Shelter in Place – online exhibition

A pair of legs laying upwards on a geometric sculpture. The rest of the figure is hidden from view.

‘Shelter in Place’ is a major exhibition at Town Hall Gallery examining the relationship between human beings and architecture. This group exhibition focuses on the ways in which our built environment is used to foster ideas of home, shelter and belonging.

Through lived experiences, the evolution of society and the passing of time, private and public spaces such as houses, apartments, workplaces, community buildings and places of worship become repositories of histories and memories. The artists in this exhibition interrogate themes such as materiality and memory, ownership and the ‘Australian Dream’, and dispossession and displacement.

Through the mediums of painting, film, sculpture and installation, ‘Shelter in Place’ explores the emotional importance we place on our physical spaces. These spaces become reflections and relics of ourselves both individually and collectively as a society.

Featuring: Alfredo & Isabel Aquilizan, Kevin Chin, Mason Kimber, Eugenia Lim, Shannon Lyons and Polly Stanton.

‘Shelter in Place’ is on display at Town Hall Gallery from 10 July to 11 December 2021.

Image credit: Eugenia Lim, still from ‘The Australian Ugliness’, 2018, three-channel video installation with six-channel audio, 33 minutes 58 seconds duration, image courtesy of the artist and STATION. Photography by Tom Ross.

Download the catalogue

Shelter in Place catalogue 380.27 KB [PDF] 8 July 2021

A figure with their back to us leaning on a barrier, looking out across an empty space that contains four pillars.

Eugenia Lim, still from ‘The Australian Ugliness’, 2018, three-channel video installation with six-channel audio, 33 minutes 58 seconds duration, image courtesy of the artist and STATION. Photography by Tom Ross.

Two people hugging in the middle of a room. Behind them is a dining table with glasses and wine bottles. Around the room are people chatting to each other.

Inside a derelict building, filled with piles of timber covered in snow.

Polly Stanton, still from ‘Three Rooms’, 2014, HD video with surround sound, 9 minutes 25 seconds duration, image courtesy of the artist.

Oil painting on canvas. A hilly landscape. Top right of the painting has people standing around the back of a billboard. Bottom left has people standing around the front of a billboard.

Kevin Chin, ‘Another Rung’, 2019, oil on Italian linen, 138 x 199cm, image courtesy of the artist, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney, and THIS IS NO FANTASY, Melbourne.

A painting of a hillside covered in smoke or mist and a upside down house.

Kevin Chin, ‘Castle Under the Sky’, 2019, oil on Italian linen, 138 x 199cm, collection of Nillumbik Shire Council, image courtesy of the artist, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney, and THIS IS NO FANTASY, Melbourne.

A rectangular steel structure in the centre of a plain space. At the top of the structure are what seem to be 6 smaller sections, in which are hanging abstract forms.

Mason Kimber, ‘Strata’, 2021, acrylic, gypsum, resin, wax, pigment leader line and steel frame, 200 x 170 x 45cm, image courtesy of the artist, Kronenberg Mais Wright, Sydney, and Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne.

Mason Kimber, detail from ‘Strata’, 2021, acrylic, gypsum, resin, wax, pigment leader line and steel frame, 200 x 170 x 45cm, image courtesy of the artist, Kronenberg Mais Wright, Sydney, and Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne.

A flat rectangular form on a wall, with geometric shapes indented into it.

Mason Kimber, ‘Strata (Step)’, 2021, acrylic, gypsum, sand, extruded polystyrene and wood, 83 x 60 x 5cm, image courtesy of the artist, Kronenberg Mais Wright, Sydney, and Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne.

Mason Kimber, ‘Strata (Step)’ and ‘Strata’, installation view, Town Hall Gallery, 2021. Photography by Christian Capurro.

Mason Kimber, detail of ‘Strata’, installation view, Town Hall Gallery, 2021. Photography by Christian Capurro.

3. Shannon Lyons, ‘Loneliness is a crowded room’, 2021, decommissioned carpet tiles, diminishing strip, tapes, pine, ‘Estilo’ acrylic bathtub, houseplants (Ctenanthe setosa, Hoya carnosa compacta, Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Ficus elastica ‘Melany’, Kalanchoe blossfeldiana and Rhipsalis pilocarpa), 600 x 500 x 150cm, installation view, Town Hall Gallery, 2021. Photography by Christian Capurro

Shannon Lyons, ‘Loneliness is a crowded room’, 2021, decommissioned carpet tiles, diminishing strip, tapes, pine, ‘Estilo’ acrylic bathtub, houseplants (Ctenanthe setosa, Hoya carnosa compacta, Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Ficus elastica ‘Melany’, Kalanchoe blossfeldiana and Rhipsalis pilocarpa), 600 x 500 x 150cm, installation view, Town Hall Gallery, 2021. Photography by Christian Capurro.

Shannon Lyons, detail of ‘Loneliness is a crowded room’, 2021, decommissioned carpet tiles, diminishing strip, tapes, pine, ‘Estilo’ acrylic bathtub, houseplants (Ctenanthe setosa, Hoya carnosa compacta, Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Ficus elastica ‘Melany’, Kalanchoe blossfeldiana

5. Alfredo & Isabel Aquilizan, ‘Wing’, 2019, cardboard and mixed media, 50 x 817 x 182cm, installation view, Town Hall Gallery, 2021. Photography by Christian Capurro

Alfredo & Isabel Aquilizan, ‘Wing’, 2019, cardboard and mixed media, 50 x 817 x 182cm, installation view, Town Hall Gallery, 2021. Photography by Christian Capurro.

Alfredo & Isabel Aquilizan, detail of ‘Wing’, 2019, cardboard and mixed media, 50 x 817 x 182cm, installation view, Town Hall Gallery, 2021. Photography by Christian Capurro.