Artel #10 Spring/Summer 2023

A Members’ Magazine

Spring/Summer

Biannual

AR T EL ARTE L

ARTEL

Biannual #10 Spring/Summer 2023

MRAG

Located on Wonnarua Country at the gateway to the Hunter Valley in Maitland New South Wales, Maitland Regional Art Gallery presents awardwinning exhibitions and events alongside engaging and varied public programs, educational offerings, and an in-depth Arts Health program.

230 High Street, Maitland, NSW 2320

Open: Tues–Sun 10am–5pm Ph: 02 4934 9859

E: artgallery@maitland.nsw.gov.au mrag.org.au

MAITLAND REGIONAL ART GALLERY AND ITS MEMBERS ACKNOWLEDGE THE WONNARUA PEOPLE AS THE TRADITIONAL OWNERS AND CUSTODIANS OF THE LAND UPON WHICH THE GALLERY STANDS.

MRAGM

Maitland Regional Art Gallery Members. The vibrant community of MRAG supporters who, through their membership and fundraising, help sustain the Gallery’s creative learning programs. Represented by volunteers on the MRAGM Committee, elected annually.

ARTEL

‘Artel’ is of Russian origin and refers to an arts or crafts co-operative. The ‘Artel of Artists’ (1863) was formed by a group of St Petersburg Academy of Arts students who’d rebelled against the rules of its annual art competition.

COVER IMAGE

Dhopiya Yunupiŋu, Galiku Buŋul (Cloth Dance), 2022 (detail), natural earth pigments on string bark. Dhopiya Yunupiŋu is represented by Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney

ARTEL 04

Friends of MRAG

Leah Riches

Sarah Crawford

Catherine Kingsmill

Amanda Galbraith

David Williams

Joey Hespe

Penny Lee

Terry Smith

Richard Fletcher

Council Representative Cr Sally Halliday

Gallery Director Gerry Bobsien

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without written permission from MRAGM. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information and to secure copyright permissions, we apologise for any oversights, which we will correct in future issues. All images © the artists.

IMAGE

Tim Maguire, Untitled 20060907, 2006 Oil on canvas, 220 × 200cm

Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Tim Maguire, 2022

WELCOME

We invite you to explore the Gallery through these pages. Read about our members, our program of events, artist insights and our collection.

One of the best things about our Gallery is the community we are part of and the audience that brings our building to life day by day. This issue of Artel highlights some of our wonderful members and partners bringing exhibitions to you from community and volunteer run organisations like the Australian Museum of Clothing and Textiles (AMCAT).

We’ve also popped in a few stories featuring some major new exhibitions scheduled for the second half of 2023 and highlighted new acquisitions and insights into our collection. Our collection continues to grow through new acquisitions and wonderful benefactors and this year we are proud to launch a publication highlighting some of the work in the collection - stay tuned for a member’s launch of this new book called, very appropriately, Shared.

As members, we have an expanded program of benefits for you and we look forward to presenting these over the next few months. It’s all here in this new issue of Artelwe hope you enjoy it!

Gerry Bobsien, Gallery Director

CROWNLAND

CrownLand began as a conversation between artists. A conversation that shifted and turned a few times moving between issues that punctuate public and private life consistently. This exhibition is filled with complex conversations that are as nuanced and idiosyncratic as the communities we live in. It is also filled with affectionate humour and grim irony. It was a project conceived long before a referendum for The Voice was announced and we have no doubt it will be a lightning rod for discussion and commentary.

The artists in this exhibition are Karla Dickens, Megan Cope, Vincent Namatjira, Ben Quilty, Andrew Quilty and Jake Chapman. With each artist offering different perspectives on a complex subject. From the work of UK based artist Jake Chapman aflame with punk humour and rage to the powerfully sad and beautiful maps of the ancestral country of Megan Cope. For Ben Quilty and Vincent Namatjira, this was a project that brought them together in the studio:

A few days after Queen Elizabeth II died, Vinnie came to my studio. We’d been planning to make paintings together since before Covid. As he walked through the door, he told me he wouldn’t be needing to paint the Queen anymore “Never again,” he said. “Now we’ll paint the King.”

We spent a week discussing the world, what the Queen’s death meant and how we both fit into modern day Australia, a country we both call home. We made paintings, ate, slept, and made paintings again and again. Vincent told me stories of his life, filled with humour but often cloaked in sadness. He worked from 7am every morning, coffee and a cigarette beside him, exploring a brand-new era of a regal dynasty on the other side of the planet; paintings about a family that had indirectly wrought a profound impact on the trajectory of Vincent’s own family. We laughed about his dog, a “desert corgi” and talked about his Grandfather and the legacy that old man left after he died, a few years older than I am now.

We discussed how our art allowed us to have a voice in big discussions – Ben Quilty.

Vincent’s voice is a powerful force in this exhibition and his words are echoed throughout:

Queen Elizabeth met my Great Grandfather Albert Namatjira in 1954 and awarded him the Queen’s Coronation Medal. This connection between my family history and the British Royal family is the reason why l’ve made so many paintings of the Queen and the royal family. When the Queen passed away I spent a lot of time reflecting on her connection to my family, especially the fact that she lived to 96, while my great-grandfather passed away when he was only 57. Personally I’d like to see Indigenous leaders and heroes past and present have the same level of recognition and respect that the royal family does – Vincent Namatjira.

The dialogue within the exhibition is underpinned by new work created by Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens alongside a

Vincent Namatjira and Ben Quilty The Crown, 2022 (detail) oil on linen, 202 × 265cm

Image courtesy of the artists.

