Artists re-imagine masters
EXHIBITIONS by groups of artists may be linked by a theme or the exploration of a particular concept.
They present a collective impact, but the individual interpretations offer an eclectic mix underpinned by personal approaches including the choice of medium used to translate subject into creative statement.
An exhibition by two artists may explore a shared interest or a specific technique, but when the links are less obvious, viewer interest is sparked, especially when the differences collate to produce a subtle and coherent visual discourse.
The Culliford Gallery at the Toowoomba Art Society, 1 Godsall Street, is hosting Masters Remastered & More, an exhibition by the society’s Tuesday Paint and Spatter Group.
Some in the “remastered” series are rather literal transcriptions that show little personal extension of the appropriated imagery.
However, works such as Head of a Woman with a Pearl Earring by Peggy Vanderplas which salutes Vermeer and Picasso, and Eddie Gunn’s combination of Mozart and Mondrian offer a more individual approach.
The still life by Brenda Richards, an interpretation of a work by the Renaissance woman artist, Fede Galizia, fulfils the project brief.
The composition honours the original, but replaces the polished finish with expressive, loose gestures, a little humour, and a nod to the passage of time.
Richards retains her own style while paying homage to history.
Terese Eglington’s Moaning Lisa joins a succession of appropriated Mona Lisa studies this time topically wearing a face mask much in the manner of the Covid-themed reimagined famous artworks by Canadian photo-artist Genevieve Blais.
Other works of interest include various refugees from the chook yard such as Marcia Ruhle’s Backyard Capers, the wall hanging by Linda Hall, and the ceramic hen decorated with Australian wildflowers by Jacqui Rahley.
The Perinet Gallery is featuring Watch this Space, the ambiguously, but meaningfully, titled exhibition by Ian Hay and Sandra Willis.
It is an elegant and understated presentation that rewards close viewing.
Initially the works seem disparate, but gradually a subtle dialogue emerges.
Willis uses pastel, watercolour, and graphite to create detailed and identifiable bird portraits.
These small vulnerable creatures are seen against pencilled backgrounds showing the destruction of their habitat and encroaching urban development.
The bulldozers and felled trees are discreetly placed allowing the birds centre stage, yet this restraint makes the message more eloquent.
Hay’s tiny drawings, some no bigger than a couple of postage stamps, are created in ink or coloured pencil.
They are infinitely precise, the delicacy of the mark-making is like the calligraphy of a secret language, a meditation on light and reflection.
Landscapes and urban patterns suggest symbolic relics of use and abuse.
Seen in proximity to the softly wrought, but potentially violent backgrounds in the works by Willis, these dense surfaces suggest textures from the uprooted forest floor.