Never mix friendship with work – two friends, Jacqueline Mitchell and Jane Smeets, two Adelaide artists, have done just the opposite for this year’s SALA Festival. Together they have launched an Art ad-venture and created constantly changing abstract sculptures – mobiles. Their 9-5 mobile series can be viewed publicly for the first time at ART LOGIC Amherst Gallery's ‘Outdoor Art’ exhibition from 16-22nd August 2009, 2-5pm, 62 Amherst Avenue Trinity Gardens (9 min from Adelaide’s CBD).
“The first time I thought of creating mobiles was 10years ago. I was visiting a friend who lived on an Island called Lanzarote that belongs to Spain.” says Jacqueline. “An artist called Cesar Manrique transformed the entire island with his art; fusing art and nature with a breathtaking effect. I was so impressed by the island’s roundabouts; they feature giant, colourful metal mobiles. That’s what I want to create for Australia’s roundabouts – constantly moving, coloured fun with zero water requirements.”
Jacqueline describes, “The first experiment with this concept is our 9-5 mobile series. They are an interplay of brightly coloured, organic, Plexiglas shapes and arrows. Some build a pillar of colour, others are suspended from a central support to which various cantilevered arms are attached. The forms are set into motion by random air currents and seem to dance before the viewer in endless combinations.”
“They’re great for both outdoors and indoors.” explains Jane. She states "Outdoors they bring colour to our gardens. With our water problems we’ve had to say goodbye to large, luscious, bright coloured European flowers. These strong-coloured mobiles let me play with a colour palette in my garden again. Indoors, you’ll find that offices typically have grey, beige, khaki and white color schemes. With these mobiles in your office from 9 to 5, you get a burst of ingenuity and humor in the form of a coloured, moving abstract sculpture.”
Jane Smeets has been painting and sculpting for over 30 years and also teaches art. Jacqueline Mitchell has a background in photography and digital art. “One curious part of our cooperation,” says Jane, “is that our taste in art is very different. That creates an interesting dynamic – this is what makes these sculpture-mobiles unique.”
The ART LOGIC Amherst Gallery Outdoor Art exhibition is free for all visitors as part of the Adelaide SALA Festival 2009. For more information contact ART LOGIC at www.artlogic.com.au, info@artlogic.com.au or 0432 924 305.
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