The Lock-Up

Leyla Stevens, Witness 2016, single channel video projection, stereo sound, 6:52 minutes

PROMISE THE EARTH

OPENING 5.30PM SATURDAY , 18th June – 7th August, 2022

Promise the Earth is the next in a five-part exhibition series launched two years ago at The Lock-Up. Curated by Meryl Ryan and Naomi Riddle, each exhibition takes one of the elements – water, earth, fire, air and æther (the post internet realm) – as its defining feature.

The first, all things are water (2019-20), rethought water in its many forms across diverse disciplines. Backgrounded by a brutal drought and bushfire season, it also became an elegy for our times.

Fixed now on terra firma, PROMISE THE EARTH will naturally continue that conversation with urgent ecological imperatives and the environment. Equally it will speak to cultural perspectives, ritual and connection. Moving between installation, photomedia, painting and interactive experiences, this exhibition presents earth as a material for making, as a site of sustenance and survival, and as a metaphor for home.

The exhibition features artists Sancintya Mohini Simpson, Evelyn Malgil, Leyla Stevens, Brett McMahon, Ryan Andrew Lee, Sara Morawetz, Vicky Browne and Isha Ram Das.

Promise The Earth opening night performances is supported by the City of Newcastle’s Community Support Grants Program.

Brett McMahon Ancestor 2019 stained century-old wooden chair, painted sandstone Courtesy the artist, Annandale Galleries and Block Projects

Sancintya Mohini Simpson Dhūwã̄ 2021 video projection, 16mm-to-digital, 4:3, two-channel sound, scent duration 4:45mins Courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery

Vicky Browne Severed from Ecology 2022 copper, paper, leadlight, clay, succulents, electric fans, CD player, turntable, soil

Artist in Residence /
KHALED SABSABI

28th November 2023
– 1st December 2023

Khaled Sabsabi, will be utilising this residency to complete initial research and preparation for his solo exhibition at The Lock-Up in 2024.

Artist in Residence /
JULIE GOUGH

3rd October 2023
– 23rd October 2023

Julie Gough will be completing an artist residency at The Lock-Up while installing her solo exhibition, Disclosure. Opening Friday, 5:30PM 20 October 2023.