Wanting To See: A World Pride 2023 Group Showcase

The Art Syndicate is excited to present Wanting To See, an exhibition of works by contemporary American photographers Kyle Hoffman, Lexy Potts, Jon Setter, and Brian Vu. Emotive, vibrant, and brimming with interpretive possibility, the exhibition is a celebration of perspective. This multi-generational, multi-ethnic group of artists epitomise the power of the photographer’s lens to express that which cannot be put into words.

The artist who works behind the camera is defined by their ability to make extraordinary that which the eye sees plainly. Whereas a painter, sculptor, or draughtsman start with raw materials with which to duplicate life, the photographer begins with life as it is. The world around us can be so overwhelming and our viewpoint becomes fixed in place just so that we may navigate it. The photographers in this exhibition prove the power of their craft to disrupt that prejudicial rigidity through bold expression and a desire to share perspective. The exhibition takes its name from an un-aired 1978 interview with American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Throughout his career, Mapplethorpe was interrogated for his often gritty, sexual, and unapologetically queer subject matter. Mapplethorpe’s art was not about shock or controversy “it was about me wanting to see things.” This is the heart’s desire of the photographer. It is not some simple selfish desire. It is a calling.

This calling is what unites the stunning work of these four photographers. Like alchemists, each of them has transformed the everyday through their viewfinder, portraying our humanity through their unique expressive lens. We are left invigorated then to question, contemplate, and celebrate the multiplicity of elements make up our daily lives.

Opens Thursday the 23rd Feb to 12 Mar.

Opening 6pm till 10.
Other days are Wednesday though Sunday. 11 till 5pm or by appointment.