Exhibition In Focus To The Islands

Perc Tucker Regional Gallery

18 October – 1 December 2013

Curated by former Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Director Ross Searle, To the Islands explored works created by artists on Dunk, Bedarra and Timana islands between the 1930s and 1990s.

The exhibition’s curator Ross Searle said, “This is the first exhibition to examine the history of artists who have lived and worked in the islands close to the north Queensland coastal town of Mission Beach. Dunk Island is the best known of the islands that are referred to as the Family Group. Others include Bedarra, Timana, Wheeler, Coombe, Smith, Bowden and Hudson Islands.”

Such artists of note included in the exhibition were Valerie Albiston, Bruce Arthur, Yvonne Cohen, Deanna Conti, Roy Dalgarno, Fred Williams, and Noel Wood.

The exhibition was a significant occasion for the arts in north Queensland, and was doubly so due to the Inaugural Philip Bacon Guest Lecture, delivered by Chris Saines, Director QAGOMA, which was organised to coincide with the exhibition’s launch event. The event attracted an appreciative audience of more than 100 guests.

The exhibition was complemented by a 60 page publication, which was funded through the Gordon Darling Foundation, and marked an important contribution to the Australian arts literature field about a little-known but highly important period in the nation’s arts history.

Text contributors included Manager Gallery Services Shane Fitzgerald, exhibition Curator Ross Searle, Mr Glenn R Cooke, Mrs Catherine Stocky, and Dr. Anneke Silver, and together their unique insights painted a picture of an important but previously unchartered chapter of Australian arts history.

To the Islands was significant not only in its content, but also as it saw the establishment of a unique regional galleries partnership between Perc Tucker Regional Gallery and Cairns Regional Gallery.

With Perc Tucker Regional Gallery already committing to the development and display of To the Islands, it was negotiated for the exhibition to also tour exclusively to Cairns Regional Gallery as part of Gallery Services’ Regional Touring Program

Cairns was a highly suitable location to showcase these works, with the region also hugely impacted by the contributions of the artists included in the exhibition.

With regional galleries limited in funds to develop exhibition content, this partnership allowed Cairns Regional Gallery to secure a major exhibition of relevance to their region for minimal costs, garnered greater awareness for the contributions of the artists, while also further promoting Perc Tucker Regional Gallery’s achievements within the broader region.

To the Islands was launched at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery and displayed from 18 October – 1 December 2013, before touring to the Cairns Regional Gallery from 10 January – 9 March 2014.

This short tour exemplified best practice in the form of partnerships between regional galleries to develop high quality exhibition programs on limited financial resources.

Throughout its display at both galleries, To the Islands attracted a total of 12,655 visitors, with 6,181 attending Perc Tucker Regional Gallery and a further 6,474 attending Cairns Regional Gallery.

Noel WOOD

Australia b.1912 d.2001

The pathway to Banfield’s old home [Dunk Island] [detail] c.1940

Oil on canvas on composition board

46 x 59.8cm

Acc. 1:0283

Purchased 1940

Queensland Art Gallery Collection

Photograph: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA