Artist Pam Wragg Discusses Exhibition with Friends
31 October 2004
Well-known artist Pam Wragg will be in Shepparton this Wednesday to discuss her stunning new exhibition featuring eleven bronze sculptures, currently on display at the Shepparton Art Gallery.
Shepparton Art Gallery Director, Ms Leanne Willis said the exhibition, “New Bronzes” displays Pam’s lovely meditative works that, while small, are full of life and energy.
“Pam makes her sculptures from ceramic and then creates the moulds herself before taking them to the foundry to be cast. There are not a lot of artists working in bronze these days due to the prohibitive cost so this exhibition is an opportunity to see an unusual artistic medium,” Ms Willis said.
The bronzes on display in the exhibition can be divided into two groups. The first group is a series of self contained pieces whose dynamic configuration of form creates a series of complex relationships. The second group contains simple upright forms that appear to confront one another.
“Pam Wragg has described the atmosphere of the second group of pieces as quiet place, an inner space, enclosed yet open”.
“The bronze creates hard straight and curved edges for the forms expressing monumentality suggestive of scale far greater than their present state.”
The exhibition will run in the Crawford Stewart Gallery until 21st November 2004 and Pam will discuss the pieces at the Friends of the Shepparton Art Gallery Society coffee morning on Wednesday 3rd November from 10.00 am.
For more information, please contact Leanne Willis on 5832 9861.
Admission to Shepparton Art Gallery is free and it is open seven days a week from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm. The gallery is located in the Eastbank Centre,
70 Welsford Street, Shepparton, phone 5832 9861.
Card Game Comedy a Metaphor for Life
26 October 2004
An innocent card game becomes a metaphor for life for the two central characters of ‘The Gin Game’, coming to WestSide this Friday and Saturday.
Written by playwright DL Coburn, ‘The Gin Game’ is a scathingly funny battle of wits between two older people, played by well-known Australian actors Julia Blake and Terry Norris, whose lives have gone from ordinary to absolute misery.
The Council’s Manager of Performing Arts and Conventions, Mr Rob Robson, said the play is set in a nursing home where the two characters, Weller and Fonsia, appear to have been abandoned by their families.
“They never receive visitors and so strike up an unlikely friendship with each other,” Mr Robson said.
“Weller convinces Fonsia to join him in a game of gin rummy. After he teaches her the rules, she proceeds to win every game, frustrating and enraging him.”
“With each win, it becomes apparent that the card game is like their lives – Fonsia is lucky in cards, but not lucky in love, and Weller has lived with cards stacked against him.”
“It presents a humorous and heartfelt look at family relationships, friendships, and the issues of loneliness and growing old in a society in which age is not respected.”
‘The Gin Game’ will be presented by HIT Productions and Riverlinks at 8.00 pm on Friday 29th October and Saturday 30th October, at the WestSide Performing Arts Centre.
For more information or to book tickets, please contact the Riverlinks Box Office on 5832 9511, or visit the Box Office at the Eastbank Centre, 70 Welsford Street, Shepparton.
Monologues By Dogs Come to Westside
24 October 2004
Have you ever wondered what your dog is thinking? Then ‘The Dog Logs’ is the show for you.
‘The Dog Logs’ will be presented by Riverlinks and Marguerite Pepper Productions at WestSide Performing Arts Centre next week.
Written by Christopher Johnson, the play is made up of ten monologues, performed by ‘dogs’, brought vividly to life by three actors and a live musician.
The Council’s Manager of Performing Arts and Conventions, Mr Rob Robson, said the show was a hilarious look at life as a dog, and ultimately, what it means to be human.
“Each monologue introduces the audience to a new type of dog so different from one another that they could almost be human,” Mr Robson said.
“From a slow greyhound who will try anything to catch that cheeky rabbit, to a brave police dog, an Uluru based dingo of few words, an aggressive Rottweiler up to no good and a poor old Labrador who is going blind, the play features a cast of characters audiences will relate to and love.”
‘The Dog Logs’ explores a number of themes common to both humans and dogs, including violence, love, sex, revenge and mateship.
“The play stars Christopher Johnson, David Richie and Glen Woolgar as the lively and emotionally engaging dog characters, and features music from Murray Jackson.”
