SUSAN JACOBS: THE ANTS ARE IN THE IDIOM

3 June – 30 October 2022

A presentation of newly commissioned work by Australian-born, London-based artist Susan Jacobs.

A meditation on the relationship between language and matter, the exhibition is an expansive sculptural environment that draws the viewer into a web of visual riddles. Jacobs’ poetic approach to materials is underpinned by research into systems of thought that have shaped – and mis-shaped – human knowledge. Playful allusions to science, psychology and mythology jostle with visual puns and word games. Enlivened by the imaginative potential of misinterpretation, the exhibition is a rhizomatic sculptural network that stimulates a process of associative looking in the viewer.  

The artist has developed this work over several years, experimenting with materials in her studio to articulate a sculptural language informed by cumulative layers of environmental observation and historical research. The ants are in the idiom could be read as an allegory for a way of working as an artist or, on a more universal level, for the human drive to make meaning of our surroundings.

Curated by Jacqueline Doughty.

Free Entry

Wednesday – Sunday
11am – 5pm

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SUPPORTERS

The development of this exhibition was supported by an Australia Council for the Arts Fellowship 
All works courtesy of Sarah Scout Presents, Melbourne

Image credit: Susan Jacobs, Hindsight 20/20 2022 (detail), installation view, The Ants are in the Idiom, Buxton Contemporary, The University of Melbourne, 3 July – 6 November 2022. Courtesy of Sarah Scout Presents, Melbourne. Photography Christian Capurro