Cultural Development in Action seminar
5 November 2009
The Shepparton Art Gallery is holding a community seminar on Thursday 12 November to share the results of an arts and culture report.
The report will be used to develop an Arts and Cultural Strategy and Public Arts Policy for Greater Shepparton.
Greater Shepparton City Council's Shepparton Art Gallery Director Kirsten Paisley said the report had been developed following extensive consultation with the community.
"During 2008, 200 people involved with the arts locally participated in a research project designed to inform the future of cultural planning in Greater Shepparton," Ms Paisley said.
"The seminar will outline the results of the report, as well as detail the next steps in the process of developing the strategy.
"I encourage anyone with an interest in arts and culture to attend the seminar."
Gallery Director Kirsten Paisley, Community Artist Angie Russi and Greater Shepparton City Council's General Manager Community Development Ian Martin will all present at the seminar.
Shepparton Art Gallery Education Officer, Angie Russi will deliver a talk on Community Cultural Development using examples from her own community art practice. Angie will also showcase a wide number of projects that have occurred in the Greater Shepparton.
The seminar will be held at the Shepparton Art Gallery on Thursday 12 November from 10.00am til 11.30am.
Bookings are essential and can be made by contacting the gallery on (03) 5832 9861.
The report can be downloaded from the Shepparton Art Gallery's website www.sheppartonartgallery.com.au.
– Released 6 November
Arts & Culture Report Now Available
11 October 2009
On Thursday 12th November at 10.00am at the Shepparton Art Gallery, Kirsten Paisley will present the outcomes of the Arts & Culture Report. Download your copy of the report here. Following this Angie Russi will present on community arts development.
During 2008 two hundred people involved with the arts locally participated in a research project designed to inform the future of Cultural Planning in Greater Shepparton. Kirsten Paisley will be detailing the outcomes of the resulting report which was presented to the Council in August. The Arts & Culture Report is downloadable from the Council & Gallery’s websites. Ian Martin will outline the next steps to be taken in developing the Council Arts & Cultural Strategy.
Artist and Educator Angie Russi has recently completed post graduate qualifications in Cultural Development. Angie will give a presentation on what community development arts practise can do for individuals and communities using examples from her own practise. Angie will showcase a wide number of projects that have occurred in the Greater Shepparton region.
New Acquisitions
20 July 2009
The Shepparton Art Gallery is proud to recently accept a number of artworks into the collection.
Dr Julie Bartholomew
Qing Armani Series, 2009
Gloria Fletcher Thanakupi
Totem Pole, n.d
Gloria Fletcher Thanakupi
Kangaroo Mural, n.d
Gloria Fletcher Thanakupi
Turtle Platter, n.d
Arts and cultural strategy
1 October 2008
Greater Shepparton City Council has started work on its first comprehensive arts and cultural strategy which is designed to improve arts and culture outcomes for the municipality.
The Arts and Cultural Strategy is about bringing together all the different aspects of Council's work in this area and joining with other stakeholders in the community. The strategy will incorporate ideas that enable the transference of culture and inter-generational learning (heritage), the celebration of diversity, the nurturing of talent, and provide linkages with the business sector.
Council's Shepparton Art Gallery Director Kirsten Paisley said arts and culture is a very important part of the community and has an influence on the growth of the city and the impression it has on people.
"It is necessary to have a plan which sets out the strategic direction for the arts and cultural aspect of the municipality so Council can meet its goals for the future," Ms Paisley said.
"Greater Shepparton hosts many festivals, exhibitions and productions which attract a large number of people to the town, contributing to economic growth and prosperity.
"A vibrant cultural city also contributes to our sense of wellbeing, develops pride in our heritage and can assist people to understand different cultural practices.
"A large percentage of the population is interested in culture in some way; whether as visitors to the library, members of arts groups, volunteers at historical societies, students of music, or even if they listen to the radio, cultural activity is all around us.
"In order to determine how to best plan for arts and culture in Greater Shepparton, we want to first find out what cultural activities occur here, what organisations and individuals are contributing to the cultural life of the city and what their needs are for the future.
"We are also interested to know who isn't participating in cultural activity and why that might be the case.
"We invite anyone who has an interest in the cultural life of the region, either as a partron, arts worker, volunteer or participant, to contribute their views about how we can build a vibrant and lively city, characterised by its cultural vitality.
"There is an online survey people can fill out which aims to find out who is participating in cultural activity and what their ideas and needs are for the future. Representatives from key stakeholder groups will also be invited to be interviewed about their organisation. Alternatively people can make written submissions."
Once the survey results and submissions have been collated, a draft strategy will be developed, presented to Council and made available for public comment.
The survey is available online at www.surveymonkey.com/sheppartonartssurvey or follow the link from the Council website www.greatershepparton.com.au.
Hard copy surveys can be obtained from the Eastbank Centre and returned to Locked Bag 1000, Shepparton VIC 3632 by 5.00pm Saturday 22 November.
More information on the strategy is available on the Council's website www.greatershepparton.com.au.
