Saturday, February 16, 2008

Tony Garifalakis goes to Hell




Infinity Land by Tony Garifalakis
Opening Fri Feb 15, 6pm till late
15 Feb - 15 Mar 2008, Saturdays only 12- 6pm

Here's what Dylan Rainforth wrote about Hell's inaugural show on the threethousand review page (http://www.threethousand.com.au). Tony also got a review in the Sunday Magazine of the Age (Preview 24th Feb), written by Penny Modra.

'Welcome to Hell.' Quick sketch of a cinematic cliché: Hard-as-nails Drill Sergeant welcomes green-as-grass bunch of recruits to bombed-out battlefield. He knows, and so do we, that half of them will be dead by the end of the movie and that the other half will have learnt some hard-earned lessons, emerged as heroes, etc and-so-forth.

That's what 'Welcome to Hell' makes me think of. But if you hear it this Friday as you enter the Gates of Hell, just down the lane behind the Coles on Swan Street, it's probably just owners Jess 'Queen of Hades' Johnson or Jordy Marani (such a yacht-rockin' name for Satan Himself) making you, you know, welcome. Welcome, to their brand-new art gallery - check out the art, partake of the delicious BBQ (aka the Eternal Flames of Damnation) and grab a cold beer. It's nice here.

And all the best people go to Hell. Even the Prince of Darkness turned out to be a pleasant chap when I popped in the other day. The PoD, aka Tony Garifalakis, has cooked up an absolute blinder of a first, inaugural, premiere, debut, maiden show - all about doomsday sects and murderous messianic cult leaders. How apt. So, if there was ever any doubt, it's now official - the devil not only has the best tunes but the best art too.

By Dylan Rainforth


Friday, February 15, 2008

Hell Opens Up

Hell Gallery was founded by artists Jess Johnson and Jordan Marani, who both work installing other peoples art for money. Hell was built on the ground floor of their house using salvaged materials from larger art institutions. Hell is open for exhibitions, launches, screenings, performances and cooking demonstrations. All proposals to Hell must be handwritten, preferably in code on soiled restaurant napkins. Accompanying documentation should be in totally incompetent cartoon form. Or you can just ask nicely. We will see what we can do.