16 Apr, 2019

New Exhibition For The City Library

The Adelaide City Library, in association with the South Australian History Festival, is presenting Becoming Adelaide, an exhibition of new paintings in oils and acrylics by artist George Linou.

Depicting Adelaide’s heritage architecture and the contemporary structures built around them, the exhibition will display ten different Adelaide locations which have played an important role in George’s life.

It will include his painting of Bee Hive corner, a familiar and much-loved site for most Adelaidians. For many, it means Haighs chocolates, but for George it was where he went as boy after school and sold newspapers. George has painted several well-known Adelaide locations, from the East End Market to the Adelaide Goal, giving the viewer a sense of being within an everchanging city.

The works portray a form of local migration as the artist crosses the city for reference points from his past. The beauty in George’s paintings is the ability to create a sense of being at the location and of being part of the city.

“I’m interested in how Adelaide has evolved and as I travel across the city, I remember stories from my youth and re-imagine them as painted compositions to document the heritage buildings before they disappear,” George said.

In each of the works, George features Australian fauna as a metaphor for identifying his location. For a bird’s eye view of the city, the birds in his paintings represent people from his past; cockatoos in one work represent his mother, while a magpie is painted in another to remind him of his younger brother.

George was born in Adelaide in 1959 to Greek-Cyprian parents who migrated to Australian. His father Andreas, a bricklayer, influenced his construction of architectural paintings. George works diligently and constructs detailed images of architecture and places as a way of recording and documenting locations before new development reshapes the original structures.

Lord Mayor of Adelaide Sandy Verschoor welcomed George to the City Library.

“The City Library regularly hosts exhibitions during the Adelaide Fringe and SALA and is fast becoming a popular venue for our local artists to exhibit their works. It provides an opportunity for artists to engage with a broad audience."

“The diverse spaces of the City Library are perfectly designed for artists to display their work. We are proud to support artists like George to exhibit their work and to participate in the South Australian History Festival which tells the stories of South Australia and its people.”

Becoming Adelaide is showing at the Adelaide City Library, 77-91 Rundle Place, Rundle Mall, from the 1 – 31 May.

For more information please contact:
Christos Linou. MFA,
Exhibition Curator
Tel: 0423 542 442
Email: [email protected]

Paula Stevens