Art gets gnarly at Port Noarlunga
Published on 02 January 2025
The region’s renowned Surf Art exhibition returns to the Arts Centre in Port Noarlunga until 3 February.
Now in its 31st year, the annual event showcases the work of Australian artists as they celebrate the Fleurieu coast – the ocean, the coastal environment, and the local surfing and beach cultures.
According to City of Onkaparinga Arts Officer Nerissa Galloway, the exhibition comprises a good mix of returning and new artists.
“It’s a true community exhibition,” she says.
“We have artists who are well known in both the art and surfing communities.
“We also had a lot of emerging artists submit their work, so the exhibition is a refreshing mix of well-established artists who are honing their practice and others who are putting themselves out there for the first time.”
Surf 2024 features more than 100 pieces from 74 artists. Most pieces are for sale.
The art ranges from acrylic paintings and resin art to mosaics, lino prints, wooden sculptures and ceramics.
The artworks capture the life of the ocean and the coast in their many moods and guises: surfer’s shacks and combis, wind-swept grasses, sun-filled shorelines, creatures of the air and sea, and humans washed by light-coruscated waves.
Lisa Pitman’s Lost weedy sea dragon mounts a taxidermy sea dragon on a water-coloured background, while Tracey Grivell’s Secrets of the sea covers a ceramic urn in sand.
Peter Hilhorst’s painting Seaford bowl captures one of the mid coasts most iconic surf locations. In a more moody, abstract piece, Liz de Koning evokes the atmospheric nature of the ocean in her painting From above.
Jenna Bloom’s felt wall-hanging Ocean’s guide celebrates the whale as a symbol of wisdom and freedom. A mixed-media booklet by Kirstie McGregor, Below, above, explores the world beneath and over the waves.
A People’s Choice award – voted by visitors to the exhibition – will be announced at the end of the exhibition. The visitors’ favourite artist will take home a prize to the value of $500.
During 2024, the Arts Centre building, erected in 1924 as the Port Noarlunga Institute, celebrated its 100th anniversary. The building now houses a flexible arts space including galleries, an art shop, and spaces for hire including a performance hall and rehearsal and visual art studios.
Nearby Sauerbier House is simultaneously hosting an exhibition of the work of artist-in-residence Anna Révész. Anna is an emerging artist who creates in a variety of mediums, with a particular affinity for photography. The exhibition of her work, Fathom, explores the themes of memory and place.
Go to the City of Onkaparinga’s website or call 08 8326 5577 to see what’s on at the Arts Centre and Sauerbier House.
Surf 2024
Arts Centre
22 Gawler Street, Port Noarlunga
13 December 2024 – 3 February 2025
Monday to Friday 10am–4pm; Saturday 1pm–4pm
Closed public holidays
Fathom
Anna Révész (artist in residence)
Sauerbier House
21 Wearing Street, Port Noarlunga
2-4, 8-9 January 2025
PICTURES FROM TOP
Jo Headon's Take flight
Surf 2024 exhibition
Lisa Pitman's Lost weedy sea dragon
Julie Schofield's Jack's view
Terry Thorley's Dudes and Moana dreaming
Photographer: Aretha Byrne-Ockerby