AUGUST 26 — 5 NOVEMBER 2023

powerful project honouring the Wonnarua elders and Queens of the Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Land Council women’s group. This project was an invitation to local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to work with Karla to reimagine their own powerful status within our community. As Dr Lisa Slade writes in the accompanying exhibition essay:

The weight of the colonial crown is subverted in a project led by Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens, who poses the seemingly simple question of ‘who wears a crown?’ to the women of the Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Land Council. The answer is a dramatic series of performative photographs, in which local Elders, including those young and emerging, are adorned by self-made crowns that carry Country. Shells, feathers, seeds and string assert a new/ancient sovereignty and supplant the stolen gemstones of Commonwealth crowns.

This exhibition has been two years in development and made possible through the generous contributions of the artists and members of our community. Please join us as we invite you to step into the corridors of CrownLand and move within its complex world.

Gerry Bobsien, Gallery Director

FAR LEFT Megan Cope

YARABINDJA BUDJURUNG II, 2021 Lithograph on BFK rives paper, 5 panels: 105 x 75 cm each, 105 × 365cm overall. Edition of 10 plus 2 artist’s proofs.

Photo: Carl Warner. Courtesy the Artist and Milani Gallery

LEFT

Karla Dickens

Aunty Marge Westall – Wonnarua ElderOur much loved, respected, appreciated and oldest living Wonnarua Elder, 2023 digital photograph, 150 × 100cm photographer: Clare Hodgins

BOTTOM Karla Dickens Terror nullis, 2023 mixed media, 41 × 64.5cm image courtesy the artist

SLEEP MY HORSE… 5 AUGUST 1956

This summer, Maitland Regional Art Gallery will host a solo exhibition by the celebrated contemporary artist, Noel McKenna. Only once before have MRAG audiences had the delight of seeing Noel’s work at the Gallery. In 2020, three pieces were exhibited as a part of The Elliott Eyes Collection - two ceramic works and one oil painting on board. These works were exemplary of Noel’s style and medium, which spans across painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, and for this particular exhibition, installation.

Opening in November, Sleep my horse... 5 August 1956 makes a direct reference to the artist’s date of birth. This very personal moment in time, points towards a major theme of this show which sees the artist take us, the audience, on an idiosyncratic journey across the 67 years of Noel’s life to date.

He says of the exhibition:

‘It’s a contemplation of things that have come about or have not come about or what may come about or what may never come about.’

Noel is a keen observer of the world around him. His watchful eye gleans

inspiration from all that passes within his orbit - Instagram posts; cast off items in the street; a garden fence; the pets we love; the monuments we build; the houses we live in, and the countless ordinary things and moments that surround us.

Noel poignantly captures this obsession and focus for the everyday by stating:

‘It is ordinary to love the sublime, but it is sublime to love the ordinary.’

Noel turns that observer’s eye inward to reflect on the artist’s own life from his childhood to the present day. Items that Noel has collected and lovingly kept throughout his life appear in the guise of what he refers to as his ‘relics’. The duality of the meaning of the term ‘relic’ is important here, as it references not only the physical remnants from the artist’s past, but also those of personal and religious significance, as a nod to his childhood and his Catholic upbringing.

One such relic is a postcard recently sent to MRAG by Noel from New York. The postcard depicts one of Noel’s favourite artworks

Artist Noel McKenna in his studio

Photography by Anthony Clare

and represents a specific moment in time - a travel memento from a working holiday in his favourite city. The postcard made its journey across the world, and when received it was read by MRAG staff at the gallery (all while wearing white gloves!). It was then photographed, catalogued and whisked away to the gallery’s storage, waiting for its moment to become part of the artist’s solo exhibition in the gallery.

This simple gesture, in the form of an inexpensive travel memento, the postcard, is transformed into an item of much greater significance. Noel’s humble postcard offers unexpected pause

NOEL MCKENNA

an interior scene ladened with personal commentaries on the things and creatures that surround the artist such as cats; a replica of his own work Jumping off Pier hanging upon a wall; architectural references such as windowsills and birdhouses; ceramics pieces placed delicately on the shelf; all pointing to the many facets of Noel’s creative practice.

for thought, as does each ‘relic’ purposefully selected for this solo exhibition.

Noel has ridden a bicycle for much of his life and naturally, it has been the subject of many of his artworks. For this exhibition, the bicycle will be represented via a personal encounter with the author David Malouf. Other personal objects will be drawn directly from Noel’s family life, such as family photographs of his two boys Felix and Emile, the children’s teeth that Noel has collected and kept in a small bottle for over 30 years, and of course, there will be more conventional Noel McKenna artworks! Audrey + Decimus is one such work. Depicting

Cats I have known, an ink on paper work is a tender reflection in list form of some of the cats Noel has met during his lifetime. The list format of this work foregrounds Noel’s handwriting, which is a popular artistic device within his oeuvre. It’s also a clear marker of identity that we see reverberate across this entire exhibition Sleep my horse ……... 5 August 1956 which gives a glimpse into the artist Noel McKenna’s life, and confirms for us, once again, that he is anything but ordinary.

Maree Skene, Sleep my horse... 5 August 1956 Curatorial Assistant & Visitor Engagement Officer

TOP IMAGE

Noel McKenna, Audrey + Decimus, 2020 oil on canvas, 160.5 × 160cm

TOUCHING AND TURNING

Known for her thoughtprovoking photographic and video performances that examine social encounters, Cherine Fahd’s exhibition, Touching and turning continues to explore and resolve the impact of touch on humanity, during and post the 2020 pandemic.

Through her unique perspective and artistic lens, Touching and turning consists of three innovative works, Held, A Proxy for One Thousand Eyes and a new work Touch on Repeat, currently in the making, created especially for this exhibition. Against the backdrop of recent societal changes due to Covid-19, Cherine examines touch and intimacy through participatory performances – fuelling discussions on human interaction and the significance of expression and connection.

