TALK SOON/ COOL FOUNTAINS | Freda Drakopoulos x Peter Kozak x Jeremy Plint

27 May - 11 June 2023

EXHIBITION TEXT | Read Here | Talk Soon / Cool Fountains

Artwork: Freda Drakopoulos, I fainted. Image by: Jaydan De Oliveira

Talk Soon / Cool Fountains, is a group exhibition presented by IN | artist run initiative, that informs and explores narratives around personal identity and lived experience. Intimate understandings of the personal are weaved and materialise through, video, painting, sculpture, installation, and performance. The artists in the exhibition pull from an ecology of their daily life and facilitate alternative modes of storytelling to position an affirmative point of view of their lived experiences of queer identity, living with a speech disorder, and managing trauma. Jeremy Plint considers personal narratives of queerness within the domestic space through reaffirming Queer mythologies into the everyday, Peter Kozak uses video and sound to represent the shifting rhythms and expectations around time that occur when he stutters, and Freda Drakopoulos re-imagines comfort objects such as a heat pack and blanket that are used during her everyday care routines, in response to flare ups of past trauma and anxiety.

Opening Event | 4pm - 7pm Saturday 27 May, 2023

During the opening, Naarm based artist, Freda Drakopoulos, will also be performing the work, Trying to pull the water out of the shower head (2023).

Image credit: Warwick Gow

Artists |

 Freda Drakopoulos | @divine__rose__ 

Freda Drakopoulos is an artist based in Naarm. Her practice is installation based, and considers live performance integrations. She’s shown at KINGS Artist-Run, Caves Gallery, Seventh Gallery, and George Paton Gallery. She’s also written for FELTspace. In 2019, she was awarded the National Gallery of Victoria Women’s Association Award.   

 Peter Kozak | @peterkozak

Peter Kozak is a Meanjin/Brisbane based artist. Working across multiple disciplines, including video, drawing and sound, Kozak’s work explores how combining personal narratives around illness and disability with images and sound relating to every day materials and experiences can connect them with a wider audience and help reduce their stigma. Graduating from the Queensland College of Art with First Class Honours in 2017, Peter has exhibited at various spaces nationally, such as Seventh Gallery (Naarm/Melbourne, 2022), The Institute of Modern Art, Belltower (Meanjin/Brisbane, 2020), FELTspace (Tarndanya/Adelaide, 2020), Sawtooth ARI (Lutruwita/Launceston, 2019) and Cool Change Contemporary (Boorloo/Perth, 2019).

 Jeremy Plint | @jeremyplint

Jeremy Plint is a multidisciplinary artist based in Meanjin who draws from camp aesthetic, pop culture and religious iconography. Their work examines the intersection between queer identity and familial structure. By questioning mainstream notions of belonging whichdismiss any form of ‘Family Queering’, Plint reaffirms that alternatives to traditional perceptions of family are just as successful.

ACCESS
Unfortunately, The Old Lock Up is not wheelchair accessible. There are 4 x 30cm high stairs linking the yard area to the internal space. More info + photos available here.

At this time, IN | artist run initiative are unable to provide Auslan Interpretation or Audio Description services.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
This initiative is supported through the Creative Industries Investment Program (CIIP) and is jointly funded by ArtsCoast through Sunshine Coast Council’s Arts and Heritage Levy and the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) in partnership with the Queensland Government.

Freda Drakopoulos’ involvement in this project is financially assisted by Merri-bek City Council’s Community Participation Grant - for individuals.