– Released 2 October
Education Week at the gallery
14 May 2008
Rain, Hail or Shine will open at the Eastbank Foyer as part of Education Week celebrations on Monday 19 May at 11.00am.
Acting Gallery Director Julie Adams said the exhibition highlights the art work of primary school children from rural schools in Greater Shepparton.
"The opening will feature a musical performance by students from Katunga, Katunga South, Currawa and Congupna," Ms Adams said.
"Free workshops to complement the Strange Fruit exhibition currently on display will also be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and tours of the gallery can also be arranged."
Participating rural primary schools include; Invergordon, Tallygaroopna, Currawa, Dookie, Waaia, Katandra West, Wunghnu, Congupna, Katunga South, Zeerust, Katamatite, Katunga, Tongala, Katunga South, Kialla, Merrigum, Dhurringile, Lemnos, Ardmona, Girgarre, Stanhope, Harston, Mooroopna North, Undera, Lancaster, Colbinabbin, Elmore, Drummartin.
Rain, Hail or Shine will feature at Eastbank until 6 July 2008.
For more information contact the gallery on (03) 5832 9861.
– Released 15 May
Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramic Award winners announced
11 March 2008
The winners of the 2008 Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramic Award were announced on Friday 7 March.
Belgian ceramicist Annette DeFoort was the overall winner of the Sidney Myer Fund Premier Award with the work Dakis and received a prize of $15,000.
Winners of the other prizes were:
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY AWARD OF MERIT: $3,000
Angela Valamanesh, Animal, vegetable, mineral (Australia)
FRIENDS OF THE SHEPPARTON ART GALLERY SOCIETY AWARD OF MERIT: $3,500
Ian Paul Rylatt, Concerto for Clayrinet (United Kingdom)
POYNTZPASS PIONEERS AWARD OF MERIT: $2,500
Merran Esson, Towong Tank (Australia)
Fifty two ceramic pieces from 20 different countries are on display at the Shepparton Art Gallery as part of the Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramics Award in association with La Trobe University.
The 2008 award received 186 entries and features a wide selection of contemporary international ceramics from countries including Japan, Germany, Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Switzerland, Turkey, France, Sweden and Singapore.
The exhibition will be on display at the Shepparton Art Gallery until Sunday 27 April 2008.
Images of works are available on request.
– Released 12 March
Works donated to the gallery
5 February 2008
The Shepparton Art Gallery has received two new artworks that will be on display as part of the Indigenous Ceramic Art Award exhibition.
Gloria Fletcher Thanakupi’s three terracotta platters titled Trunding Creek, Fishermen and Negwar the Bandicoot have been generously gifted to the gallery by The Sir Andrew and Lady Fairley Foundation, founding sponsors of the award.
Shepparton Art Gallery Director Kirsten Paisley said Gloria Fletcher Thanakupi is acknowledged as one of Australia’s leading ceramicists.
“In the works Gloria Fletcher Thanakupi used bauxite mined in areas surrounding Weipa, to express an intricate relationship with the land on Cape York, its creatures and waters, “ Ms Paisley said.
“I am still designing for the story places on Thaynakwith land, my land that is Andoom, Bauchat, Albatross Bay- land and rivers, and wells and animals we have and who they were for each tribe, “ Gloria Fletcher Thanakupi said.
“After mining, the red slurry spreads in big wet patches and then in the sun it cracks in patterns across the surface – I see the cracked bauxite lift up in patterns like these pots or platters- cracked earth, broken stories or journeys I call them sometimes. But the stories are always there in my land, on top and underneath Thaynakwith land. And that will never be forgotten.”
Canberra based artist Danie Mellor has also gifted his major work, In dreams the hearts of ranges 2007.
Ms Paisley said this work engages with Indigenous and western perspectives of culture and history, and examines the way in which they interact.
“This art centres on the rainforest area around Cairns, which is Danie Mellor’s family’s home and holds spiritual and cultural significance for him,” Ms Paisley said.
Danie Mellor explained that the work In dreams the hearts of ranges touches on and includes reference to the importance of Aboriginal identity and national (Australian) identity.
“The display of shields and boomerangs references a number of things; museological displays, new materials and processes that speak of country. Mapping is used to delineate actual journeys and walks I have experienced in the Atherton Tablelands area, from which my Mother’s family are descended. The shields echo the shape and size of traditional rainforest shields, and are cast from reclaimed steel shipping trunks, symbolising place, journeys, travelling, displacement… one’s heart recalls. The boomerangs are big… the boomerang looms large in our consciousness. It is one of the most unique and important tools and survival depended on its skilful use. It is also a highly commodified object – exported, transported, translated and interpreted. In Dreams the Hearts of Ranges encompasses these things, and lays out a new map – a map of the imagination, of land and culture.”
The Indigenous Ceramic Art Award exhibition will be open until Sunday 24 February.
For more information contact the Shepparton Art Gallery on (03) 5832 9861.
– Released 6 February
Indigenous Ceramic Art Award Winners
17 December 2007
Janet Fieldhouse has won the inaugural Indigenous Ceramic Art Award, announced on Friday 14 December 2007 at the Shepparton Art Gallery.
