Energetic, diverse works on show
ARTWORKS in group exhibitions may invite comparison and contrast, particularly those that are outcomes of a shared experience prescribed by an educational curriculum.
However, each work should also be seen and appreciated as an individual response to any given creative parameter.
Exhibitions drawn from public collections offer a different spin on the idea of a group show. Here an eclectic assortment of styles, techniques, and materials can become an informative microcosm of changing tastes and popular culture that have shaped the development of artistic endeavour.
The Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery is hosting Creative Generation Excellence Awards in Visual Arts 2021.
The exhibition presents work by senior visual-arts students attending state and nonstate high schools from the Darling Downs and SouthWest Queensland.
The display is energetic and diverse with presentation, attention to detail, a strong command of various techniques, and confident manipulation of media setting an impressively high benchmark.
The exhibition does not immediately proclaim itself as the work of high school students, but rather that of a group of dynamic emerging artists with a sense of focus and robust enthusiasm that is balanced by awareness, thoughtful consideration, and cultural sensitivity.
While the visual arts curriculum offers an exploratory framework, the artists have used it as a springboard for individual interpretation of a chosen subject.
Selectors had the challenge of choosing five works from this outstanding field of submissions to join other award winners from throughout Queensland to be part of the Creative Generations exhibition at QAG/GOMA next year.
The Excellence Award winners from our region are Katelynn Grobler, Toowoomba Christian College, Marley Russell, Highfields State High School, Ezra Singh, Lockyer District State High School, Mairead Webb, Fairholme College, and Wendy Xue, Harristown State High School.
The Warwick Art Gallery is showing Collection – the Warwick based part of the Southern Downs Regional Council Art Collection.
This engaging exhibition is comprised of artworks from the previous shire councils of Allora, Glengallan, Rosenthal, and Warwick.
Added to this diverse miscellany are donated works and acquisitions from the Warwick Art Prize which was held annually from 1996 until 2009.
The exhibition marks the first time in some twenty years that the entire collection has been publicly displayed.
Some works have historical relevance such the c1900 photograph by Christopher Roggenkamp of a scene close to the site of the current art gallery.
Sharp photorealism captures Warwick’s architecture in a town hall study by an unknown artist.
Local and regional landscapes by painters including Kenneth Macqueen, Herbert Carstens, and Michael Pospischill give visual context.
Other expressive takes on landscape such as Following Grasses VII by Yvonne Mills Stanley, the raw drama in the work by Mostyn Bramley Moore, and Gumbaynggir woman, Annalisa Wilson’s lyrical Condamine Song offer personal interpretations that also reflect changes in style, popular taste, and artistic exploration.