6 minute read
Feature Story
Cheryl Farrell provides an insight into Guns to Roses, the major Collection exhibition she has curated for MRAG this Autumn and Winter. And Kattie Bugeja takes us behind-the-scenes with an update on all the innovating and planning that’s been happening to prepare MRAG for the next decade.
Li Hongbo, Gun No. 1, 2016, paper sculpture, edition of 50, dimensions variable.
Purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2016
Guns to Roses, the latest exhibition to celebrate the MRAG Collection, features work by artists responding to major issues confronting the world today – global conflict, the impact of weapons of violence and war, and a fragile environment threatened by climate change. While some of the artists in the exhibition directly tackle these overwhelming issues, many take a subtle approach, leading us to contemplate the fragility of life through beautiful images and delicate materials.
On display until 2 August, the exhibition includes work by some of Australia’s leading contemporary practitioners alongside international artists, all of whom have had their work shown in major exhibitions in Australia and around the world. Many of the artworks are recent acquisitions to the Collection and this will be the first time they have been on public display at MRAG.
Central to the exhibition’s key theme, and highlighting the MRAG Collection focus on paper, is the colourful paper installation, Gun No.1, 2016 by Chinese artist Li Hongbo.
By transforming guns and bullets into colourful rosettes Li Hongbo both challenges the viewer and offers a sense of hope for the possibility of positive change. Gun No.1 has its origins in previous large-scale installations Li Hongbo has created, including the spectacular paper landscape Ocean of Flowers, which delighted visitors to Cockatoo Island during the 2012 Sydney Biennale. MRAG purchased Gun No. 1 in 2016; we are very excited to display it for the first time and hope it delights our visitors.
Simone Paterson, Magnum Mandala, 2014, digital print on satin, 86cm diameter.
Purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2019
Simone Paterson, XP1000 Mandala, 2014, digital print on satin, 86cm diameter.
Purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2019
Another recent acquisition on display in Guns to Roses is two prints by Dr Simone Paterson, Magnum Mandala, 2014 and XP100 Mandala, 2014, purchased by MRAG in 2019. Originally from the Hunter, Paterson now lives in the USA, where gun violence is tragically common. Paterson created these works whilst working as Associate Professor of New Media Art at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. In 2007 the university was the scene of a horrific mass shooting in which 33 students were killed. These mandalas are Paterson’s response to this tragedy and represent her efforts to visualise and evoke a mindful, peaceful energy that brings the world into balance.
Christian Thompson, Writing on the Wall, 2019, C-type print on Fuji Pearl metallic paper, edition 5/6, 120 x 120cm.
Purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2019 7 MRAG Visitor Survey pop-up at Green Hills Shopping
Paterson is not the only artist in this exhibition with a local connection. Dr Christian Thompson AO attended high school in Raymond Terrace and later went on to make history by becoming the first Aboriginal Australian to be admitted into the University of Oxford in its 900-year history. Writing on the Wall, 2019 is one of Thompson’s most recent works (from his Flower Walls series), and one of MRAG’s most recent acquisitions (purchased in December 2019). Thompson’s work is subtle in its message but alludes to increasingly dominant evidence of the precarious times we are now facing, with climate change threatening our fragile environment.
The threat to our climate is more explicitly addressed in Shona Trescott’s series of silkscreen prints, Kyoto Protocol, 2015, purchased by MRAG in 2017. Shona Trescott was born in Maitland and has recently returned after living in New York and Berlin. In these works, Trescott has obscured the text from the Kyoto Protocol document with sooty marks and images drawn from her childhood memories of the Hunter Valley coal industry. The text has become illegible, reflecting the disintegration of the treaty that aimed to reduce worldwide carbon emissions.
Shonah Trescott, Kyoto Protocol (series of 24), 2015, silk screen on paper, edition 3/3, 36 x 48cm.
Purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2017
Shonah Trescott, Kyoto Protocol (series of 24), 2015, silk screen on paper, edition 3/3, 36 x 48cm.
Purchased by Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2017
Guns to Roses includes many more artworks from the MRAG Collection, by artists who have been compelled to create work expressing their concerns about major global issues. Additional artwork details and images can be found in the exhibition catalogue, which is available in the Gallery and on the MRAG website.
Looking Ahead
MRAG Visitor Survey pop-up at Green Hills Shopping Centre on 15th November 2019
MRAG welcomes a new decade 2020 marks a coming of age for Maitland Regional Art Gallery. A decade on since its visionary redevelopment, the Gallery is thriving as an inclusive, engaging space treasured by the Maitland community and visitors from near and far.
Our 2020 artistic program features 28 new exhibitions (increased from 24 in 2019) and supports many Australian, and particularly regional artists, from emerging to established. The program provides a strong foundation for dynamic exchange between artists, the community and MRAG.
Last year, as the Gallery entered its second decade, we celebrated MRAG’s achievements and also took the opportunity to reflect, consult, innovate and plan for the decade ahead. We embarked on an extensive community consultation process in 2019 to identify critical community needs, current and desired participation levels and barriers to visitation.
In 2019 we also conducted a full review of the Gallery’s creative learning program, including staff resources and budget. From this we developed a 2020 program of events and activities which champions creative learning, connection to artists and inclusivity. It includes a range of self-directed engagement experiences, designed to have broad appeal, which celebrate artists and their creative processes.
We are thrilled that our exhibition and community engagement project, Stories from Wonnarua Country, was awarded Highly Commended at the Inspiring Museums and Galleries in Excellence Awards (IMAGinE) in 2019; MRAG’s commitment to sharing and celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and connection to Country will be further developed through ongoing consultation in 2020.
In 2019 we continued to diversify MRAG's program, moving from a visual to multi-arts approach. Theatre, music, performance and sensory experiences are now firmly embedded in the Gallery program, providing new and exciting opportunities for our community to ‘see-make-do’ at MRAG.
This growth has largely been made possible by the generosity of many MRAG supporters, who have donated more than 3,000 artworks of significant artistic and financial value. With our ongoing aim to make the MRAG Collection the most accessible public collection in NSW, our ‘open collection store’ concept will continue throughout 2020 and beyond. Physical infrastructure, including storage and climate control, will be a critical focus of our strategic planning, as will digital infrastructure, as we work to provide online access to a greater spectrum of Collection items.
MRAG’s desire to engage, inspire, empower and challenge over the past decade has earnt it the title ‘the people’s gallery’, an achievement for our community to celebrate. We look forward to sharing our 2025 plan with you later in the year, seeing you enjoy our 2020 artistic program, and to welcoming you and your family to the Gallery many times in the decade ahead.
For full program details including exhibitions and events head to mrag.org.au