Cherine describes the impetus for Held as ‘the hesitancy around who you could and couldn’t touch’, during the pandemic. Held highlights the complexities around the compliance and alienation of human

connection during a time where touching a stranger was a great risk to one’s health and life. Incorporating a ten-channel video installation, the artist affectionately embraces friends and family, envisaging ‘being-with’ and ‘being-together’ after periods of social distancing. Two people hold each other tight, barely moving, appearing as statues upon a rotating stage. Close viewing of the videos reveals the artist and coperformer negotiating each other’s bodies, adjusting proximity, posture, and the entanglement of arms.

Similar themes are explored in A Proxy for One Thousand Eyes – the 2020 work commissioned by the Sydney Opera House as a response to the pandemic. The performance itself focuses on social distancing and its alienating impact on communal gathering. Shielded by vinyl plastic, complete with the ritual of hand sanitising, fifty friends, acquaintances, and strangers to Cherine act as touching playmates. The negotiating of bodies

CHERINE FAHD

through plastic screens echoes the reality of our collective lived experience during this historically significant time.

The language of ‘proxemics’ that Cherine refers to in the title, A Proxy for One Thousand Eyes, is the study of the spatial relationships and interactions between individuals, considering factors such as personal space, territory, and the ways in which humans navigate and respond to the presence of others. Proximity as a term captures how we perceive, use, and manage space in social contexts, and how this affects our sense of comfort, privacy, and interpersonal dynamics.

Cherine’s artistic practice opens dialogues on the power of representation and the complexity of human connections and social presence. Through her innovative approach to performance and photography, she captures the essence of humanity, and challenges viewers to re-examine their perceptions of human connection, touch, and the world around them.

Joey Hespe, Gallery Officer

Documentation from the performance A Proxy for a Thousand Eyes, 2020 and featured in the video Play Proximus, 2020-2021

Image credit: Pamela Pirovic

COLLECTING IN COLOUR:

STORIES OF FASHION AND ART

As winter draws to a close, we are delighted to present Collecting in Colour: Stories of Fashion and Art, a collaborative exhibition between Maitland Regional Art Gallery and the Australian Museum of Clothing and Textiles (AMCAT). Connecting the two diverse collections for the first time, this exhibition will showcase historical garments spanning from the late 19th century right through to the new millennium, alongside some of MRAG’s recent acquisitions and treasured works from the collection.

Based in Maitland, AMCAT was founded in 2005 and now has over 6000 textile garments in its collection. Founded by Maitland local

Nell Pyle OAM, AMCAT was initially developed from her own personal collection of clothing. Gradually the collection has continued to expand to include community donations, some of which have state or national significance. AMCAT continues to operate from Maitland’s Brough House and is managed by a group of dedicated team of volunteers, all who have the common goal of preserving the history and legacy of the clothing and textile industry and for this important collection to be made accessible to the public. Being the first textile exhibition of its kind to be presented at MRAG, staff were initially challenged by the method of which

would allow the AMCAT collection to be displayed in the most seamless way. Turning to the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney for knowledge and inspiration, gallery staff and volunteers have been on a journey behind the scenes learning and creating ‘Fosshape’ mannequins.

Fosshape is a low melt polyester fabric very similar in appearance to felt. Heating with steam causes the material to harden and mould to a shape or form, such as a dressmaker’s mannequin. Once the basic form has been created, it then requires customisation, often including cutting away excess fabric and adding padding with the aim that it will sit invisibly beneath the

garment it is supporting. Our goal was to create a minimum of 20 Fosshape mannequins for Collecting in Colour, which was no easy task, as each one would take at least one hour to make. Despite the steep learning curve and time-consuming production time, we are well on the way to achieving this goal in time for the exhibition.

Collecting in Colour: Stories of Fashion and Art has also provided fabulous opportunity for this historical textiles to be presented alongside some of MRAG’s more colourful and contemporary works from its collection such as Ildiko Kovacs, Nyarapayi Giles, Dani Marti, Sydney

Ball, George Barker, John Coburn, Euan Macleod, Timothy Maguire, and Col Jordan. These works will surround an eclectic array of textiles, from evening gowns from the 1940s - 1970s to bridesmaids’ dresses and outfits worn to weddings, to a child’s cape from the late 1800s. Memories imprinted within these garments will be given an alternative story, casting them in a new light.

Nell’s wish was for the AMCAT collection to be accessible to the public and this exhibition does just that. Collecting in Colour: Stories of Fashion and Art offers a unique opportunity for visitors to immerse themselves into a

world full of colour, where stories are unravelled, and connections and histories are stitched together.

Anna Buxton Soldal, Curatorial Assistance and Gallery Officer

FACING PAGE

Euan Macloud, Large Flowing Figure, 19981999 (installation view). Maitland Regional Art Gallery Collection. Figure in the photograph is wearing a 1970s jumpsuit from the Australian Museum of Clothing and Textiles Collection

TOP LEFT

Gallery Officer Jenny Hunter and MRAG Volunteer Nerryn Bennett preparing for the exhibition displays for the Collecting in Colour: Stories of Fashion and Art exhibition

TOP RIGHT

MRAG Gallery Officer Jenny Hunter making Fosshape mannequins in preparation for the Collecting in Colour: Stories of Fashion and Art exhibition

WHERE THE SEEDS GROW

9 SEPTEMBER — 19 NOVEMBER 2023

Helen Fenner enjoyed art at school as a child, but it was not until just before her beloved husband Stephen passed away 6 years ago that she was re-introduced to art again. With the support of Flourish Australia – a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider, Helen found a pathway to reconnect to her creativity and discover a new voice. It was through their support that Helen was reintroduced to what art galleries could provide her; by offering her opportunities to make art through initiatives like the Journey’s program at Maitland Regional Art Gallery. Helen eventually moved on to formal study at the Newcastle Art School.

