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umbrella studio contemporary arts
EXHIBITIONS 2020
ABOUT
umbrella studio: shop. events. touring. schools. projects. advocacy. artist talks. workshops. community. exhibitions. makerspace.
do you make art?
Are you looking for a community of artists? Would you like discounts on workshops? Or to run workshops yourself? Would you like access to a makerspace* for your creative projects? Then join our family! We are an inclusive, member-based, not-forprofit organisation with nearly 300 active members.
Ceramic Ornament Workshop with Catherine Ogden, December 2019. Photo: Sonia Ward.
Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts is a professionally managed not-for-profit contemporary art gallery with an annual program of exhibitions, public programs and special events. It is an inclusive space, encouraging collaboration between cultures and regions. It is Australia’s longest running regionallybased contemporary art space, the only dedicated contemporary art space in North Queensland, and the only professional gallery that also has a makerspace (including printing presses) for artists to make art in.
www.umbrella.org.au
annual membership fees. YOUTH (UNDER 25) INDIVIDUAL CONCESSION
1 YR FREE** $50 $40
*Additional fees apply for makerspace access. **Voting rights and Potential Membership to Management Board not available for the one year free Youth Membership.
Full membership rewards & details via our website.
TOW N S V I L L E , N O RT H Q U E E N S L A N D 3 1 J U LY T O 9 A U G U S T 2 0 2 0
Music in the tropics‌
Sounds like paradise art lover? art collector? we have something for you. We have artwork to suit everyone’s budget and taste. Umbrella sells works in the shop & gallery, via popup exhibitions and online.
Combine your love of classical music with a tropical winter getaway at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. More than 45 musicians from around the world will travel to Townsville for ten days of sublime music performances, including famed British royal wedding cellist Sheku KannehMason making his Australian debut. Enjoy concerts, conversations, masterclasses and more in a wonderfully relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
AFCM.COM.AU
Artwork commissions are available by many of our member artists.
artist consultations: art making advice. constructive criticism. exhibition planning. grant writing assistance. affordable rates. One-on-one consultations available with the Director or Business Manager. Book in to get affordable help from qualified and experienced consultants. MEMBER 30MIN CONSULT $30 NON-MEMBER 30MIN CONSULT $35 MEMBER 1HR CONSULT $60 NON-MEMBER 1HR CONSULT $70
ARTISTS
booking an exhibition. Umbrella Studio invites exhibition proposals from established and emerging contemporary visual artists and curators seeking to present new and original work in a professional gallery environment. Umbrella Studio operates three exhibition spaces for artist applications: Space 1 (large), Space 2 (medium), and Space 3 (small). Exhibition proposals can be submitted at any time and an exhibition panel assesses twice a year. Full details about space sizes, terms of use, application form and exhibition contract arrangements available in our Exhibition Handbook online:
umbrella.org.au/about/exhibition-proposals
Agnes Wotton, Ananmi (detail), 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 90cm.
closing the gap. In 2020 Umbrella Studio will continue to run projects and workshops with our local First Nations artists. Our Deadly Development program aims to foster and grow the skills of our Indigenous artists, and provide more opportunities to sell and exhibit. Our new, larger gallery offers a permanent space dedicated to North Queensland First Nations artists. Each year, select artists exhibit and sell work with us at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF). Umbrella partners with Townsville City Council Galleries to run Young Indigenous Printmakers, a workshop program for high school students. Our fortnightly Kitchen Table Sessions invite Indigenous Artists to gather, have a cuppa and feel at home in our makerspace.
nick drake OVERTHINK
The artist explores diverse themes and reflections from his life, amalgamated under a desire to make sense of this fast-paced world. Drake’s works speak of escape – from a structured life, from dull routines, and into a world of creativity and imagination.
emily donaldson
31 JANUARY 15 MARCH
PANDANUS IN THE DESERT Painting and sculpture converge in Emily Donaldson’s exhibition Pandanus in the Desert, responding to the artist’s experience within the diverse landscapes of Queensland. This series of artworks celebrates the impressions of the northern terrain and is dedicated to landscape and its varying forms.
