The UQ campus, not a cloud in the sky, the sun was blazing hotter than ever, nevertheless it was a relaxing and peaceful setting on a Saturday morning. The automated glass doors opened with a glazed set of eyes gazing back at me, on entrance the burst of cool, air-conditioned air surrounded me, at first glance all you could see was words after words, portrayed in different mediums and forms, but with a closer look, the theme and arrangement of each art piece could be seen quite clearly. Once the brief of the exhibition was read, it was quick to tell that the depth and thought put into the exhibition, was clearly a refined, considerately planned and polished exhibition, pieced together  by the curator. The title of the exhibition 'Born to Concrete' showed that the exhibition was solely dedicated to concrete poetry. Also known as visual poetry, which endeavours to explore the relationship between visual art and language. 

Safety Aesthetic First / Aleks Danko 1971

Artists Think No. 2 / Ian Brun 1993

Alan Riddel

Although for me personally, having a background of journalism increased the experience of the exhibition, I believe that everyone can take something out of it. This extraction however could range from the poetic flow of the writing itself to the contextual meaning of the visual aesthetic. The majority of the artists were Australian in which they produced their work around the 60's and 70's but with a few new added acquisitions. the 60's and 70's was when the concrete Poetry movement in Australia started to flourish, some would say a progression of the Fluxus movement, a movement intertwined with DaDa, surrealism and cubism, originating from New York. 

austracism / Vernon Ah Kee 2003

Impounded Illusion / Sweeney Reed 1976

The exhibition flowed smoothly, with every turn of a coroner something new and different would arise, but still keeping to and relating to the theme of 'concrete poetry'. The piece that stood out the most was Sweeney Reed's 'Impounded Illusion', the big bold lettering cast from industrialised steel creates a puzzle at first glance, but after a second read through, your brain quickly pieces together the cut off letters, to spell 'HORIZON'. the curator Max Delany explains it as 'A highly refined and perfectionist practice emerged, as had been the case throughout his publishing initiatives, at once sculptural, textual and graphic in form'. Both the compositional cut off of the letters and the word itself compliment the one worded poem, in which Reed's aim was to 'capture the horizon'

All in all i strongly recommend this exhibition as there is something to learn for everyone, it exhibits great artworks that have a deeper meaning than what meets the eye, using the art of poetry and textual language to accompany that of the visual arts. It also benefits and preserves Australias collection of art from the 'concrete poem' movement of the 60's with additional acquisitions from upcoming new artists. These additions sustain and bring new life to the experimental movement that was first curated into the exhibition initially at the Heide Museum of modern art in 2011.

- Lynda Whitley