Art is a way to communicate stories and for Helen, her art practice tells her stories her family; stories of country life and family legend is often at the heart of Helen’s work. The story of Helen’s uncle, now 86, who was born so premature he was placed in a warm (unlit) oven to keep him warm and safe. The stories of strength Helen still draws upon from her long-passed mother,

grandmothers and aunts. In her work Helen recounts the story of her greatgrandmother relocating from Wyong to Gloucester with the assistance of a bullock team. Helen uses these stories of strength to work through a life marred by grief and ongoing mental health struggles. But there is also joy to be found in Helen’s stories. To remember childhood dreams like plucking the petals off a daisy… he loves me, he loves me not.

Like many artists before her, Helen uses recurring motifs in her work – a jigsaw pattern, a dragonfly, a window or mirror, these symbols all have meaning for Helen. The graphic, black and white achieved with a linocut is dissected and further layered; only to be stitch together with thread and reconnected in new ways. All these acts – of printing, dissecting, and stitching back together allow Helen to explore her creativity and her many life stories. Helen is fearless with her materials. It is always the privilege of an art curator to get behind

the scenes of artwork being made, to see artists at work and to hear the stories of success and creative experimentation. Helen’s studio is her home – that is to say, she has a gallery in one room and the rest of her home is an artist’s studio. There is art making happening everywhere; in her loungeroom, her dining room and even in Helen’s back yard.

Helen has been working with the team at MRAG over the last 12 months or so in preparing for this exhibition. She has mined all parts of her life to work though family events, remember childhood dreaming, or feeling the pain of loss. These are stories we can all relate to and through this exhibition and the artist generosity, we too can be reminded of, and give meaning to, our own stories which course through our own lives. These are the stories which have travelled with us, to this place in the here and now.

Kim Blunt Senior Curator

HELEN FENNER

LEFT

Helen Fenner, My Generation, 2022, mixed media, 76 × 55cm Image courtesy the artist

RIGHT

Helen Fenner, Hope, 2022 mixed media, Image courtesy the artist

BACKGROUND

Image of artist Helen Fenner

ECO ZINE curated by

Bastian Fox Phelan

In September, Maitland Regional Art Gallery and zine curator Bastian Fox Phelan will transform our project space into a zine studio and library for the Eco Zine project! We will have a comfy nook for reading eco zines, with a table and a stack of art supplies for making your own zine. We will even have a photo copier available, so everyone can create copies of the zines to add to the zine library.

Bastian has been visiting zine fairs to find zines to add to the library as well as conducting a public call out for contributions from zine makers. We are looking for zines that tell us about things you find interesting, about nature, the local environment and climate change what you think can be done to support these important issues.

You might be thinking, what is a zine?

A zine is a hand-made mini magazine that can be photocopied and distributed at a low cost. Zines are a great DIY way to share your ideas and be creative.

9 SEPTEMBER — 12 NOVEMBER 2023

Zines can contain writing, poetry, illustration, collage, drawings, cartoons, or anything that can fit on a page and be photocopied!

And what is an eco zine?

It’s a zine about anything to do with the environment. It could be a list of animals found in your local area and interesting facts about their lives, instructions for how to grow a veggie garden, or it could be drawings of a special place in nature that you like to visit.

How do you make a zine?

We have included instructions for how to make a one-page mini zine which you can see on the page right next to us! → You can also look up tutorials online or come to a zine making workshop at MRAG. Anyone can make a zine about any topic. It doesn’t have to be perfect - everyone is creative in their own way. What is citizen science and how do I get involved?

If zines are the ‘DIY’ version of making art or writing a book, citizen science is the DIY version of doing

science! There are lots of fun apps you can use to get involved in citizen science, such as iNaturalist or FrogID. When you upload your photos of native plants or animals to these apps, you are helping scientists access more information about local ecosystems. How do I contribute to the Eco Zine project?

We would like to see zines about your relationship with the natural world, especially if you are involved in any citizen science projects. But remember, citizen science can be as simple as observing nature and making a record, in your own way. If you are passionate about nature and art, this would be the ideal project for you.

Send your Eco Zines to Maitland Regional Art Gallery by the 29 August for inclusion in the Eco Zine library or come along to the project space from 9 September to 12 November 2023 to make your own and make a copy to include in the Eco Zine Library.

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NEWS FOR MEMBERS

MRAG Members Only Events

We recently established a new MRAG Members Only events program. The first in this series of exclusive MRAG Members events was a visit to the studio and home of artists Lottie Consalvo and James Drinkwater in July. This event allowed MRAG members behind the scenes access to two of Newcastle’s most prominent contemporary artists. This intimate group were able to experience first-hand what these two artists were working on now and their upcoming exhibitions for the future.

SAVE THE DATE MRAG Art Sale

4 – 19 NOVEMBER 2023

The MRAG Art Sale has become an institution of support. Every second year, it brings together our Friends of MRAG Committee, who volunteer in the planning and promotion of the exhibition and rallies our community together to support the purchasing of exceptional art. In 2023, the Art Sale will return in November where you can expect lots of great art to buy and all in the name of raising funds for our Arts Health programs.

SAVE THE DATE MRAG Members

Christmas Party

5.30PM SATURDAY

9 DECEMBER 2023

Our MRAG Members

Christmas Party is back this year, with a Fiesta themed end of year celebration! Come along to the Gallery, enjoy some delicious paella, glorious wine and internationally acclaimed flamenco guitarist Paco Lara.

