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2008 Exhibitions

22 November 2008 - 22 March 2009

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 Journey of a Photographer

Mervyn Bishop

 

Journey of a Photographer is a carefully documented photographic essay which reveals the life of a wandering photographer in a striking retrospective exhibition.

This ehxibition documents the magical experiences of a young photographer from Brewarrina, North-Western NSW watching his first black and white prints developing in a small darkroom in the 1950s, through to the early works from Bishop's Sydney Morning Herald cadetship in the 1960s-70s and substantial documentary work with communities and events in the 1980s and 1990s. This significant exhibition provides a window into Mervyn Bishop's journey through the physical and social landscape of Australia.

13 December 2008 - 15 March 2009

REGIONAL ART SPACE

Images of Between

Peter Mortimer

Images of Between features a new body of work by renowned Dubbo-based artist Peter Mortimore. His work depicts the inhabitants and landscape of regional Australia. "I want my paintings to cause the viewer to pause, and for a fleeting moment while they are viewing the work they are transported into my world. I would hope my paintings answer questions more than pose them."

  

Peter Mortimore

Half Hennesy 2008 pencil drawng and white chalk, 76 x 57cm

Image © Peter Mortimore

Mervyn Bishop

Australia Day 2007 Lambda print Image © Mervyn Bishop

PROJECT SPACE

In Captivity: Animals in the DRG Collection

8 November 2008 - 1 February 2009

The DRG collection features a specific interest in the depiction of Animals. As such the ways in which artists have described animals are especially varied, and the closer you examine the collection, the range of perspectives deepens. Invariably animals are presented in two states – their natural habitats, or constructed environments. The former is under increasing threat by the spread of the urban behemoth, the latter becoming more and more sophisticated as a facsimile of the real. In Captivity features work by David Noonan, Hayden Fowler, Nick Devlin. Ben Quilty, Beverly Veasey, Simon Cuthbert, Peggy Napangardi Jones and Bruce Nabegeyo.

22 November 2008 - 8 February 2009

CHILDREN'S GALLERY

The Shack That Dad Built

Elaine Russell

The Shack That Dad Built tells of Elaine Russell's childhood in La Perouse. This lively and colourful story will engage children and adults alike.

Elaine Russell

The Shack That Dad Built 2007

Image © Elaine Russell

Nick Devlin

Word Cage 2005

Mixed media 12.5 x 16.5 x 13cm Collection Dubbo Regional Gallery

Gift of the Dubbo & District Australian Decorative & Fine Arts Society 2006

Image © Nick Devlin

8 November 2008 - 1 February 2009

VIDEO SPACE

Flight to Light

Flight to Light is a light sculpture installation featuring a series of cubes that represent future housing development. Sustainable low energy LED lighting is located inside each cube suggesting emotional space in a digital space. The installation consumes 40 watts of electrical energy and is controlled by a lighting computer program by colour kinetics.

Mary-Anne Kyriakou

Flight to Light 2007

Perspex, digital lighting technology, LED lights, brushed stainless steel

Image © Mary-Anne Kyriakou

4 October 2008 - 24 January 2009

MUSEUM SPACE

Year of the Great Flood

Year of the Great Flood brings strong graphic memories of the 1955 flood which was one of the most significant and damaging natural disasters ever to hit Dubbo. The pictures, newspaper articles, sound material and video records of the disaster representing damage done to communities, the industry and cultural heritage with thousands of people evacuated from their homes, is the material that dramatically restages one of the most disastrous event in the city’s history.

 

From flood survivors and their stories to young generations involved in a debate of climate change and its consequences, Year of the Great Flood is expected to engage different audiences in a discussion about local and global, reflecting the contemporary issues of human relations with nature, environmental collapse and apocalyptically vision of global destruction.

 

Year of the Great Flood was researched and developed by Connie Eales during her Macquarie University Museum Studies Professional Experience Placement at the Western Plains Cultural Centre.Year of the Great Flood was made possible through the support of Gilgandra Museum and Historical Society, Sandra Smith Local Studies Officer, Macquarie Regional Library, Ross Graham, Marie Wolkowiak, Joan Booth, and Old Dubbo Gaol.

