Co-located with the Prospect Library on Main North Road, the Prospect Gallery has delighted me with an eclectic selection of artwork since I moved to Prospect two years ago.
I've seen gallery shows with fabric and weaving, sculpture, photography, painting, and other media. In each show two things have stood out.
First, the presentation has always been thoughtful. Often, community galleries have a somewhat haphazard approach to displaying artwork. Issues can range from poor lighting to confusing and ill-defined themes. That's never been the case for any of the shows I've seen here.
Second, the quality of the work on display has always been top-drawer. The shows seem to have some level of curation. When multiple artists have been on display, it seems only the best work of the contributors has been selected. When single artists have been shown, the artists appear to have been held to a high standard with respect to showing a cohesive body of work.
While decidedly less pretentious, the Prospect Gallery competes well with the commercial galleries in the CBD and is well worth a visit.
In fact, the current show, "Suburban Dreaming," which runs through July 27, 2014 is so good, it's reason enough to hustle out to Propect soon.
The show is a selection of 15 large photographs of suburban locations, mostly shot at night with long exposures, by Wayne Grivell.
Grivell, a local architect cum photographer, brings a unique viewpoint to these pictures. And they are not what you'd expect. We're not talking about typical architectural photos of slick modern buildings or the Architecturial Digest renderings of somebody's mansion.
What Grivell gives you instead is a surreal, often brutal in its clarity, view of ordinary dwellings. Sterile business fronts juxtaposed with residential homes replete with yards and balconies crowded with the detritus of ordinary living. At first viewing, many of the pictures can bring a sense of comfort and frequently, a smile. But make a second circuit through the display and you start noticing details.
Partly this is due to the long exposure, nighttime photography which lets you see deep into the shadows in a way that you can't do with your naked eye. But mostly this is the result of carefully chosen scenes and framing. There are layers of visual rewards to work through in most of the pictures. Take some time to look at them more than once to really get the remarkable depth Grivell offers in his work.
Oh, and be sure to read the artist's comments posted next to the left of the first picture. They provide some insight into Grivell's motivation for taking these photos.
That's a wrap! Eat, drink, and be merry, but not too much. JD read more