Paco Lara is a virtuoso with thirty years of experience traveling the world and is currently on tour in Australia presenting his solo guitar concert. His recent successes at the Sydney Opera House, Adelaide Guitar Festival and his national tour, are placing Lara’s flamenco flair at the top of the Australian music scene.

Paco will feature an exceptional guest flamenco dancer, Deya Miranda Giner, who has been fine-tuning her dance skills with master dancers in Spain and performing internationally for over two decades.

Stay tuned for more event details!

MRAG Members enjoying a visit to the studio of Lottie Consalvo and James Drinkwater

MEET A MEMBER SUSANNE HEWITT

IN EACH ISSUE OF ARTEL, WE INTRODUCE YOU TO ONE OF OUR AMAZING MEMBERS. FOR THIS EDITION, WE ARE PROFILING SUE HEWITT, FINE ART CONSULTANT AND ART VALUER AND MRAG MEMBER SINCE 2009.

I first met Sue Hewitt in 2007, and we have worked together since that time in her capacity as a specialist valuer for the MRAG Collection. However, over that time Sue has not only supported the gallery collection in her professional role as an approved valuer for the Cultural Gifts Program, but also as a member, benefactor, and strong advocate of Maitland Regional Art Gallery.

Art has been a part of Sue Hewitt’s life for as long as she can remember. Her parents were passionate collectors, and her home has been filled with art since childhood.

Susanne Hewitt at MRAG’s recent Collector 2023 event, June 2023.

Photo: Brydie Piaf

Gallerist and art dealer Rudy Komon was a close family friend, and he connected her parents to artists of renown including William Dobell, Robert Dickerson, Sidney Nolan, John Olsen, Fred Williams and many more.

Sue has also been connected to art and artists across her professional life. Sue’s earliest job was as Personal Assistant to the wife of the Administrator of Papua-New Guinea (19651967) which led to her employment as Personal Assistant to Maie Casey, the wife of the GovernorGeneral Lord Richard Gardiner Casey (19671969).1 Lady Casey herself was an artist, writer and pilot and during her time at Yarralumla and Admiralty House she entertained artists, musicians and writers as well as hosting the dignitaries which came with the job.2 This meant that Sue also mixed with some historically significant creatives including Sidney Nolan, Russell Drysdale and ballet dancer and actor Sir Robert Helpman. William Dobell was a close friend of Lady Casey and

Sue recalls driving the dedicated car (with flag flying) to collect the shy, and very embarrassed, Dobell from Central Station when he came down from Wangi Wangi to visit for lunch at Admiralty House. Dobell and Lady Casey would then sit together and paint the Opera House. Sue was also entrusted on the very special mission to assist Bill Dobell choose a new puppy after his beloved golden cocker spaniel had died.

In 1969, London Art Auction House, Christie’s, established its first Australian branch and Sue Hewitt began working with them as Christie’s Sydney Office Manager. In 1976, Sue became the first woman auctioneer for Christie’s worldwide and she worked with Christie’s for almost 20 years becoming the Managing Director, Deputy Chairman and non-executive Director. Since then, she has held various Commonwealth appointments, including being a member of the National Cultural Heritage Committee3, and worked as an art consultant and valuer for public galleries, private clients and companies.

Sue’s extensive career, passion for art, broad reaching networks and her love of MRAG has resulted in some wonderful connections and significant donations for MRAG. This includes introducing us to, our now good friends, Max and Nola Tegel, who donated their entire Lionel Lindsay collection to the MRAG Collection (now an MRAG touring exhibition Lionel’s Place). The Tegel’s have also assisted with fundraising events such as our MRAG members bus trips in which they have opened up their home, garden, private art collection and artist studio.

Sue Hewitt is not only an MRAG Member, but a great friend to MRAG, and it seems that she is always advocating for MRAG at every opportunity. Thank you Sue for the many years of support, connections and opportunities that have benefitted our collection, exhibition program, members events and professional reputation.

Cheryl Farrell, Collection Management Curator

1 Go down the rabbit hole and Google Richard Casey – his own story is amazing! Served in Gallipoli, worked with Winston Churchill, has a suburb of Melbourne and an Antarctic station named after him and much more……. 2 https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/casey-lady-ethel-marian-maie-12296

3 Among other things, this committee advises the Minister for the Arts about issues related to Australia’s cultural heritage: https://www.arts.gov.au/ what-we-do/cultural-heritage/movable-cultural-heritage/national-cultural-heritage-committee

MAITLAND REGIONAL ART GALLERY STORE

We love discovering local gems and are delighted to share with you the works of Melissa Keighran in the Gallery Store this festive season. Melissa lives in Maitland and resides amounst the chaos of raising small children

and managing a home renovation all with a few curious pet chickens in tow!

Calm is not at all conjured by this image but is certainly evoked across all aspects of Melissa’s artistic practice. Her works are small, refined and intimate still

life paintings that capture all the simple things in life beautifully – an arrangement of bottles perched upon a shelf, a perfectly imperfect fruit bowl, vases and flowers capturing the afternoon light shadow –each painted with a level

MRAG STORE

Melissa Keighran working in her studio Image courtesy the artist

MELISSA KEIGHRAN

of restraint and simplicity.

Melissa says of her work: ‘What you create is a reflection of who you are as well as how you think.’

Objects and styling are significant elements within Melissa’s practice with much of her professional life dedicated to styling interiors. It is the selection and placement of objects and the logic and calm found in this process which is integral to her aesthetic. Having grown up the daughter of an artist, most weekends for

Melissa were spent in her family’s studio or visiting galleries. This is where her eye for composition, colour and balance was intuitively learnt, and then finessed by years of study at art school many years after.