Flood damage to a Gilgandra business 1955

Photographer unkown

Collection Ken Thompson

20 September - 7 December 2008

REGIONAL ART SPACE

Corrugated

Ana Young

Corrugated is an exhibition of new work by Hill End-based artist Ana Young. This group of paintings and mixed media works are inspired by the built environment of Hill End, and resonate with the colours and patterns of the landscape. The carefully layered compositions are built up over long periods of time, lending them a meditative and hypnotic atmosphere.

  

Ana Young

Patched & Corrugated 2008

Oil on canvas 170 x 140cm

Image © Ana Young

4 October - 16 November 2008

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Fresh Arts 08

 

Fresh Arts 08 celebrates the complexity and diversity of regional arts practice. Formed in 2003, Fresh Arts Inc is a collective of regionally based artists and art lovers, who explore opportunities to exhibit and facilitate dialogue. This exhibition profiles the work of 16 artists from across the region, and offers a window into the healthy and vibrant contemporary art scene in regional New South Wales.

 

Fresh Arts 08 presents new work by Jack Randell, Kathielyn Job, Milena Sallustio, Kim Goldsmith, Ruth Roberts, Judy Shalhoub, Sandra Alon, Peita Marie Buchanan, Ken Tucker, Lea Tucker, Rowena Galway, Kath Morgan, Merryn Spencer, Lara Scolari, Annette Simpson and Lesley Young.

1 - 16 November 2008

  

CHILDREN'S GALLERY

Waste to Art

NetWaste is a collaborative waste management project that comprises 31 councils, covering approximately one third of NSW. The Waste to Art Project involves community exhibitions in participating council areas showing creative works made from recyclable waste material. This exhibition is the Local Competition and will showcase work by school children and community members

Deb Haesler

Bark Art 2008

Recycled scrap metal and an old cork board

Dimensions variable

Image © Deb Haesler

2 August - 2 November 2008

PROJECT SPACE

Art is Life Seen Through Temperament

Eris Fleming

Art is Life Seen Through a Temperament is a new survey exhibition presented in collaboration with Dr Eris Fleming, a regional artist whose practice over the last three decades has depicted the brightness of the Western Plains landscape and exposed the character of the local people. Temperament is the word that clearly defines Fleming’s approach, serving at the same time as an artist’s statement.

Eris Fleming

The Scars of El Nino 2006

Oil on canvas on plywood

120 x 122cm

Image © Eris Fleming

Jack Randell

Green Trunk (detail) 2007

Pastel, coloured pencil and graphite on paper

302 x 101cm

Image © Jack Randell

30 August - 26 October 2008

CHILDREN'S GALLERY

Operation Art

 

Operation Art is a project that encourages students from Kindergarten to Year 10 in all NSW schools to create artworks for children in hospital. It is an important statewide visual arts exhibition that focuses on creating a positive environment to aid the healing and recovery process of young patients.

Operation Art is a way of involving young people in the special work of The Children’s Hospital at Westmead – a total healing environment where design, decoration, facilities, gardens and art combine with the best possible medical care to help comfort and heal young patients.

 

Operation Art is a partnership between the New South Wales Department of Education and Training, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, the Nelson Meers Foundation and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

 

16 August - 28 September 2008

MAIN GALLERY

Biosonics

 

Proudly sponsored by Dubbo Orthodontic Centre, BioSonics is a stunning sculptural installation filling the main gallery space, created by Nigel Helyer specifically for WPCC. The work encompasses a variety of elements and utilises cutting edge technologies in its fabrication.

The son of a Welsh fisherman, Nigel has always been interested in marine biology, specifically microscopic marine organisms that have evolved largely without a regard for gravity. BioSonics includes a sound component activated by human movement, which changes pitch and volume. The installation establishes a reactive space, forming an immersive sonic environment.

Nigel Helyer

Sketch for BioSonics 2008

interactive audio installation

Image © Nigel Helyer

Adam Duffey

Gangstar Me 2008

Age 12 Erskine Park High School

Image © Operation Art

30 August - 26 October 2008

REGIONAL ART SPACE

21st Western District National Photgraphic Exhibition

12 July - 10 August 2008

  

MAIN GALLERY/VIDEO SPACE

Art Express 

 

 

  

This year's ARTEXPRESS exhibtion has been specifically curated for Dubbo Regional Gallery - The Armati Bequest by former WPCC Curator Sandra McMahon and current WPCC Assistant Curator Kent Buchanan. The curators were given access to the entire selection of works for the 2007 Higher School Certificate. The exhihition encompasses all artforms and features many works by students from regional areas. 2008 sees ARTEXPRESS celebrate 25 years.