TOP: Nick Drake, The Promise, 2019, Oil on linen, 61 x 91cm. BOTTOM: Emily Donaldson, Castle Hill scrub, 2019, Oil on canvas, 80 x 100cm.
group exhibition BRUMBIES
Brumbies is a multi-disciplinary work exploring notions of legacy, nature, urban environments, emotion and conflict. Robert Crispe (videographer and director), Michael Smith and Jack Ziesing (choreographers and performers) have together crafted cinematic responses to questions of identity, place and purpose within the world. Brumbies is an ongoing project that seeks to involve additional artists, makers and creatives over time.
jac hawthorn
20 MARCH 26 APRIL
TRANSLATION
Jac Hawthorn’s mixed media and sculptural works portray everyday people interwoven with innovative nuances. The intention of the artist is to invite viewers to contemplate the underlying stories of these individuals and to initiate memory connected introspection.
peter minon
SEARCHING FOR NUANCE Peter Minon graphically explores connections and disruptions in the harmonies of nature. The artist’s recent experimental works engage mould-making techniques and resin casts to extend on concepts explored previously in two-dimensional mediums.
TOP: Robert Crispe, Brumbies (Michael Smith), 2018, digital photograph, 4240 x 2384px. MIDDLE: Jac Hawthorn, Afternoon Rose, 2007, watercolour on paper, 15 x 23cm. BOTTOM: Peter Minon, Attack Snape (prototype) (detail), 2019, PVC, resin, found objects and oil paint, 15 x 15cm.
neil binnie
URBAN CONSTRUCT Neil Binnie’s practice is largely centred on geometric abstraction and his response to the built environment. The artist employs photography, painting and works on paper to visualise the evolving space in Townsville’s urban landscape.
stephen coutts
PAREIDOLIA AND THE SUBCONSCIOUS
Stephen Coutts’ exhibition explores the link between ‘pareidolia,’ a phenomenon where the mind responds to a stimulus by seeing familiar forms where none exist, and the subconscious. The resultant works include drawings, prints and sculptures which invite subjective responses and degrees of perceived meaning.
katya venter
1 MAY 7 JUNE
ANATOMICAL VENUS The title and theme of this exhibition were drawn from Katya Venter’s interest in visual representations of the female body in visual arts. The drawing and video projection installation continues to explore the complex relationship between living and dying, beauty and the macabre. TOP: Neil Binnie, Untitled Study (detail), 2019, Oil on paper, collage, 10 x 14cm. MIDDLE: Stephen Coutts, Main Street Leviathan, 2019, Rosegum, Satin Sycamore and wire, 45 x 38 x 7.5cm. BOTTOM: Katya Venter, Ode to Anatomical Venus (detail), 2019, Drawing and mixed media on paper, 80cm x 350cm.
group exhibition MUDPICKERS
Mudpickers features artists Jane Hawkins, Rhonda Payne, Bronwyn Smith, Lauren Jaye Carter, Hannah Murray and Suzannah Babicci. The exhibition collectively maps the artists’ experiences with place and an investigation of memory and history. The works reflect a shared interest in trawling across the mudflats of Townsville to find hidden treasures in the layers, colours, textures and botanical forms.
tony lamont
12 JUNE 12 JULY
OUR INTERNAL SHADOWS Tony Lamont’s highly saturated digital prints recontextualise elements from black and white chest X-rays. The digital image processes are cathartic to the artist, relieving stressful years he spent working in clinical medicine and radiology. The images also illuminate spiritual aspects of medical processes “seeing” through the dark glass of technology internal bodily structures, things not visible to the naked eye.
group exhibition
YOUNG INDIGENOUS PRINTMAKERS Linocut prints created by local high school students during skills development workshops with established artists at their schools & in the Umbrella Studio makerspace. This collaborative outreach project is a partnership with Townsville City Council Galleries.
