Holmes à Court Gallery @ No. 10 for the Perth Festival, February-March 2024
Inspired by the artist’s experience of the 2023 Exmouth eclipse, PORTENT explored the common understanding of eclipses as bad omens in diverse cultures throughout history. Video projections, large-scale wall murals and printed hangings, lighting and sound took over the expansive Holmes à Court Gallery @ No. 10 and saw the space repeatedly morph from light to darkness and back again throughout the course of the day.
The exhibition comprised solo works and collaborations with Ad Lib Collective, Sarah Elson, Chad Peacock and Wind Up Bird, and featured Thomas Fitzgerald Bloomer, David Charles Collins, Azariah Felton, Jeffrey Jay Fowler, Tim David Green, Nicholas Harle, Timo Kroker, Manuao Makeup, Sam Madame, Rebecca Paterson, Alex Spartalis (GSD Productions), Manuao TeAotonga, and Mitchell Whelan.
The exhibition comprised video works (created in collaboration with Chad Peacock and other creatives); wall, floor and on-paper drawings; textiles works; ceramics, regalia by Sarah Elson; and an exhibition soundtrack by Ad Lib Collective featuring Wind Up Bird, with lighting design by Alex Spartalis (GSD Productions) and sound by Azariah Felton, which combined to evoke the atmosphere and spiritual resonance of the Exmouth eclipse, while exploring the historical understandings of eclipses as omens of ill fortune.
The exhibition was preceded by 'PORTENT (a ritual)', the world premiere of a collaborative musical work commissioned from and developed with Ad Lib Collective and Wind Up Bird, and a performance featuring Thomas Fitzgerald Bloomer, David Charles Collins, Jeffrey Jay Fowler, Tim David Green, Nicholas Harle, Timo Kroker, Sam Madame and Manuao TeAotonga, directed by Mitchell Whelan, featuring costumes by Rebecca Paterson, jewellery and regalia by Sarah Elson, lighting by Alex Spartalis (GSD Productions), sound by Azariah Felton and makeup by Manuao Makeup.