Hell is full of good meanings but heaven is full of good works

30.1.25 - 28.2.25
Opening: 30 January | Live performance: 22 February
Blindside Gallery

Curated by Kyle McIntyre


‬Hell is full of good meanings but heaven is full of good works‬‭ is an alternate proverb to‬‭ The road to hell is paved with good‬ intentions‬‭, both referencing the necessity for not only having or speaking positive intentions but enacting them. This exhibition is‬ a continuation of the presentation‬‭ The road to hell is paved with good intentions,‬‭ a group exhibition shown at Carpark Gallery,‬ Magandjin/Brisbane in August of 2024. While the original exhibition highlighted more the inevitability of the promise of eternal‬ damnation despite the best of intentions,‬‭ Hell is full of good meanings but heaven is full of good works‬‭ rather aims to discover‬ and aim towards a sense of freedom and‬‭ utopia‬‭ outside of the restrictions of a prevalent narrative, found through the perseverance‬ and ingenuity of f*gs (...and associates).‬

There are two key iterative works in this exhibition by‬‭ Dean Ansell‬‭ and‬‭ Tiana Jefferies.‬‭ These works create a thread that‬
connects the varying localities of thinking, making, and showing.‬‭ Eric Della Bosca, Stefa Panoschi, and Amy-Jean Mitchell‬‭ further‬ the investigations into‬‭ queer‬‭ extensions of yearning, empathy, desperation for connection, and divinity through creating‬ immersive installations, sculptures, and paintings - allowing a suspension into a‬‭ heaven that is full of good works‬‭ .‬

Artist Dean Ansell will be engaging in performance, Rubu Naka (II), that activates their work utilising unique musical instruments, ritual embodied practice, and traditional songs and spells passed down from their family in Papua Niugini. In its previous showing as a platform, Ansell performed atop the work, symbolically connecting it to a trembling ground. This was recorded and played for the remainder of the exhibition, vibrating the soil and imprinting patterns visible on the panels in this current iteration. This original recording has been playing throughout the current exhibition leading up to Ansell’s second awakening of the work. The next performance will again introduce a new soundscape which will continue to play for the remainder of the exhibition at Blindside Gallery. 

Words by Kyle McIntyre.
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Installation: Kyle McIntyre
Audio technician: Connor Andree-Evarts
Special thanks: Kyle McIntyre, Blindside Staff & Volunteers