Tom Moore’s ‘Dandy Lion’ takes the prize
Renowned Adelaide glass artist Tom Moore has scooped the $20,000 FUSE Glass Prize with a work described by the judging panel as a “virtuosic composition of beguiling characters”.
Moore is known for his elaborate and often humorous glass sculptures featuring hybrid life forms, and the panel said his FUSE winning creation – Dandy Lion among the Antipodes (Handsome Duckling, Sweet Boots, Quadravian Cyclops, Dandy Lion & Kohl Canary) – takes his work to new levels of intrigue and refinement.
“The chromatic gradation across the group and the multi-layered play with symmetry and absurdity give the work a compelling quality,” they commented. “The longer you look the more Moore you see!”
Presented biennially by JamFactory, the FUSE Glass Prize is open to Australian and New Zealand artists, with works by 12 established and six emerging artists selected as finalists in 2024. The David Henshall Emerging Artist Prize was awarded to Canberra-based artist Emeirely Nucifora-Ryan for her piece title Processed.
An exhibition of all the finalists’ works is at JamFactory until July 7, after which it will tour to Canberra and Sydney.
Adelaide Biennial curator callout
The Art Gallery of SA is inviting exhibition proposals for the 19th Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, to be held from March to June 2026.
The callout (details here) is open to Australia-based curators, who have until June 28 to provide a proposal outlining their curatorial approach and including at least 10 potential artists.
“Known for its risk taking and expansive vision, each iteration of the Adelaide Biennial responds to a different theme or premise,” AGSA says in the callout.
The 18th Adelaide Biennial, curated by José Da Silva with the theme Inner Sanctum, opened during the 2024 Adelaide Festival and is on show until June 2.
Adolescent Wonderland goes global
Installation view: Tarnanthi 2020: Open Hands featuring works from the series Adolescent Wonderland (Revisited) by Naomi Hobson, Art Gallery of SA. Photo: Saul Steed
In other gallery news, Australian artist Naomi Hobson’s photographic portrait series Adolescent Wonderland – which premiered at AGSA during Tarnanthi 2020 and has been touring regionally since then – is now bound for Morocco.
Hobson is a Southern Kaantju/Umpila woman and the playful portraits in Adolescent Wonderland feature young Aboriginal people from her community of Coen, a small town of 360 people on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula.
AGSA announced this week that the works will be presented at La Fondation Nationale des Musées in Rabat, Morocco, from May 20 until July 10. Gallery director Rhana Devenport described the Morocco tour as a coup, saying it would be “transformative for Naomi, whilst enhancing the cultural richness and reputation of South Australia”.
The title of Hobson’s series is inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and the artist says it will be “a pinch-me moment” when she lands in Morocco: “I’m sure to feel like Alice in Wonderland – ‘curiouser and curiouser’!”.
Dancers get space to experiment
Narungga/Kaurna artist Jacob Boehme, who recently presented the acclaimed new work Guuranda at the Adelaide Festival, has been awarded one of the three 2024 Tanja Liedtke Studio Residencies announced this week by Australian Dance Theatre.
The residencies include a stipend of $2600 and offer two weeks of space at the Tanja Liedtke Studio at the Odeon in Norwood so the artists can “experiment, challenge form, and extend their artistry”.
Applications were received from all over Australia, with the other residencies awarded to South Australian dance maker Amelia Watson, and a collective of Indigenous artists from Naarm/Melbourne (Amelia Jean O’Leary, Bella Waru and Karlia Cook).
“It’s tremendously exciting to have these artists in our space and to have them push boundaries as they develop their work,” says ADT artistic director Daniel Riley.
A trip down memory lane
Jacki Weaver’s hot-pink nightie from Entertaining Mr Sloane and Sarah Snook’s costume from King Lear.
The anniversary celebrations are continuing at Adelaide Festival Centre with the opening of a new exhibition of memorabilia and costumes showcasing the rich history of the Dunstan Playhouse.
Titled 1974: Stage Two, the exhibition celebrates 50 years since the completion of the Playhouse and the Space Theatre and draws on items in the Festival Centre’s Performing Arts Collection.
Drama buffs will find costumes worn by actors including Sarah Snook (in State Theatre Company SA’s 2009 production of King Lear), Cate Blanchett (in Company B’s The Seagull, 1997), and Jacki Weaver (in State Theatre’s Entertaining Mr Sloane, 2010). Among the more quirky memorabilia is Festival Centre-branded vintage crockery.
The exhibition is open from 10am-3pm on Fridays and Saturdays and during performance times.
Get ready to Rock the Coast
Local band Galactic Jelly performing rock ‘n’ roll classics.
Accessible and inclusive concert Rock the Coast is seeking expressions of interest from musicians keen to join the line-up when it returns to Victor Harbor Town Hall on November 22.
The event, an initiative of disability service provider Community Living Australia’s Goolwa Music Group, is now in its fourth year and aims to provide a “fun, safe and accessible space” for people living with disability to experience live music.
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“This year is about expanding our community, and this includes attracting new musical talent for our concert line-up, which each year shines the spotlight on local talent, including artists living with disability,” says Community Living Australia chief executive Mark Kulinski.
Expressions of interest are sought from SA bands, solo artists and DJs, and can be made by contacting Sonia Hein via sonia.hein@claust.com.au.
The Almighty Sometimes
Theatre Republic has announced it will be returning to the stage later this year with a new production of Australian writer Kendall Feaver’s The Almighty Sometimes, an award-winning play that shines light on the complexities of living with a mental illness.
The play centres on a young woman named Anna, whose world begins to spiral when she tries to take control of her life and treatment. The Theatre Republic production – to run from September 25-28 – will be directed by Corey McMahon with a cast comprising Emily Liu, Tamara Lee, Simon Chandler and Anna Steen. Details here.
Green Room is a regular column for InReview, providing quick news for people interested, or involved, in South Australian arts and culture.
Get in touch by emailing us at editorial@solsticemedia.com.au
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