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Art and Sculpture

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Art is a great way to appreciate life from an altered perspective, which is why the Bird in Hand estate in South Australia adorns its grounds with original works from artists who demonstrate a philosophical connection to the spirit of the winery. Sculptures in the gardens, inspiring interiors, paintings that speak to our time and nod to the classics.

The Bird in Hand estate is open for private tours and access by appointment only. Should you like to visit on your trip to Australia please contact us via the Contact page.

The Bird in Hand sculpture collection remains a work in progress as the Nugent family continue their love of collecting pieces from around the world.

White Ape part 2
Lisa Roet

This striking fibreglass chimpanzee bust commemorates the life of an Ape, given dignity and acclaim in death with the status of a high-ranking statesman or famed person.  3 metres high, the piece of art encourages us to reflect upon prevailing attitudes towards these relatives with whom we share in excess of 98% of our DNA and the lingering anxiety with our evolutionary past. For over two decades Lisa has won acclaim in Australia and internationally for her powerful investigations into the complex interface between humans and our simian relatives.

Acquired as part of Bird in Hand’s 20th anniversary celebrations.

Mural
Lucas Grogan

Lucas visited Bird in Hand in 2015 where he spent four days creating this masterpiece. He draws inspiration from myriad of influences – his intricate geometric linework often references Islamic motifs and patterns, his needlepoint and embroidered works seem to pay homage to Tracey Emin’s provocative patchwork quilts, however what is probably most recognisable to Australian audiences is Lucas’ appropriation of traditional Aboriginal painting in some works.

Circle of Love
Paul Gerben

A native New Yorker, Paul Gerben has taken one of the most popular words in the English language and translated its simple power into a memorable work of art. Gerben’s flawless graphic execution combines chrome, aluminium and reclaimed wood, to evoke a multitude of emotional and aesthetic responses from the viewer – the eternal circle of life and love, its strength and longevity expressed in the choice of materials.

The Excavator
Greg Johns

Greg Johns is one of Australia’s most highly regarded sculptors. A passionate man interested in concepts such as cause affect synchronicity, holistic integrated and the spirit of underlying systems. There are many references in his body of work- ancient symbols, mandala, wave lengths, and archaic forms.  These references look at the idea of ‘return’ or having an illusion of movement within static form. This type of work comes from Greg’s interest in philosophy, his enquiry into the nature of existence that he has passionately explored in his practice, his studies and engagement with life.

The Ladies Supper
Jimmy C

Building on Bird in Hand’s ongoing support of the arts, artist James Cochran (aka Jimmy C) best known for his urban narrative paintings, was commissioned to create a contemporary and unique interpretation of Da Vinci’s infamous Last Supper painting. The artwork celebrates women; their role in creation, place in the modern world and contribution to creating a harmonious, peaceful society.  The artist has created an artwork which is brave and progressive, one of old-world elegance, with a beautiful, ethereal quality. As inspiration for the artwork, a special dinner was held in The Gallery restaurant, allowing the artist and the thirteen subjects of the portrait to come together.

60 minutes
Min Wong

60 minutes is a work based on Ma Sheela’s Australian 60 Minutes interview in 1985.  Ma Anand Sheela was the charismatic personal assistant to Rajneeshee sect leader Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh or otherwise known as Osho. The only person who regularly conversed with the Bhagwan, Sheela directed the commune, operating as its spokesperson to the outside world. Osho was already known for his liberal views on sex, orgies, his infamous collection of expensive watches and the colour orange. The interviewer, Ian Leslie of Nine Network’s 60 Minutes, somewhat alarmed at the expansion of the cult in Australia asked Sheela, why she was in the country when the local community were publicly opposed to opening another commune in Western Australia. Her reply was “What can I say, tough titties.”

Min Wong is a sculpture and installation artist who investigates reconstructed counterculture accoutrements from the 1960’s and 1970’s spiritual movements as a simulacrum for utopian concern.

