Your invitation to the APW George Collie Memorial Award Exhibition + Presentation

You are warmly invited to the Exhibition Opening and Award Presentation of the 2020-2022 APW George Collie Memorial Award at the Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne. 

As part of the Award (which I am privileged to share with Barbara Hanrahan, Hertha Kluge-Pott and Ann Newmarch OAM), I was invited by the APW to create a special print edition, a hand coloured linocut printed by APW Master Printer, Simon White. It will be included in the exhibition, along with several earlier works, the majority of them from the APW archives. A selection of Moth Woman Press artist books and zines will also be on exhibit. 

APW George Collie Award Exhibition Opening + Presentation

2 - 4 pm, Saturday 6 August

Australian Print Workshop Gallery

210 Gertrude Street,

Fitzroy, Victoria 3065, AUSTRALIA

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10 am - 5 pm

T: (03) 9419 5466

E: contact@australianprintworkshop.com

W: www.australianprintworkshop.com 

I hope you can join us at the Award Presentation or visit the exhibition, which runs to Saturday 1 October. 

Pictured above: 

At the Australian Print Workshop in July 2022, signing the edition of my hand-coloured linocut, I Wished on the Moon, printed at the APW by Simon White. Photo credit: Shane Jones.

APW George Collie Memorial Award Exhibition: D’oyley Face

 

D'oyley Face, 1997, linocut, 46 x 36 cm, edition 15

Back in 2020, I was a recipient of the Australian Print Workshop’s 2020 APW George Collie Memorial Award, which acknowledges “Artists who have made significant and enduring contributions to the field of Australian Printmaking.”* (See also previous post). 

Traditionally, the award presentation is accompanied by an exhibition in the APW Gallery. This was originally scheduled to open on June 13, 2020. Then along came the pandemic. The rest, as they say, is history, although sad to say, COVID is still very much a part of our lives. 

The APW George Collie Memorial Award Exhibition and Presentation will finally forge ahead on Saturday August 6 from 2 - 4 pm. The 2020 Award also recognises the work of one of my printmaking and literary heroines, the late Barbara Hanrahan, alongside more recent recipients whose works I also revere, but whose names I’m not yet at liberty to divulge. It’s a tremendous honour to have my name linked with theirs and eminent past recipients Alun Leach-Jones and Kevin Lincoln (2019), Graham Fransella and Euan Heng (2018), Kitty Kantilla and John Wolseley (2017), Bea Maddock and Jennifer Marshall (2016), Grahame King and Jan Senbergs (2015) and Rick Amor and Noel Counihan (2014).

As part of the award, a special print edition has been commissioned by the APW. My hand coloured linocut entitled I wished on the moon, 2022, printed by the APW’s Simon White, will be part of the exhibition, along with a selection of earlier works. The majority are from the APW’s archives. I’ve only just noticed that one of them, D’oyley Face, 1997, pictured top, incorporates fragments of hand embroidered doilies formerly owned by my late Aunt, Eileen Klein, including the doily that was the basis for my painting, Primavera l, 2021 (see below). I had completely forgotten about this early reference to my aunt’s home textiles collection that has inspired so much of my recent work.

Eileen Klein’s doily (left) with Primavera I, 2021, diptych, acrylic on canvas, 37 x 15 cm 

The APW George Collie Memorial Award Exhibition has been a long time coming. I can’t believe it’s happening at last and hope you’ll save the date. The exhibition runs from Saturday‬ ‪August 6 to Saturday October 1, 2022. 

*From the APW website 

Countdown to the APW George Collie Memorial Award Exhibition

Yesterday I called into the Australian Print Workshop to sign and number the linocut (an edition of 20, plus proofs) commissioned for the forthcoming APW George Collie Memorial Award Exhibition. On my left is APW master printer Simon White, who printed the edition, which I hand coloured in my Ballarat studio. (See below).

After two long years of COVID-related delays (and then some), the APW George Collie Memorial Award Exhibition will officially open on Saturday 6 August and run to Saturday 1 October 2022. 

Further details about the exhibition and print edition will be posted nearer the time.

Photo credit for image 1: Shane Jones.

Swan Hill Print and Drawing Award finalist

 

The Needlewoman, 2022, pigmented drawing ink and watercolour, 76.5 x 56 cm, has been shortlisted for the 2022 Swan Hill Print & Drawing Acquisitive Awards at Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery.