Her winning work, Woven Armbands was described by judges as a delicate and beautiful translation of a "traditional woven form into another medium which was inspirational, accomplished and inventive. The work operated as an installation of unexpected delicacy and precision"
Second prize was awarded to Irene Mbitjana Entata for Mission Days – Rubbing Salt. The judges appreciated the compact, rounded form of the hand built terracotta pot and its integrated tightly-worked surface images of Aranda women rubbing salt.
Third prize was awarded to Carol Anilyuru Williams for Wanampi. The judges were taken by the vessel's commanding presence and scale. The terracotta and ivory palette were well combined to produce a work of cultural and aesthetic power.
The winner of the SPCA Factory Sales Victorian Prize is Vera Cooper (Yorta Yorta) for her work "My mother's place by the river."
The ICAA exhibition opened on Friday 14 December and is open until Sunday 24 February 2008.
– Released 18 December
A Step Back in Time
23 October 2007
The Friends of the Shepparton Art Gallery are holding an open day on Sunday 28 October at the “Clearview” Homestead in Undera.
There will be activities for the entire family including an art exhibition, craft, live music and lots more entertainment.
The “Clearview” Homestead is surrounded by an astonishing garden, buildings and artefacts from past eras.
The collection is unrivalled anywhere in rural Australia.
Activities commence at 11.00am.
Entry is $5.00 per adult or $12.00 per family.
For more information or to make a booking, contact Carmel on (03) 5822 1553, or John on (03) 5823 5504.
– Released 24 October
Shepparton Art Gallery Open Day
23 October 2007
On Sunday 28 October, Shepparton Art Gallery will unite with 36 other public galleries across the state to offer Victorians free fun, adventure and inspiration during the second annual Get into Art! open day.
Shepparton Art Gallery will provide free entry and a diverse range of special programs on what promises to be a day to remember.
Highlights of Get into Art! day at Shepparton Art Gallery include:
* ‘HYPE’ Youth Arts – My-space virtual gallery launch
* Launch of the HYPE Billboard, supported by Jeff Young Shoes
* Lunchtime concert featuring young local musicians
* Visual art demonstrations by young local artists showcasing a variety of mediums and culturally specific art forms
* Launch of X Magazine; the brainchild of a group of young locals. X aims to provide an independent media for youth in rural areas.
Shepparton Art Gallery Director Kirsten Paisley said that the launch of the ‘HYPE’ Billboard is one highlight of the day.
“The HYPE Youth Arts program is an online gallery and public billboard for artists aged between 15 and 30.”
“HYPE Space will allow young people to post art works on the web. Every three months a featured artist will have their artwork reproduced on a billboard and exhibited in the Shepparton CBD,” Ms Paisley said.
For more information contact the Shepparton Art Gallery on (03) 5832 9861.
– Released 24 October
Singing Competition
18 October 2007
The Greater Shepparton City Council is holding a singing competition for people aged between eight and 18.
Entrants are required to perform two verses of the Australian National Anthem and submit a demo on cd or tape.
The winner will be invited to perform at the Australia Day Ceremony on 26 January 2008 and will be entered in a Melbourne based singing competition.
The winner will also receive a prize package to the value of $100.00 from Leading Edge Music and the Riverlinks Box Office.
Entries should be submitted at the Riverlinks Box Office or sent to Locked Bag 1000, Shepparton VIC 3630.
The competition closes Friday 30 November 2007.
For more information contact Tricia Sargant on 0409 855 434.
– Released 19 October
Sewing all the Way to Here
29 August 2007
Sewing all the Way to Here is the outcome of the Afghani Embroidery Project organised by the Shepparton Art Gallery, and funded by the Australia Council for the Arts.
This exhibition celebrates Shepparton’s growing Afghani community, entwining their craft practices with other local artists’ work to produce a site specific art work with in the Community Gallery.
Over 40 local Afghani and Australian women have worked together for the past year under the direction of professional artist Kate Durham, to produce this extraordinary exhibition.
Sewing all the Way to Here demonstrates a wide variety of textile skills and approaches to materials, marrying traditional Afghani embroidery with experimental textiles. Embroidery techniques are practiced widely in Afghanistan, both in making clothes and decorating domestic spaces.
Gallery Director Kirsten Paisley said the social impact of this project is of equal importance to the artwork.
“The women have found commonalities in thread that span their cultural backgrounds and it has provided an opportunity for Afghani women to socialise and meet new friends.”
”It has helped local women understand something about the emerging Afghani community,“ Ms Paisley said.
The group hopes to work together and explore commercial applications for their craft.
The group will celebrate the exhibition with family and friends on Saturday 1 September at 2.00pm.
The exhibition is open to the public from 31 August to 7 October 2007.
For further information contact the Shepparton Art Gallery on 5832 9861.
– Released 30 August
Transitional Bodies
17 April 2007
Opening at the Shepparton Art Gallery on Friday 20 April is Julie Bartholomew’s Transitional Bodies.
The exhibition includes a major installation work that was acquired by the gallery with the assistance of the Arts Victoria Regional Galleries Collection Fund.
Acting Director Kirsten Lacy says that this work will be exhibited in its entirety for the first time in Shepparton.
