Cairns Art Gallery | Members Newsletter no.84 | Aug – Nov 2021

CAIRNS ART GALLERY

This year the Gallery has enjoyed an overwhelming response to its exhibitions, including Ben Quilty: The Entangled Landscape, The 2020 Archibald Prize, and RITUAL: the past in the present. In the second half of the year we look forward to presenting more exhibitions that amaze, challenge and inspire.

In September, Cairns audiences will experience the sensory illusion of a virtual reality exhibition.

TERMINUS, a collaborative exhibition by Jess Johnson and Simon Ward, is a National Gallery of Australia (NGA) exhibition that has thrilled audiences as they experience a ‘slippage of time and space’ in the fictional world of digital reality.

In partnership with the NGA, the Gallery is hosting Patricia Piccinini, Skywhales: Every heart sings, a one day event which comprises Piccinini’s two gigantic hot air balloons which will soar high in the skies above Cairns.

In September, the Gallery will also present an exhibition of William T Cooper’s works in partnership with the State Library of NSW and National Library of Australia (NLA). Botanical Art from the Tropics is co-curated by the artist’s wife Wendy and comprises more than one hundred

DIRECTOR’S FOREWORD

exquisite botanical and bird paintings and sketches, including a number of rarely exhibited works from Australian private collections. The exhibition coincides with the release of a new book written by Wendy and published by the NLA entitled The botanical art of William T Cooper.

The Gallery continues to build on initiatives that support regional artists in far north Queensland. In partnership with the Cairns RSL a multi-year Artist’s Fellowship Award will again support three local artists to create new works leading to a solo exhibition at the Gallery.

Finally, I extend my appreciation to the Gallery Foundation on their successful gala dinner that raised funds to purchase works by three artists from our region for the Gallery’s Permanent Collection. Congratulations to Janet Fieldhouse, Alair Pambegan and Heather Koowootha. The Gallery is thrilled that their works from the RITUAL exhibition will now remain in Cairns as an important legacy for future generations and audiences.

Andrea May Churcher Director

COVER William T COOPER

Victoria’s Riflebirds at Topaz (on Topaz Tamarind Synima macrophylla) (detail) 1993 acrylic on canvas on board Private collection, Hobart

RIGHT Janet FIELDHOUSE Meriam Mir, Born Cairns, Queensland, 1971 Installation image Photo: Michael Marzik

RITUAL: the past in the present is an ambitious project based on extensive research and complex cross-cultural conversations. It builds on the Gallery’s established reputation for exploring different narratives around issues of Australian Indigenous and global Black identity in the world’s tropic zone.

The defining characteristic of ritual, as a recurrent act based on the concept of passage and transformation to bring the past into the present, is investigated through artworks by more than thirty contemporary north Australian Indigenous and Asia Pacific artists.

Originally planned for 2020, the exhibition was postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since opening in May this year the exhibition has attracted considerable media attention and prompted audience interest and debate.

A scholarly publication, with commissioned essays by Freja Carmichael and Michael Do, is available through the Gallery Shop, and a virtual tour of the exhibition can be viewed on the Gallery’s website.

LEFT Naomi HOBSON

Southern Kaantju/Umpila, Born Coen, Cape York, Queensland 1979

Top The God Father 2020-21

Left The God Parents 2020-21

from the January First series

digital print

37 x 56 cm (image size); 45 x 64 cm (sheet)

Courtesy of the artist and ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore

RITUAL

THE PAST IN THE PRESENT INDIGENOUS NORTH AUSTRALIAN AND ASIA PACIFIC ART

PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CAIRNS INDIGENOUS ART FAIR

Wed 18 Aug

EXHIBITION OPENING EVENT

6.00 - 8.30PM

with Franchesca Cubillo, Executive Director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts, Australia Council for the Arts RSVP via the Gallery website

Thu 19 Aug

ARTIST & CURATOR TALKS 11.30AM - 12.30PM

with Freja Carmichael, Dale Harding, Jumaadi, Phuong Ngo, Brian Robinson RSVP via the Gallery website

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

This project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.

The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Cairns Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.

RITUAL BEATING HEARTS

FIRST NATION TURTLE ISLAND (CANADIAN) AND AMERICAN INDIAN NEW MEDIA

ABOVE Jeffrey GIBSON

Born Colorado, United States of America, 1972 one becomes the other 2015 - 2016 single channel video, colour, sound, 19:25 mins Courtesy of the artist; Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; Kavi Gupta, Chicago; and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles.

RIGHT Terrance HOULE

Born Alberta, Canada, 1975 The Brick from the Ghost Days 2018 single video, colour, sound, 16:30 mins Courtesy of the artist

RITUAL: Beating Hearts explores traditional rituals of first nation Turtle Island (Canadian) and American Indians and the loss of cultural identity resulting from colonisation. For three artists, Michelle Derosier, Jeffrey Gibson and Terrance Houle, video is a medium that allows multiple and simultaneous readings of historical events that continue to impact the lives of these people.