TOP: Jane Hawkins, Remnants (detail, work in progress), 2018, Plaster and rust, 36cm wide each. MIDDLE: Tony Lamont, Chest 163, Turtle Rock again (detail), 2017, Archival ink on studio jet gloss photo paper, 59.4 x 84.1cm. BOTTOM: William Ross State High School Students collaborative piece, 2018 Young Indigenous Printmakers exhibition.
group exhibition DEADLY NQ ARTISTS
Programmed as part of the 2020 North Australian Festival of Arts (NAFA), this exhibition celebrates North Queensland First Nations artists.
jenny mulcahy
17 JULY 23 AUGUST
LIMINAL SPACE
Jenny Mulcahy’s Liminal Space is a significant show featured alongside NAFA’s Deadly NQ Artists. The exhibition explores that brink on which we teeter in a rapidly changing world.
donna beningfield A QUESTION OF COUNTERPOINT
Local artist Donna Beningfield pushes her exploration into portraiture by working with her sitters to develop emotional responses to their past and present lives. Beningfield transposes the marks of the sitters onto canvas, layered with her own process of mark making.
TOP: Shirley Dawson, The Long Walk (detail), 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 76 x 182cm MIDDLE: Jenny Mulcahy, Trough series (detail), 2020, Steel and ceramic, 90 x 4 x 3cm. BOTTOM: Donna Beningfield, John Casey & Wayne McDonald: Spirit Life (detail), 2019, Acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 152 x 91cm.
marion gaemers & lynette griffiths FINAL CURTAIN
Griffiths and Gaemers have been collaborating together for many years. Together again, they are continuing to work with ghost net, beach rope and plastic rubbish. Investigating how this dilemma is impacting our life and the environment, with manipulated suggestions toward future morphosis.
group exhibition
28 AUGUST 4 OCTOBER
COMPACT PRINTS
The Compact Prints international exhibition and exchange has been Umbrella Studio’s signature biennial exhibition since 2002. It has evolved into a significant benchmark of international engagement for printmakers across the globe. It is also a fundraising event for Umbrella Studio, as a not-forprofit organisation. We welcome you to this fun auction evening!
TOP: Marion Gaemers & Lynette Griffiths, Estuarine still life, 2019, Abandoned shopping trolley, steel rod, wire, ghost net, beach rope. Photographer: Lynnette Griffiths . BOTTOM: 2018 Compact Prints exhibitor Jill O’Sullivan, Falling Leaves (Edition 1 of 4), 2018, Etching and spirit aquatint, 12 x 12cm
karike ashworth LAMENTATION
Dr Karike Ashworth is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Brisbane. Her creative practice consists of time-based media, performance, text, objects and installations. Guest curated by Kellie Williams, this exhibition is comprised of works from Ashworth’s practice over the past six years.
anne bartholemeusz
13 OCTOBER 15 NOVEMBER
RESIDENCY EXHIBITION
This body of work is the result of Ann Bartholemeusz’s residency with PressNorth Printmakers.
robyn glade-wright & barbara dover DISQUIET: ECOLOGICAL ANXIETIES & TRANSFORMATION
This touring exhibition by James Cook University Associate Professor Robyn Glade-Wright & Dr Barbara Dover considers the millions of tonnes of plastic that are discarded into the environment every year, and the resultant feelings of anxiety, anguish and grief. These artists use found plastic marine debris to create works that amplify and raise questions about such ecological destruction and how to move forward as individuals and a nation.
TOP: Karike Ashworth, Pillows (detail), 2013. 6 x objects at 15 x 68 x 40cm. MIDDLE: Ann Bartholomeusz, Sugar-shaker (detail), Digital print, 21 x 29cm. BOTTOM: Barbara Dover, Decoy, 2018, Found far north Queensland squid hooks, metal, glue, 35 x 35 x 25cm. Photo: Michael Marzik.
the future: umbrella members’ exhibition
20 NOVEMBER 16 DECEMBER
& BAMFORD MEDICAL ART PRIZE
This exhibition highlights the talent and creativity of Umbrella Studio artists annually. Featuring works by Umbrella’s 300+ members, this year’s exhibition presents works responding to interpretations of the timely theme ‘The Future’. The exhibition features a $1000 art prize generously sponsored by Bamford Medical Practice.