“The exhibition consists of four life-size porcelain figures and digital projection. The figures are cast from actual women, and constructed from doll-like parts that fit together,” says Ms Lacy.
“The women are sitting down with closed eyes and a photo-media work is projected onto their white bodies. This projection is a composite of advertising images and actual women interviewed and photographed by the artist during her Australia Council Residency in Tokyo during 2003/2004.”
As suggested in the title of Julie Bartholomew’s exhibition, reference is made to bodies that are ‘in transit’ and between destination points. Also inferred is a state of transition occurring on and around the female body as it is fashioned, accessorised, modified and represented.
“These physical changes also relate to a transition in perception and understanding about how the body operates as a site on which cultural ideas of beauty, control and identity are played out.”
“The exhibition includes many other sculptural works that draw inspiration from high end fashion accessories, moulded with the allure of a department store cosmetic counter.”
The exhibition is accompanied by an attractive full color catalogue published by the Shepparton Art Gallery.
The artist will be travelling to Shepparton to hold a one off workshop on Saturday 21 April in casting from the body. This is a wonderful opportunity for VCE students, teachers and practicing artists to learn from a contemporary artist at the forefront of her field.
The exhibition is open from Friday 20 April to Sunday 27 May.
For more information on the exhibition or to book for the workshop contact the Shepparton Art Gallery on 5832 9861.
– Released 17 April
FE Cox: An Enigmatic Potter
4 January 2007
On display at the Shepparton Art Gallery is a stunning exhibition which has been curated by Greg Hill called, “FE Cox – An Enigmatic Potter (1871-1955).”
The exhibition shows the work of FE Cox (Frederick Ernest Cox) whose work was produced under the trade name of Jolliff, his mother’s maiden name.
Cox’s manufacturing techniques of hand building and the use of stoneware firing aligned with his distinctive designs leads to a very memorable range of pottery.
The exhibition presents a body of new research on this extraordinary potter whose influence on our early art potters is only now coming to light.
He was a talented water colourist, starting as early as 1912 and taking this medium far beyond amateur competence.
An aspect of Cox that is particularly fascinating was that he came to pottery aged sixty, which meant he was nearing retirement and probably looking for new artistic direction.
A comprehensive catalogue accompanies the exhibition and it is available for purchase from the gallery for $12.00.
The exhibition will continue until Sunday 21 January.
For more information, contact the Shepparton Art Gallery on (03) 5832 9861. The Art Gallery is located at the Eastbank Centre, Welsford Street Shepparton.
– Released 4 January
Recycled Expressions 3 Opening Soon
8 November 2006
Opening at the Shepparton Art Gallery on 24 November is Recycled Expressions 3, a group exhibition by artists from the GV Centre’s Disability Services.
The exhibition will be officially launched by Jeanette Powell MP and Tess Noonan Egan.
Under the creative direction of Art Studio Coordinator Julia Thomas, participants have produced a range of fantastic artworks including drawings, paintings, mosaics, sculptures, pottery, and 3D wall hangings.
Gallery Director Leanne Willis says the exhibition title was chosen because all the art works have been created utilising all or part recycled materials.
“The artists have worked consistently, exhibiting in the foyer of the Eastbank Centre for the past two years in preparedness for this exhibition,” says Ms Willis.
“This exhibition is a credit to the GV Centre’s Art Studio whose commitment fosters talented artists to produce works of art worthy for sale and exhibition in any gallery.”
The GV Centre’s Disability Services art program is a hive of activity, self expression and achievement. Established in 1954 the GV Centre offers children and adult services giving participants the option to participate in a variety of programs, including supported employment along with a number of day programs. The Centre’s art program is one such day program that has been providing people with a disability the option to pursue creative expression through art and craft for over 10 years. The art program plays an important role in achieving the Centre’s mission and provides clients with an opportunity to express themselves, build self esteem and gain a sense of pride in their work.
The exhibition is being held in conjunction with International Day of People with a disABILITY. The day is a celebration of ability, and the exhibition is a major event for the artists, as it provides them the opportunity to display their works within the local community via the same means as any other emerging or recognised professional artist.
Two of the artists whose work will be exhibited were selected from throughout Victoria to participate in Connected 06 coordinated by State Trustees and Arts Project Australia. Connected 06 was an exhibition of artworks at Federation Square, Melbourne that celebrated the work of artists with a disability.
The GV Centre’s art program has come a long way and plays a major part in increasing the quality of life of people with a disability and providing them with a future of opportunities. To obtain more information on this program please contact Kate Smith, Marketing Coordinator on (03) 5831 4965.
The exhibition opens at the Shepparton Art Gallery on Friday 24 November at 6.00pm. Please RSVP by 22 November to (03) 5832 9861.
The exhibition will continue until 17 December 2006.
Coathangers – Traditional Crafts in Contemporary Light
8 November 2006
Opening at the Shepparton Art Gallery on Wednesday 15 November is Coathangers, an exhibition presented by the Contemporary Sculptors Association Inc. and the Goulburn Valley West Country Women’s Association.
