The Thousands

Graduate exhibitions are a pretty big deal, a monument to the achievements of a diverse group of graduating students, exposing the talents of an emerging generation of artists. Through the platform of the exhibition these artists represent their journey through the institution of the art school, from baby-bird foundation student to final year ‘I’m a real artist now that I have a degree’.

There is always the chance of the unexpected when such a large and diverse body of work is combined. There is an energy that runs between each work, mediated by its proximity to other works. Logan McDonald, the exhibition’s curator for this year, will be performing no easy feat to bring the work of 29 artists together.

Constructed of fragments, Arlon Hall’s entangled paintings evoke unstable landscapes. Fiona Roberts and Claire Marsh respond to the body; fragile, uncomfortable, anxious, tactile, fleshy and alluring. Exploding from a native bouquet, CJ Taylor’s neon dingo is as much surreal as it is majestic. As Polly Dance mentions in the catalogue essay, the grad show is a beast; wild, animated, full of energy, and settled for the night to show off its plumage.