F L E S H official opening

Join us for an evening of appreciation and celebration of the human form at Ellenbrook Arts.

F L E S H is a group exhibition featuring new work by visual artists, Robyn Bernadt, Hugh Breslin, Chris de Sira, Shanti Gelmi, Louise Grimshaw, Rebecca Hepworth, Noel Roy Johnson, Sophie G Nixon and Charlotte Robinson, and curated by Robyn Bernadt.

The exhibition brings together artists with diverse backgrounds and practices to explore the theme of flesh in a variety of media. Human and animal; alive and dead; familiar and strange. The exhibition raises questions about the body and aging, touch and texture, surface and skin - celebrating the biology of life and death with a touch of macabre.

This body of work looks at the harmony and disharmony in the dualities of flesh. Within a portrait lies layers of identity torn and formed by the physical and emotional. Emotions are held in the body; the body and mind in conversation together are embodiment of grief and growth. As we grow old, our outer image shifts into shadows of societal value and fractures the way we look inward and outward. We are left wondering if we owe existence the payment of our flesh. Our body begs to exist beyond the limits of life and be home to spirit and virtue in search of eternal value. 

Value of fabric, value of sex, value of flesh; become the tethers between weakness and power in the eyes of the beholder and the depth of pockets. Bodies become fragmented into categories, tones, and catalogues, bleeding beneath the scrutiny of society’s narrow definitions. Body bits defined by their appearance endure scars physical and psychological. Flesh is all of us, our communication of self and our understanding of other. This exhibition plays the parallels between what we see and what we try not to see; the art of what it is for flesh to exist and be inhabited.

(Gabriela Antonini, 2022)

Light refreshments and entertainments provided.

Including poetry readings by Deanne Leber & Gabi Antonini

We hope to see you there!