In the Australian summer, a trip to the pool is a no-brainer and a rite of passage. And with an extra hot summer forecasted this year, Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery plans to keep things cool with a new exhibition – ‘The Pool Show’.
“This is the second in our series of summer blockbuster exhibitions following ‘Spot the Difference’ in 2024,” said Penrith Regional Gallery Director, Toby Chapman.
“In ‘The Pool Show’, we turn our attention to the local swimming pool, not just as a space of leisure and relaxation, but also as a site where the politics of our time play out; where your race, postcode, gender or sexuality can be determinants for who can swim, and how they are treated in the pool.”
‘The Pool Show’ will be presented in collaboration with the Art Gallery of New South Wales and will feature works by Australian and international artists, including new commissions from emerging western Sydney artists.
One of the commissioned artists is 21-year-old local Katerina Asistin, who will focus on creating a body of work around Mount Druitt Swimming Centre.
“I grew up in Mount Druitt, and Mount Druitt Pool has been a place where I’ve made special memories,” Asistin explained.
“I would spend summers there, I would have swimming carnivals for school there, and because of how close it is, it’s always been part of my image of Mount Druitt and one of the staple locations of the suburb.”
Other commissioned work includes the documentation of refugee and migrant women as they learn to swim by Marian Abboud and Forked Tongue Storytellers; a time capsule of poolside holiday snapshots from artist JD Reforma’s family archive; and Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding’s work exploring the ongoing impact of the 1965 Freedom Ride which protested the segregation of First Nations people from town facilities in New South Wales – including swimming pools.
“Echoing Pathways is a collaborative artwork I created with youth from my pop’s hometown of Collarenebri, guided with stories by Elder, Aunty Roslyn McGregor,” Golding explained.
“We began by listening to histories of exclusion from public spaces across north-west NSW, and the lived experiences of discrimination, resilience and survival that continue to shape our communities today. From these conversations, new expressions and ideas emerged in a curated printmaking workshop at the National Art School in Sydney.
“Each young person etched their own drypoint plate, inscribing words, designs and symbols that spoke of strength, resilience, and their visions of the future.
“When printed together, these plates align like the lanes of a pool, yet instead of dividing they connect. They become pathways of possibility.”
The works on display throughout the exhibition will span almost 100 years, and you can explore them from November 8 to February 15 at the Emu Plains gallery.
