14 February to 31 March 2013
Mrs Prime Minister - Public Image,
Private Lives
The Museum of Australian Democracy’s travelling exhibition Mrs Prime
Minister—Public Image, Private Lives introduces us to the 26
remarkable women who have been wives to prime ministers from 1901 to
2010.
The role of prime minister’s wife is an ambiguous one. It has no
clear definition and holds no formal authority. Prior to Julia
Gillard becoming Australia’s first female prime minister in 2010,
most Australian prime ministers took office with a woman at their
side. Each prime minister’s wife interpreted her role according to
her special interests, and where she felt she could have most
impact.
Mrs Prime Minister reveals the ‘woman behind the title’, examining
the unique contribution, style and structure each brought to the
position of Mrs Prime Minister, and explores the realities of being
married to one of the nation’s most powerful men—including the
difficulties of trying to balance public and private life, the
glamour, the hardships, the passions, and of course, the politics.
9 May to 30 June 2013
The Wandering - Andrew Pearce
The Wandering by Andrew Pearce, showcases
dark and dreamy photographic artworks, where the lonesome
figure is absorbed in the atmosphere of the mystical
landscape.
The works are neither
portrait nor landscape, but a combination of both to create
something best described as a mood piece. The use of natural
elements such as fog, smoke and heavy clouds are saturated
and exaggerated throughout the landscapes, which begins to
abstract the sense of realism. The photographs were taken in
rural destinations, from cane fields in rural Queensland, to
Andrew's family farm in the rolling hills of the Victorian
country side.
Andrew is a passionate
photographer, filmmaker and designer who is strongly
inspired by music, adventures and weather. At only 20 years
of age, he has had both National and International success
with his film and photography work.
An Albury City Gallery
Travelling Exhibition
Image: Sugar Tree 2010
4 July to 11 August 2013
Portraits of a Tea Cosy -
Loani Prior and Mark Crocker
The highlight for our annual calendar will be the Australian
premiere of the exhibition Portraits of a Tea Cosy.
Work on this exhibition started in 2012 when Queen of Tea
Cosies Loani Prior and photographer Mark Crocker travelled
to six towns in three states meeting tea cosy guardians and
recording their stories. From these meetings Mark has
produced 40 black and white portraits of the interviewees
with their tea cosies in colour. Their stories have been
turned into an audio presentation and delightful quotes
about family, friendship and the joy of owning something
handcrafted.
This exhibition also stars 20 exuberant TEA COSIES created
by Loani Prior, author of three best selling books, Wild Tea
Cosies, Really Wild Tea Cosies and How Tea Cosies Change the
World. They are knitted objets d’art, woolly sculptures;
clever and funny, like nothing you will have seen before.
The exhibition will be displayed first in Warwick then it
will travel to Mittagong, Hervey Bay, Miles, Longreach,
Bundaberg, Ballina and Canberra. It opens here on the 4th
of July.
This project is
supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an
initiative of the Australian state and territory governments
and by Arts Queensland in the Department of Science,
Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts.
This project has also
been assisted by the Australian Government through the
Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
15 August to 21
September 2013
Wood n Palette - Warwick
Artist Group and Warwick Woodcrafters
Our very popular
collaborative exhibition between the Warwick Artists Group and
Warwick Woodcrafters
26 September to 3 November 2013
Unchained Melody - Joyce Gray
An exhibition by Glen
Aplin artist Joyce Gray. Through her art Joyce seeks
to portray a glimpse of human experiences in its variety.
"We each may be regarded as a melody of existence, each note
tuned to composing that melody, which I hear and interpret
into art."
7 November to 15
December 2013
Shifting Realities - Philip
Skinner
Philip Skinner’s
paintings traverse the traditional genres of landscape,
portraiture, and still life yet his approach is more about
the exploration of feeling generated by his response to the
subject.
The imagery becomes a metaphorical abstraction of place, of
person, of object. Memory shapes form, and colour captures
mood in expressive gestures where appearance is but a
suggestion of some shifting reality.
The landscape is an experience created by transmutations of
light. These diffused auras become allegories of place, the
site for ceremony, ritual, and even hedonistic pursuits. A
face glimpsed becomes a haunting visage recognized only by
the heart. Flowers highlight occasions, yet their sprightly
presence soon topples into blousy, faded glory that marks
the passage of time.
Philip Skinner was born in Winchester, England, in 1926. He
was encouraged very early in his life to write, to paint,
and to compose music. Philip trained at the Central School
of Art in London and this was followed by further study at
the Courtauld Institute. From here he worked for a time in
the Fine Arts Department of the British Council and later
was an art adviser with the John Walter Thompson Advertising
Agency. Family business took Philip to the heart of
Australia, into a blistering, red country of sparse
vegetation. From the moist green fecundity of England to the
unremitting, but haunting geography of Western Australia was
a journey into another world. In this land of extremes
Philip realized that he had found his spiritual home. Philip
Skinner has exhibited extensively in Australia, Britain,
Europe, and the United States of America
18 December 2013 to
2 February 2014
iNASA - David Howard
This exhibition
represents a suite of thirty quirky stories, a set of
episodes in a long tall tale about contemporary civilisation
and life, described as 'vaguely autobiographical' by
Sunshine Coast painter David Howard. The term ‘NASA’ acts a
metaphor for Western culture.
Each work is in itself a complete mini-narrative. A
space-suited pair face ‘change’ together; become tribal and
endangered; entangled, scared and lost; float about and fall
in love in a vibrant ‘real and imagined’ landscape, under
the gaze of an intriguing third figure.
This set of paintings represents a visual and intellectual
smorgasbord, combining striking graphics and complex
personal iconography whilst directly referencing other
artists, popular culture and recent history.
Its subject matter is lovingly rendered with deep texture,
animated composition with the sensuously luminous and
colourful black-rimmed quality of stained glass.
