Concrete: art design architecture

01.07.2021 - 12.09.2021

Concrete: art design architecture is a major exhibition exploring innovative ways that concrete is being used by artists, designers and architects in Australia in the 21st century. Curated by JamFactory’s Margaret Hancock Davis (Curatorial Director) and Brian Parkes (CEO), the exhibition includes 21 artists, designers and architects from across Australia and brings together products, projects and works of art that reflect many of the current preoccupations with concrete within contemporary art, design and architecture in Australia.

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Edition Office, Hawthorn House, 2018. Hawthorn, Victoria. Photo: Raw Render.

“Some projects remind me how big the world outside of art really is and it’s so important to reflect the reality of that world in the work we do.”

Abdul-Rahman Abdullah

Margaret Hancock Davis Interview with Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, JamFactory Concrete: art design architecture exhibition Catalogue 2019.

Having a history spanning over 3000 years, concrete was first used by Egyptians in the building of the pyramids before the Romans produced what today we call hydraulic cement based concrete, used most dramatically in the Pantheon (completed 128AD). With the fall of the Roman Empire the secrets of concrete were lost, and it was not until the early nineteenth century that, through the development of Portland Cement, modern concrete was born.

It is hard to imagine a world without concrete. A material so ubiquitous we rarely take the opportunity to consider its impact on our lives and its role in the development of modern societies. This exhibition aims to question our preconceptions of concrete and to consider its functional as well as its expressive, poetic and aesthetic dimensions.

The exhibitors represent a broad range of approaches to working with concrete, and the range of work in the exhibition is extensive – from fine, hand-crafted jewellery to spectacular buildings. Some of the exhibitors include: the Pritzker award winning architect Glenn Murcutt and the multiple award winning architectural firm Candalepas Associates, who have both used concrete to create beautiful places of worship; celebrated designers Adam Goodrum and Alexander Lotersztain who have separately designed striking concrete outdoor furniture; leading visual artists Jamie North, Abdul-Rahman Abdullah and Megan Cope who have each produced thought-provoking sculptural works, and jeweller Inari Kiuru who draws the eye to the intricate detail of concrete’s infinitely varied surface.

David, 2018. edition of 6 plus AP concrete, enamel, oxide. Photo: Abdul-Rahman Abdullah Courtesy of the artist and Moore Contemporary.

Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, David, 2018. edition of 6 plus AP concrete, enamel, oxide. Photo: Abdul-Rahman Abdullah Courtesy of the artist and Moore Contemporary.

Full list of exhibitors

Abdul-Rahman Abdullah (WA)
Adam Goodrum (NSW)
Alexander Lotersztain (Qld)
Anna Horne (SA)
Baldasso Cortese Architects (Vic)
Candalepas Associates (NSW)
CHEB – Deb Jones and Christine Cholewa (SA)
Convic (Vic)
Durbach Block Jaggers Architects (NSW)
Edition Office (Vic)
Elvis Richardson (Vic)
Glenn Murcutt (NSW)
Kyoko Hashimoto and Guy Keulemans (NSW)
Inari Kiuru (Vic)
Jamie North (NSW)
Megan Cope (Vic)
Rhiannon Slatter (Vic)
Tom Borgas (SA)
Sanne Mestrom (Vic)
SMART Design Studio (NSW)
WOOD Melbourne (Vic)

Punchbowl Mosque, 2018. 'Muqarnas' corner junction. Photo: Rory Gardiner

Alexander Lotersztain, QTZ Footrest, Lounger, Lounger without headrest, and Table, 2016. Photo: IVANKA Concrete

Rhiannon Slatter, Concrete 02, 2015. Edition of 6 plus AP pigment ink on cotton rag

Sanne Mestrom, Untitled (Self Portrait, Underground), 2017 Bronze, concrete, steel. Photo: Courtesy the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf

Jamie North, Remainder No.70, 2017. Cement, blast furnace slag, marble dust, steel, Pyrrosia rupestris (rock-felt fern). Photo: courtesy of Jamie North, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney

Inari Kiuru, Memory of the sea, interactive table sculpture, 2017 various arrangements of the nine parts. Photos: lnari Kiuru

Adam Goodrum, Concrete Benches for Ovolo Nishi (formerly Hotel Hotel), New Acton, Canberra, 2014 Concrete. Photo: Joshua Ayett

Anna Horne, Hardly Soft (red), 2018. Concrete. Photo: Grant Hancock

Baldasso Cortese Architects, Tarrawarra Abbey, Fire Shelter, 2016. Yarra Glen, Victoria. Photo: Peter Clarke

CHEB, Christine Cholewa and Deb Jones, CHEB concrete product, 2018. concrete, brass, dimensions variable. Photo: Craig Arnold

Durbach Block Jaggers, Tamarama House, 2015. Entrance staircase from upper floor. Photo: Tom Ferguson

Inari Kiuru, Memory of the sea, interactive table sculpture, 2017. various arrangements of the nine parts. Photos: lnari Kiuru

Smart Design Studio, Indigo Slam, 2016. Chippendale, New South Wales Guesthouse exterior. Photo: David Roche.

Supported By

Concrete: art design architecture is supported by Visions of Australia funding through Australian Government’s Department of Communications and Arts and the South Australian Government through the Department of Skills and Industry.
The Principal Sponsor for Concrete: art design architecture is Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia, the peak body for the cement, concrete and quarry industry in Australia.

Design Tasmania acknowledges our supporters.
We are assisted through Arts Tasmania by the Minister for the Arts, and by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.
Design Tasmania is supported by The Ian Potter Foundation, one of Australia’s major philanthropic foundations.