A Whimsical Two-Level Installation by Brendan Huntley and the Sibling Duo Behind Alpha60 Opens at Heide

When fashion designers Georgie and Alex Cleary attended the opening of artist Brendan Huntley’s first show at Hell Gallery in Melbourne over a decade ago, they bought a painting of a pair of upside-down wineglasses with faces on them that still hangs in Georgie’s bedroom today.

“Georgie and Al have been big supporters of my work from early on in my career,” says Huntley. “I’ve always respected their passion for fashion and art, so when they reached out to me back in 2019 with the idea of collaborating, I was right on board.”

The result is Sense of Direction, a joint exhibition from the painter and sculptor (who’s also the frontman for the band Eddy Current Suppression Ring) and the sibling duo behind fashion label Alpha60, which has opened at Heide Museum of Modern Art.

What began as a conversation about a rug back in 2019 has grown into an ambitious, immersive installation taking over multiple rooms at Heide Modern, the former home of arts patrons and Heide founders Sunday and John Reed.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a 32-metre-long carpet runner, custom-made to traverse the spaces of the gallery, spanning both floors and winding its way from room to room.

Accompanying clocks and jewellery reference the rug’s motifs, including faces, celestial beings, butterflies and eyes. The installation also features recent sculptures and Huntley’s largest painting to date, complemented by archival artworks acquired by the Clearys over the years.

“Every time Al and Brendan and I met to chat and brainstorm, the energy in the room was high,” says Georgie. “The project just kept growing and growing.”

The play between the domestic and museum spaces at Heide played a profound role in how the exhibition developed. “We wanted to create something that was tailor-made for the space – something that reflects and exaggerates the fact that the home was built to eventually become a museum,” says Huntley. “The way the space shifts between house and museum literally informed the shape and outcome of the collaborative rug.”

Every piece in Sense of Direction references the overarching theme of the transience of personal transformation. “Throughout life, we occasionally have these moments of epiphany or awakening, where everything becomes clear and the mind is at peace,” says Huntley. “Often these moments are temporary and if we’re lucky, last long enough to carry us through whatever it is we’re dealing with at that time. All the motifs in the show touch on this subject in some way or another. The rug runner acts as a stand-in model for a life cycle – we move through and explore various moments of transformation, which can be calm and gentle or exciting and explosive, but all ephemeral.”

The artworks, jewellery, clocks and rugs are available to purchase via Alpha60’s online store for the duration of the exhibition, which Georgie says is a joyous celebration of creativity and enduring friendship.

“Al and I love learning and creating something new, and it has been a true collaboration and synergy,” she says. “It has been so much work but so much fun, and with an outcome we couldn’t have imagined.”

Sense of Direction is at Heidi Museum of Modern Art until April 10.

heide.com.au