Ceremonial Alien of Metal Exits II and IV
Raúl de Nieves

Vintage sequin appliqués, thread, glue, plastic beads, plastic dolls, ribbons, cardboard, silk, metal bells, chains, mannequin.

This work depicts pure JOY – celebration of life, personal rituals, over-the-top fashion. Raúl is a proud Mexican American gay and believes in strong catholic baroque traditions and the exuberance of the moment which is evident in his work.

Acquired as part of Bird in Hand’s 2015 vintage ‘JOY’ launch in 2018.

Whose Water is it?
Ulay

The German-born Ulay is considered one of the founding fathers of performance art. The rising awareness about water as a part of human body and the part of human environment has been an important issue depicted throughout his career. This neon installation poses a simple question that can be interpreted politically and poetically.

Acquired as part of Bird in Hand’s 2015 vintage ‘JOY’ launch in 2018.

The Natives are Restless

UNSW Art & Design BFA (Hons) and MFA graduate Newell Harry is an Australian-born artist of South African and Mauritian descent.  For over the past decade his projects have drawn from an intimate web of recurring travels and connections across Oceania and the wider Asia-Pacific, to South Africa’s Western Cape Province where the artist’s extended family continue to reside. From Pidgin and Creole languages to modes of exchange in the ‘gift economies’ of the South Pacific, Harry’s interests often culminate in culturally ‘entan­gled’ installations con­flating more linear atti­tudes to lan­guage, col­lec­tion and mate­rial.

White Lines
Zachary Armstrong

Repetition of images and lettering creates a and simultaneously obstinate visual and verbal vocabulary, bringing the paintings into close dialogue with each other. And yet their message remains puzzlingly vague to the viewer. The works seem to contain a coded message about the person that created them. For example, in one of the exhibited works, the letters “KEYDOSZIUS” represent the maiden name of Armstrong’s mother, interwoven with an art-historically charged depiction of the mother with child. In other works, Americana such as names and images of local shop signs become integral parts of the image, unfolding as a complex interplay of quotations on Armstrong’s canvas. Armstrong draws on global and local contexts, juxtaposing equally-weighted references to high culture, folkloric and commercial elements, replicating his own works and referencing personal narratives.

The Spine Through the Guts
Gabrielle Beveredge

The Spine through the Guts is related to Prophetic Souls that was first shown in a group show curated by Damian Griffiths at Annka Kultys gallery. The former work consists of four pastel-coloured glass orbs resting on chrome steel shop fittings that form the shape of a spine. There is something funny about the shapes flapping over the bars as the bottom orbs looks like a beer belly. What makes Beveridge interested in creating a human body with display materials?

Crystal Pink Lip 1
Gina Beavers

Using photos from the internet in general and social media in particular as an inspirational source, Beavers creates her paintings and installations. Her three-dimensional canvases pick up various contemporary themes such as make-up tutorials, food pictures or body builder selfies. In her reliefs she succeeds in reproducing small details, connecting high and low art while simultaneously reflecting on contemporary society.

Assimilation, 2018
Hayley Silverman

Protect Me from What I Am explores objects, images and bodies that have been understood as vessels for divine information within interlacing histories of art, religion and value.

Silverman’s sculptures often take the form of intricate dioramas and tableaux, some suggesting votive shrines common to historically Catholic regions. Featuring industrially produced Catholic figurines purchased from factories in Italy and the United States. Seen en masse, the plastic icons suggest repetitive affirmations, troubled by the presence of faulty figurines that Silverman acquired alongside their finished counterparts. As a result of accidents in the production process, certain characters appear in states of headlessness, dissolution or recombination, suggesting a form of ecstatic decreation or even divine intervention.

For a work titled Assimilation (2018), Silverman constructed a cube from the faulty icons, on which an arrangement of taxidermy birds are arranged. Seen among the crush of forms, reminiscent of the multiplicity of bodies seen in Renaissance depictions of Heaven and Hell, are misshapen or semi-formed likenesses of saints and angels, as well as a primordial plastic ooze.