Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Darlinghurst: Art and Culture: Gallery 9: The SNO Group


During our Spring-time Saturday adventures Crystal Kaye and I were drawn into this narrow, flower-enveloped Victorian doorway at 9 Darley Street. It was like jumping down a rabbit hole, so it was fortunate that the first thing we came across was a ladder, just in case we needed to climb back out:


The ladder is actually one of the works in the Sydney Non Objective (SNO) Group's latest show, which runs until this Saturday at Gallery 9. The SNO Group is made up of a dozen or more artists: Justin Andrews, Lynne Eastaway, Sophia Egarchos, Billy Gruner, Suzie Idiens, Kyle Jenkins, Andrew Leslie, Ruark Lewis, Adrian McDonald, Rachel Park, Giles Ryder, Ian Andrews, Masato Takasaka, Sydney Ball, Rolande Souliere and Mattys Gerber.
And it should not be confused with the Snowball Group, an Australian financial services company that is listed on the stock exchange as SNO.
No, the SNO Group trade in art and ideas only, and if you want to invest (works range from $350 to $15,200), visit their website.
The building that is home to Gallery 9, sold for $1.515 million in 2001 and is listed on the City of Sydney heritage register, but I could find out little about its past. The single storey terrace was built during the Victorian era and still has loads of large rooms with high-ceilings:


And a few walls that are perfect for hanging artworks on:


Auto-Change 2 (Black Version) 2009, by Ian Andrews
Vinyl record, sandpaper, CDRom 30 x 40cm

Andrews's work was our favourite in the entire show. When Crystal put on the headphones and gazed at the vinyl record with its black sandpaper heart she felt like she was meditating. When I put them on, I felt like I was on another planet. Which is a good way to feel sometimes.
When it came time to leave the rabbit hole, we couldn't help but linger on this wonderful, wide old veranda:


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Gallery 9
9 Darley Street
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
02 9380 9909

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