Opening: Wednesday 28 July 2010, 6-8pm

Artist Talk: Sunday 15 August 2010 at 4pm

Gallery 1 - Into the Fold
Marc Alperstein



Alperstein’s Into the Fold is an exhibition of works on paper which looks at the way in which we read implied forms/objects. Works are based around a varying amount of patterned material covering a range of objects. In these works the form of the object swings between being somewhat retained or being swallowed up by the material, losing its ability to mark its presence. With the objects abstracted and reduced down, a sense of familiarity occurs whilst building up a new ambiguous form.


Gallery 2 - Ceremony
Julian Day

Ceremony is a sound installation for multiple electronic organs. Each instrument emits gentle tones via heavy bolts weighted on the keys, creating a warm envelope of sound that subtly evolves as the sound waves entwine. The keyboards have been collected from households all around the country, a collection of once-loved objects now cheap and willingly divested.

Ceremony has given birth to an ensemble, An Infinity Room (A.I.R), which performs in various spaces – galleries, shopfronts, concert halls and foyers.  A limited edition CD, created especially for this exhibition, is available for sale in the gallery and a performance will take place on the evening of 12 August 2010. Check www.firstdraftgallery.com for details.


Gallery 3 - Urban_ailure
Be Jones


Ecological urbaninaction.
Looking at a stylized version of unfortunate possibility. Through a flattened reality and jimmy-rigged application, merging plant-life, mud, soil and the disintegration of our built environment. Focusing on the possibility of futile collaboration with nature, and degrees of, mimesis, discontent and entropy. The wall reliefs expose a process of disintegration in direct collision with a hand-made build up of base materials, resulting in an eclectic mess of objects and environment. Through various natural and found materials, the work forces us to see the futile and possible demise of our civilization and a pointless attempt to salvage our natural rescores. As a whole, the work highlights a renewed interest in landscape, earth art, still life and nature.


Gallery 4 - I am Raining
Justin Shoulder



The Fantastic or Composite Creature is a timeless and popular figure in our collective memory. Enlisted by our peculiar species to explain the unexplainable, they persist as the form and symbol of our efforts to control and measure forces outside the human dominion. Chimeras, Monkey Kings, Vampire demons, Serpents and Fire Gods are all examples of Fantastic Creatures that animate our histories and narratives with endless profusion, relevancy and ineluctability. Working with elaborate costumes, Shoulder creates his own ‘Fantastic Creatures’ - alternate identities he articulates in live performance. In I am Raining, Shoulder has employed photography, costume, sound and performance to explore themes of ecology, mourning, impermanence and metamorphosis.

Image 1 (and top): Marc Alperstein, Into the Fold, 2010
Image 2: Julian Day, Ceremony, 2010
Image 3: Be Jones, Urban_ailure, 2010
Image 4: Justin Shoulder, I am Raining, 2010. Photo: Mat Hornby