Yo Melbourne, We’re from Philly! brings together artists from Arts Project Australia with artists from supported studios across Philadelphia, United States in a celebration of cross-cultural dialogue and exciting juxtaposition.
Curated by Alex Baker, Director of Fleisher/Ollman in Philadelphia and former Senior Curator, Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, Yo Melbourne, We’re from Philly! is energised by Baker’s experiences working with Arts Project Australia during his time in Melbourne, as well as working with artists in his hometown, Philadelphia, who work in disability studio programs.
While the exhibition eschews any overarching thesis or subject, themes can be teased from this bounty of expression, including forays into infrastructure and the built environment, portraiture, observation and nature, landscape, perspectival oscillation, abstraction, text, ceramic whimsies and fantastical things.
The Philadelphia-based artists herald from several disability and behavioural health studio centers, including: IDEATE (Dwayne Boone and Alonzo Humphrey); Center for Creative Works (Jenny Cox, Paige Donovan, and Natasha Plaza); Artworks/Community Integrated Services (Woodley White); Creative Vision Factory (Knicoma Frederick, Eliseo Gonzalez, and Geraldo Gonzalez), and Queen Nancy Bell, who now works independently, but was formerly associated with Oasis, a now defunct art center.
Fleisher/Ollman is an internationally recognised gallery exploring the resonance of self-taught and contemporary art.
Opening: Saturday 21 September, 3-5pm
Dates: 21 September – 19 October
Curator: Alex Baker, Director of Fleisher/Ollman, Philadelphia
Image | James MacSporran, 2 Pixels, 2019, gouache, ink, paint pen, 38.5 x 56 cm.