For Michelle Derosier, an Anishinaabe artist from Northwestern Ontario, the recent devastating discovery of the remains of well over one thousand Indigenous children, at sites of former Canadian government residential schools, provides a contemporary context for her work. Told through animation, The Grandfather Drum tells the story of Naamowin, a healer who reminds us of the power of the Anishinaabek and their ongoing struggles with colonial violence perpetrated by the Canadian state and churches.

Between 1874 and 1996 the Canadian government operated approximately 130 residential schools as part of an assimilation policy to eradicate Indigenous cultures and languages. It is estimated

that 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children were displaced from their homelands, families, and communities during this time.

Terrance Houle, a member of the Blood Tribe in southern Alberta, similarly investigates issues of racism through the residential schools system in Canada. Like his parents before him, Houle had been forced to attend a state-run residential school that was made from bricks from the IXL Brick & Tile factory built on Ojibwe land in 1886. The video shows the artist systematically and symbolically smashing clay bricks to the sound of his father’s rhythmic drumming and chanting.

For Jeffrey Gibson, a Choctaw-Cherokee artist, historical museum objects provide a link to the past and a means for exploring the traditional cultural practices of his ancestors. Wearing traditional clothing and playing traditional musical instruments, Native American participants use these objects to recall ancient cultural practices.

CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS TEXTILES

FROM AUSTRALIA’S TROPIC ZONE

Installed in the recently opened Council-run Court House Gallery adjacent to the Cairns Art Gallery, this exhibition showcases an extraordinary range of printed textiles created by Indigenous artists living in remote communities and working in Aboriginal-led Art Centres across the top end of Australia. Art Centres include Nagula Jarndu (Broome), Jilamara and Tiwi Designs (Tiwi Islands), Merrepen Arts (Daly River), Injalak (Gunbalanya), Bula’bula Arts (Ramingining), Babbarra Women’s Centre (Maningrida), Hopevale Arts and Cultural Centre (Hope Vale), Yarrabah Art Centre, and Erub Arts (Darnley Island).

The designs are based on traditional stories that have been passed down from one generation to the next. The contemporary adaptation by the artists demonstrates an exciting new development in artistic innovation and cultural renewal.

The exhibition has been co-curated by Kylie Burke and textile mentor and facilitator Bobbie Reuben, who has worked extensively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and art centres for many years.

Bobbie explains,

These textiles are in demand for national and international exhibitions and sought after by collecting and cultural institutions. They have won prestigious art and fashion awards, including the youth category of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, and Melbourne Cup’s Fashion On The Field.

While individuals who purchase and use the textiles comprise the largest market, the textiles have also found their way into bespoke high-profile design projects. They have been commissioned as artworks and soft furnishings for state art galleries, several luxury resorts and other public spaces. They have also been taken up by interior design companies for upholstered furniture, soft furnishings, wallpapers, and high-end homewares, they are sourced for couture and artisanal fashion designers and for Indigenous cultural performances.

Reuben, May 2021

Bobbie

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE COURT HOUSE GALLERY

William T Cooper AO (1934 – 2015) is nationally and internationally recognised as one of Australia’s most proficient and talented botanical and bird artists. His illustrations have been widely published and his works are held in collections in Australia and across the world, including an extensive holding in the National Library of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales. In 1992 the Academy of Natural Sciences Philadelphia USA presented Cooper with their gold medal for distinction in natural history art, and in 1994 he was awarded the Order of Australia for his contribution to art and natural history. In 2014 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Australian National University, Canberra.

The Cairns Art Gallery is delighted to present this extraordinary collection of paintings and sketches by William T Cooper in partnership with the National Library of Australia and State Library of NSW.

His wife Wendy has taken an active role as co-curator for this exhibition, selecting more than one hundred works that not only explore Cooper’s deep understanding and love of bird life, but also a large body of works that beautifully describe, in accurate detail, the flora that is

WILLIAM T COOPER BOTANICAL

ART OF THE TROPICAL RAINFOREST

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE STATE LIBRARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA.

their natural habitat. While the compositions are clearly aesthetically exquisite, it is the botanical and anatomical accuracy of both the plants and the bird life that each painting describes that has positioned Cooper as a contemporary botanical artist without equal.

It is important to understand that Wendy was a major contributor to the work of her life-long partner. In 1987, when they left their early marital home in Bungwahl in New South Wales, to live in Topaz on the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland, Wendy accepted Bill’s challenge which was to learn about the fruits and plants in the surrounding forests so that he might one day be able to use illustrations of them in his paintings of the birdlife that abounds in tropical rainforests. Wendy explains, Bill always wanted to tell a story in his paintings, with the botanical component as part of that story… Bill rarely painted plants as completed botanical illustrations…however hundreds of working drawings of plants were made opportunistically for potential use in his paintings. It was hoped that the stored drawings might reduce the need to dash out urgently to find plants relevant to a proposed painting.

