NEAR ENOUGH (IS GOOD ENOUGH) II explores Australian photographer Frank Hurley’s documentation of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914–1917), led by Ernest Shackleton, which aimed to cross the Antarctic continent. After their ship, Endurance, was crushed by pack ice and sank, the expedition turned into a remarkable tale of survival.
This exhibition critiques the colonial and patriarchal ambitions of the expedition, as well as its environmental consequences. Drawing on Hurley’s photographs—many of which are held in the State Library of New South Wales—it reflects on how these images, originally produced using the early Paget colour process, now display non-indexical and unintentionally altered hues. These unexpected colourations serve as a point of departure for experimentation with painting techniques, new pigments, and alternative substrates.
