Artexpress

Editorial

Based on visitor numbers Artexpress, the annual exhibition of visual artworks by NSW school leavers, regularly outdoes major exhibitions of national and international renown.

Sure, the students and their families turn up in droves, but the sheer number of visitors (in the hundreds of thousands) suggest there is something mysteriously attractive about an exhibition of works by very young, completely unknown and even untrained artists. Certainly the works are at the very least refreshing - unjaded, free from commercial pressures and created by artists who, not so long ago, were children.

Perhaps that is the attraction. Somewhere in the much maligned years between 12 and 17, from boisterous pups have emerged intellects capable of distilling, seeing expansively, critiquing, questioning and creating. They confront and beguile, these almost-adults, who shock cleverly, speak out subtly and impress unconsciously.

And while the messages hidden within these works (for teenagers always code messages in their artworks - that's part of their charm) are not always hopeful and not always sophisticated, their power lies in boldness, passionate expression and freshness of voice - at odds with the new century's urban-chic, of language gone stale, of muted shades of beige.

Steve Peters, The Art Gallery of New South Wales' head storeman critiques the exhibition perfectly: “I think a lot of art teachers have got a lot to answer for.”

Robert Stevenson, Citysearch