IMAGE P 09 / 10

William T COOPER

Victoria’s Riflebirds (Ptilorus victoriae) 2013 acrylic on board 70 x 85 cm

Private collection, Queensland

RIGHT William T COOPER

Bumpy Satinash (Syzygium cormiflorum) 1980 pencil, ink, watercolour 68.8 x 50.7 cm (framed size)

Pictures Collection, National Library of Australia

For Wendy, the process of selecting works for this exhibition has allowed her to bring together more than just the bird paintings for which he is most famous.

It shows his drawing skill and that he drew from life, something he was passionate about, rather than working from photographs… I think it is interesting for audiences to see the artistic processes involved in taking a sketch to the state of a finished painting. I hope that audiences will enjoy seeing this process and gain enjoyment from seeing Bill’s drawing processes that are often accompanied by his notes.

This beautifully installed, contemplative exhibition pays homage not only to a master painter, but to an extraordinary man who, together with his life-long partner and ‘research assistant’ Wendy, revelled in the extraordinary diversity of flora and fauna in the tropics, taking pride and joy in capturing the wonders of this world in his paintings and sketches.

The Gallery is delighted that the exhibition coincides with the launch of a new book about William Cooper and his art. Written by his wife Wendy, and published by the National Library of Australia, The botanical art of William T Cooper took more than a year to write, with much of the time spent compiling and selecting works for illustration. For Wendy, writing this book has been a labour of love, a very special way of honouring the artist, and sharing with audiences around the world, the very special life of William. Speaking about her life with William she quietly says, ‘I was the very lucky girl who won Bill Cooper’s heart in 1976. From that time, beginning at Bungwahl in New South Wales, our lives were shared as we lived and worked together for 39 years.’

The botanical art of William T Cooper, and an exclusive range of new Gallery merchandise to celebrate the exhibition, will be available through the Gallery Shop.

LEFT

William T COOPER

Zamia Fern Bowenia spectabilis 1993 from A3 fruit sheet series

watercolour

State Library of New South Wales

IMAGE P 16

William T COOPER

Native Monstera Epipremnum amplissimum 1997-2000 from A3 fruit sheet series watercolour

State Library of New South Wales

Fri 27 Aug

EXHIBITION OPENING EVENT

6.00 - 8.30PM with Sean Dooley, Author of The Big Twitch & National Public Affairs Manager, BirdLife Australia

RSVP Via the Gallery website

Wed 1 Sept

EXHIBITION TALK

6.00 - 7.00PM

with Frank Zich, Collection Manager & Curator of the Australian Tropical Herbarium & CSIRO National Collections

Cost: $5 ($8 non-members) See page 38 for details and booking information

18, 19 Sept

MASTER CLASS: DRAWING & PAINTING BIRDS

9.30AM - 4.00PM

with Peter Marsack, Artist & Biologist

Cost: $350 ($400 non-members) See page 38 for details and booking information

6, 9, 11 Sept

BOTANICAL TOURS

AT THE CATTANA WETLANDS

8.30 - 10.00AM

with Sharren Wong, Botanist & Author

Each walk will have a different botanical focus

6 Sept: Regeneration

9 Sept: Fruiting Trees

11 Sept: Properties & Usefulness of Plants

Cost: $10 ($15 non-members) per walk See page 38 for details and booking information

Sun 26 Sept

BOTANICAL TOURS

AT CAIRNS CENTENARY LAKES

9.00 - 10.30AM with Tom Collis, Brian Venables & Mikey Kudo, Naturalists

A guided walk with three local naturalists who will share a wealth of knowledge about flora and fauna in tropical Queensland

Cost: $10 ($15 non-members) See page 38 for details and booking information

Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, TERMINUS is a ground-breaking virtual reality exhibition by New Zealand based artists Jess Johnson and Simon Ward.

TERMINUS takes the form of a mysterious universe of alien architecture populated by humanoid clones and cryptic symbols to be explored via a network of travellators and gateways. This is a mesmerising experience based on drawings by Johnson, transformed from analogue into digital by Ward, and set to a musical score by composer Andrew Clarke.

TERMINUS presents a quest, a choose-your-own adventure into the world of technology. Audiences are invited to prepare for a ‘slippage of time and space’ as they enter a fictional world of digital reality. The journey passes through five distinct realms, starting with Fleshold Crossing, before offering audiences respite in Known Unknown, and the opportunity to get lost in Scumm Engine before bravely facing impending danger in the tower of Gog & Magog. The final step of the journey has audiences teetering on the brink of

TERMINUS: JESS

JOHNSON AND SIMON

WARD

A NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA TOURING EXHIBITION

sensory overload as they enter the psychedelic scenes of Tumblewych. Here the truth is ultimately revealed – that what we believe to be reality is not fixed but infinitely malleable and multiple.

When TERMINUS was first presented in Canberra in 2018 it was described as ‘an experience that left visitors with their mouths hanging open’. This is the first time that a virtual reality exhibition has been presented in far north Queensland and the Gallery is thrilled to be part of its national tour.