Harking back to Melissa’s homeland in Ireland her colour palette often deviates to the tones of the Irish coastline, a subconscious nod to home. Working by sight, she treads the tightrope between tension and harmony to create visual balance in both her

subject matter and how it sits within the frame.

Melissa’s original artworks will be available to purchase in small quantities until sold out.

MRAG Members receive 10% off in the Gallery Store, always. Every purchase supports all that we do.

Ashley Grant, Merchandise Officer, MRAG Store

MEET AN ARTIST

Deidre But-Husaim

Deidre But-Husaim is a visual artist who has oil painting at the core of her practice. Based in South Australia, she has been a finalist in numerous major Australian art prizes including the Doug Moran Portrait Prize, the Portia Geach Memorial Award, the Sulman Prize and the Archibald Prize.

Known for her painterly and gestural style, Deidre’s exhibition ‘The Between’ documents life in the artist’s home and studio during various stages of lockdown.

Courtney Novak and Deidre But-Husaim in Conversation:

Your works that feature in the exhibition ‘The Between’ depict everyday objects that others might over look. Can you describe how this came about?

I think that during the lock-downs that we all experienced, it really gave everyone time to stop and to contemplate the things that were around us. It gave us the space to think. I didn’t intentionally set out to paint the ‘everyday’ it was

Deidre But-Husaim, The Between, (detail) 2022, oil on board, 40 × 30cm

Photo: Sam Roberts Photography

more looking at the things I was surrounded by such as objects in my house, my studio and in my garden and thinking ‘I wonder how I would paint that.’ So, selecting which object to paint was more like taking on that challenge. One of these things was an Angel trumpet that was flowering in my garden during this time. I was fascinated with the process of it coming alive at night, and the fragrance and it’s beauty, but mostly, I was fascinated by how I would capture the stages of its bloom underneath the moon light. With so much time to spare, it also gave me time to go back through old photos and find forgotten images that I’d taken on overseas trips, and I was reacquainted with an image that I loved, the brushes in a Japanese pottery studio.

At the time when I took the photo, I never intended to paint this image, but looking at it again, I was just compelled to capture

the light on these brushes, that’s what drew me in.

In this exhibition, you’re presenting work that includes 42 small paintings of bees –how did this theme unfold?

Like most of the subject matter in my works, the painting of bees was organic. I’ve often wondered about the movement of bees and how you would capture their movements through paint and express the detail of their tiny forms without them looking static.

I was taking part in a group exhibition where we had to paint a smallscale work, postcard size, and I thought this is the perfect moment to practice how to capture the bees in preparation for a much larger work Tinnitus that I was working on at the time. But instantly, people just really connected with these smaller intimate bee works. There’s something about the small and delicate scale that people love and I’ve since been selling

them to collectors across Australia and the world.

What would you say is the overall intention of your painting? What would you like people to walk away with about after viewing your work?

A lot of people say that my work is lifelike, but this is never my intention. I always want my work to look like painting. And I guess I like that element, that people look at my work and then realise that it is a painting, and they are pulled in to look at it closer. The closer you look, the more you see in the work. For me, it is always about how the light hits the object and how I capture that light. And it is always about the paint. Always.

Deidre But-Husaim’s exhibition

‘The Between’ will feature at the Gallery 25 November 2023 — 25 February 2024.

Courtney Novak, Deputy Director

Artist Dierdre But-Husaim in her studio Photographer Stephanie Fuller Image courtesy of Art Guide

NEW ACQUISITIONS

In my role as Collection Management Curator, I have the privilege of working with our amazing collection of artworks and it is always exciting when new works are acquired and enter the collection. Over the last few months, we have acquired a number of very special works, most donated by our very generous benefactors who have entrusted their special treasures to MRAG to care for, and share, for generations to come.

These recently acquired artworks include: intricate drawings by French artist Eric Manigaud, rugby jacketed ceramic sheep by NZ artist Gregor Kregar, video pieces by Daniel Crookes and local artists David Lobb and Romy Church (a work commissioned for our Sleepwalking exhibition), a momentous series of paintings by James Drinkwater, the quirky mini-series of scenarios Escapade by Tinky, and significant works by Australian artists Rick Amor, Jean Baptiste Apuatimi, David Aspden, Gunther Christmann, Tony Coleing, Joe Frost, Tuppy Goodwin, Hannah Kay, Rosemary Laing, Richard Lewer, Eileen Napaltjarri, Deborah Paauwe, Evan Salmon, Valerie Strong Olsen and more…

The most recent work to enter our collection is the Dhopiya Yunupiŋu bark painting, Galiku Buŋul (Cloth Dance), 2022, which was purchased with funds donated by our Contemporary Collectors and selected by their votes at our Collectors Club event on Friday 16 June 2023.

Dhopiya Yunupiŋu lives and works in Yirrkala, which is a small community of approximately 800 people, in North East Arnhem Land. Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre is a central hub of this community and is where Yunupiŋu works to create her paintings on bark, ceramics and Larrakitj

Dhopiya Yunupiŋu Galiku Buŋul (Cloth Dance), 2022, natural earth pigments on string bark. Dhopiya Yunupiŋu is represented by Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney

poles. This artist is from the very talented, and famous, Yunupiŋu family: her father Muŋurrawuy, was a senior Gumatji cultural leader and artist, her five sisters were talented artists, her brothers were teacher and

lead singer of the band

Yothu Yindi, Mandawuy Yunupiŋu and land rights leader Galarrwuy Yunupiŋu, (both Australians of the Year) and her cousin was musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupiŋu. This painting is from a series of works that were inspired by stories passed down to the artist by her father that relate to a part of Australian history that is now coming to light - the precolonial trading relationship, that dates back hundreds of years, between the Yolngu, the traditional Indigenous custodians of this region, and sailors from the Indonesian province of Makassar.