Guest speaker Dr Kevin Murray, Director of Craft Victoria, will officially open the exhibition at 4.00pm.
A series of workshops held over the past 12 months has created a link between regional and city-based communities through the medium of textile craft. These fertile exchanges have led to a much-needed acknowledgement of traditional craft in the world of contemporary art.
The many traditionally worked pieces in this exhibition, some echoing over five generations of craft practice, evoke a strong sense of the honing of skills over time. Complementing this exquisitely perfected work are thoughtful and provocative contemporary sculptures that address the line imposed between art and craft.
This exhibition is the result of a long term community project where members of the Country Women’s Association have passed on their craft skills to urban contemporary sculptors, as an addition to their regular work within the Goulburn Valley. This region is heavily affected by the ongoing drought, and these workshops have provided a critical connection between those in the city and those living under severe conditions. Socially and creatively, the workshops have been a source of relief and refreshment to an area under extreme duress.
With the generous support of Arts Victoria, the Sidney Myer Fund and the City of Yarra, the CWA/CSA workshops have showcased beading, crazy patchwork, crochet, embroidery, woollen sculptures, felting, stumpwork, blackwork, quilling, knitting, basket making, goldwork and canvas work among other specialised textile crafts.
This exhibition questions the social and artistic exclusivity that has allowed the omission of these works from public galleries, forcing them to be hidden away at home and often destined for the opportunity shop. Coathangers attempts to draw attention to women’s craft, and to encourage women to continue passing on traditional skills to ensure the diversity and vibrancy of this work continues. This project gives long overdue accolades for CWA group crafts that have never been exhibited at a major public gallery since the CWA’s inception in 1928.
This exhibition will continue until 17 December 2006.
For further details, images or interviews please contact the project coordinator
Elaine Miles on elaine.miles@artdes.monash.edu.au, 0438 090 523 or (03) 9822 5658.
Shepp. The Earth. An Address About Water
16 October 2006
An exhibition inspired by field trips to the Goulburn Broken Catchment area around Shepparton and Mooroopna, Shepp. The Earth. An Address About Water, will open at the Shepparton Art Gallery on Friday 20 October.
Nineteen artists from the Australian National University’s School of Art Field Studies program, including undergraduates, postgraduates, staff, international visiting artists and two local artists, undertook three five-day field trips to the area.
Participants were briefed by scientists from the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, Indigenous elders, Council officials, community leaders, landholders and local artists. Students were able to view their field research locations from the air, thanks to the Murray Darling Basic Commission and the local aero club.
Works in the exhibition include photography, painting, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, drawing and glass.
A feature of the exhibition is photographic portraits of prominent women in the community drawn from ‘The Mayor’s List’ complied by Mayor Jenny Houlihan.
The exhibition also has an educational component, with the preparatory work associated with the development of some of the exhibits also included.
The Field Studies program was introduced to the Shepparton and Mooroopna communities earlier this year through the Shepparton Arts Festival by a survey exhibition of artwork from previous programs titled, Field Studies Selected Works 2000 – 2005.
Ikona Opening Soon at the Shepparton Art Gallery
13 September 2006
Ikona: Photographs by Georgia Metaxas, a Monash Gallery of Art Travelling Exhibition, will open at the Shepparton Art Gallery on 27 September.
Commissioner of the Victorian Multicultural Commission, Vicki Mitsos, will officially open the exhibition on Wednesday 4 October at 10.00am. Artist Georgia Metaxas will then give a free talk, followed by refreshments at 11.15am.
Gallery Director Leanne Willis says that the exhibition comprises over 30 images depicting young adults of the Greek community, its rituals, celebrations and traditions.
“Through photo representation, Metaxas aims to affirm and promote the historical and continuing contribution of the Greek community to Melbourne’s cultural diversity,” says Ms Willis.
“Melbourne has the largest Greek community outside of Greece and the exhibition reflects on a community whose foundations are so deeply embedded and so strong.”
“The vitality of the exhibition is an affirmation of the dynamic nature of the diversity, identity and culture in multicultural Australia.”
“The exhibition also contributes to the dialogue of contemporary documentary photography today.”
Metaxas, a social documentary visual artist says: “A common theme in my photo-artwork has always been the exploration of social identity and its connection to heritage and family history.”
“The documentary aspects of my work acknowledge my interest in photojournalism and the tension found between ‘artistic’ intent and documentary purpose.”
“The success of the work hinges on its truthful connection to reality.”
Ikona: Photographs by Georgia Metaxas opens on 27 September and continues until 22 October.
Legacy and Unique Vision of One of Australia’s Legendary Photographers
13 September 2006
The Shepparton Art Gallery is proud to present an important retrospective of one of Australia’s legendary photographers.
David Moore: A Vision, 1927-2003, a Monash Gallery of Art Travelling Exhibition, will be on display at the gallery from 12 October to 12 November.
Moore is one of Australia’s most significant and influential photographers. In a career spanning over 50 years, Moore produced many iconic images that have been imprinted on Australia’s visual memory.
Gallery Director Leanne Willis says that throughout his prolific career, Moore produced a remarkable body of work that amassed over 200,000 negatives.
