Johannes (Johnny) Geppert is a Surry Hills-based artist. His studio-gallery on Crown Street, Collage Atelier, is open for exhibitions as well as weekly workshops in drawing, painting and collage. Framed and canvas artworks are available to purchase. In this second of three articles, Johnny talks about status anxiety and the power of art to create living environments.
Society gives you visual information, and what you hear is like, “I’ve got to have this – I’ve got to have this sort of flat for security, this sort of money, that job. And look at these guys, they went on this holiday, to this great place.” You either want to top that or you feel sort of like you’re missing out.
When you have anything creative in your life, you become passionate about it. And that’s what I want to say again – all that anxiety falls away and you see how little weight it has.
And this is what I want to do with this space, and I want to get the people to come in – young, old, from different walks of life – and try out art, photography and collaging … so they basically have an anchor, so they can find an anchor as they go through life … and show people how powerful it is.
People might think, “Oh, I’ve got to go to IKEA and I’ve got to get a coffee table or something for my art.” All these rules they’ve got to follow, and it’s like, no, you might have a suitcase, an old suitcase with real character, that is actually the perfect way to show your artworks.
You create your living environment. A lot of anxiety, especially for young people, is around having certain things, buying certain things at certain money stages in their lives … to be able to feel validated in the world or accepted or get the pat on the back, saying, “You’re all right, you’ve got it covered, you’re a man now, you’re successful”, whatever that means.
I want young people to come in here and I go, “Look at this! I found that on the street and then I’ve sanded down the table, I’ve made it myself as well, you know. I just sanded down some boards, I looked for some dry wood …”
And then the young kids can look at this and go, “Wow, I don’t need much money. It’s not that bad that my mum doesn’t have any money (because these other kids, they got a car from their mum, they got the cool interiors) …”
And I want to tell people, “Look at this! You too can learn how to build your own stuff and create your own things … learn a skill and then also the philosophy you learn through art, through immersing yourself in art.”
I think the space itself is a little like a collage or installation. Now, you can see [looking around the studio], it’s just starting to get there … but eventually the screens there and there will feature more branches, more fabrics on the walls, different materials … and all my painting equipment will come to the front as well. So it really feels like you’re in a larger studio, you get inspired.
I’m a bit of a collector, an archaeologist. I collect things and put them all together.
Collage Atelier, 558 Crown Street, Surry Hills
Thu-Fri 4-9pm; Sat-Sun 4-7pm
www.collageatelier.com
DM @collage_atelier
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Read ‘I just want to learn this trick’ – an interview with Johannes Geppert (#1)
Read ‘Creativity is in us’ – an interview with Johannes Geppert (#3)