gerald soworka
DRAWN TO PRESSURE
This exhibition presents the results of Gerald Soworka’s residency with PressNorth Printmakers. The works were developed from Soworka’s sketches produced during his time in Bhutan and other exotic places.
group exhibition
YOUNG INDIGENOUS PRINTMAKERS
The second iteration of this exhibition for the year. Local Indigenous high school students create lino-cut prints during workshops with established artists at their schools and in the makerspace at Umbrella Studio. This project is a partnership with Townsville City Council Galleries.
TOP: Belonging: 2019 Members’ Exhibition & Bamford Medical Art Prize (room view). MIDDLE: Gerald Soworka, Bhutan sketches CXXIX (detail), 2018, Ink and watercolour, 21 x 30cm. BOTTOM: William Ross State High School Students collaborative piece, 2018 Young Indigenous Printmakers exhibition.
where in the world?
Umbrella Studio continues to bring North Queensland art to Australian audiences.
on tour.
LEGACY: REFLECTIONS ON MABO
Legacy: Reflections on Mabo celebrates the man behind the game-changing Native Title Act, Eddie Koiki Mabo. Co-curated by Gail Mabo, Dr Jonathan McBurnie & Kellie Williams, the exhibition presents 22 works by Indigenous & non-Indigenous artists in the spirit of reconciliation, 25 years after the historic achievement. Maitland Art Gallery, NSW 9 Nov 2019 – 26 Jan 2020 Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, NSW 7 Feb – 22 Mar 2020 Bunbury Regional Art Galleries, WA 2 May – 14 Jun 2020 Select items in Umbrella’s shop, December 2019. Photo: Daniel Qualischefski.
Burnie Regional Gallery, TAS 27 Jun – 2 Aug 2020 Burrinja, Dandenong Ranges Cultural Centre, VIC 31 Oct 2020– 17 Jan 2021
SHOP
handmade with love. The Umbrella shop features work by North Queensland artisans & artists. We stock ceramics, sculptures, drawings, prints, jewellery, paintings and more! Treat yourself or find a perfect gift for your loved ones. By purchasing from us, you are acquiring a piece of cultural history, supporting local artists, and transforming communities. Visit the gallery in person or shop online:
www.umbrella.org.au/shop
Legacy: Reflections on Mabo is a travelling exhibition presented by Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts and toured by Museums & Galleries Queensland. It has been generously assisted by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia Program and the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments. It is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.
townsville. EXTERNAL VENUES
Umbrella rotates changing exhibitions at The Grand Hotel, Hoi Polloi Cafe, Townsville Bulletin’s offices and Donna Bionda restaurant. Stop by to see local artists featured in these venues.
cairns.
CAIRNS INDIGENOUS ART FAIR
Visit Umbrella & our CIAF artists at the Cruise Liner Terminal from 10-12 July 2020.
UMBRELLA SERVICES
venue hire.
creative spaces for your next event.
3D printer hire.
makerbot 5th replicator printer with wifi & USB options.
Umbrella Studio’s 3D printer in action.
artwork hanging. professional advice & installation.
artist paper for sale. good quality options including hahnemule, snowden cartridge, dutch etching & fabriano rosapina.
hens’ parties.
male model life drawing packages.
contact us to discuss your options.
eyeline
CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTS MAGAZINE
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www.eyelinepublishing.com
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opening hours.
Monday to Friday: 9am - 5pm Saturday & Sunday: 9am - 1pm Public Holidays: Closed
07 4772 710 office@umbrella.org.a www.umbrella.org.a
CONTACT
location.
408 Flinders St, Townsville QLD 4810 (Opposite Woolworths, next to Mary Who? Bookshop) PO Box 2394, Townsville QLD 4810
parking.
- Free CBD street parking for 15mins - Cheap CBD street parking rates for up to 2hrs - Free parking (Dean St) across the river - Commercial loading zone (Stanley St)