“Time after time he created images of exceptional quality and technical mastery,” says Ms Willis.
“From the realism of his documentary work to his experimentation with abstraction, Moore’s innate sense of design, composition and form typified his original and consistent vision.
Not long before his death in 2003, Moore personally reviewed his extensive negative archive and selected 100 images that best represent the enduring vision of a photographer who had a passion to communicate and a deeply felt artistic sensibility.
“This exhibition honours the legacy and unique vision of one of Australia’s legendary photographers.
“Moore’s skills as an artist, a photojournalist, a portraitist, an architectural illustrator and an advocate for Australian photography, continue to inspire.
Three Very Special Works Help Celebrate the Gallery’s 70th Anniversary
27 August 2006
Three special artworks were unveiled at a gala dinner on Friday 25 August, in honour of the Shepparton Art Gallery’s 70th anniversary.
Chairman of the Sidney Myer Fund Carrillo Gantner AO presented two gifts to the gallery collection from the Sidney Myer Fund in honour of the anniversary.
A Tiwi ceramic by Cyril James Kerinauia and Mark Virgil Puatjimi, called Purrukurparli (2002), is an earthenware piece, made as part of a workshop done at the National Gallery of Victoria when the Yikwani exhibition toured there in 2002.
The second work by Judith Pungarta Inkamala, called Rock Pidgeon (2002), is a hand built terracotta ceramic with under glaze.
Also unveiled on the night by Sir Andrew Fairley was a very special acquisition purchased in honour of the gallery’s anniversary with funds from the Fairley Foundation, Margaret Lawrence Bequest, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art and the Friends of the Shepparton Art Gallery Society Inc.
JOHN DE BURGH PERCEVAL
Angel with Arms Upraised, 1961
earthenware and glaze
54.5 x 32 cm
Provenance:
Bought from Perceval Family mid 1960s
Mr and Mrs Mark Strizic 1997
private collection, Melbourne
Exhibited:
Joseph Brown Winter Exhibition 1977
19th and 20th Century Australian Painting Sculpture
and Decorative Arts Lauraine Diggins 1996
The gallery’s ceramic collection is rated as one of the best in Australia, alongside the Powerhouse Museum and the National Gallery of Victoria. There are over 4,500 ceramic works in the collection with about 20 per cent on display at any one time. The collection includes work by the first convict potters through to individual studio potters and commercial potteries.
Included in this collection is the famous “Delinquent Angel” by John Perceval, purchased by the gallery in 1976. This work was made in 1961 and was shown in London in 1962.
“It is not too much of an exaggeration to claim these cute little figures represent the beginning of modern ceramics and as such have a place of the first importance in any ceramics collection,” said former Gallery Director Peter Timms at the time.
Now considered to be an icon of the collection (and in fact the gallery’s logo is based on the angel figure), when purchased in 1976 then Cr John Terrill commented that he thought $2,700 was too much for “a bit of stuff”.
There are very few public institutions in Australia that can claim to have two of these iconic angels in their collection. Perceval produced two distinct groups of angels: the earliest works from 1957 to 1959 were developed on the potter’s wheel and the later group, from 1961 to 1962, were more vigorously sculpted using a variety of techniques. To have two examples of this turning point in Australian ceramics now housed permanently in Shepparton is a tremendous achievement and a very fitting work to celebrate the 70th anniversary.
Perceval biography
Perceval was born in 1923 in Bruce Rock, WA and received no formal art training. As a boy he contracted poliomyelitis which left him permanently lame. His work attracted attention in the early CAS exhibitions in which his precocious talents were boldly expressed in surrealistic paintings, some reproduced in Angry Penguins. During the 1940s he joined the Boyd family at Murrumbeena when he married Mary Boyd and assisted in rehabilitating the family pottery and, having temporarily abandoned painting, returned to the exhibition scene in August 1954 with some Breughel inspired pictures and later in 1958, with a remarkable exhibition of ceramic angels at the MOMAD.
His spontaneous drawings of family life, his paintings of bush and coastal scenes, with ships and seagulls, or of figures partially lost in thick whirls of colourful paint, combined with his ceramic work, soon gained him a large following. In 1962 he visited London, and after three eventful years, he returned home as the first recipient of a Creative Arts Fellowship at the Australian National University, Canberra.
During the late 1960s his following increased with every new exhibition and prices of his work rose dramatically. By the middle 1970s, however, his family affairs had fallen into disarray and for a number of years he stopped painting. He married former student Anne Hall and started painting again in the mid to late 1970s and has continued to exhibit intermittently from that time. His work has been represented in a number of survey exhibitions during the 1980s, notably the Bicentennial exhibitions The Great Australian Art Exhibition and The Face of Australia. In 1992 a major retrospective of his work was curated by the NGV. Perceval died in 2000.
REF: Alan and Susan McCulloch, The Encyclopaedia of Australian Art, Allen and Unwin, 1994
Godwin Bradbeer: The Metaphysical Body
16 July 2006
Opening at the Shepparton Art Gallery on Friday 21 July at 6.00pm is the exhibition ‘Godwin Bradbeer: The Metaphysical Body’.