‘The Dog Logs’ will be presented at 8.00 pm on Wednesday 27th October, at the WestSide Performing Arts Centre.
For more information or to book tickets, please contact the Riverlinks Box Office on 5832 9511, or visit the Box Office at the Eastbank Centre, 70 Welsford Street, Shepparton.
String Quartet Encore to Delight Audiences
19 October 2004
Riverlinks is pleased to welcome the Flinders Quartet back to Eastbank for an encore afternoon concert this Sunday.
The Council’s Manager of Performing Arts and Conventions, Mr Rob Robson, said the string quartet had thrilled audiences with their performance at the centre in 2003.
“Flinders Quartet is a young and vivacious group with a solid international reputation, and it is wonderful to have them back this year,” Mr Robson said.
“Their outstanding talent, varied repertoire and bright personalities have won them success in many competitions in Australia and abroad.”
The program for the afternoon includes performances of Ross Edwards ‘White Cockatoo Spirit Dance’, Beethoven’s Op. 59 No. 2, and Brahms Clarinet Quintet, featuring soloist David Thomas.
“This wonderful group of musicians brings a fresh and very vibrant approach to the world of ‘string quartet’ music,” Mr Robson added.
Flinders Quartet will perform at the Eastbank Centre at 2.00 pm on
Sunday 24th October.
For bookings or more information, please contact the Riverlinks Box Office on 5832 9511. The Box Office is open from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm on weekdays and 10.00 am to 4.00 pm on weekends.
Contemporary Performance Art Comes to Shepparton Art Gallery
12 October 2004
A sombre and moving exhibition, ‘Ash’, by well known contemporary artist Jill Orr, has opened at the Shepparton Art Gallery.
Jill Orr will present a once-off contemporary performance art piece to complement her exhibition at the gallery on Saturday 16th October.
Shepparton Art Gallery Director, Ms Leanne Willis, said this was a rare opportunity to see the work of a well established and highly regarded contemporary artist in a regional setting.
“The performance component of ‘Ash’ is a quiet contemplative and introspective piece, designed to invoke a philosophical response from the audience,” Ms Willis said.
“We have not had a performance art piece in Shepparton for a long time. This is a wonderful opportunity for people in our area to experience the type of artwork that is readily available in metropolitan areas.”
“Visitors will be very moved by this exhibition. The paintings have been lit in semi darkness at the request of the artist to further add to the mystic of the works on display”.
“Jill Orr, one of Australia’s leading performance artists, has been producing performance events centred on her own body and notions of the ‘self’, with an attitude towards current politics and social ethics, since the mid 1970s, and ‘Ash’ is no exception.”
“‘Ash’ transforms Orr’s body into a metaphor for the land. Covered in chalky ash, she lies on a coffin-like slab of old wood.”
Jill Orr’s performance of ‘Ash’ will take place from 6.30 to 7.30 pm on Saturday 16th October and the exhibition will run in the gallery until Saturday 21st November.
For more information, please contact Leanne Willis on 5832 9861.
Admission to Shepparton Art Gallery is free and it is open seven days a week from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm. The gallery is located in the Eastbank Centre, 70 Welsford Street, phone 5832 9861.
Wanganui Park Secondary College VCE Art on Display
12 October 2004
VCE students from Shepparton’s Wanganui Park Secondary College will display examples of their work at an exhibition that officially opens at the Shepparton Art Gallery this Friday.
The school’s VCE Studio Arts students will feature their artwork in the Community Gallery in a new exhibition which will be opened by well known artist Deborah Halpern at 6.30 pm on Friday 15th October.
Shepparton Art Gallery Director, Ms Leanne Willis, said the exhibition of works by Wanganui Park Secondary students was part of the gallery’s commitment to display local works by members of the community.
“It is inspiring to view the high standard of work on display and read each artwork’s text panel, which give a fascinating insight into the thoughts of our young local artists,” Ms Willis said.
Wanganui Park Secondary College VCE artwork will be on display in the Community Gallery until Tuesday 2nd November.
For more information, please contact the Shepparton Art Gallery Director,
Leanne Willis, on 5832 9861.
Admission to Shepparton Art Gallery is free and it is open seven days a week from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm. The gallery is located in the Eastbank Centre,
70 Welsford Street, Shepparton, phone 5832 9861.