The work is pictured here, all packed and ready for delivery to the good folk at Creative Framing Gallery. (Thank you, Shane Jones, for the loan of the box). 

Umpteen hours over a long period of time have gone into the development of this drawing. In fact, more than once I nearly gave up on it. Along the way, it even acquired a new title. Its inclusion in the award means a great deal. It will also be a huge relief to have the work safely under glass so I can no longer fiddle with it!

Wrapping up RÜCKENFIGUR

 

Jade, 2022, diptych, acrylic on canvas, 37(h) x 15(w)cm. 

Photo credit: Tim Gresham

It’s a wrap (well, almost).

Rückenfigur, my solo show at at Queenscliff Gallery, ends today, Sunday, July 10, at 4 pm.

Scroll through for a small selection of highlights, most of them taken at the official opening. Warmest thanks to Queenscliff Gallery, to those who made acquisitions and to everyone who dropped by during the exhibition’s run. 

To view additional highlights, scroll down to Blog Post Monday, June 27, 2022 or click HERE.

For those who missed the show, never fear. You can still pay it a virtual visit here: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=wki33M1KvV3 

A link to individual works is here: https://qgallery.com.au/item-tag/ruckenfigur

Photo credits for the following, unless otherwise stated: Soula Mantalvanos and Kathryn Ryan.

Antonietta Covino-Beehre, Loris Button and myself

With Helen Bodycomb and Martin Paten

Heather Barker, Loris Button, myself and Euan Barker

Lara Davies and Paul Compton 

With Euan Barker and Shirley Ploog

L-R: Tim Gresham, Christine Hickson, Gaye Britt, Susan Balletta, Theo Mantalvanos, Antonio Balletta

Shirley Ploog, Shane Jones

From centre: Eugene Barilo von Reisberg, Annie Drum, Gaye Britt

Peter Cooper (background, left), Miranda Costa (foreground),

 Loris Button and Antonietta Covina-Beehre (background, right)

Shane Jones

Libby Drew, Shane Jones, Scott Bain, Gaye Britt, Susan and Antonio Balletta, Tim Gresham and Christine Hickson 

Michael and Jennifer Fitzgerald, myself, Godwin Bradbeer, Angela Bourke and Christine Hickson 

With Godwin Bradbeer

Coffee at after the show at 360Q with Shane Jones, Kathryn Ryan, Brendan Ryan, Susan Balletta, Antonio Balletta 

and Godwin Bradbeer, surrounded by magnificent harbour views. Credit for above photo: staff member from 360Q

For Eileen

 

As Rückenfigur, my solo exhibition at Queenscliff Gallery, dwindles down to its final days, I’ve curated a selection of the paintings that take their point of departure from the doily collection of my late aunt, Eileen Elizabeth Klein. The works have been reproduced on this blog before, but this is the first time I’ve gathered them together in one post.

The above image is cropped from a photo snapped at the exhibition opening by Queenscliff Gallery’s co-director, Soula Mantalvanos. In honour of my aunt, I’m wearing a vintage cardigan and sweater she knitted at least forty years ago. I received numerous compliments about her handiwork on the day. I’m sure she would have been delighted!

Below is a photo of Auntie Eileen taken in the 1950s, very possibly earlier. The inscription on the back in my aunt’s distinctively forceful handwriting identifies the store in the background as “Rondel’s”. A little online detective work locates Rondel’s (presumably long gone) womenswear store at 110 Market Street, Sydney.

As her brother, my late Uncle Tom, used to say “Eileen had style”. 

Directly following are my paintings and the doilies that inspired them.

Patience, 2022, diptych, acrylic on canvas, 35 x 12.5 cm

Idyll, 2021, diptych, acrylic on canvas, 35 x 12.5 cm

Primavera I, 2021, diptych, acrylic on canvas, 37 x 15 cm

Primavera lI, 2021, diptych, acrylic on canvas, 37 x 15 cm

Lady in Waiting, 2022, diptych, acrylic on canvas, 55.5 x 22.5 cm

Flora, 2021, diptych, acrylic on canvas, 35 x 12.5 cm

Butterfly Net, 2000-2020, acrylic on 4 canvases, 35 x 25 cm

Rückenfigur concludes on Sunday, July 10, at 4 pm.