This exhibition surveys 35 years of one of Australia’s most celebrated draftsmen, taking us from Bradbeer’s early photographic self-portraiture through key works in the artist’s career. Throughout, Bradbeer’s art takes up spiritual and psychological ideas using the human figure as his subject.
Curator of the exhibition Kirsten Lacy says that Bradbeer’s figures are not specific to identity, culture, character or gender.
“Working partly from life modelling and partly from memory he creates a kind of anthropological body, one that stands for a human psychology of spiritual yearning that is without time or place,” says Ms Lacy.
“Throughout this exhibition we see that his work takes shape around symbology and mythology peculiar to psycho-analytic theory and at others, in the Judaic/Christian realm,” she says.
“In his work our natural instinct for self-preservation, pleasure and procreation can be considered entwined with a yearning for origins and universal beginnings.”
In the monumental, cathedral-like scale of Bradbeer’s drawings viewers are confronted with how it is via the body, of the body and from the body we are conceived, encapsulated, born, sexed and nurtured. And yet ‘The Metaphysical Body’ is the body which represents beyond its own physical origins to something at once anthropological and eternal, and yet it is inherently tied to its cycles of development and regeneration. Using figuration as a cornerstone, Bradbeer delves into a pycho-spiritual realm emerging with works of omni-present power that are timeless in their implications.
In this exhibition we can see how Bradbeer’s early experimentation with photography led to his signature x-ray vision, where the internal skeletal structure of the figure is visible through the outer shell of the human form much like a CAT scan. Another drawing technique that emerged from photography is his use of solarisation. Here Bradbeer swaps the darkness and shadows on the body for light or white. Using these techniques, Bradbeer has created a body which can be penetrated and its hidden structures revealed, sometimes broken, fragile, latent or pregnant.
Bradbeer’s drawings are very dark, and at times black seems to blanket the page, like night closing in on the paper. The extensive use of black has led to a perception that Bradbeer’s artwork is inherently bleak and depressing.
However as the catalogue essayist Dr Neill Overton argues: “Bradbeer is fully aware of the evocative power of blackness to create monumental images, and for him the black envelope acts more as the sleep from which he rouses figures and forms … black is not only and always a metaphor for the grave”.
This exhibition is touring to McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park, La Trobe Regional Gallery, Grafton Regional Gallery and Mosmon Art Gallery. The exhibition will open in conjunction with ‘Bill Kelly – Markers Along the Way’ also being organised by Shepparton Art Gallery.
Godwin Bradbeer will talk about his work at a seminar at the Shepparton Art Gallery on Saturday 22 July from 11.30am to 12.15pm. On the same day from 10.30 am, artist Bill Kelly will also discuss his work which will be on display at the Shepparton Art Gallery from 21 July to 3 September. Gold coin admission, morning tea is included. RSVP to the Shepparton Art Gallery on (03) 5832 9861.
William Kelly’s ‘Markers Along the Way’ at the Shepparton Art Gallery
12 July 2006
Journalist John Lewis will be opening a new exhibition on Friday 21 July at 6.00pm at the Shepparton Art Gallery titled, “Markers Along the Way: An exhibition of prints by William Kelly”.
The exhibition, organised by the gallery, displays a collection of prints created by Nathalia based artist William Kelly from 1965 to 2005. It covers themes including still life, the human figure, informal portraits, images from theatre and images referencing social concerns.
Printmaking is often thought of as a ‘democratic’ or publicly accessible media because of its ability to produce multiple prints, making it easily accessible to the public. This suits Kelly, who philosophically marries his commitment to social and humanist concerns with his love of and commitment to art. Master printer Larry Rawling recently commented: “Kelly was the first artist to make screen prints by drawing on textured acetate allowing them to have a more direct drawing quality”.
While being known principally as a painter and draughtsman, Kelly’s prints have quietly travelled across the globe and achieved significant international recognition. He has created prints on four continents, printed in almost every medium and on almost every surface. His exhibition ‘Markers Along the Way’ includes hand coloured and hand worked prints, woodblock and lino prints, etchings and aquatints, dry point, stone and plate lithographs, screen prints, electrostatic/photocopy, plan printing, digital, dot matrix and inkjet prints.
As John Lewis recently wrote in the Shepparton News: “Bill Kelly operates on a global level, but lives and works in a village”. How lucky we are that the village he has chosen is in our neighborhood.
The exhibition will open in conjunction with “Godwin Bradbeer – ‘The Metaphysical Body’ 1970 – 2005” being organised by the gallery.
William Kelly will talk about his work at a seminar at the gallery on Saturday 22 July from 10.30am to 11.15am. On the same day artist Godwin Bradbeer will discuss his work which will be on display at the gallery from 21 July to 3 September. Gold coin admission, Morning tea is included. RSVP to the gallery on 5832 9861.
William Kelly will also be special guest speaker at the next Friends of the Gallery Coffee Morning on Wednesday 2 August at 10.30am.