National Gallery of Australia Curator: Jaklyn Babington.

IMAGE P 17

Jess JOHNSON

We Dream of Networks 2016 drawing in fibre-tip pen, fibre-tip markers and gouache © Jess Johnson, courtesy of Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney; Ivan Anthony Gallery, Auckland and Jack Hanley Gallery, New York. Image courtesy of the artist.

ABOVE

Jess JOHNSON and Simon WARD Terminus (still) 2017 - 2018

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra commissioned with the assistance of The Balnaves Foundation 2017, purchased 2018

© Jess Johnson and Simon Ward, courtesy of Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney; Ivan Anthony Gallery, Auckland and Jack Hanley Gallery, New York

PATRICIA PICCININI

SKYWHALES: EVERY HEART SINGS

A NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA TOURING EVENT

For the first time ever, Cairns audiences can experience first-hand two giant hot air balloon sculptures by internationally renowned artist Patricia Piccinini.

The National Gallery of Australia’s touring exhibition Skywhales: Every Hearts Sings, includes two balloon sculptures by Patricia Piccininithe famous Skywhale and a new companion work, Skywhalepapa. Together these works celebrate the extraordinary diversity of nature and raise complex questions about evolution and engendered parenting roles in today’s world.

Patricia Piccinini is an Australian artist who is internationally recognised for her extraordinary imagination and passion for creating research driven artworks that reside somewhere in the space between the real and the hyperreal. She has been a frequent visitor to far north Queensland and the Cairns Art Gallery.

In 2019 the Gallery presented an acclaimed solo exhibition of Patricia’s works that were created in response to the ecology, flora, and fauna of the far north tropical region. In 2020, and with the support of the Gallery Foundation, the Gallery purchased a major work from the exhibition entitled No Fear of Depths

No Fear of Depths will be presented in the niche gallery space from 28 August to 5 September. This is a deeply evocative work that encourages conversations around evolution, climate change and the future of our world. The artist describes it as a gentle work, ‘a scene of a young girl resting in the arms of some sort of marine animal that reminds us that we are nurtured by the nature around us.’

Information about the time and location of the Skywhales launch will be available on the Gallery website closer to the time.

IMAGE PP

Patricia PICCININI

Skywhalepapa 2020 and Skywhale 2013 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

© Patricia Piccinini

ABOVE

Patricia PICCININI

No Fear of Depths 2019

silicone, fibreglass, hair 120 x 110 x 150 cm

Purchased Cairns Art Gallery and Cairns Art Gallery Foundation, 2019 © Patricia Piccinini

ABOVE

ABOVE

Women Painting Country showcases landscape paintings by Indigenous artists who live in remote communities across the Cape and Gulf regions of far north Queensland. These artists are represented by art centres in Pormpuraaw, Mornington Island, Hope Vale, and Aurukun, and each has created new landscape works especially for this exhibition.

Pormpuraaw artist Beverley Holroyd, paints the stories she learned from her mother and father when she was a young girl walking for miles learning about the plants, wildlife, and sacred sites on her country.

Mornington Island artists Amanda and Dorothy Gabori, and Dolly and Amy Loogatha, similarly incorporate stories about their homeland in their landscape paintings of marine creatures, flora, and fauna on the island where they grew up.

Wanda Gibson, Gertie Deeral and Madge Brown are from Hopevale, a small community on the eastern coast of Cape York. Their paintings portray important landscape features, sacred sites, and historical events that took place on country during the time of first contact.

For Aurukun artists, Vera Koomeeta, Nita Yunkaporta and Sheryl Pamulkan May, painting the landscape keeps connection to country alive. Sheryl’s painting Pach Mo’an tells the story of the shooting star, which is one of her totems and the story is located on her mother’s country near Aurukun.

This beautiful exhibition is testament to the imagination, knowledge and passion of women artists who live and work in Indigenous communities across far north Queensland.

MALIJAH CATHY SNOW BARLAWINK,

MY MOTHERS COUNTRY

Cathy Snow was born into the Gkuathaarn clan in Normanton, in the Gulf of Carpentaria. She spent her childhood on Magowra Station, on her mother’s country. Her bush name, Malijah, means lightning and comes from her grandmother’s dreaming. Later in life she leaned that her grandfather’s name meant floodwaters. This knowledge inspired her to create artworks about water and water themes, including salt and freshwater mussels, water birds and plants, and the complex patterning of tidal water marks.

Cathy says that her art was ‘a long time hidden’ because of her lack of confidence and uncertainty about ‘where to start’.

I gathered my courage after attending an art workshop in 2006 by my good friend and artist, Margaret Henry. I thank Margaret and Bonnie Elford who assisted me in readying my work for my first exhibition and giving me the confidence. Cathy’s most recent works are contemporary interpretations of traditional stories and songs. However, she is quick to point out that they are based on her mother’s stories, which she learned as a girl while walking the Gulf country around Burketown and Karumba.

