OTIS HOPE CAREY

Otis Hope Carey is a proud Gumbaynggirr/Bundjalung man, artist and professional surfer. In 2016, he held his first solo exhibition with China Heights Gallery in Sydney; since then he has: been invited to paint a number of high-profile commissions (including a huge wall in Chris Hemsworth’s mansion); created designs for high-profile clothing brands; and exhibited his work nationally and internationally.

Hope Carey was a finalist in the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in 2018 as well as in the Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW in 2020. His artwork is distinctive in its boldness, pared-back colour and repetition. He draws the traditional symbols of his ancestors and culture in to his contemporary vision, deftly merging the past and present.

Painting provides the perfect platform for Hope Carey to share important stories, and to start conversations around Indigenous culture, community and the healing process. The ocean—an important clan totem for the Gumbaynggirr people of the mid-north coast of New South Wales—has been an important thematic thread through his practice. Three major bodies of Hope Carey’s work have focused on the ocean and his strong spiritual and cultural connection to it.The series Gaagal (Ocean) conveys the awe and the power of the water; Ngalunggirr Miinggi (Healing Spirit) explores the healing qualities of the ocean; and Ngiinda Darrundang Gaagal (Thank the Ocean), incorporates Hope Carey’s interpretation of ‘Gaagal Yuludarla’, a ceremonial Ocean Dreaming dance.

Hope Carey has primarily worked with acrylic on canvas and large-scale wall murals; however, more recently he has started incorporating sculpting with wood in to his practice. His work is held in both public and private collections around the world.

ADAM STONE

Adam Stone is a Melbourne-based artist who received his BFA (Hons) from the Victorian College of the Arts. He has had numerous solo and group shows and undertaken residencies in Beijing, New York, Melbourne and rural NSW.

Stone has been the recipient of numerous grants and prizes, including the Montalto Sculpture Prize, the Fiona Myer Award, the Orloff Family Charitable Trust Scholarship and travel grants from the Ian Potter Cultural Trust and the City of Boorandara. Recently, he has been a finalist in the McClelland Gallery Sininni Prize, Fishers Ghost Prize, M Collection Prize, Deakin Small Sculpture Prize and the Churchie Emerging Artist Award.

Stone has exhibited in both group and solo shows at artist-run-initiatives as well as commercial and public galleries in Australia and Asia. Selected galleries include Neon Parc, COMA, Caves, Inside Out Art Museum (Beijing), Seventh, Blindside, Kings, Campelltown Arts Centre, QUT, Bus Projects, Fort Delta, C3, LON Gallery, Irene Rose Gallery, Daine Singer and Artbank.

Recently, Stone has completed public sculpture projects for the City of Yarra and Moonee Valley, participated in Spring1883 and was the recipient of a Hazelhurst Regional Gallery Residency. He received a City of Yarra grant for his curated exhibition, The World Is A Teenager and has curated exhibitions at public, non-profit and commercial galleries in Melbourne and Sydney.

Adam Stone is the founder and director of LON Gallery, Collingwood. His work is held in public and private collections in Australia and Asia, including the Deakin University, Artbank, Joyce Nissan, Town Hall Gallery (City of Boroondara), Ten Cubed, IOAM and Elliott Eyes Collections.