Making Old New: DRG 10th Anniversary

Tom is delighted to be part of the 10th Anniversary celebration of David Roche Gallery and had a lot of fun choosing which objects from the collection to work with and be inspired by.

From David Roche Gallery:

To mark this milestone, we are proud to present ‘Making Old New: DRG 10th Anniversary’.  This exhibition brings together works of art from DRG’s 18th to early 20th-century European and British collection with contemporary responses by 20 South Australian artists associated with the JamFactory.  Featuring both established figures and more recent alumni, each artist has selected a piece from the collection as inspiration to create something entirely new.

 

 

The above picture is from the accompanying book of the exhibition, and in it Tom states, Touring through David Roche’s vast collection of treasures, improbably crammed into a domestic setting, I was overwhelmed by the densely packed ceramic menagerie that populates the massive bookcase in the green den.  My immediate thought was to reconfigure elements of the animal ornaments to construct a stacked arrangement: a bird on a cat on a dog on a donkey, based upon an unlikely fellowship in an old folktale.  The ‘Musicians of Bremen’ is a mad story and feels as if it was thrown together as a flimsy rationalisation for the magnificent moment when the animals untie.  The disparate band of dejected domesticated beasts pile up into an indomitable icon of natural order and triumph over the human villains.  This revelation of precariously balanced abundance renders me giddy.

 

 

The above stack, Fabled Chosen Kin is keeping company with Spalding (L) and Chumley (R).   Overall, Tom made six individual glass dogs, the animal stack, and a lounging dog, all inspired by the earthenware figures.

 

 

Mid installation picture- Tom was able to display his works interacting with the collection pieces by placing them together on shelves.  He then had the opportunity to paint a mural in the cabinet showing them branching out and up from the same soil, dreaming of each other and hiding many other references to works in the collection.

 

 

There are several special events for the exhibition including Tea and Tour, which is an artist talk and a tour of the house and exhibition, plus morning tea.

Friday 26 June: 10.30AM–12:00PM Tea and Tour with Making Old New exhibition artists Emma Young, Clare Belfrage, Nat Penney and Tom Moore.

Friday 10 July: 10.30AM–12:00PM Tea and Tour with Making Old New exhibition artists Nick Mount, Lotte Schwerdtfeger and Polly Dymond.

Friday 24 July: 10.30AM–12:00PM Tea and Tour with Making Old New exhibition artists Stephen Bowers, Sue Lorraine, Honor Freeman and Alexandra Hirst.

Cost:
General: $20
DRG Member: $16

23 May to 1 August 2026

Free Exhibition @ David Roche Gallery, 241 Melbourne Street, North Adelaide.

Tuesday – Saturday 10 am – 4pm with ticketed guided house tours available at 10am, 12pm & 2pm