For Cathy, the ability to share her stories and culture through her art, particularly with her children and grandchildren, is profoundly important and rewarding.

My art allows me to express my culture, my love of and connection with the land. The use of my trademark colours, red and black, express my appreciation for the land, the sea, and my youth.

Cathy is also passionate about sharing culture and stories with wider audiences and says that every day she is excited by the challenges of creating a new artwork which can inspire other Indigenous artists to follow their dreams and keep their culture strong.

freshwater mussels

Cairns artist Amanda Emmett explores hidden realities of our world in transition. For her, the environment determines how we feel, react, respond, and make choices. It is a fragile determinant that controls social behaviour and what we consume, use, divest of as rubbish, and pass onto the next generations as a legacy of our time in this world.

Emmett’s beautifully detailed paintings focus on life forms that are barely surviving the threats that human increasingly pose to them.

Insatiable Armada reflects on the ravenous devouring of Great Barrier Reef coral by the Crown of Thorns starfish, while Yearning for Bees is a commentary on the effects of pesticides and increasingly compromised levels of fertility in humans.

Amanda grew up in a family of professional artists and, at a very young age, was encouraged to explore what lies beneath the surface - to give feeling, form and function to abstract emotions and concepts. She describes this as ‘revealing what we do not see but know’ and says this is the basis of her art practice.

AMANDA EMMETT NEW WORKS

I am mostly inspired by nature and experiences and try to convey how being in a certain environment makes us feel, the dilemmas, disturbing truths, and repercussions of the choices we make in our social behaviour, what we consume, and the pollution we create.

Many of us are feeling the heavy burden of our planet’s health, some are feeling overwhelmed, some want to ignore it and turn away when faced with negative images and angry demanding slogans

By presenting ‘heavy’ subjects in a beautiful way, through images such as the Pink Underwing Moth, the artist hopes that people will experience positive and uplifting emotions that will encourage them work together to take positive actions leading to remedy and renewal.

Sat 16 Oct

ARTIST TALK, 2.00PM with Amanda Emmett RSVP via the Gallery website

RIGHT Amanda EMMETT INSATIABLE ARMADA (detail) 2021 acrylic on aluminium Courtesy of the artist

Cairns Art Gallery is thrilled to be extending its support of regional artists through three Artist Fellowship Awards valued at $7,500 each, enabling artists to produce a new body of work, and leading to a solo exhibition at the Gallery. This exciting new initiative has been made possible through the generous support of the Cairns RSL Club. The intent of the Fellowships is to support artists to take their artistic practice across all media to a new level, and to increase exposure of their work to regional and national audiences. Artists who were awarded the inaugeral Artists Fellowships in 2020 were Janet Fieldhouse, Mahar Gorospe-Lockie and Francesca Rosa.

Shortlisted artists for this year’s Fellowship Awards will present a new work in the Gallery’s 2022 acquisitive exhibition, FNQ Contemporaries. The judging panel will comprise the Cairns Art Gallery Director, independent curator and artist, Brian Robinson, and Angela Goddard, Director, Griffith University Art Museum.

ARTIST FELLOWSHIP AWARDS

VALE ARONE RAYMOND MEEKS

Arone (Raymond) Meeks (1957-2021) was born in Sydney but grew up in Cairns. He was a Kuku Midigi man with cultural connection to the Laura region of Cape York Peninsula. In the 1980s, as an art student in Canberra, he met Banduk Marika who introduced him to printmaking and the famous ceramicist, Thancoupie, who spiritually adopted him and gave him his tribal name Arone (Black Crane) during his initiation in 1988 on country in Laura. In the 1990s he moved back to Cairns where he lived until his recent passing in May 2021.

Much has been written about Arone Meeks’s art and the profound influence he has had on Indigenous art in Australia. He was a passionate advocate for his people, a proud and gifted artist, and a warm and loving friend and colleague. Working across painting, sculpture and printmaking from his home studio in Cairns he frequently took on multiple commissions, including teaching and education projects, community art projects, private and public art commissions, children’s book illustrations, and artistic residencies. He was a founding member of the famous Boomalli Aboriginal Artists’ Co-operative that was formed in 1987 to challenge preconceptions around urban-based Aboriginal artists.

Arone’s art practice has been described as deeply intuitive and based on a quest for defining shifting interpretations of cultural identity. He described this process as ‘hunting for lost pieces of myself.’

Arone’s works are held in private and public collections, including the Cairns Art Gallery’s Permanent Collection and in 2021 Arone completed new works for the 2021 FNQ Contemporaries exhibition. The resulting ‘blue’ works are an extraordinary series and were to be the beginning of a much longer journey to trace his family lineage. In an interview with Gallery curator Peggy Kasabad Lane, he describes the series as a journey from Laura to Cairns - a journey of discovery, of identity, and of exotic birds, snakes and butterflies, especially the Queen Alexandria Bird Wing butterfly, that are found along the way. The butterfly had particular significance for Arone as it was first identified and recorded by his great grandfather Albert Meek. It is internationally known for its immense size and striking blue colour – the blue that features in the artist’s final works.

