Riddoch Art Gallery is celebrating Fringe Mount Gambier with the launch of two local exhibitions on Friday 22 March at 6:00pm.
Showcasing local talent across all mediums, the South East Art Society will host its annual Open Art Awards with winners announced on the night. With more than 100 works of art vying for the top prize of $1,500, it’s a hotly anticipated event on the Mount Gambier art calendar. This year video will be launched as a new category.
“We relish the opportunity to celebrate our local talent and always look forward to having the South East Art Society Open Art Awards at the Riddoch Art Gallery. It’s an exciting time for us, because we get to see what our local artists are making and assist in nurturing talent in our back yard,” Riddoch Art Gallery Director and Manager Arts and Culture Development Dr Melentie Pandilovski said.
Opening on the same night, the gallery will host the cutting-edge exhibition Prosthetic Reality using technology to bring artwork to life. A visionary exhibition from the hit art book of the same name, 10 works from international and Australian artists use Augmented Reality to make drawings into animations while you watch, simply using an app on your phone.
Augmented Reality is becoming increasingly popular and we’re excited to be at the forefront of this on a national and global scale. To use this opportunity to bring local artists into the mix and provide them with new skills and new ways of working has been so rewarding.- Main Corner Coordinator Talie Teakle
As part of the exhibition, local artists April Hague and Anthony Hamilton have been commissioned to develop exciting Augmented Reality artworks, a new medium for both artists. Using their talent for drawing, murals and imagination, April and Anthony have used the experience to step outside of their comfort zone and create something completely new.
“I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to find out how Augmented Reality works with City of Mount Gambier Marketing Assistant Melissa Horton, whose background in film and television has been instrumental in guiding this process. It’s an exciting field, and it’ll be interesting to see how this will influence my work in the future,” Ms Hague said.
The exhibitions will be opened by Flinders University New Venture Institute community engagement manager Ben Deering and Art Images Gallery, Adelaide curator Eliza Dallwitz.
Media contact: City of Mount Gambier Media and Communications Coordinator Sharny McLean on 8721 2401 or smclean@mountgambier.sa.gov.au
