Neue Luxury is a global dialogue on luxury in the 21st century.

Design Tasmania presents CONCRETE: art design architecture a major exhibition exploring innovative ways that concrete is being used by artists, designers and architects in Australia in the 21st century. Curated by JamFactory’s Margaret Hancock Davis (Senior Curator) and Brian Parkes (CEO), the exhibition includes 21 artists, designers and architects from across Australia and brings together products, projects and works of art that reflect many of the current preoccupations with concrete within contemporary art, design and architecture in Australia.

Having a history spanning over 3000 years, concrete was first used by Egyptians in the building of the pyramids before the Romans produced what today we call hydraulic cement based concrete, used most dramatically in the Pantheon (completed 128AD). With the fall of the Roman Empire the secrets of concrete were lost, and it was not until the early nineteenth century that, through the development of Portland Cement, modern concrete was born.

It is hard to imagine a world without concrete. A material so ubiquitous we rarely take the opportunity to consider its impact on our lives and its role in the development of modern societies. This exhibition aims to question our preconceptions of concrete and to consider its functional as well as its expressive, poetic and aesthetic dimensions.

The exhibitors represent a broad range of approaches to working with concrete, and the range of work in the exhibition is extensive – from fine, hand-crafted jewellery to spectacular buildings. Some of the exhibitors include: the Pritzker award winning architect Glenn Murcutt and the multiple award winning architectural firm Candalepas Associates, who have both used concrete to create beautiful places of worship; celebrated designers Adam Goodrum and Alexander Lotersztain who have separately designed striking concrete outdoor furniture; leading visual artists Jamie North, Abdul-Rahman Abdullah and Megan Cope who have each produced thought-provoking sculptural works, and jeweller Inari Kiuru who draws the eye to the intricate detail of concrete’s infinitely varied surface.

CONCRETE is the fourth and final exhibition in JamFactory’s acclaimed art design architecture series and will conclude a significant 10-year project which began with the research for WOOD: art design architecture in 2011 (and opened in 2013 followed by GLASS in 2015 and STEEL in 2017) and will end with the completion of the tour of CONCRETE in 2021. This series of exhibitions, publications and public programs has received more than $1 million in funding from the Commonwealth Government in addition to the support of sponsors and project partners. By the end of the CONCRETE tour, the series will have presented the works of 101 exhibitors to 54 venues nationally. CONCRETE art design architecture will tour 14 venues nationally and is accompanied by a 264-page catalogue.

For more visit: designtasmania.com.au