3 minute read
Gallery DownTown
The Gallery DownTown was established as an annexe to the Gallery and as an initiative of Tweed Shire Council to act as a driver of economic and creative development in the Murwillumbah CBD.
The Gallery DownTown aims to build on the success of the Margaret Olley Art Centre and further support the MIArts Precinct in the heart of Murwillumbah by linking Gallery visitors to the town centre to explore the array of cultural facilities, private art studios and local businesses.
Advertisement
The Gallery continued the extension of the CAEP program to Gallery DownTown, which allowed the Gallery to expand its footprint dedicated to artists of the region.
Artists who exhibited at Gallery DownTown in 2019 included Dave Sparkes, Greg Mulheran, Karyn Fendley, Kath Egan, Konstantina and Rosi Griffin, as well as an additional thirty artists included in the group exhibition Façade: Art Deco of Murwillumbah, which was organised to complement the National Gallery of Australia’s touring exhibition Art Deco from the National Collection: The World Turns Modern.
Supersymmetry Kath Egan
29 March – 12 May 2019
Supersymmetry explored ideas of interconnectivity through a network of red threads and a constellation of nails.
Kath Egan, Supersymmetry 2018 timber, felt, cotton thread, tacks 900 x 220 cm © The artist. Photo: Justin Ealand
Incandescence Dave Sparkes 29 March – 12 May 2019
Intrigued by sunlight, shadows and reflections, Incandescence focused on the contre-jour (into the light) viewpoint to create atmospheric landscapes and seascapes from the east coast of Australia.
Dave Sparkes, Barrington Tops National Park (detail) 2018 watercolour, 60 x 90 cm © The artist
Façade: Art Deco of Murwillumbah 16 May – 27 July 2019
Murwillumbah is known for its Art Deco accents and for this exhibition 30 artists from the region drew inspiration from this movement in the group exhibition Façade: Art Deco of Murwillumbah. Artists from the region revealed there’s much to glean from Murwillumbah!
Chelle Wallace, The toilet door (detail) 2019 photograph 50 x 75 cm © The artist
Interplay: profiling the four collection areas from 19 July 2019
The Tweed Regional Gallery collection features works across four areas: Australian portraits; artworks of regional relevance; Australian artists’ prints; and the life and work of Margaret Olley.
Interplay includes works from the collection exploring these four themes.
Best Before Rosi Griffin
2 August – 12 October 2019
Griffin’s watercolours are mostly a realistic representation of actual buildings but include subtle marks of decay and a sense of emptiness. These holiday homes have a special place in the Australian collective consciousness.
Rosi Griffin, Sea breeze 2019 watercolour, 52 x 42 cm © The artist
Konstantina’s work is personal and meaningful, while boasting a playfulness that takes the sting out of the messages she delivers. The explosive use of colour in this series annotates today’s political and socio-political environment from her perspective as an Aboriginal woman, mother and activist.
Konstantina, Skin on skin (detail) 2019 acrylic on linen, 60 x 60 cm © The artist
Against the Light Karyn Fendley 18 October – 28 December 2019
Karyn Fendley’s recent landscape paintings capture the essence of the coastal landscapes of northern New South Wales.
With their bright skies, deep shadows and silhouettes, these artworks depict the extremes of lightness and darkness and the transient spaces created by shadows which can be observed in our sharply sunlit coastal landscapes.
Fragile Greg Mulheran
18 October – 28 December 2019
Fragile was a collection of drawings that explored elements of nature that are fragile, transient and ephemeral. Artist Greg Mulheran observed how objects in nature change over time. Leaves drop and change colour, or they are eaten and reduced to a lacy filigree. Deterioration and decay are part of the cycle of life, and the process of decay can have its own beauty.
