Season08

The end of the year is upon us. To celebrate we are showing a selection of six Stills artists. Trent Parke's dark and humorous series The Christmas Tree Bucket is highly appropriate for this seasonal show. "I started to think how strange families, suburbia, life... and in particular Christmas, really was" says Parke of his decision to focus on the joys and pitfalls of family life. The series can be seen in full at the Australian Centre for Photography in Paddington and has just been shown (in part) with great interest at Paris Photo, France.

Narelle Autio's underwater images continue to fascinate viewers. Shown here is a selection of works from different series. The body in watery space is celebrated in these glorious balletic photographs that gain in impact in proximity to each other. Summer is never better than this.

To keep us all grounded at this time of year, Glenn Sloggett depicts, with reliable drollness, Christmas and its signs of individual expression. His image Peace, Love, Joy says it all for those who find Christmas an unreliable celebration. Tim Georgeson's colourful and accurately composed observations inject an appropriate touch of the holiday spirit. Primary blue skies juxtapose with the deep reds of a balloon, a clown's pate and a top hat.

New Yorker William Lamson combines whimsical humour and surreal playfulness in his videos. In 2007 Stills Gallery exhibited three short black and white video loops by Lamson (including Jump), which delighted audiences. In Season08 we are showing two new video works Emerge and Tundra. In Emerge brightly coloured balloons appear from below the surface of a vast expanse of water in an unexpectedly poetic dance. In Tundra there is a dance of a different nature, this time in a northern hemisphere landscape of snow.

Tasmanian resident Danielle Thompson has had a long preoccupation with landscape and its relationship to emotion and the spirit. Her work has touched a chord in the psyches of many viewers. Here she shows her strengths in depictions of elemental nature in skies, water and land. Her subtle colours and play between movement and stillness instil both reflection and feeling. This work perfectly suggests the end of year appetite for rest and time out.

This exhibition will continue in 2009 when Stills gallery reopens on January 20 finishing on February 14. We wish you all the best for the holiday season and hope to see you in the New Year.