Emerging Artist Award - fortyfivedownstairs
Left to right: Zahra O’Dea’s Your Complaint has been Resolved, Zoe Kamarinos Portrait of Bel, JJ Le family portrait, Kylie Jayne 43°00’34.776S 1470°55’43.644E, Hazel Lanyon Mentone, Post Impression, Yiming Wang Open, Into space, Claudia Peck Graceful Weeping Tree, Jent Do The Sacred Cockroach
The first thing I heard walking into 45 Flinders Lane was “I loved the cockroach.” Immediately I was intrigued. The aforementioned cockroach (Jent Do’s The Sacred Cockroach) is just one work among many in the tenth edition of fortyfivedownstairs’ Emerging Artist Award. The award, this year judged by Anthony White, showcases a well honed selection of early career artists across all mediums. The opening was packed, with attendees waiting to hear who would be awarded the $3000 prize pool.
The first room- which I went to last due to the sheer number packed in- will be my enduring memory of the show. It held phenomenal installations by Sze Tjin Yek, Indy Heath, and Justin Enrico Legsapi, as well as the winning work from Steph Everett. Everett’s work is intricate, precise beadwork, deeply intimate and confronting in its dichotomy between the pinks of the beads and the story the words tell. More than any other in the exhibition, backseat of a commodore spoke to me. Coming across it for the first time, I felt my heart in my throat and like staying put, taking it in for as long as I could. There are few pieces that have ever elicited such a visceral reaction from me. Everett’s work is one that draws you in, speaking so loudly for a work that was one of the smallest in the exhibition. It was a thoroughly deserved win. I, for one, can’t wait to see what she does next.
Left to right: Justin Enrico Legaspi Untitled (2024), Indy Heath Kelp’s Last Light, Steph Everett backseat of a commodore
Sze Tjin Yek’s Mother in Braille felt like an installation of an artist well into their career. It was an immersive experience, another one I wanted to sit with, that felt worthy of an exhibition by itself. In another vein, Sophia Slaney Marsch’s Junts and Jussies is etched into my mind based on name alone, not to mention the execution of a wall of denim vulvas. For Marsch, the work combines symbols of resilience and femininity, as well as being commentary on the environmental impact on textile waste. The labour that goes into each of the “Junts” had me reflecting on the unmentioned labour that goes into so much of the clothing we wear, and the labourers that put in that work. Alexis Orora’s Orrechio di Dionisio was highly referential, bringing together photography and elements of assemblage, obscuring the figure in a way that comments literally on the fragmentation of the subject and art. Last on my personal short list is Zahra O’Dea’s Your Complaint has been Resolved. My first reaction to seeing a giant tapestry with RMIT Connect in the corner was to laugh– I felt like I was being haunted by my postgrad degree. In actually viewing the work, I was haunted in a different way. This work, originally detailing an email in full but now censored at the behest of the university, is the banner of pervasive sexual harassment (and dismissal) in postsecondary institutions. O’Dea’s work is an uncompromising reclamation of women’s work and bodies in the face of institutional politics. The size of the work confronts you with its contents. If you are not angry and disappointed, you’re not reading the same words I am.
A disclaimer to cap this off: I find prizes and the shows that go along with them both important yet hard to fully appreciate. While you get to encounter new artists, different mediums, and different subjects, you only get a taste of each. Works that might shine in a curated, dedicated exhibition fall flat in favour of those with grander scale, colour, or shock value. You will find yourself playing judge, arbitrator of art, rather than appreciating each piece for what the artist has brought forth and shared with the world.
fortyfivedownstairs’ Emerging Artist Awards are on from the 8th to the 19th of July at 45 Flinders Lane. Steph Everett’s backseat of a commodore took home first prize, with Ruby Li’s I Wish I Knew Anything At All taking home second.
You can view a catalogue of all the work here. Full list of artists: Alexis Orosa, Anastasia Comelli, Bec Smith, Cate Laidler, Claudia Peck, Daniel McAuley, Emme Southey, Fiona Davey, Hazel Lanyon, Holly Hunt, Indy Heath, Jacinta Maude, Jent Do, Jesslyn Murphy, JJ Le, Justin Legaspi, Kylie Jayne, Natalie G Daskalou, Rhys Parkinson, Ruby Li, Samira Khadivizand, Sophia Slaney-Marsch, Steph Everett, Sze Yek, Vanessa Vun, Yiming Wang, Zahra O’Dea, Zoe Kamarinos