25 May 2015
Queensland artist Hugh Sawrey's famous canvas, the Four Deuces, soared beyond expectations to make a new record for his works at auction in Adelaide this week.
Its hammer price was $146,000 and, to auctioneer Jim Elder's great satisfaction, the Queensland painting is going back to Queensland. It has been purchased by a private collector.
The last time this work came onto the market, some 30 years ago, it sold through the same Adelaide auctioneer for $42,000. Sawrey's action record, however, was $105,000 for a work sold in Melbourne ten years ago.
The Four Deuces was always expected to break the record, but Mr Elder had tipped about $120,000 as the anticipated price.
Hugh Sawrey was one of Australia's most beloved outback painters and also, with R.M. Williams, one of the men who founded the Stockman's Hall of Fame.
A decade before his death in 1999, he was awarded a C.B.E. for his contribution to art.
This record-breaking work is a big, sprawling 137x132cm oil painting of hot and languid Queenslanders gathered in the pub, some drinking at the bar, others grouped around a round table playing poker. And there is that winning hand, The Four Deuces, being presented right there on the table.
A moment is magically captured and this well-wrought oil has become acclaimed as one of the artist’s great masterpieces.
Samela Harris
Winter is upon us; cue hearty soups, extra layers and rainy weekend afternoons hibernating on the couch. Oh, and desperately trying to find new and exciting ways to entertain the kids without switching on the dreaded idiot box. Luckily, there are plenty of quality live action alternatives to that expensive trip to the cinema.
Forget dusty old stages and uncomfortable seats, theatre for kids is colourful, fun and interactive. Most importantly, it offers far more parental enjoyment than all the ice-throwing princesses Disney can muster.
If you're keen to head out and take in what's on offer, get your skates on because it's already in full swing.
Adelaide Festival Centre's 'Something on Saturday' is a winter stalwart, entertaining kids through the rainy months for the past 38 years. Running from 2nd May to 5th September, this year's program is a wonderful selection of music and theatre content aimed at 2 to 10 year olds.
For under 5's, Look by Imaginary Theatre is the brainchild of the company's "Play Project", which saw the performers spend over 100-hours in childcare centres playing with the preschoolers and understanding how they learn. The 35-minute show is set in the world of the child; it is largely non-verbal and is designed as an ideal first-time theatre experience. The performance runs for 35 minutes, followed by an interactive play session with the performers.
For 4 to 10-year olds, The Owl's Apprentice by Little Wing Puppets is the story of a young owl learning to be wise. A young owl named Poot Poot is sent to study at Owl school. On his journey he meets an Echidna, a Wombat, a Kookaburra, a Lyrebird, a Kangaroo and a Platypus who each share with him their own special kind of wisdom. This unique show, created by Jenny Ellis, features shadow puppetry, hand puppetry and story-telling and is designed to engage and extend the questioning minds of children.
For 3 to 7-year olds, The Wonky Donkey Man with Craig Smith features the author himself performing his books with hilarious results. Very popular in previous showings, be quick to get tickets for this one.
For 7 to 13-year olds, Argus by Dead Puppet Society is a touching piece performed with just household objects and four pairs of hands. When Argus's friends are taken away by the rubbish truck he determines to find them, no matter what. What follows is an epic and dangerous quest and Argus travels across the desert, snow, space and the ocean to find his friends and rescue them. On his adventure he encounters seals, space people, sharks, cars, trains, giants, birds and other creatures, and becomes a hero.
Dead Puppet Society creates Argus's fantastical world in a low-tech style that has its roots in puppetry and its heart in old-fashioned storytelling. It promises to expand the imaginations of adults and children alike.
Ticket pricing for Something On Saturday shows is very reasonable, starting from just $14.50, but you can save further by subscribing. Simply purchase tickets to four or more shows in one transaction to qualify. Most sessions have free workshops before or after the performance with fun craft and activities.
Nicole Russo
When: 2 Mar to 5 Sept
Where: Various Venues
Bookings: bass.net.au
With only a few performances left in the 2015 Adelaide Festival of Arts season, the event will have its largest attendance in 5 years. Audience numbers are still being collated but are expected to exceed 560,000.
The third festival for director, David Sefton, the signature of this year’s event was free programming on a grand scale. Blinc, Curated by Joel Cockrill and Craig Morrison, was the largest work within the festival, and turned Elder Park and surrounds into a giant spectacular outdoor digital art gallery. Since its opening on the 27th of February social media pages have henceforth been awash with photos of the giant 3D trumpeting elephant, Elephantastic!, the seemingly floating LED lights in the rotunda entitled Submergence, and A-Synchron, the series of changing projections shown on the facades of the Festival Centre and Parliament House.
Also free at this year’s festival was a showing of selected work from one of the world’s most important living artists, Bill Viola, with exhibitions stretching the entire length of festival across multiple venues including the Art Gallery of South Australia, St Peter’s Cathedral and the Queens Theatre.
Sefton’s commissioned works created specifically for the festival have been a raving success, with opinions split on the re-imagined Tommy, by Eric Mingus, and emotions overflowing for Kid Koala’s Nufonia Must Fall (follow the links to read our reviews).
Director, David Sefton says he could not be more pleased with the quality of this year’s festival, and Festival Chief Executive, Karen Bryant says “Bringing the best, never before seen work to Australia and making sure the widest possible audience have the opportunity to see that work has always been the core aim of the festival. We are delighted that audiences have turned out in their droves to enjoy the handpicked events that make this festival so special.”
