Art documents cultural curiosity
LOCAL and regional exhibitions offer insights into artistic expression motivated by experiences documenting a lifetime of travel and cultural curiosity, the need to validate the world with a little fantasy and imagination, and by the creation of ceramic work inspired by nature.
The Toowoomba Art Society’s Culliford Gallery and Corridor exhibition space are presenting Motivations & Directions: Paintings, 1968-97, a mini retrospective of work by Society President, Allan Bruce.
In a career spanning several decades this inveterate traveller, artist, and teacher has accumulated impressions of different cultures.
These he has distilled through oil paint and graphite to capture eloquent moments translated through his appreciation of art and artefacts.
Although born in Scotland, Bruce has called Australia “home” for many years.
With this adoption came an awareness of political imperatives and his take on certain issues have received controversial notoriety.
Parody and satire combined with appropriation underpin some visual imagery providing thought-provoking moments that allow humour to wince at the juxtapositions of sacred sites in the heart of down town suburbia.
More recent works include the scroll- like panoramas on Tyvek, a sturdy acrylic paper on which Bruce has created visual journeys that document landscapes and ‘home-scapes.’
The paintings in the exhibition are about cultural awareness and respect articulated through technique and process that give meaning to memory. The exhibition continues at the Toowoomba Art Society, 1 Godsall St, until April 1.
The Rosalie Gallery in Goombungee is hosting Art from the Heart an exhibition of paintings by emerging artist, Amanda Wardill. The work is colourful, strident yet sometimes introspective.
The descriptions accompanying each piece offer insight to the visual narratives.
Like intuitive and outsider art, sometimes naive in their interpretation of subject, these paintings have a spontaneous approach that escapes the prescriptions of some mainstream art. They recall the rawness of “Art Brut,” a style developed by French artist, Jean Dubuffet. Ideas and images include fantasy worlds peopled by ghosts and fairies, comforting familiars who act as guides, mentors, and protectors in an often unbalanced world.
The paintings have an authenticity and freedom that illustrate the artist’s need to express her vision and engage emotions that lurk in places of solitude and uncertainty.
Parkside Ceramics, the gallery space of the Darling Downs Potters’ Club, 145 West St, is featuring the work of Shirley Wilkins.
The artist has a respected reputation for functional ware that also subscribes to the aesthetics of form. While the body of work includes mugs, teapots, bowls, and vases, the display also contains wonderful whimsical pieces inspired by nature.
There are shell-like vessels looking as if they are wearing tutus and monster mushrooms.
However, it is the multi coloured ceramic flowers, some with wire stamens, which demand attention. They are joyous, fun, frivolous and won’t wither and fade!