Upcoming exhibition: UNSOLVED HISTORIES

 

UNSOLVED HISTORIES
A Ballarat Heritage Festival exhibition

Opening event: Saturday, 4 May, from 2-4 pm 

Old Butchers Shop Gallery
112 Seymour Street
Soldiers Hill
Ballarat, VIC 3350

Open weekends, 12-4 pm, or by appointment

Pictured top, L-R: Streaked Bowerbird and Green Catbird, both 2018, watercolours in found frames

UNSOLVED HISTORIES runs until 26 May, 2024

Christmas 2023

 

Merry Christmas for tomorrow. I hope you enjoy every minute of your day, no matter how you celebrate it (or not) and that the last few days of 2023 will pass equally agreeably. 

My own year was capped off by a visit to London in September/October that was life-changing in unforeseen, seemingly endless ways. Fuelled by my trip, I’m now working with renewed vigour and a more assured sense of direction towards a solo show at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, scheduled for the latter part of next year. I can’t wait to see where the work takes me and what ever else the new year will bring.

My thanks and gratitude to those who have offered their friendship, support and encouragement throughout the past momentous year. I’m very lucky to have you in my life, and it’s a privilege to be a part of yours. 

Image on e-card: Deborah Klein, The Heavens Declare 2, 2022, linocut, 20 x 15 cm. For background information on this print and its companion work, The Heavens Declare 1, click HERE.

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. 

Primavera I

 

Primavera I, 2021, diptych, acrylic on canvas, 37 x 15 cm, recently debuted in Rückenfigur at Queenscliff Gallery. It’s one of several paintings in the show that take their inspiration from my late Auntie Eileen’s doily collection. This group of works are particularly close to my heart and will be the focus of a forthcoming post. 

For those unable to catch Rückenfigur IRL, you can view it in 3D HERE.

Photo credit: Tim Gresham.

Official Opening of Rückenfigur at Queenscliff Gallery

Gaye Britt

Pictured above and below are selected highlights from yesterday afternoon’s launch of my solo show, Rückenfigur, at Queenscliff Gallery. A million thanks to all who came, including many who traveled from far and wide in somewhat inclement weather, to those who acquired works and to Queenscliff Gallery’s Theo and Soula Mantalvanos for making it all happen. 

To explore the exhibition in 3D, go here: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=wki33M1KvV3

Soula Mantalvanos, myself, Dmetri Kakmi and Christine Hickson 

Peter Cooper and Carole Wilson 

Christine Hickson and Shane Jones

Soula Mantalvanos and Godwin Bradbeer

Kathryn Ryan, Antonio Baletta and Brendan Ryan

Terrence Morse and Beth

With Eugene Barilo von Reisberg 

Centre - right: Shane Jones, Christine Hickson, Libby Drew and Scott Bain

Lisa Sassella and Bill Reid

Shirley Ploog and Gaye Britt

Gaye Britt, Tim Gresham, myself and Kathryn Ryan

With Michael and Jennifer Fitzgerald  

Dmetri Kakmi and Theo Mantalvanos 

Susan and Antonio Balletta, Scott Bain and Libby Drew

Tim Gresham and Dmetri Kakmi 

Eugene Barilo von Reisberg and Shane Jones

Gaye Britt, Tim Gresham, Brendan Ryan and Kathryn Ryan

Susan Balletta and Brendan Ryan

Myself, Zoe and Soula

Iga and Peter Bajer and family. Peter and Iga were wonderful hosts during my recent residency at Geelong Grammar School. 

Paul Compton and Evan

A post-exhibition coffee at 360Q with these lovely people was one of the day’s highlights.

Clockwise: Shane Jones, myself, Kathryn Ryan, Brendan Ryan, Susan Balletta,

Angela Bourke, Antonio Balletta and Godwin Bradbeer. Thank you to the 

staff member who took the photo.