Simon Terrill
Type C print
180 x 240cm
Edition of 3
Crowd Theory – Southbank
, 2007Type C print
180 x 240cm
Edition of 3
Simon Terrill Crowd Theory – Southbank
11 March –10 April 2010
Sutton Gallery is pleased to present Crowd Theory – Southbank, 2007 a recent photographic work by Simon Terrill. In this mural-sized work the artist brings together elements of performance, visual art and public engagement to investigate ideas of community and the nature of crowds.
The Crowd Theory series provides the viewer with a ‘trace document’ of photographic performance events. These works arrest the fleeting moment of equilibrium between the chaos of undirected crowds and elements of cohesion and harmony associated with communities. In his photographs Terrill seeks the “ultimate equality, a version of events where the differences between people dissolvefor those fleeting moments when a group of people can be called a crowd”i. Crowd Theory – Southbank, entices the viewer with the promise of voyeuristic delights, providing glimpses into private
homes that lie exposed behind the glass walls of towering apartment buildings. The photograph was a “massive undertaking that involved 350 residents from two imposing apartment blocks in the centre of Melbourne’s CBD.”ii
Simon Terrill has exhibited extensively since 1998. He has had a number of solo shows, including most recently Closer, Sutton Gallery, 2008. His work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, both in Australia and internationally including The William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, 2009; Photo-ID, Contemporary Art Norwich 09; and Slade Graduate Exhibition, Gower Street, London 2009. Terrill has been the recipient of a number of
prestigious awards and grants, including grants and residencies from the Australia Council (2009, 2002 and 1998); and the Anne and Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship in 2007. His works are held in important public collections, including the National Gallery of Victoria; the Samstag Museum of Art; Monash Gallery of Art; the Australian Center for the Moving Image; and Artbank; as well as private collections in both Australia and the UK.
Crowd Theory – Southbank, 2007 was produced with support of Footscray Arts Centre and City of Melbourne
i Simon Terrill, Crowd Theory
ii Simon Terrill, Crowd Theory