Arone Meeks was larger than life, yet he was always modest and generous. While much of his work is about identity, above all he was was an explorer, a storyteller, and a visionary.

IMAGE

Arone Raymond MEEKS

Kuku Midigi people Evidence 2021 mixed media on canvas Courtesy of the artist

ABOVE

Dr Lisa Slade, Assistant Director, Artistic Programs, Art Gallery of South Australia and artist Ben Quilty in conversation at the Cairns Art Gallery Foundation gala dinner.

Image: Blue Click Photography / Veronica Sagredo

CAIRNS ART GALLERY

foundation

Established in 2000, the Gallery Foundation plays a central role in supporting the Gallery to achieve its vision. Over the years, the Foundation has raised money to acquire works for the Collection that articulate, celebrate and comment on our special place in the world’s tropic zone.

The Foundation’s annual fundraising gala dinner has become a must-do event in the social and cultural life of Cairns. The 2021 dinner was no exception. More than 180 guests shared an evening of fabulous food, wine, and creative fund-raising activities. The evening’s special guest was the extraordinarily talented artist, Ben Quilty. His support, through an impromptu auctioning of on-the-spot portraits was wonderful and contributed significantly to reaching the fundraising target on the night.

I am thrilled to confirm that important works by Janet Fieldhouse, Alair Pambegan and Heather Koowootha have been acquired from the RITUAL exhibition with funds raised by the Foundation.

Janet Fieldhouse was born in Cairns in 1971 and has cultural connection to Mer in the Torres Strait. She studied at Cairns TAFE before moving to Canberra where she was awarded two degrees from the School of Art at the Australian National University. She is renowned for her ceramic and fibre

works based on women’s traditional adornment practices. Ten objects from her much larger installation have been acquired for the Collection. Heather Koowootha was also born in Cairns. Her works are inspired by knowledge passed down to her from her mother’s Yidinji culture, and her father’s Wik Mangkan culture. Heather’s work explores the significance of local native flora, including their medicinal and magical properties. Handwritten texts incorporated into her paintings explain the use of plants in traditional women’s ceremonies.

Alair Pambegan lives and works in Aurukun and is from the Wik Mangkan language group. His striking paintings explore the use of body painting patterns and totems. Using striking red, black and white linear patterns, Alair uses natural ochres sourced from locations shown to him as a young boy by his father.

Finally, a huge thank you to all our wonderful donors for your support in keeping our Permanent Collection strong for future generations.

Lea Ovaska Chair, Cairns Art Gallery Foundation

Wed 1 Sept

GUEST SPEAKER SERIES

with Frank Zich, Australian Tropical Herbarium & CSIRO National Collections

6.00 - 7.00pm $5 ($8 non-members)

Frank Zich will share his experiences as the Collection Manager and Curator of the Australian Tropical Herbarium & CSIRO National Collections. In this role Frank curates and maintains current taxonomic concepts in the Collection as well as developing the Public Reference Collection. Frank also conducts small taxonomic projects, and is responsible for development and maintenance of the rainforest plant identification system ‘Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants’.

RSVP Via the Gallery website

6, 9, 11 Sept

CATTANA WETLANDS GUIDED TOURS

with Sharren Wong, Botanist & Author

Monday 6 September: Regeneration

Thursday 9 September: Fruiting Trees

Saturday 11 September: Properties & Uses of Plants

Adults (16+ years)

8.30 – 10.00am $10/pp for each date ($15 for non-members)

Botanist and author, Sharren Wong will conduct three tours through the Cattana Wetlands, each with a different botanical focus. Wong was instrumental in lobbying Council to develop a plan for this area and was a founding member of ‘the Jabirus’ a group of volunteers who continue to maintain the wetlands. Sharren is also the author of A Walking Guide of the Trees of Cattana Wetlands.

RSVP Via the Gallery website

MASTER CLASS DRAWING & PAINTING BIRDS

with Peter Marsack, Artist & Biologist

9.30am – 4.00pm // 30 minute lunch break Adults (16+ years) $350 ($400 non-members)

This master class is an exclusive opportunity to be tutored by artist and biologist Peter Marsack who has worked for the past 25 years as a freelance natural history and art illustrator who in 2003 was a prize winner in the inaugural Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize. Peter has also collaborated with ACT naturalist and author Ian Fraser on A Bush Capital Year, an illustrated natural history of Canberra across the seasons (CSIRO Publishing 2011).

Please see the Gallery website for more details

18 & 19 Sep Sun 26 Sept

CENTENARY LAKES GUIDED TOURS

with Tom Collis, Brian Venables, Mikey Kudo, Naturalists

Adults (16+ years)

9.00 - 10.30am $10 ($15 for non-members)

This is a guided walk with three local naturalists who each bring in their own expertise and will collectively share a wealth of knowledge about flora and fauna in tropical Queensland.

