Exhibitions

The Wheatsheaf Hotel proudly presents 2019 SALA feature artist: Betty Smart & an exhibition of paintings titled ALICE in ADELAIDE

Set within the backdrop of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens and inspired by John Dowie’s 1964 sculpture located in Rymill Park, the central motif of ‘Alice’ is repeated within each work in this series of paintings.

 In the idealised and formal space of the Botanic Gardens, Alice encounters other Adelaidian statues and lunch time visitors who are also inhabiting the garden.

 These works are observations of Adelaide and bring a number of the arts into connection: Painting, literature, sculpture, love and the art of the botanic space.

 Betty Smart 2019.

Big Smoke: New Works by M. Bakewell

M Bakewell is an artist who works predominantly in oil paints. In 2010, she completed an Associate Degree in Visual Art from Adelaide Central of School of Art, before side-lining her arts practice for travel and further study. 

In Big Smoke, the artist depicts scenes from her experiences across regional Australia - pokey shop-fronts in one-road towns, caravan park toilet blocks, pubs, rodeos and boabs. While the works carry the artist’s myopic narrative within the aesthetic of the small town and outback, these are secondary to the histories and ontologies continually unfolding in the ‘frontier,’ where colonising processes are still so outwardly visible. The works in this show attempt to softly document the infatuating charm of regional Australia with the political and social tensions rippling at their seams.