UNSOLVED HISTORIES (Save the date)

It was a lovely surprise to discover this listing in the Autumn Issue of Best of Ballarat in our local cafe this afternoon. Do save the date:

4-26 MAY
DEBORAH KLEIN
UNSOLVED HISTORIES

Deborah Klein’s iconic ‘rear view portraits’ allude to the countless women who have fallen through the cracks of history. Her latest solo exhibition marks the first time this body of paintings and works on paper, created over the last 6 years, has been exhibited in Ballarat. 

Old Butchers Shop Gallery 
112 Seymour Street
Open weekends 12-4 pm or by appointment. 

The exhibition runs in conjunction with Ballarat Heritage Festival 2024.

A tabletop of artist books

In the studio this rainy afternoon, a tabletop of artist books selected for the upcoming three-person exhibition ARTIST BOOKS & FOLIOS. I will be in the UK throughout its entire run, so am posting about it well ahead of time. 

ARTIST BOOKS & FOLIOS
Deborah Klein, Elizabeth Banfield and Theo Strasser 
South Gallery, Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne

Running from September 20 - October 7.

For additional information, scroll down to Blog Post Tuesday, August 8, or go HERE.

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 

Attuned

 

I’m delighted to have been curated by Stephen McLaughlan into the forthcoming group exhibition, Attuned. The show runs from January 19 - February 5, which, although it’s not until next year, is not so very far away. 

Pictured above: Songstress, pigmented drawing ink and gouache on Khadi paper, 15.5 x 11 cm, one of my works that will be part of Attuned at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery in 2022.

Save the date

If your year isn't already booked up, please save the date for Backstories, my solo exhibition at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne. The show doesn't open until 15 April, with the opening event on Saturday, 18 April from 2 - 4 pm. But with Easter buns already in the shops, it will come round fast enough. I do hope you can make it.

SAVE THE DATE

The modestly scaled solo show, PRINTS 1987 - 2016, which has just finished its run at Tacit Contemporary Art (see previous post) was a prelude to a larger, more extensive exhibition scheduled for 29 November - 17 December next year. Spanning four of Tacit's gallery spaces, it will focus on thirty years of my printmaking practice. The gallery has already produced these Keep the Date flyers.

Left - right: Keith Lawrence and Shane Jones showing off the newly printed Keep the Date flyers
prior to the opening of PRINTS 1987 - 2016

Something for your 2017 diaries