EVENTIDE - an After Noon event at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery

Here are a few snapshots, all of them taken by my partner Shane Jones, of yesterday’s After Noon event at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. They feature Rona Green, Euan Heng and I conversing about the current relief printmaking exhibition/print exchange, Eventide.

So many people attended and we extend our warm thanks to all of you. Your engagement and enthusiasm helped make the afternoon an utter pleasure. It was great to talk with several of you individually after the event.

Thanks also to Jane German, Public Programs and Marketing Coordinator, and all the MPRG staff who made us so welcome and ensured that everything ran so seamlessly.

Finally, a huge thank you to Eventide curator and exhibiting artist Rona Green for conceiving and curating the wonderful show that is Eventide and for inviting me to be part of it.

Eventide concludes on 3 July.

Left-right: Deborah Klein, Rona Green and Jane German prior to the start of the talk.
Our grins herald the arrival of Euan Heng.

Jane German introduces us to the audience. L-R: Euan Heng, Deborah Klein, Rona Green and Jane

L-R: Euan Heng, Deborah Klein and Jane German

Rona Green explains the concept of an artist print exchange and discusses the exhibition's theme 

Rona's overview of Eventide continues...

...and concludes with an informative explanation and demonstration of what constitutes a relief print

Euan, Rona and I in conversation with our marvellous audience 

Rehang at the Art Gallery of Ballarat

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).