Exhibitions kick off the new year
NEW local exhibitions put collections in perspective, offer an historical context for self expression, and use portraiture as an analysis of identity.
The Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery starts the year with a stunning exhibition drawn from the permanent collections.
“Acquisitions: Collection Connections” curated by the Gallery’s director, Susan Lostroh offers a clear raison d’être for gallery acquisitions and the benefits of a flexible policy that allows the regular inclusion of new works to extend, support, and visually tweak the existing collections.
Acquisition is not just about liking a work: it is seeing where it fits, how it relates to other works, and how it becomes a vehicle for education, as well as a long-term investment.
The subtle exhibition design encourages a visual dialogue between the artworks that becomes a poetic space where imagery and object interact in a leisurely saraband.
The pivotal sculpture Edge 12 by Robert J Morris sends shards of colour and light to James Gleeson’s dramatically visceral Fire fall, once in the private collection of benefactor Irene Amos. Here it is captured within the gaze of the artist in
Gordon Shepherdson’s Portrait of Irene.
The fanciful plane in Warren Palmer’s WP,304-94 talks to the flying machines in Stephen Spurrier’s Red sky painting, while Bruce Armstrong’s horned and toothed creatures communicate through charcoal, etching, and painted wood.
The charm of CGS Hirst’s watercolour study of Toowoomba’s botanical gardens from 1879 converses with extracts from Bank’s Florilegium by Sydney Parkinson and the black cockatoos in Joseph McGlennon’s digital florilegium.
The exhibition is supported by informative didactics that give context as well as ideas to consider while perusing this rewarding offering.
The Arts Gallery at University of Southern Queensland is honouring the McGregor Summer School initiative with a celebratory display: “The 50th Summer McGregor Retreat Anniversary Exhibition.”
This body of work includes pieces by current and previous Summer School tutors and offers not only a trip down memory lane but also a time capsule of Australian art history.
From David Hinchliffe’s interrogative portraits of poet Bruce Dawe to Nic Plowman’s Whiteleyesque painting
Summa Morning, from David Paulson’s humanistic bas relief of a kangaroo to Greg Daly’s exquisite porcelain ceramic lustre ware, from Michael Winter’s crisp Red roofs,
Watson’s Bay to the detailed and delicate collage by Irene Amos the exhibition offers much for the discerning viewer.
The Cam Robertson Gallery at the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery is presenting “Reckoning: an exhibition of new paintings” the work of Alice Rigby.
Deeply personal, sometimes introspective, secretive, and wary, the self portraits look into the soul of the artist, yet what we see is perhaps a reflection of ourselves.
Whether capturing a quiet, thoughtful moment, a sidelong look, or a challenging in-your-face gaze these empathetic painterly statements have something familiar and universal to offer.