Since as early as the 15th century the Makassar have been visiting the north coast of Australia. They would arrive and camp along the Arnhem Land coast to catch, dry and smoke, trepang (sea cucumber) which was then traded to China. The Yolŋu people were involved in all aspects of this industry and the Makassans were also absorbed into Yolŋu society with shared responsibilities and rights and the relationship extended to shared spiritual expression.

It has now been confirmed that some Yolŋu people also accompanied the Makassan back to Sulawesi, where they started families of their own.

In this painting Dhopiya draws upon the songlines of ceremonies and rituals associated with the annual visits by Makassan fisherman by combining traditional sacred rrark (cross-hatching) with images of female figures dancing with the Galiku (cloth).

Dhopiya Yunupiŋu is represented in major public collections including the National Gallery of Australia and the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art and now, thanks to our Contemporary Collectors, a work by Dhopiya Yunupiŋu is at home in the Maitland Regional Art Gallery Collection.

Dhopiya Yunupiŋu is represented by Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney.

Cheryl Farrell, Collection Management Curator

4 https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/ resources/trade-with-the-makasar

5 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-11/ mystery-community-of-aboriginal-andindonesian-families/101901188

2023 COLLECTORS CLUB

Photo: Brydie Paif

In June, Maitland Regional Art Gallery hosted its third annual 2320 Collectors dinner. This inaugural event has seen three new works of art enter the MRAG Collection through the generosity and support of this group of donors.

Over dinner and drinks, Gallery staff presented a work each, pitching to the Collectors what work they felt really deserved a place within the MRAG collection.

After much deliberation, the benefactors voted on acquiring Dhopiya Yunupiŋu’s Galiku Buŋul (Cloth Dance) as the 2320 Collectors acquisition for 2023. Yunupiŋu’s is the first bark painting by an Indigenous female artist to enter the collection. This work will go on display soon for all to see.

Thank you, Collectors, for a wonderful night and for your passion and generosity in supporting MRAG! We look forward to sharing with the details of Collectors 2024 with you soon.

Interested in becoming a 2320 Collector?

The 2320 Collectors is a group dedicated to growing the MRAG collection so we can continue to develop exceptional exhibitions.

Join the 2320 Collectors for $500 tax-deductible annual donation. Donations can be made annually or by flexible instalments. This contribution goes directly toward the acquisition of a new work of art that the collectors vote for in an annual event held at the Gallery.

BECOME A MEMBER OF MAITLAND REGIONAL ART GALLERY

Your membership supports free and accessible programs for all ages, and gives you access to an exclusive annual program of events and member benefits.

MEMBERSHIP 1 YEAR 3 YEARS

INDIVIDUAL $35 $85

CONCESSION* $30 $70

FAMILY $65 $150

BUSINESS $90 $200

*child/student/pensioner

GIVE GALLERY MEMBERSHIP AS A GIFT!

When you purchase a gift membership online the recipient of the gift will receive an email including their membership details and your personalised message.

To become a member, renew your membership, or for a full list of benefits, head to mrag.org.au/become-a-member

MRAG COLLECTION BOOK, SHARED

Our collection continues to grow through new acquisitions and wonderful benefactors and this year we are proud to launch our new publication highlighting some of the work in the collection very appropriately titled, Shared.

From historical treasures, to art that fills our minds with a sense of place and wonder, this book captures the spirit of Maitland Regional Art Gallery’s collection in all its many forms.

Sharing this collection gives us the opportunity to ignite conversations, inspire young artists and generate pure joy and delight for curious minds.

AVAILABLE AT THE MRAG STORE - $20.00

AROUND THE GALLERY

Portraits and painted dragons, landscapes constructed, abstracted, surreal and serene, discarded toys and a cloud shaded mantle clock. More than 100 drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, created by some of Australia’s most significant artists, have been acquired into the Gallery’s Collection in the last few months. Valued at more $100K these artworks have been donated to the Maitland Regional Art Gallery Collection by artists and private collectors, signifying the respect that our Collection holds across the art community and adding significantly to the vibrancy and depth of our Collection.

THE YOUNG ARCHITECTS

Portraits and painted dragons, landscapes constructed, abstracted, surreal and serene, discarded toys and a cloud shaded mantle clock. More than 100 drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, created by some of Australia’s most significant artists, have been acquired into the Gallery’s Collection in the last few months. Valued at more $100K these artworks have been donated to the Maitland Regional Art Gallery Collection by artists and private collectors, signifying the respect that our Collection holds across the art community and adding significantly to the vibrancy and depth of our Collection.

Photography: Renae Saxby and Leighsa Cox

EXHIBITIONS

26 AUG — 5 NOV 2023

CrownLand

Karla Dickens

Vincent Namatjira

Ben Quilty

Andrew Quilty

Megan Cope

Jake Chapman

Bringing together artists as friends and collaborators, CrownLand grabs hold of conversations taking place across the country fuelled by an uneasy humour, the uncomfortable and the unreconciled. Featuring artists vigorously engaged in timely discussions of sovereignty and power, this exhibition also pays respects to the queens of the community here on Wonnarua Country.

EXHIBITIONS

26 AUG — 29 OCT 2023

Collecting in Colour: Stories of Fashion and Art

A collaboration between Maitland Regional Art Gallery and the Australian Museum of Clothing and Textiles where art meets design and colour connects.

Collecting in Colour: Stories of Fashion and Art has also provided fabulous opportunity for historical textiles to be presented alongside some of MRAG’s more colourful and contemporary works from its collection, such as Ildiko Kovacs, Nyarapayi Giles, Dani Marti, Sydney Ball, George Barker, John Coburn, Euan Macleod, Timothy Maguire, and Col Jordan.