RSVP Via the Gallery website

ADULT ART CLASSES

BOTANICAL DRAWING & PAINTING

WITH JULIE MCENERNY, ARTIST

Mondays, 5.30 – 7.30pm 6, 13, 20, 27 September 2021

$130 ($150 non-members)

Concentrating on a different plant specimen each week, artist Julie McEnerny will guide the group in developing botanical drawing and painting skills to create accurate artistic representations of plants using professional grade watercolour pencils. Suitable for beginners.

DRAWING & MIXED MEDIA

WITH MARNIE AWRAM, ARTIST

Mondays, 5.30 – 7.30pm 11, 18, 25 October, 1 November 2021

$120 ($140 non-members)

This mixed media drawing course is suitable for beginners to practice and develop the skills and techniques of combining mixed media and drawing. Learn about developing concept and work on a weekly study before completing a final work on canvas, board or paper.

6 - 27 Sept 11 Oct - 1 Nov 16 Oct

CONSTRUCT A NESTING BOX OR BIRD FEEDER

WITH JOH SCHOUTEN, ARTIST

Saturday, 10.30am – 3.00pm 16 October 2021

$120 ($140 non-members)

Experienced craftsman Joh Schouten will guide the class in building bird feeder or nesting box using reclaimed wood. This fun course is suitable for beginners and will give those with no prior experience the opportunity to learn simple construction and wood-working skills. Learn simple construction and tool handling techniques.

STILL LIFE WITH PASTELS WITH SUE SCHREIBER, ARTIST

Mondays, 5.30 – 7.30pm 8, 15, 22, 29 November 2021 $120 ($140 non-members)

In this 4-week course learn the skills and techniques that make a still life drawing pop as both a realistic representation of the subject and a pleasing and dynamic composition, making the most of line, shape and tone using pastels on paper.

8 - 29 Nov 8 - 29 Nov

JEWELLERY WORKSHOP: SILVER, COPPER, BRASS WITH LIVIE ROSE, ARTIST

Saturday, 1.00 – 4.00pm 13 November 2021 $120 ($140 non-members)

Release your inner designer under the expert guidance of silversmith Livie Rose. basic metalsmith techniques required to cut, shape and texture brass, copper and silver into your very own earring design. This workshop will be open to only six participants with brass, copper and silver for one pair of earrings supplied. Extra silver can be purchased from the artist (sold by weight) on the day.

GALLERY ART SCHOOL TERM 4

Oct - 16 Nov

LEVEL 1 ART SKILLS 5 - 7 YEARS

WITH MARIAN WOLFS, ARTIST & KEELIE NICHOLLS, ARTIST

3.45 – 4.45pm $80 ($95 non-members) / 6 week term Term 4: 12, 19, 26 October, 2, 9, 16 November

A wonderful introduction to art skills designed for children in early primary school. Creating art has been proven to assist in creative and critical thinking in core subjects such as maths, science, and language. The exhibitions on display are used to inspire the development of creative skills and give children a sense of achievement and pride in their creations.

Oct - 15 Nov

LEVEL 1 BRIDGING CLASS DRAWING & PAINTING 6 - 9 YEARS

WITH MARIAN WOLFS, ARTIST

Mondays, 3.30 – 5.00pm $105 ($125 non-members) / 6 week term Term 4: 11, 18, 25 October, 1, 8, 15 November

Level 1 Bridging Class is perfect for students wishing to further their level 1 skills before moving up to Level 2. The class is 30 minutes longer than Level 1 and focuses primarily on the development of drawing and painting skills. This class is open to students aged 6-9 years, however students aged 6 will need to have completed at least one term in Level 1 prior to enrolling in this class.

Oct - 17 Nov

LEVEL 2

WATERCOLOUR PAINTING 8 - 11 YEARS

WITH JIM REA, TEACHER

Wednesdays, 3.30 – 5.00pm $105 ($125 non-members) / 6 week term Term 4: 13, 20, 27 October, 3, 10, 17 November

Visual arts teacher Jim Rea will teach watercolour painting skills such as composition, colour and creating texture. This class will be fast paced as a new technique will be discussed and taught each week.

Oct - 18 Nov

LEVEL 3

PAINTING AND MIXED MEDIA 11 - 14 YEARS

Thursdays, 3.30 – 5.00pm $105 ($125 non-members) / 6 week term Term 4: 14, 21, 28 October, 4, 11, 18 November

Level 3 students will concentrate on incorporating mixed media into their acrylic paintings and will work through creating an artwork from developing a concept through to completing a frameable artwork.

SEPTEMBER 2021 SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAM

Mon 20 Sept

BOTANICAL BANNER

WITH HAYLEY GILLESPIE, ARTIST

10.00 - 11.30am ages 4 - 7 years $18 ($21 non-members)

Create a colourful botanical banner using real leaves, petals and natural found objects. Let your creativity run wild to create a unique composition which will finished off with dowel & string, ready to be hung at home.

