A Month in the Country: Michael Reid on how The Country Interior exhibition brought people together.

This month we asked Michael Reid to look back at the opening of our first art exhibition, The Country Interior, that we held at his gallery in NSW’S Murrurundi.

MANY ARTISTS TRAVELLED from far and wide for the opening of my Murrurundi gallery and Country Style’s collaborative exhibition, The Country Interior. On reflection, it was a much-needed exhibition opening. The prominent artist Denise Faulkner who had experienced a long, tense summer emailed me: “It was so nice to see you last weekend. What a lovely way to celebrate the last hurrah before the world turned even crazier. Strange to think it wasn’t that long ago that I had bags packed waiting by the door ready to flee at a moment’s notice due to fire threat and now it is advised to stock up for two weeks in case you are made to self isolate. What interesting times we live in.”

It remains of consequence for significant exhibitions to have openings of some kind. Not so much for the collectors, but for the artists. An artist’s studio can be both an enchanting and a solitary place. Connecting artists with artists and the Country Style editor-in-chief, Victoria Carey, was overdue. It is near impossible to place an artist’s name to a face through their artwork. In a room of near 15 artists, most of whom had never met, it was fun to introduce talent to talent and put a face to a painting.

So, I spent the afternoon doing the “have you met” introductions. That perfectly practical phrase of introduction in polite society reminds me of the time I was in the elevator at Christie’s London heading to the fourth floor, when in should step Sir Anthony Tennant, the chairman of Christie’s and Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales. Anthony, or as he was known to me, The Chairman, politely said: “Have you met Her Highness The Princess of Wales?” I looked at The Chairman with anything but a poker face thinking to myself…. of course, I haven’t … and I so wanted to say… “Yes while taking a two-way bet on the dogs at Dapto”… but said no I hadn’t and we shook hands and said howdy. Boys from Narrandera do not meet princesses in a lift, or ever, so the possibility of a prior meeting inherently implied in the phrase “have you met” always makes me laugh.

The afternoon had a wonderfully collegiate atmosphere. Helped as these things are, by strong, consistent sales across the majority of artists. Sold out were the works of Denise Faulkner, Esther Eckley, Brooke Dalton, Anna Placidi, Laura White and Stacey Maloney Mccall. Online collectors from Perth to Sydney and as far as New York in the U.S. of A. made purchases. And why? Experiencing a brutal drought, ferocious fires and a world pandemic, it is perhaps not since World War II that Australians have felt so strongly about the comforts of home. With The Country Interior, the artists made no apologies for their focus on beauty. None. For those who live in the harsh reality of this wide brown land, the artists individually and collectively asked us, through their work, to momentarily forgo the outside and focus on the restorative magic of bewitching roomscapes and still-life paintings. Sometimes in life you need more paintings of Matisse’s nasturtiums than you do Sidney Nolan drought paintings.

Until the late March exhibition lockdown, a number of the artists, again traveling from far and wide, returned to view the exhibition, to bask in their adoring attending public and to revel in the success of their peers. It was good. Corner of Boyd and Mayne streets, Murrurundi, Upper Hunter, NSW. For more information on artists and the next exhibition dates, telephone (o2) 6546 6767 or visit michaelreidmurrurundi.com.au

CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT Camilla Wylie, Stephanie Villiers, Michael Reid, Bridie Crowe and Sarina Duddy, outside the Big Brown Dog Kiosk; the path in the garden leading to the new gallery building designed by Scone-based architects Dods and Zuccon; artist Michelle Ball with Michael Wiener; Stacey Maloney Mccall had three works in the exhibition; this sandstone building was built to house convicts before becoming Michael’s first exhibition space on the property. Today, it houses the café and shop featuring the work of local artisans and producers; our March issue featured many of the artists in the exhibition; Country Style editor-in-chief Victoria Carey with Michael Reid; the surrounding area is famous as the horse capital of Australia. FACING PAGE The Country Interior exhibition featured Denise Faulkner’s Sweet Nothings, Stef Tarasov’s Still Life with Artichokes, Andrea Huelin’s Still Life with Mango and Passionfruit and Brooke Dalton’s Mix and Match.