborator can mean working with others towards a common goal or refer to a person who cooperates traitorously with an enemy. Looking at the final body of works developed, a number of distinct themes appear, including considerations of identity, competing cultural influences and religion. Given contemporary art from the Philippines hasn’t been widely showcased in South Australia, this is a rare opportunity to see a diverse range of works from both talented local artists and high profile Filipino artists.”
Collaborator Contemporary Art Exhibition
When: Friday 25 April – Sunday 11 May, 2014
(Official Exhibition Opening Event: 6pm – 8pm Thursday 24 April)
Where: 22 Gibson Street, Bowden
Entry: Free / All Works for Sale
Opening Times: 1pm – 6pm, Thursday to Sunday (including Anzac Day public holiday)
More News
