Contemporary art studio Outer Space will launch its gallery program in its recently renovated West End warehouse on Friday 22 June from 6pm. Outer Space Co-Director Caity Reynolds said she is excited to launch the art space.  “We are thrilled to be launching the Outer Space exhibition program with new work by some of Brisbane’s most exciting contemporary artists,” said Caity.

The two exhibitions launching the program include Worm Runner’s Digest is a solo show by Mitchell Donaldson, and Assuming a Surface is an explorative, collaborative exhibition by Tyza Stewart and James Barth. In Worm Runner’s Digest, Donaldson presents a new body of work inspired by the experiments of biologist James V. McConnell on planarians, a type of flatworm. In his paintings, Donaldson explores the worm as if it were a magnified line, drawing itself into any number of other forms. “My experiment with line as a figure in its own right, be it worm, intestine, limb, branch, root, river or vein, is extended into a material exploration of line as an edge or limit with the function of both dividing and connecting,” said Donaldson.

Assuming a Surface expands upon James Barth’s and Tyza Stewart’s existing painting and image making practices. Both artists produce ongoing series of self portraits that critique constructions of (trans)gender narratives, visibility and image production. Both Barth and Stewart navigate their own relationship with medium and materiality, and speak to the subjectivity of image based visual languages. Their joint exhibition arose from a desire to consider more abstract and non-figurative aspects of their respective practices; to seek open-ended, non-prescriptive ways of addressing these ideas.

The exhibitions will be the first in Outer Space’s gallery program since recently moving to a converted West End warehouse space supported by Brisbane City Council. Outer Space is a Brisbane based not-for-profit art space that promotes education, career development and community engagement within the arts. With ongoing support from the Brisbane City Council, Outer Space has expanded to include gallery spaces, an affordable studio residency program, a regular all-ages live music program, and a community space tailored for alternative avenues of education.

The gallery opening event will take place 1/170 Montague Road at 6pm on Friday 22 June, and no RSVP is required.

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