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Bathers a sculpture site to behold

Simon Gilbey's Entitlement 1 at Bathers Beach. Picture by Roel Loopers

VISUAL ARTS
Sculpture at Bathers
Bathers Beach, Fremantle
Review by Laetitia Wilson

For an intimate experience of art on the beach, Sculpture at Bathers is a welcome contrast to the recent grandiosity of Cottesloe's Sculpture by the Sea.

There are 77 works dotted around the grass, along the path to the Roundhouse, inside Kidogo Arthouse, on the beach and even in the water. It is more intimate than its sister show in that the works are generally smaller and there is less of a fuss made about touching them.

The use of space in the exhibition is ambitious, with three works out among the waves. One is Simon Gilby's Entitlement 1, where the figure of a man created from salt and stainless steel stands on a rock. Over the course of the exhibition the effects of the wind and the waves have become apparent on his body and he is gradually disintegrating, leaving only a meagre wire-frame structure as the ideal image of humanity at the mercy of the elements.

A work that immediately captures the attention is Geoff Overheu's Gates of Reason. Generic, ugly, orange plastic traffic barriers at first look insignificant and it is only when taking a closer look that the madness in the detail reveals itself. The artist has cast scenes out of bronze based on Radio National reportage and wedged them into the side crevices of the barrier. It is an enormous, highly fastidious and somewhat excessive amount of work.

There are less complex ways of using found materials on display. This can be seen in Accumulus by Kathy Allam, where numerous clear-plastic drink bottles are repurposed to form a cloud underneath the canopy of the gazebo. They are embedded with LEDs to further enhance their ethereal quality.

Similarly, Natalie Williamson crafts a large Sea Pod from recycled plastic, in one of the better uses of such material I have seen.

There is less emphasis on abstract minimal forms here than at Cottesloe but there is a geometrically cut, stainless-steel pod form by Akio Makigawa. It is clean and harmonious but it could be seen anywhere. This could be said for many of the works, whereas others are more attuned to the specific site.

For example, Holly Story's Windswept is a zinc and rope structure that resembles fishing baskets and nets, while also being a striking aesthetic object through the use of red.

Tied to the historical context then, is Ship of Stories - Anzac, by Tony Pankiw and Sue Codee. Here, a deftly crafted ship is made from welded and water-jet cut aluminium.

Cut-out images detail its sides, featuring both Australian and New Zealand animals and content. It is a handsome

piece, appropriately timed to coincide with the Anzac centenary.

There are both contrasts and points of conversation with the exhibition up the coast and both shows have been compelling on their own merit.

The cultural setting for this exhibition is inviting, with an ideally positioned pop-up bar out the back of Kidogo that makes for a welcoming place from which to gaze on the vista of art against the port background and the expanse of the Indian Ocean.

Sculpture at Bathers ends on March 29.