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The Exquisite Familiar

Presented by

Access2Arts in partnership with AGSA & MOD. Museum

A paint-splattered pink, yellow and purple background with a yellow circle on top featuring the illustration of a horse head, human torso and octopus tentacles.

Project details

Where:

Art Gallery of South Australia & MOD Museum

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Description

Exciting update!

After a successful tour around the Eyre Peninsula and a season exhibiting at Hahndorf Academy, The Exquisite Familiar has landed at Guildhouse Lion Arts space, with three ‘Exquisite Familiar’ artists’ artworks on display in the Access2Arts x Guildhouse Wall-to-Wall exhibition.

The Guildhouse Wall-to-Wall exhibition program partners with artists and organisations based in South Australia to foster opportunities in reaching new audiences.
Held quartlerly and based out of Guildhouse’s Lion Arts office, the Wall-to-Wall exhibition program is open to the public from Tuesday to Thursday, 9.30 am to 5:00 pm. As Guildhouse’s Membership Hub, this space welcomes industry partners, sector leaders and the broader community.

The Lion Arts Centre precinct offers an appreciation of artistic practice, a strong legacy for championing the State’s creative contributions and high foot traffic. The residing organisations are recognised as major contributors to South Australia’s artistic and cultural landscape.

The exhibition features artworks by ‘The Exquisite Familiar’ artists Dan Withey, Jekio Blackstreak and John ‘Bundy’ Bannerman, and is curated by Access2Arts staff member and emerging curator, Georgina Smerd.

An open door with a black 'Guildhouse' logo on it. A large painting depicting Sturt Desert Peas hangs on the white wall next to the open door.

In a gallery space, smaller grouped artworks hang on a black wall. The words "Guildhouse" are also on the black wall. In front of the wall on a desk are two paintings depicting dogs standing upright on easels.

A painting on a white wall. The painting depicts the outline of the side-profile of a thin body on a background of dark orange, red and brown colours.

Before this, the exhibition was held at the end of 2024 at the Hahndorf Academy in the Adelaide Hills.

Find more information about the exhibition at Hahndorf Academy here

Eyre Peninsula Iteration

We have hosted a new regional version of The Exquisite Familiar project in the Eyre Peninsula! Workshops have take place for the paid artists both online and in person in Port Lincoln, with the works created then exhibited in Port Lincoln at SALT Festival and Middleback Arts Centre in Whyalla. Eligible participates collaborated from the Eyre Peninsula (or close surrounding regional areas) who were over 18 years of age, identify as living with a disability, and be an artist in some form – whether that be professional, emerging, hobby or recreational.

Our regional line up of Exquisite Familiar artists includes:

Cyanne Westerman
Jekio Blackstreak
Karina Sires
Mya Canty
Anastasia Jelinek
Dani Johnson
Kye Poole
Winnie Mrdjen

Find more information about the regional iteration of the The Exquisite Familiar project here.

The Exquisite Familiar

We welcome you to learn about our exciting collaborative art project, The Exquisite Familiar, created in partnership with the Art Gallery of South Australia and MOD. Museum. Eleven disabled visual artists (either emerging or established) are participating in this paid collaborative project that involves creative workshops and exhibitions at both the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) and MOD. Museum.

In this interactive, immersive, multi-art form project, a group of disabled artists of varying ages, artistic genres, and skills, bring their ‘Exquisite Familiar’ visions to life and develop their digital capabilities with the support of artistic and technical staff. These artists will use Exquisite Corpse-style art to explore and illustrate the barriers associated with disability through the lens of familiars.

Familiars can be found throughout history in folklore and are uncanny creatures who help and protect their owners. In The Exquisite Familiar project, these creatures take on the meaningful and communicative role of metaphors for access and inclusion for people living with a disability.

In December of 2022, we held an exhibition in The Studio at AGSA, which launched as a part of the International Day of People with Disabilities and drew many people in for the opening night. This digital exhibition showcased the amazing illustrations created in the first workshop of ‘The Exquisite Familiar’ project on continually changing screens, and visitors were able to be inspired by our artists’ works and then create their very own ‘Exquisite Familiar’ creature within the space.

Read our interviews with our ‘Exquisite Familiar’ artists here.

At MOD., two technology-based workshops have been held in 2023, where the artists learned new ways to interact with their artworks on digital platforms, adding a new creative method to their artistic repertoire. The artists’ works have also (excitingly) been further digitised, with added techno tunes that were created in DJ TR!P’s MOD. workshop. The results of our ‘Exquisite’ artists playing around and experimenting with these accessible technological possibilities is now on display at MOD. in the next ‘Exquisite Familiar’ exhibition! It runs from Tuesday 4th of April until Saturday 13th of May in 2023 – make sure to check it out!

A schoolgirl in a darkly lit room facing a large, portrait screen containing colourful illustrations.