Exhibition opening - James and Eleanor Avery

Heroes makes direct reference to pop culture iconography mixed up with cult figure ideology. The works are a combination of sculpture and wall pieces, made using high-end fabrication methods in conjunction with a low-tech craft approach. They sit somewhere between fiction and documentary, replicated and real, and are an experiment with postmodern irony. We have used strategies such as doubling and mirroring, substitute, anamorphism and anthropomorphism, humour and irreverence to stage a meeting of improbability and desire. We are interested in the power of the icon and how things may or may not gain cult recognition, for a moment, for a day, for a year, forever. Heroes is our search for the 'hero' in everything, or at the very least, the desire to be that 'hero'.  

Maybe, what we need, is an alternative altar.

James and Eleanor Avery have been collaborating on sculpture and installation projects, including commissioned public art projects, since 2004.  James holds an MA from Warwick University and Eleanor holds an MA from the University of Central England, UK. They work between Australia and the UK and have been awarded international studio residencies including the Siena Art Institute, Italy; Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (Power Institute); The British School at Rome (Australia Council); Spike Island, Bristol, UK and Artspace, Sydney.  Recent public art commissions include Brisbane City Council Cannon Hill; Laing O'Rourke M&A Lane, Brisbane; and the Darling Hotel at The Star, Sydney. Their works are held in the collections of Artbank, Australia, Nomas Foundation, Rome, and the Moreton Bay Regional Council.