Stillness and Calm at Breenspace

A new series of photographs by Jane Brown and set of sculptural forms by Sarah Smuts-Kennedy have come together at Breenspace’s latest exhibition. The pairing is neat – peering into Brown’s aged black and white film through the fine brass lines of Smuts-Kennedy’s hanging Shape Analysis seems natural; the coupling of the two artists’ bodies of work is serene.

This exhibition marks the second showing at Breenspace for Brown in 2013, following an earlier series of film entitled Island of the Colourblind. The new collection Not before time follows with frozen scenes in silver-grey: a decommissioned art history library; a window-view onto the verandah of a nineteenth-century hotel in Victoria; and the glass spiral staircase of the modernist and now-demolished Elizabeth Towers Hotel in Melbourne.

Brown’s images meditate on the notion of impermanence, capturing a haunting stillness through things that haven’t lasted. A sense of nostalgia is also echoed through her process – streaks and flecks in each photograph are the result of experimenting with aging the film paper.

Smuts-Kennedy’s minimalist wall piece Problem Event comprises three blocks set with varying proportions of polyurethane to wood. Despite its structured and systemised appearance, Smuts-Kennedy has allowed gravity to apportion the materials. Her pieces are playful tests of construction versus chance, all the while emanating a sense of calm through their striking simplicity.

The combination of Brown’s photographs and Smuts-Kennedy’s sculpture is soothing, the stillness of the black and white scenes complemented by the stillness in each structure.

The collections From light, forms and Not before time are at Breenspace until October 19.

Breenspace
Level 3, 17 – 19 Alberta Street
Sydney
breenspace.com