Casula Powerhouse set to launch inaugural Liverpool Sculpture Walk

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre will officially open the inaugural Liverpool Sculpture Walk on Saturday 7th December with the works remaining on display until late August 2020.

The sculptures are coming from one of Sydney’s most popular art events, Sculpture by the Sea, with the ten works to be installed along the Georges River.

When the Liverpool Sculpture Walk is officially opened, it will join Granite Island in South Australia as one of only two satellite year-round exhibitions of sculptures from Sculpture by the Sea at Bondi and Cottesloe in Western Australia.

Liverpool Lord Mayor Wendy Waller advised “we are thrilled to be partnering with Sculpture by the Sea for Liverpool Sculpture Walk. Sculptures that attracted huge crowds to Bondi will now be on display right here in Liverpool.

“I was on the selection committee for these works and I can’t wait to see them installed alongside the Georges River on a trail that begins at our acclaimed Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre.”

David Handley, Founding Director of Sculpture by the Sea, said the decision to exhibit works from this year’s Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi in the Liverpool area was based on the happy marriage of a strong appetite for public art among locals in one of the fastest-growing areas of Sydney and the strong interest of artists to show their sculptures again, especially when the venue is an important public gallery in a high calibre group exhibition.

Handley added “we know these works will reach an appreciative, knowledgeable audience. Art should be accessible to everyone and the Liverpool Sculpture Walk along the Georges River is a very attractive setting for such a significant display of quality public art.

“We hope these sculptures will be enjoyed by and inspire local people and visitors from across western Sydney and further afield.”

Mayor Waller commented “I can’t wait to see how people react to the sculptures after the official opening on Saturday. These works are of an international standard. They are thought-provoking and invite a reaction.”

“Remember, if you can’t make the official opening on Saturday, there will be plenty of time to enjoy the works in a unique setting along the Georges River.”

Southern Highlands sculptor David Ball, whose Celest will be installed at Liverpool Sculpture Walk, said the weathered corten steel sculpture was a departure from his classicist style.

Ball commented “nearly all my sculpture is designed to be viewed in the round, but this piece is one to be viewed from underneath.

“From a distance it’s inviting, hopefully drawing you in underneath where your view is through a slightly chaotic window.

“There’s a sweetness in the invitation until you look through this jagged interior, a high aperture.

“And the precarious nature of it - a massive hefty weight supported by five fairly thin posts or skewers as I like to think of them. Hopefully this makes people slightly uneasy.”

A recent public art survey of Liverpool residents found that 98.6% of respondents identified art as important with sculptures and murals being the most desired forms. 

The 10 sculptures that will appear in the Liverpool Sculpture Walk are:

SEQUINtial Reflections - Denise Pepper, Western Australia
Floating - Grounded Figure (2018) - Greg Johns, South Australia
Time After Time No.2 - Cui Yi, China
Celest - David Ball, regional NSW
Circle - Door to the Future (C-41)Tetsuro Yamasaki, Japan
Red Gum - Naomi Taylor Royds, regional NSW
The Water Carrier - Paul Selwood, regional NSW
Antithesis (2012) - Matthew Harding, Victoria
Horatius - Morgan Jones, New Zealand
This Precise Moment, this Moving World - Nadia Odlum, regional NSW.

The Liverpool Sculpture Walk will begin at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and extend along the Georges River to Casula Parklands, South West Sydney’s biggest adventure playground which opened earlier this year.

The Liverpool Sculpture Walk will be officially opened from 4.30-7.30pm at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre on Saturday, 7th December. and will be on display until late August 2020.

Image of Southern Highlands sculptor David Ball's Celest.