The Thousands

Garage sales? Really? Isn’t Gallery 139 supposed to be a classy establishment for grown-ups? Surely a show about garage sales is too much fun for an eastern suburbs grown-up gallery. Well, local designers Anthony De Leo and Scott Carslake don’t seem to think so, and neither does award-winning photographer Toby Richardson. Together they’ve compiled an exhibition to coincide with the launch of their glossy coffee table book about garage sales, and I think that’s tops.

Researching the book, the three went to loads of garage sales and bought heaps of junk. How much fun would that have been? What’s more, they’re actually selling it all at the launch! Plus there’ll be a sausage sizzle and free face painting! ZOMG!!

Richardson is a proper grown-up photographer who lectures at the University of South Australia, so he’s allowed to get away with fun things like this. An earlier show of his consisted of a series of stunning high-resolution, life-sized photographs of soiled mattresses he’d found all over suburban Adelaide. The show won loads of awards, and the catalogue is pretty much the cleverest I’ve seen. I’ve never met him, but I think I love him. I wish he was my Dad.