the ArtHitects
Penrith Regional Gallery, Home of The Lewers Bequest launches its Spring Suite of exhibitions on Saturday 9 September with newly commissioned artworks and a curated selection from its collection by artists Jana Hawkins-Andersen & Paris Taia, Feras Shaheen and the ArtHitects (Gary Carsley & Renjie Teoh). These exhibitions invite audiences to contemplate history and loss, change and connection.
Collaborative duo Jana Hawkins-Andersen and Paris Taia have curated the latest edition of From the Collection drawing inspiration from works by Modernist artists Frank and Margel Hinder (Jana’s great grandparents). Jana and Paris have combined their disciplines of ceramics, installation and horticulture to construct a garden inside Ancher House, blurring the boundaries between landscape and architecture. The installation incorporates plants responding to the Gallery’s heritage garden and the history of the site reflecting on stories of migration, travel and familial relationships.
In the Loungeroom Gallery, Feras Shaheen presents Show me the way, which explores the ‘in-between’ spaces of the 1-acre Gallery site. These connected and spaces are found throughout the garden, the walkways between the galleries, the courtyards and the various hidden areas that hold stories and histories of the family that once lived here, and the communities that walk and flow through these areas every day. Visitors are invited to play along and become actors in their own experience.
The Main Gallery will be transformed into another world by the ArtHitects (Gary Carsley and Renjie Teoh), and their exhibition Parlour Parlëur. Using works of art and furniture from the Gallery’s collection, as well as imagery from the gardens, and contributions from local Western Sydney artists, they expand on the traditional notion of a ‘parlour’. Their signature print technique covers the walls in more than 5,000 overlapping A4 photocopies creating a distorted architecturally reality; an ephemeral installation art exhibition that is viewable only in this space and then dismantled.
All three exhibitions will open on 9 September with an opportunity for the public to connect with artists and ideas from the exhibition Parlour Parlëur through free programs and activities on September Open Day. The day will include a variety of drop-in art making activities for all ages and a live lace making demonstration from the OWLS (Outer Western Lacemakers Sydney).
From the Collection: Jana Hawkins-Andersen & Paris Taia, and Parlour Parlëur by the ArtHitects (Gary Carsley and Renjie Teoh) are showcased as part of Sydney Design Week 2023.
From the Collection: Jana Hawkins Andersen & Paris Taia is FREE and on at Penrith Regional Gallery’s Ancher House, 9 September – 23 December www.penrithregionalgallery.com.au/events/jana-hawkins-andersen-and-paris-taia/
Parlour Parlëur: the ArtHitects (Gary Carsley and Renjie Teoh) is FREE and on at Penrith Regional Gallery’s Main Gallery, 9 September – 10 December www.penrithregionalgallery.com.au/event-series/upcoming-exhibitions/
Feras Shaheen: Show me the way is FREE and on at Penrith Regional Gallery’s Loungeroom Gallery, 9 September – 10 December www.penrithregionalgallery.com.au/events/show-me-the-way-feras-shaheen/
September Open Dayis FREE and on at Penrith Regional Gallery on 9 September 10am-2pm with an official opening of the exhibitions held at 2pm www.penrithregionalgallery.com.au/events/september-open-day/
