Wonder graphic featuring work by Hamilton artist Stephen Altena
Printed in Hamilton
"Art Gallery of Hamilton" on sleeve
What is ‘reality’ today? What does it mean to be ‘real’? Is there even such a thing?
In an age of reality shows, fake news, and weakened social and political structures, our sense of reality is quickly shifting. Neither fixed nor factual, our individual realities can exist alongside one another’s and never meet.
This moment in time led to the idea of creating an exhibition around the idea of reality and sur-reality, or in art terms: Realism, Surrealism and the Fantastic. This exhibition explores the relationship between a logical view of life and the unconscious mind, fantasies, and the dream world.
The artists in this show find magic in the unexpected and the unnatural, the overlooked and the odd. Their work challenges values and norms in search of new realities and freedom. Here, imagination is front and centre and driven by the psychological rather than the logical.
