VIEWING ROOM

‘LIMBS’

JANINE DELLO, MATTHEW DETTMER,
MATILDA MICHELL AND ELYNOR SMITHWICK

“I heard the murmur of the television and saw a shape flit briefly across the gap. I recognised Eloise’s silhouette, caught a glimpse of her filmy nightgown and her swift bare foot. Through the windows a strange subterranean light was rising, barely distinguishable from darkness. I felt change far beneath me, moving deep beneath the surface of things, like the plates of the earth blindly moving in their black traces. I found my bag and my car keys and I let myself silently out of the house”

– Rachel Cusk, Transit, p260.

Jerico Contemporary is pleased to present ‘Limbs’, a group exhibition featuring Australian artists Janine Dello, Matthew Dettmer, Matilda Michell and Elynor Smithwick, curated by Gallery Associate Chloe Borich. The exhibition opened on Thursday 25th November and continued through to Saturday 18th December 2021.

‘Limbs’ captures moments in between. Navigating various interior and exterior worlds conceptualised by a group of Australian artists, collectively the exhibition draws on themes of human relationships and the latent tensions that permeate our everyday lived experiences. Faceless portraits, bodies in repose, and intimate acts of revealing and concealing negotiate the space between interactions with ourselves and with others. Who are we when we are alone, versus our presence in a crowd? How do we confront the innermost vulnerable parts of ourselves when in the company of others? Perhaps more interestingly, how do these relationships unfold behind closed doors?  

Tinged with nostalgia and voyeurism, the exhibition brings together a collection of 13 paintings that consider both solitary and shared moments of vulnerability — where one floats between being seen and unseen. Dello portrays the highly personal and self-reflective space of an occupied bedroom, allowing narratives of domesticity to unfold through evening rituals. Using a soft, muted palette her works exude a surreal dreamlike quality, where comfort is sought during restless nights. 

Similarly, Dettmer taps into familial feelings of when time slows and boredom gives way to play and imagination. By observing ordinary moments in his distinct style, the artist offers a unique take on portraiture, where his deft interplay of texture, light and shadow results in a nonchalant yet captivating depiction of a pair of legs — and the subtleties of two white-socked feet, crossing. 

In contrast, Michell creates ambiguity between object and subject in the context of a drawing lesson. The series of four works see a model measure out the lines of their body that artists regularly use in the creation of their work. Although these lines are traditionally concealed, here the artist manifests them physically, dissolving the boundaries between model and artist to reference the process of creating a painting within the painting itself. 

Likewise, Smithwick looks to the polarity between a series of contested binaries — inside and outside, connection and disconnection, private and public. Perceiving interrelating scenes summoned from both family photo albums and personal experiences, her delicate, fleeting paintings embrace fragmentary memories and reminiscent feelings of déjà vu.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES:

JANINE DELLO

Janine Dello is an emerging artist based in Adelaide, South Australia. Her solo exhibitions include 'Bedtime Stories', Praxis ARTSPACE Gallery, Adelaide (2021), 'Inhabit', Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane (2021) and 'Notes to Self', BMG Art Gallery, Adelaide (2019). Her selected group exhibitions include 'Birds of a feather', The Metropolitan, Adelaide (2021), 'Dark Places', Newmarch Gallery, Adelaide (2020), 'Instant Gratification', Praxis Artspace, Adelaide (2020), 'I didn’t see it coming', Collective Haunt Gallery, Adelaide (2019). She was recently selected as a finalist in the Portia Geach Memorial Award (2021 & 2020) and The Ravenswood Australian Women's Art Prize (2019). The artist currently lives and works in Adelaide, Australia.