‘Creepy Crawlies’ and ‘Coffee Zombie’ are currently installed at Town Hall Gallery. These two concurrent exhibitions employ humour and the bizarre to reveal the comedic in our everyday.
‘Creepy Crawlies’ showcases paintings by well-established local artist Ian Napier, who studied under John Brack and Jenny Watson and who counts the likes of Rick Amor and Andrew Southall as his contemporaries. Napier has a whimsical sense of humour, with many of his paintings commenting on the ridiculous and ephemeral nature of human life. The title ‘Creepy Crawlies’ comes from the work ‘Faces Amongst the Creepy Crawlies’, with many works in the exhibition containing faces. Napier is inspired by life, love, strife and peace.
‘Coffee Zombie’ by Suhasini Seelin is a series of short films about a character who can’t function without their morning coffee. As both actor and producer of the films, Seelin playfully examines the challenges we face in our daily routines. Using silent physical comedy, the main character stumbles through a series of situations that reflect the ‘zombie’ state of mind, pre and post coffee: missing things right in front of them, trying to make a phone call with an unplugged landline phone, holding a book upside down. This series began as an experiment during an artist in residence program in 2018, at Melbourne’s Boyd Community Hub in Southbank, through a City of Melbourne grant. Inspired by the history of the room, which originally was a school where girls learnt typing on an old typewriter, Seelin and her collaborator Wilari Tedjosiswoyo wanted to film some mundane actions reflecting their state of mind.
Please click the left and right arrows to browse the carousel of images below.
All photography by Christian Capurro.
Banner image credit: Installation view ‘Creepy Crawlies’ and ‘Coffee Zombie’, Town Hall Gallery, November 2020.
Installation view ‘Creepy Crawlies’, Town Hall Gallery, November 2020.
Installation view ‘Creepy Crawlies’, Town Hall Gallery, November 2020.
Installation view ‘Creepy Crawlies’, Town Hall Gallery, November 2020.
Installation view ‘Creepy Crawlies’, Town Hall Gallery, November 2020.
Installation view ‘Creepy Crawlies’, Town Hall Gallery, November 2020.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Faces Amongst the Creepy Crawlies’ (2013), oil on canvas, 95 x 75 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Loves Lost Lunch’, oil on canvas, 75 x 100 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘No Fixed Address’, oil on canvas, 100 x 120 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Barbed Wire Canoe’ (2020), oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Family with Fish’ (1993-2020), oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Just Like A Tap’ (2013), oil on canvas, 80 x 95 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Dog After Frog’ (2020), oil on canvas, 70 x 85 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Animaux collage’ (2005), acrylic on paper, 50 x 35 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Café Reflection’ (2005), acrylic on paper, 28 x 37 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Pecker’ (2005), acrylic on paper, 50 x 35cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Ancestry’ (2004), mixed media on paper, 47 x 36 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Woman in Rollers’ (2013), acrylic on canvas, 55 x 45 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Bikes on Brunswick’ (2013), acrylic on canvas, 55 x 45 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Animaux II’, mixed medium, 40 x 45 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ian NAPIER, ‘Animaux I’, mixed medium, 45 x 50 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Installation view ‘Creepy Crawlies’ and ‘Coffee Zombie’, Town Hall Gallery, November 2020.
Suhasini SEELIN, still from ‘Coffee Zombie Compilation’ (2020), video, 15:52 min, image courtesy of the artist.
Suhasini SEELIN, still from ‘Coffee Zombie Compilation’ (2020), video, 15:52 min, image courtesy of the artist.
Suhasini SEELIN, still from ‘Coffee Zombie Compilation’ (2020), video, 15:52 min, image courtesy of the artist.
Coffee Zombie
View a curated selection of ‘Coffee Zombie’ episodes below.