Catalyst exhibition – 2025 Fringe Review
Located in suburban Goodwood, the Goodwood Theatre and Studios is a buzzing Fringe venue. In Bill’s Bar, a casual hang out for a pre-show drink, Hart Street Art presents ‘Catalyst’, an exhibition featuring local, emerging artists – Aggie Stav, Charlotte Meekins, and Krystal Cave, as well as the debut photographic exhibition by Olivia Gloss. This is a community-focused art exhibition with interactive installations with a focus on inclusion and accessibility.
Stav’s works are bold, bright, and dynamic. Some are reminiscent of botanical forms whilst others are purely abstract, inspired by the imagination. The botanical style pieces stand out on the brick and stone walls of Bill’s Bar purely by virtue of their scale.
Meekins is is an Australian contemporary artist who creates landscape paintings on canvas that reflect the cathartic experience that she finds in nature. The colours are subdued, reminiscent of the works of historical Australian landscape artists – trees of muted greens and browns, and ochre cliffs, with moody grey skies, golden sunsets, or the bright blue skies of our warmest days.
Ballpoint pen, highlighter and watercolour pencils provide the tools for Cave’s detailed drawings/doodles. These tools create incredibly detailed images with hundreds – maybe thousands – of gestural marks built up in many layers to create a final piece. The colours are bright and combined in ways that create movement, depth, light and shadow in all the right places. These works are worthy of close inspection to see the ground of highlighters and pen in detail.
Tucked out the back of Bill’s Bar in the Hallway Gallery, is Olivia Gloss’s ‘Art in Motion’ series of photographs. Gloss finds a sense of freedom through the lens and this is reflected in the photos that show paint dripping from a hand, splattering as a foot stomps on it, and splashing when it is slapped. Through these photos, Gloss seeks to express themselves in ways that words cannot.
Whilst the main exhibition was contained within the confines of the building, I did not find the interactive elements of the exhibition. I can only assume that they were located outside in the entry alley and did not have time to explore further before my next show. Tactile tours and sensory experiences are available – an excellent offering for inclusivity and accessibility.
Hi Vicki,
Thank you so much for visiting Goodwood Theatre and Studios to explore Catalyst. I am sorry you missed the interactive elements of the exhibition, one being the laneway where there are 21 mural panels that were painted by myself, Krystal and Charlotte. The murals were designed to immerse visitors into a visual arts world as they enter the pop up laneway and make their way into the venue, leading up to the theatre where we have also added poetry and quotes onto the fence. Also in the laneway we have a custom colour-by-numbers interactive mural that the community have been busy painting throughout the Fringe.
In the gallery area where Olivia’s photographs are located we installed 2 wall sized panels named “Inked Inspirations” where visitors to the theatre have been invited to add their own thoughts, quotes, poetry and artwork to the panels with the paint markers provided. This has been another interactive highlight!
Additionally, we had two forums scheduled during the first two weeks of fringe called “Mindful of Art” where the therapeutic power of art was the theme exploring how creativity, mindfulness and meditation can be a powerful tool for healing, personal growth, societal change and emotional balance.
Once again, thank you for visiting and I’d be more than happy to give you a tour of the exhibition and installations should you wish to visit again!
Warmest,
Aggie.