For their exhibition Pink Panther Station Thom Roberts and Simon Wheeldon have turned The Cube into a construction site.

Thom Roberts sees the world through a kaleidoscopic lens. People, transport and infrastructure systems are interpreted as colourful multiples. Here you can see Thom's experimentations with new materials and ideas, building an installation of imagined public space inspired by Pink Panther Town, what Thom calls Mosman. We can see the train station that Thom wishes we had here in Pink Panther Town. Simon Wheeldon captures this process, contributing a video component to the installation that documents Thom's way of moving through and interacting with cities.

“I like working with Simon, I call him Popeye.” said Thom. “It's good to work with Popeye because he helps me to make buildings out of wood. Popeye listens to my ideas and helps make my trains move…I like to make my trains move. Popeye is like an architect because he makes my cities and buildings and my trains come to life. He brings me lots of shapes and I like to put them together in ‘Thoms Way’.”

“From my point of view, something special happens when working with Thom, as we both jolt each other outside of our respective comfort zones." said Simon.

Thom Roberts is an artist who works across painting, drawing, installation, animation and performance. Thom is a two-time Archibald Finalist whose work has featured in 20/20 Shared Visions: 40 Years of Collecting Australian Art (2020), The National 2019, Salon des Refusés (2018), Cementa (2017), and The Big Anxiety Festival (2017).

Represented and supported by Studio A, a social enterprise that paves professional pathways for artists with intellectual disability, Thom is provided studio space, mentorship and the tools needed to be a successful and renowned visual artist.
Simon Wheeldon is an artist who works in drawing, painting, audio and video, with an interest in using documentary footage and archival photographs as source material. His artwork focuses on the nature of traditional art making and its intersection with established and emerging technology.

Curated by Kelly McDonald 

image caption: Thom Roberts, The Architect, 2021. photo and copyright: Chistopher Haysom.