Exhibitions

What’s the difference between fact and fiction? Can you spot the difference?

Spot the Difference invites artists from across Western Sydney and Australia to explore the myth of the elusive panther: its divergent origins, its symbolic identity, and its ongoing relevance for the community.

It’s a mythology that is both closely connected to local storytelling and imagination, yet also resonates widely, with stories of cryptids, escapes circus animals, and World War II mascots roaming wild in cities and towns across the country. It’s these stories that continually reveal how human relations to nature are informed by both our histories and our experiences – of colonisation, adaptation, resilience, and visibility.

In Penrith, the symbol of the panther has assumed even greater significance with the successes of the Penrith Panthers Football Club, and the ubiquity of the icon throughout the visual landscape. The panther signals a resurgence in local pride and represents the kind of excellence that remains synonymous with Penrith through community, culture, and sport.

Giving credence to the myth, the artists in this exhibition suspend disbelief to create works of inquisition, speculation, contemplation, and wonder. Working across painting, photography, sculpture and design, these artists ponder the origins of the myth, as well as its potential as a story that embodies and represents the future of our area.

Spot the Difference offers a lens to see the myth of the panther as a living, breathing phenomenon. One that transcends fact or fiction, real or fake, and instead revels in a space of what could be. A realm where the panther is both elusive and enduring. Hiding in plain sight.