Under the Radar
'Under the Radar'
is a month long exhibition featuring artworks by gallery members
that opens at 6pm on the 27th of May and runs until the 24th of June 2016.
As artists,
our works often have political overtones,
sometimes our images become a social record
or even a subconscious perception of the forces about us.
'Under the Radar'
will explore the possibilities of social and political activism,
personal reaction and the notion of 'protest' art.
This exhibition, will essentially promote,
the freedom of expression which Art is all about.
So come join us in exercising our democratic right
to express, protest, revolutionize and liberate!
'Dystopia'
- oil on canvas by Michael Clifton
'Fallen Angel'
Statement by Alison Mead
A 'Fallen Angel' sleeps
while her dreams are healing her.
Born innocent,
survivors often find themselves
in places and spaces that are not safe.
Heartfelt House
provides a safe cocoon
so the fallen ones can learn to fly.
The gallery is pleased to announce that the
painting 'Fallen Angel' - which has been kindly
donated by artist Alison Mead - is to be
auctioned at the exhibition's opening celebration.
Proceeds of the auction will go to both the
Serpentine Community Gallery
and Heartfelt House;
a Northern Rivers organisation that aims
to provide support for adult survivors
of childhood sexual abuse
as well as their family and friends.
Alison Mead will also be exhibiting photographic
works, which relate to this issue of giving
a voice to the victims of this 'silent crime'.
Often being children, the sexually abused
are frequently too frightened to speak out
and as adults are very often silenced by
social taboo and a sense of personal isolation.
'Free your voice!'
For more info about Heartfelt House follow the link to
Artfelt Art Prize Salon de Refuse,
an exhibition proudly hosted by the Serpentine in September 2012
to highlight the issue and as a fundraiser to help Heartfelt House continue the important work it does.
'Australian Crimescene'
- acrylic and mixed media on canvas
by Susannah French
The Serpentine Community Gallery has always had a commitment to communicate
the messages that reverberate throughout our close-knit community.
These are very often, the things we care about, believe in and want to uphold,
or otherwise would like to change for the better.
From our early 'It Is Political' exhibitions in 2007 and 2008
to 'CSG the Exploration' in 2013, we have brought local artists together,
to express their fears for the present and hopes for the future.
The Serpentine captured the dynamic atmosphere
of a large-scale environmental protest in 2014 with its exhibition
It was a landmark exhibition that brought together
the signs, photos and tools of a community's resistance.
'Bentley' illustrated how our community
could be pitted against the vested interests of big business and survive.
This show was very much about the ongoing struggle
to protect the land, air and water, for ourselves and future generations.
A groundbreaking exhibition, 'From Bentley with Love' made a deep impact
both on the anti-CSG movement who lovingly put it together and those
who came to immerse themselves in it's atmosphere of camaraderie and vision.
The Northern Rivers region of New South Wales
has a deep connection
to environmental and social activism.
It was the first region to declare itself Coal-seam
gas free as a direct result of community resistance.
A precedent for the conservation movement within
Australia and beyond, were the protests at
Terania Creek in 1979. This milestone rainforest
blockade was instrumental in the creation of the
World Heritage-listed Nightcap National Park.
This was a non-violent direct-action protest
which saw the first ever human blockade in
defence of a rainforest. It showed how people-power
could both turn the tide of public opinion and be
instrumental in pressuring the Government to
create new laws to protect the forests.
With the recent introduction of the
NSW anti-protest legislation,
our public entitlement to actively protect this precious ecosystem has become compromised and our
democratic right to peacefully protest, has been eroded.
Rainforest ecosystem
in the World Heritage area
at Protesters Falls, Terania Creek,
Nightcap National Park
How do these laws reflect on our
current governance?
Why are the voices of our communities
drowned beneath the vested interests
of the mining and forestry advocates
and how do these laws impact upon
our personal sense of empowerment,
in this age of surveillance?
These concerns and the
many imperative global issues;
such as planetary warming,
the refugee crisis,
legislation,
land rights,
the environment,
violence and abuse,
and the often overwhelming
elements of modern life
that confront us everyday,
will be reflected in the
Serpentine Gallery's
next member's show
'Under the Radar'.
'Between a Rock and a Hard Place'
Oil on canvas
by Michael Clifton
(..this painting shows refugees
being washed on to rocks
...and Tony Abbott,
standing in speedo's, on the cliff watching.)
'Wrong Way Go Back'
oil and collage on canvas
by Paul Roguszka
'Gassed'
giclee print
by Neil Howe
Stickers
by marcsta
'SOS
- save our surf'
by Susannah French
'First Communion'
oil on canvas
by Michael Clifton
'Blinded by Science'
pen and ink
by Iain Harrison
'Bob Marley'
spray paint stencil
on cardboard
by marcsta
'Twisted Fidelity'
acrylic on canvas
by Theodore Kennett-Raj
'Street Art'
Photo Taken in Belfast, Northern Ireland July 2015;
by Tanya Smith
'Free Speech'
fabric,
machine embroidery
by Paulette Hayes
- detail below
After a 2016 Lismore Lantern Parade performance dress rehearsal, artist Ray Parry views Under the Radar.
The opening celebration
