Art Gallery of South Australia | DARK HEART

​We visited the Art Gallery of South Australia while we were in Adelaide for Adelaide Fringe and we were blown away. The actual gallery itself is stunning. Gorgeous, breath-taking, beautiful gallery. Amazing and an absolute must-see. We saw the DARK HEART | 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art exhibition and it was spectacular. Very inspiring and mazing work from Australian contemporary artist including; Del Kathryn Barton, Ben Quilty and Patricia Piccinini. I was personally inspired and in awe for the whole time I was at the Gallery. Some of my favourite, favourite artists were present at the space: AES+F, Mark Quinn, Ricky Swallow and the always hauntingly beautiful and gut-punchingly magnificent work by Berlinde De Bruyckere. De Bruckere’s large, monolithic dual horse skins hanging from a giant pole in the centre of the sprawling gallery floor took the breath from my lungs as I stood on the top steps staring down at it, a fallen god, a trophy of a demon. If you have the opportunity, go and have a look at the Gallery of South Australia. The works are incredible, and the building is beautiful.  DARK HEART The Adelaide Biennial has a 26-year history and is the country’s longest running survey of contemporary Australian art. Established in 1990, it was initiated by Daniel Thomas, then Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia, as an antipodean version of the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Known for its risk taking, expansive vision and desire to educate and inform the general public about contemporary Australian art, the event demonstrates the Art Gallery of South Australia’s unswerving commitment to current Australian art. The Adelaide Biennial has always displayed the best contemporary work in the context of Australian artists’ engagement with the world in which they live. It is forward-thinking, timely and perhaps uniquely capable of expressing the dominant concerns and position of the visual arts in our time. The 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art taps into the hearts and minds of the nation – probing the personal, political and psychological dimensions of contemporary Australia. Titled Dark Heart, the 2014 Adelaide Biennialexplores Australia’s cultural identity through the lens of some of Australia’s leading contemporary artists. Dark Heart presents twenty eight contemporary Australian artists and collectives, delivering their brave new visions in mediums that include photography, painting, sculpture, installation and the moving image. The issues and ideas explored by the artists encompass intercultural relationships, our ecological fate, gender and political power. As Curator and Art Gallery of South Australia Director Nick Mitzevich explains: ‘My focus is on assembling an exhibition that connects with the viewer and provides a moving experience’.