A Creepy ol' Place

Locals are a little tired of hearing about Adelaide’s rep. as the “serial-killer capital of the world” and Andrew Cowen’s exhibition, Adelaide 1966 - 1999 very much rubs salt into these wounds. The exhibition, which was shown at the hyper-cool Monster Children Gallery in Sydney, demonstrates the morbid curiosity interstaters have for SA’s gruesome past.

Adelaide 1966 – 1999 is a timeline-based photographic expose of the places synonymous with serial-murder cases in South Australia. At first the theme seems a bit obvious for an exhibition but Cowen’s images capture a surreal banality that would frighten even the burliest Sou-Aussie.

Drab, quiet streets and solitary houses painted pale yellow by the street lights. A stationary Ferris wheel and lonely gazebo sit silently beneath a purple sky. There is an inherent distance and isolation in the images, reminiscent of Greg McLean’s vision in Wolf Creek, that at once stirs feelings of pity for the lives that were affected by these tragedies as well as fear for ourselves eeking out an existence here.

There was a tendency in the Merge office to get a bit steamed about this Cowen character jumping ship and airing our “dirty laundry.” It’s not exactly breaking new ground but it did change our opinions somewhat to learn that the photographer went to school with Richard Kelvin, whom was the last victim in the “Family” case of murders.

It’s frustrating to have Adelaide continually linked with these gruesome cases of murder but unfortunately, this will continue as long as people keep getting murdered here. Cowen’s work simply gives the viewer an opportunity to stare down into this dark history of ours and understand that the world we live in isn’t ever going to be safe.