2 SEP — 19 NOV 2023

Suspended Moment

The Katthy Cavaliere Fellowship

Suspended Moment brings together current and past work by the three recipients of The Katthy Cavaliere Fellowship alongside formative work by Katthy Cavaliere loaned from her estate. This exhibition, curated by Daniel Mudie Cunningham will comprise work by Giselle Stanborough, Frances Barrett and Sally Rees, the three recipients of this prestigious fellowship.

Euan Macloud, Large Flowing Figure, 1998–1999 (installation view) Maitland Regional Art Gallery Collection. Figure in the photograph is wearing a 1970s jumpsuit from the Australian Museum of Clothing and Textiles Collection

Frances Barrett, A Song for Katthy, 2022, single channel HD video. Image series by Samuel Hodge. Courtesy of the artists

Vincent Namatjira, The New King, 2022 oil on linen, 132.5 × 112cm, Photo: Mim Stirling Image courtesy of the artists

8 SEPTEMBER 2023

Future Creatives

Free I Open to all students from Year 9 – 12 and beyond.

Future Creatives is a free whole day event that will incorporate artist talks and hands-on workshops from artists that work in remote Aboriginal communities, people working fashion, gaming designers, graphic design, curators, music producers and much more. This talented group will give expert insight into all the opportunities and pathways that lead them to work as creative professionals in our region, across the country and beyond.

9 SEP — 19 NOV 2023

Where The Seeds Grow

Helen Fenner

Where the Seeds Grow is an exhibition of new work from emerging Maitland based artist Helen Fenner. For many, art helps people navigate challenging and difficult times. Helen Fenner is a strong advocate for the role of creativity in nurturing mental health. This exhibition explores the idea that we are never far from our ancestral past.

9 SEP — 12 NOV 2023

Eco Zine

Curated by Bastian Fox Phelan

How do we deepen relationships with local ecologies in a time of profound change? In this project-based exhibition, writer, zine maker and citizen scientist Bastian Fox Phelan invites participants to engage with the natural world through the creation of ephemeral artworks such as zines, posters, soundscapes, and observational experiments. The Project Space itself will become a zine studio, library and space for visitors to create and share stories about the local environment through zine making.

LOVEDAVID and e4444e SHALLOW POND DEEPEST AT NIGHT, 2022, Dual channel video, 21:24. Commissioned by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2022 Helen Fenner, Garden of Eden, 2021 linoprint and synthetic thread, 1/1

Bastian Fox Phelan’s personal collection of zines, courtesy of the artist

EXHIBITIONS

4 NOV — 19 NOV 2023

MRAGM Art Sale

A much-anticipated exhibition presenting paintings, prints and sculptures by artists from our region and across Australia – all available for purchase. Proceeds from the Art Sale support programs across the gallery and strengthen community outreach. Supported by the MRAG Members this exhibition is pack filled with artworks just waiting to be added to your own collection.

18 NOV 2023 — 25 FEB 2024

Sleep My Horse...

5 August 1956

Noel McKenna

Join us for this wonderfully autobiographical exhibition as Noel McKenna takes us on a journey that speculates on his life “this is a contemplation of things that have come about, or have not come about or what may come about or what may never come about” – Noel McKenna

18 NOV 2023 — 18 FEB 2024

Operation Art

Every year schools across New South Wales are invited to participate in Operation Art, an initiative of The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in association with the New South Wales Department of Education. The Operation Art program provides a forum for schools and students to demonstrate their visual arts achievements through exhibitions at the Armory Gallery, Sydney Olympic Park and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Noel McKenna, Audrey + Decimus, 2020 oil on canvas, 160.5 × 160cm

Installation view (Braddon Snape, Nicole Chaffey, Shannon Cadman from the MRAGM Art Sale 2018

Artwork by Ella Barrett from Kurri Kurri Public School, 2022

25 NOV 2023 — 18 FEB 2024

Touching and Turning

Cherine Fahd

Burning with the changing realities of the past few years, artist Cherine Fahd explores the nature of touch and intimacy through her participatory performance.

“The camera and a picture, whether moving or still, have the potential to generate intimacy and attachment. I am interested in how making images can motivate us to come together during a crisis.”

COMING SOON

25 NOV 2023 — 25 FEB 2024

The Between

Deidre But-Husaim

In a state of in between is the experience of our recent times. Pre covid, post covid and that place between.

In this exhibition Deidre documents life in her home and studio during various stages of lockdown. From her home looking out at the heavy fragranced Angel trumpets in various stages of bloom or looking inwards at images from past travels visiting other artists’ studios and remembering brushes for painting, ceramics or calligraphy all standing to attention waiting to be called to duty.

02 DEC 2023 — 03 MAR 2024

Myth Making

Kate Rohde and Troy Emery

The subjects of mythology have long provided artists with a rich source of inspiration for depiction and reinvention. For Myth Making, artists Kate Rohde and Troy Emery have sought inspiration directly from the land and ecology of the Wimmera and Grampians regions of Victoria. Returning to their studios they embarked on a journey of collaboration to create a new mythology of Western Victoria influenced by the traditions of European myth making and imbued with their own recognisable, whimsical, and at times dark, artistic practices.

Documentation from the performance A Proxy for a Thousand Eyes (2020) and featured in the video Play Proximus (2020-2021), Image credit: Pamela Pirovic

Troy Emery, Nugget, 2022, on Kate Rohde, Golden grains table #2, 2022 with Kate Rohde, Nature wallpaper, 2022. Photo: A. K. Media A Horsham Regional Art Gallery exhibition

Deidre But-Husaim, The Between, (detail) 2022, oil on board, 40 × 30cm Photo: Sam Roberts Photography