BOTANICAL WATERCOLOURS

WITH HAYLEY GILLESPIE, ARTIST

1.00 – 3.00pm ages 8 – 12 years $21 ($26 non-members)

Be inspired by William T Cooper and create a botanical painting using watercolours on artist grade paper.

Tue 21 Sept

SOCK BIRDS

WITH HAYLEY GILLESPIE, ARTIST

10.00am – 12.00pm ages 7 - 12 years $21 ($26 non-members)

Create a sock bird, before using feathers, wool and found objects to give your bird personality. Will your bird be wild and woolly or a true to life sculpture?

BIRD DRAWING IN GLUE AND PASTEL

WITH HAYLEY GILLESPIE, ARTIST

1.00 – 3.00pm ages 5 - 8 years

$18 ($21 non-members)

Choose your favourite Hayley Gillespie cute and quirky bird drawing as a starting point for your own creation. Visit the William T Cooper exhibition before using your fingers to blend chalk pastels to complete your artwork.

Wed 22 Sept

TERMINUS DRAWING WORKSHOP

WITH CARL STEFFAN, ARTIST & TEACHER

10.00 – 11.30am ages 7 – 10 years $18 ($21 non-members)

TERMINUS is an immersive, virtual-reality exhibition, the first of its kind to visit Cairns. Much of the exhibition is created using geometric patterns. In this workshop, the group will visit Terminus before creating their own intricate patterns using pencil and felts on paper.

DIGITAL DRAWING WORKSHOP

WITH CARL STEFFAN, ARTIST & TEACHER

1.00 – 3.00pm ages 11 – 14 years $21 ($26 non-members)

TERMINUS is an immersive, virtual-reality exhibition, the first of its kind to visit Cairns. Much of the exhibition is created using geometric patterns. In this workshop, the group will visit TERMINUS before using iPads to create their own detailed, geometric work using Procreate software.

Thur 23 Sept

BOTANICAL

DRAWING

WITH YIXY RUAN, ARTIST

10.00 – 11.30am ages 7 – 10 years $18 ($21 non-members) or

1.00 – 3.00pm ages 11 – 14 years $21 ($26 non-members)

Using imitation as inspiration is a wonderful way to further your art skills. In this workshop, you will study the intricate botanical works of William T Cooper before choosing a work to focus on and using your observational skills to accurately render your own version using pencil on paper.

Mon 27 Sept

LANDSCAPE PAINTING WITH A 3D TWIST

WITH HAYLEY GILLESPIE, ARTIST

10.00 – 11.30am ages 5 – 8 years $18 ($21 non-members)

1.00 – 3.00pm ages 9 – 12 years $21 ($26 non-members)

Get creative with acrylics and design a unique landscape scene with trees, plants, and flowers inspired by the botanical works of William T Cooper. Complete your landscape by adding a three-dimensional twist when you add a bird to perch in your picture.

Tue 28 Sept

COLLAGED WALL HANGING

WITH HAYLEY GILLESPIE, ARTIST

10.00 – 11.30am ages 5 - 8 years

$18 ($21 non-members)

Go crazy and let your imagination run wild while decorating and collaging to create a funky bird on heavy card which can be hung on the wall.

HANGING BIRD PUPPET

WITH HAYLEY GILLESPIE, ARTIST

1.00 – 3.30pm ages 8 - 12 years

$21 ($26 non-members)

Design and make a hanging bird puppet using card, paint and fishing line on dowel under the guidance of popular artist Hayley Gillespie.

Wed 29 Sept

WOODEN BIRD FEEDER

WITH JOH SCHOUTEN, ARTIST

10.00am – 12.30pm ages 10 – 14 years $31 ($36 for non-members)

Work (safely) with woodworking tools using reclaimed and recycled wood to make a bird feeder to hang in the garden.

ASSEMBLAGE

WITH JOH SCHOUTEN, ARTIST

10.00 – 11.30am ages 7 - 9 years $26 ($31 for non-members)

Bring your imagination and get ready to work outside the box to create a sculptural assemblage artwork using recycled wood, bits of metal and other found objects. You will have the opportunity to use a selection of woodworking tools under the supervision of experienced craftsman Joh Schouten.

Thur 30 Sept

FLORAL STILL-LIFE PAINTING

YIXY RUAN, ARTIST

10.00 – 11.30am ages 7 – 10 years $18 ($21 non-members) or

1.00 – 3.30pm ages 11 – 14 years $21 ($26 non-members)

Use watercolour paint on artist-grade paper to capture the form and complexity of colour in a floral still-life arrangement.

CAIRNS ART GALLERY SHOP

L-R: Arthur Roughsey, Thuwathu, digital print on linen // Maria Josette Orsto, Wings (Waves), screenprint on hemp,courtesy of Tiwi Designs

CAIRNS ART GALLERY SHOP

Katherine Mahony Ceramics, Botanical Revelation, The Botanical Art of William T Cooper

CAIRNS ART GALLERY