Collecting new inspiration

ARTISTS turned to the old for inspiration ahead of their latest exhibition – Bric-a-brac.

From hobbies and passions to mementos and kitsch, there was plenty to be found at Virgil’s Antiques to inspire the artists whose work will be on show at Murky Waters Studio next month.

Bric-a-brac is a group exhibition that explores collecting through the quirky and jumbled nature of local antique store, Virgil’s Antiques – a staple of the Townsville collecting scene for 20-odd years.

“We collect. I’ve never seen a cookie jar that I didn’t like,” artist Michael Pope said.

“From the ‘made in Japan’ stamp on the underside of the porcelain to the quirky characterisation of animals, household objects and even broccoli, cookie jars have always done it for me.

“I find them deeply kitsch. Our collections represent us. They are hobbies that we are passionate about, mementos of the past, displays, curios, clutter and sometimes downright weird – like a friend’s collection of moisture-absorbent packets that a possum got into … Dead possum.

“It comments on what we value, what we treasure and what we hoard.

“Virgil’s, named after the street where the store is located, is a treasure trove of bits and bobs, of cookie jars and salt and pepper shakers, tools and furniture, green uranium glass ware, old phones, old magazines, clutter and junk. It’s both an expansive space and completely claustrophobic all at the same time. Each artist, tasked with visiting the store and creating artwork in response to that experience, has drawn inspiration and responded to Virgil’s through their own unique collective style.

“The works not only reference the finds, but also the artists’ own tastes, histories and quirks.”

Gerald Soworka Tools: tap dancing on my heart 2021 demonstrates his breadth for observational drawing, arrangement and developing artwork over a coffee grind-stained base.

Jonathan Mcburnie’s speaks to his sense of humour through Inessential Beatles and Other B-sides (2021), a playful collage of 16 record covers.

“Music is ingrained; Record collecting a dangerous passion,”

Pope said.

“It flows through his writing and is something of a family tradition.

“Humour is used by Jan Hynes too with her Duck and Orange (2021), a found object art sculpture.

“Hynes has an incredible capacity to deliver brutal, quirky observations into artworks and her comments on objects-to-your-plate delivers just this.

“Faber-castell ambassador artist, Tanya Coventry, showcases impossibly small and delicate drawings of bric-a-brac that she found in the store: small porcelain objects, rocking horses and viewfinders.

“Marion Gaemers and Lynette Griffiths have woven together wall vases, jewellery and sea creatures with ghostnet flair, while Sonia Ward’s The Pile Up (2021) looks into the dark corners and stacks found within.

“It speaks to objects on chairs and the layered, intertwined history of objects.”

Eton Street’s potters, Pru

Morrison and Caitlin Sheedy, recreate everyday treasures found in second hand stores and Pope has played Dr Frankenstein with a box of doll bits that he found in Virgil’s.

Bric-a-brac is open on Sundays from October 3-31 from 9am-12pm at Murky Waters Studio in Townsville city.

Bric-a-brac is supported by the Regional Development Fund, a partnership between the Queensland government and the Townsville City Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.