Something for Everyone These School Holidays at the Shepparton Art Gallery
14 June 2006
French Knitting Creations and Weaving
When: Tuesday 20 June
Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm and 2.00pm to 4.00pm
Cost: $13.00 per child
Let your imagination run wild as you learn to weave and knit colourful yarns into tubes, snakes and multi coloured fabric with textile artist and tutor Abby Thomson. Suitable for children aged eight to 15 years.
Wearable Art made from Recycled Materials
When: Wednesday 21 June
Time: 10.30am to 3.00pm
Cost: $35.00 per child
Get your creative juices flowing by joining in a half hour tour of the visiting exhibitions, ‘Twined Together,’ ‘Fault Lines and Spatial Tensions,’ and ‘People Places References’ with Angie Russi before you join artist and tutor Jan Donaldson for an exploration into making an exotic outfit from some unlikely materials! This one day workshop is suitable for children aged over 12 years who are interested in fashion design and visual arts.
The hands on workshop will provide the opportunity for participants to alter objects and materials in ways that are not considered conventional or necessarily acceptable. Through ideas generation and exploration, the aim of the project is to challenge those traditional views and offer exciting alternative possibilities.
Creative Coils with Gitta Amore
When: Tuesday 27 June
Time: 10.00am to 3.00pm
Cost: $50.00 per child and adult team
A half hour guided tour by Angie Russi of the visiting exhibitions ‘Twined Together,’ ‘Fault Lines and Spatial Tensions’ and ‘People Places References’ will precede Gitta Amore’s unique style of basket making. She has been heavily influenced by her contact with aboriginal basketry through her contact with John Atkinson at the Shepparton Keeping Place. This association has led to her developing her Fish basket design, popular across Australia.
This workshop is for a child and an adult to work together with Gitta to create an original basket crafted from natural materials.
Felt Bags and Flags
When: Wednesday 28 June
Time: 10.30am to 12.30pm and 2.00pm to 4.00pm
Cost: $13.00 per child
Design and make your own bag or individualised flag using coloured sheep’s wool. Learn the basics of the age old art of felting and designing using wool with artist and tutor Georgina Toland.
Bookings for the school holiday programs are essential. For more information or to book your child’s place contact the Shepparton Art Gallery on 5832 9861.
New Exhibition at the Shepparton Art Gallery
8 May 2006
The exhibition ‘Five Central Victorian Printmakers’ has opened at the Shepparton Art Gallery.
The exhibition features work by Liz Caffin, Jan Palethorpe, Linda Perry, Rhyll Plant and Vicky Taylor, who are all local to the Bendigo and Castlemaine area. The artists share a love for printmaking in the various forms of etching, aquatint, woodblock and mezzotint, and explore the relationship of the forms to the natural environment.
Liz Caffin’s work includes a selection of very small, detailed artists’ books, in both concertina and pop out formats, as well as framed works. These prints depict lone figures moving through twilight landscapes, calling to mind the work of Italian Surrealist painter Giorgio de Chirico, as well as Australian painter Peter Booth and print-maker Geoffrey Ricardo. The images are mysterious and dreamlike, reminiscent of a romantic inclination toward the sublime. Here the lone figure is isolated and dwarfed by large Italian columns or poplar trees at dusk.
Linda Perry’s work explores the spiritual and psychological separation that exists between western man and nature. Her imagery is derived from Mount Alexander, a granite mountain in Harcourt that exudes a sense of the monumental and numinous. Her aquatints include ‘chinne colle’ – rubbings from tombstones in Bendigo believed to be made from stone quarried from the mountain. Her use of the tombstone reminds us that in death, our separation from nature is dissolved as the body and the earth are united again. The quarrying and carving of the natural monument into a commemorative one can be seen as an articulation of the separation from nature that is sought by those left behind.
Other work in the exhibition includes a series of coloured aquatints by artist Vicky Taylor. These works are concerned with people and the expression of their individual characters. They call to mind the work of pop artist Andy Warhol and his brightly coloured screen-prints of the 1960s. While his works were concerned with the portrayal of famous identities in the tabloid media, Vicky is approaching individual subjects with whom she has a personal relationship. The works are further layered in their meaning as we note contemporary recreations of famous modernist and renaissance paintings. The work ‘The Wedding’ is a contemporary take on Jan Van Eyck’s famous work ‘The Marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami’, 1434 held in the National Gallery, London. The pose of the rock n roll couple in Taylor’s version mimics that of van Eyck’s, as do the shoes lower right side of the painting. In Taylor’s version, Van Eyck’s dog has been substituted with a cat and the window to the left with a computer. The mirror in van Eyck’s painting is executed with great skill. Its carved frame is inset with ten miniature medallions depicting the life of Christ. Yet more remarkable is the mirror’s reflection, which includes van Eyck’s own tiny self-portrait, accompanied by another man who may have been the official witness to the ceremony while Taylor’s version includes the artist obscured by a camera as she photographs the couple in their bedroom. This may tell us something about how the artist works, using snap shots of friends from which to work up her prints. Another work of Taylor’s includes a recreation of the celebrated Edouard Manet painting ‘The Bar at the Folies-Bergère’, 1881-1882.
The exhibition continues until 4 June.