Spring1883 (Back) Art Fair Vii

SPRING BACK: LITERALLY, TO RECOIL, REBOUND, OR LEAP BACK TO AN ORIGINAL POSITION OR LOCATION. Spring1883 is back – but different this year.

Emerging from Melbourne’s fifth lockdown and heeding the restrictions lingering behind, the seventh edition Spring steps out of one building to spread itself across Melbourne.

En route across the satellite booths, find Arts Project Australia presenting an immersive installation of five artists, the collection aptly titled Spring Back.

Where, if not the grand Windsor Hotel? In the spirit of the last eighteen-months’ proximity to home, APA sets up next door to the gallery at Collingwood Yards at the soon-to-be home of the ILBIJERRI Theatre Company.

Spring Back exhibits recent works by five artists pushing their practice and creating work with strong thematic depth.

Ruth Howard’s luscious collection of organic ceramic stacks alongside the verdant canvases and ceramics of Georgia Szmerling; multi-disciplinary artist Chris Mason’s immersive installation of paintings, ceramics and miniature sculptures of large women and snakes, contrasting with Mark Smith’sceramic and fabric words, then juxtaposed with Julian Martin’s sublime abstract pastel drawings.