SYDNEY FRINGE: ARTS EXPLOSION
With the 200 plus theatrical goings on, you could be easily fooled into thinking this year’s Fringe Festival is all about the bright lights and big personalities of the performing arts. Thankfully for the non-performance oriented among us, you’d be very wrong. In addition to the almost overwhelming program of live shows, the Fringe Festival heralds a visceral artistic explosion, with some 400 participating artists, five major curated shows, 15 galleries, several studio events, art markets, and prizes, phew!
The centrepiece of the program is Immerse, a large-scale, mixed media showcase of over 20 artists at CarriageWorks that includes site-specific installations built especially for the Sydney Fringe. Put together in a somewhat last minute push, visual arts program advisor and curator Lew Palaitis (director of Enmore staple Hardware Gallery) said the incredible enthusiasm of the artists involved proves there is, “a massive undercurrent of creativity just waiting for this kind of opportunity.” In the spirit of the Fringe, the artists represented range from established international names (Irish video artist and sculptor Adrian O’Connell for example) to local figures and emerging or unknown artists. Other than CarriageWorks, venues opening their doors to the Fringe artists include the Seymour Centre, Leichhardt’s The Forum, Riverside Theatre in Parramatta, the Concourse in Chatswood, and many more throughout Marrickville, Newtown, Chippendale, Rozelle, Enmore, Eveleigh and Darlinghurst.
Until Oct 2, various venues including CarriageWorks, 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh, thesydneyfringe.com.au