Always a Festival draw card, Adelaide Writers’ Week has once again achieved capacity crowds. Robert Dessaix, Julia Gillard, Dan Barber, Helen Garner, David Marr and Roxane Gay amongst the most popular sessions. Setting new records, Writers’ Week also achieved a 17% increase in book sales across the event.
Final numbers will be collected throughout the coming week with continuing shows in Black Diggers, the stories of unsung indigenous war heroes at Her Majesty’s Theatre; The Cardinals by Stan’s Café at the Flinders Street Baptist Church; and the decidedly adults-only Beauty and the Beast featuring Julie Atlas Muz and Mat Fraser at the Dunstan Playhouse (follow the links to read our reviews).
The 2015 Adelaide Festival of Arts has seen 889 artists and writers from over 20 countries take part in 150 performances of 42 separate events. There have been 22 Australian premieres and 26 Adelaide exclusives. There were sell-out seasons of Azimut, Dylan Thomas – Return Journey, Beckett Triptych and SmallWaR, and memorable debuts it Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and the yet to play Danny Elfman’s Music from the films of Tim Burton (follow the links to read our reviews).
Paul Rodda
When: 27 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: Various Venues
Bookings: bass.net.au
Recently opened to the public, the Adelaide Convention Centre’s new West Building City Suite Foyer played host to Emma Hack’s latest exhibition entitled New Work as part of the official launch of the Emma Hack Art Prize which was opened to the public on the same day.
Guests were treated to a glass of champagne as they took a first glimpse at the exhibition before being ushered downstairs to view both the Art Prize and a new exhibition by Natasha Natale entitled Decomposition in Nature.
This year’s Art Prize includes 36 finalists – up from a usual 30 due to tied scores – whose works are on display at the Adelaide Convention Centre from now until the 28th of March. The display is part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
The free event will showcase the works, which are from a range of media in contemporary art. The theme of the 2015 Art Prize is ‘Humanity in Nature’.
The art prize, now in its second year, is for South Australian artists only and awards the amount of $5000 to its winner as chosen by the judging panel which includes Emma Hack, Christopher Orchard and The Barefoot Review’s own, Samela Harris – a regular arts critic for the website.
The major winner will also receive an opportunity to exhibit within the Adelaide Convention Centre’s Centre ArtBeat, a new initiative developed by the Adelaide Convention Centre to help local artists exhibit their work to local, interstate and overseas visitors to the centre.
As well as the major prize the event also features a People’s Choice prize of $2000, which is sponsored by Raw Pearls.
The winners of both prizes will be announced at the closing event on the 28th of March at 12pm.
If you are interested in seeing the works of the 36 selected artists, head over the the Adelaide Convention Centre during the opening times and check it out.
More information is available online at emmahackartprize.com or on the Adelaide Fringe website.
Paul Rodda
When: 11 to 28 Mar
Where: Adelaide Convention Centre
Bookings: This event is Free. Check online for opening hours.
Photography by Paul Rodda
No. Little Egypt’s Speakeasy is not an Alexandrian night club.
It is the burlesque world of a legendary performer called Little Egypt.
Hence, stepping into The Deluxe in The Garden of Unearthly Delights will take audiences not far away but far ago - to the 1950s and into the working world of a wonderful “whiskey-soaked” exotic dancer.
As the show’s creator, Lucian McGuinness explains: “The real Little Egypt was a pre-war vaudeville fictional character inhabited by several performers. Our Little Egypt is based loosely on the subject of the Lieber & Stoller song written in the 1950s... to us she's a strong matriarch, a desired sex symbol and ultimately our hero.”
McGuinness has been working long and passionately on this show which began as Little Egypt’s Burlesque, a rhythm and blues revue which featured in the Spiegeltent in the Sydney Festival of 2012.
"We've built this show from the ground up,” says McGuinness.
“We began at the foundations with that incredible groove of rhythm & blues music which sits just outside the early rock & roll that oldies stations play and we'll all heard.
"Over the last few years with each run we've added characterisations, dances, narrative elements and ultimately purely theatrical characters. We update it and refine it every season. We also collect gorgeous new cast members!”
The cast of 14 is described as "Sydney’s hottest performers” and the soundtrack is said to be “scorching”.
Among the performers is Miss Burleque Sydney, a Voice finalist and a rhythm and blues band. They’re jetting in from all over the country for the big weekend.
It is not a passive sit-down-and-watch show. The Deluxe gets a makeover so that audiences will walk right into the 1950s and Little Egypt’s Speakeasy. Those in the know may frock up to the 50s to be more in the mood although it is not required dress.
But, the idea is that audience members kick up their heels, dance and have a Speakeasy experience. It is “immersive” theatre. The soundtrack includes Fats Domino, Big Mama Thornton, Ray Charles and, importantly, The Coasters whose song, Little Egypt, was one of the inspirations for the show.
There is a story line, however. It describes an R&B club under threat from external forces. It’s an old story that keeps on keeping on through the eras, albeit this one is emphatically 50s.
"We pack A LOT into seventy minutes,” declares McGuinness.
“Our audiences rave about the super fast and tight pace, the quality and danceability of the live music and the spectacle of Little Egypt's routines and the drama surrounding the club”.
“Slick, sexy and funny,” says one critic. “Dirty dancing, debauchery and some real good soul,” says another.
Samela Harris
Presented by Grande Moustache
Over the long weekend, from Tuesday March 5 at the stroke of midnight and then through to Sunday. The Deluxe. GUD.
When: 5 to 8 Mar
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au