The
Art Gallery of Ballarat has just done a major rehang of its permanent collection.
It was great to discover my works Ladies
Glisten (2002, screen print with artificial pearls on sized Chinese silk)
and Ex Votive Offerings (2002, screen
print with needle threaders on sized Chinese silk) are part of the new display. The purple
reflections in the above photograph are from the wonderful Euan Heng neon installation in
the room directly opposite (see the following two images). As a mentor who has become a treasured friend and whose work has long been an inspiration, it's entirely appropriate that Euan's works should be reflected in mine.
The
sign pictured in the image above gives some context to the contemporary collection. It reads
as follows:
HUGH D. T. WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION GALLERY AND OLIVER FAMILY ROOM
Australian Art
1985 to the present
This room houses a selection of artworks from the ‘coalface’ of contemporary Australian art, a period of great diversity, when artists have looked back to past eras for inspiration but also looked to the future often with a sense of disquiet.
It also shows some of the Gallery’s comprehensive collection of indigenous art, including Top End bark paintings.
The room is named after the Hugh Williamson Foundation, established by Ballarat-born banker and philanthropist Hugh Williamson which has contributed significantly to this Gallery.
The Oliver Family Room is a place of rest and reflection, named after the Olivers, a Ballarat business family which has been a generous supporter of local causes.
Pictured above: Euan Heng: E is for elephant (2007) Snail (Momento) 2007, Elephant (2007) and Dove Descending (2007)
Pictured above: Deborah Klein: Ladies Glisten (2002) and Ex Votive Offerings (2002)
As the following photo shows, my work is in fine company:
Pictured above (on
walls, clockwise): Deborah Klein: Ladies Glisten and Ex Votive Offerings (both 2002), David Noonan: Villa Balthus 1 (2004), Godwin Bradbeer: Man and Eclipse (2008), Melba Gunjarrwanga: Kun-madj – dilly bag (2008), Bronwyn Kelly: Ngalyod – Rainbow Serpent (2008), Emma van Leest: All matter that exists (2009), Tony
Cran: We’ve come for what’s ours
(2007) Rick Amor: Study for the Dry
Season (2003). Sculptures
(L-R): Bruce Armstrong: Tyger (1984)
Peter Blizzard: Ponte timeless coast
(circa 1989).