  

Laura Holland (St Johns College Dubbo)

The Inevitable Link Between Interest, Inquiry and Application towards the Pursuit of Understanding 2007 Collection of works

The National Photographic Exhibition was the brainchild of the Western Districts Association of Camera Clubs. This is an Australian Photographic Society approved National Competition - there are 17 approved National Exhibitions held around Australia each year. These exhibitions are open to all photographers in Australia.

 

Photographs are judged by 3 judges where points are awarded and an acceptance level is determined, these images are then exhibited. This year 92 images have been accepted in Monochrome Open, Colour Open, Nature, People and Photo Journalism. Slides and Projected Images are also shown.

 

This is a wonderful opportunity for the local residence to view a wide range of photographic images.

Ling Yong Xiong

First Morning Stroll 2008

Digital photograph

Image © Ling Yong Xiong

24 May - 6 July 2008

  

MAIN GALLERY

Bombay Sapphire

Design Discovery Award Exhibition 2007

 

  

In 2007 the Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award Exhibition presents groundbreaking contemporary functional designs in lighting, furniture, accessories and homewares. This year’s group includes a bowl that pays reference to the humble aluminium can by Nick Rennie, John Smith’s sting ray-form chair and Simone LeAmon’s stainless steel votive candle holders. Each designer will be represented by their Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award entry as well as other designs from their broader body of work.

24 May - 6 July 2008

  

CHILDREN'S GALLERY/

REGIONAL ART SPACE

Bloodlines:

Art & The Horse

 

  

This important exhibition explores the relationships and fascination between the horse and Australian society, history and culure. Exhibition curator Peter Fay has sourced works from some of Australia's most notable artists including John Brack, Hans Heysen, Noel McKenna, Fred Williams, Ken Whisson, Julie Rrap, Anne Zahalka and Richard Goodwin. The exhibition also incorporates a number of emerging and outsider artists who have been commissioned to create works specifically for the show.

 

From the historical black and white photographs depicting the often fraught life of the horse, drawn from a number of Australian archives to the whimsy of Slim Barrie's cardboard 'Masterpieces', John Brack's studies of life at the track to Louse Hubbard's beautifully absurd film depicting a small rubber horse being put through its paces. BloodLines: Art and the Horse is sure to bemuse, provoke, delight, and enchant.

Jo Boag

Blue Peter 2004

stitching, embroidery, appliqué, cotton & silk thread, velvet, felt on wool

courtesy private collection, Sydney

Image © Jo Boag

10 May - 27 July 2008

  

PROJECT SPACE

With Deep Inside Our Heart(Al Gauwer Maremuntunt Ngurnauwe Gootagoodo)

Gail Naden

  

With Deep Inside Our Heart surveys the work of Wiradjuri / Gamilaraay artist Gail Naden. Gail explores the depiction of land and water from an aerial perspective highlighting them as major elements in all aspects of our lives. Her work portrays the large views of landforms and the fine details found within it.

Gail Naden

Weilwan Waters 2007 Mixed media on canvas 110 x 75cm

Image © Gail Naden

John Smith

Sting-Ray 2007 Chair and footstool Double fibreglass shell, two-pack polyurethane paint finish

72cm high x 103cm deep x 82cm wide (chair) Photo: Peter Whyte

3 May - 6 July 2008

  

MUSEUM SPACE

From The Vault: The Museum Collection

 

The Dubbo Regional Museum Collection contains close to 5000 objects and photographs, collected since 1957 when Andy Graham first started storing items in his Wingewarra Street garage. As with many museums, within the collection there are examples of fads and fashions, new as well as lost technologies, family mementos of war or migration, and those small objects that may at first appear insignificant and yet tell us so much about a way of life all but gone. Inspired by ‘Cabinets of Curiosity’, that were filled with the mildly odd to the outright bizarre, From the Vault seeks to showcase some of the more unusual and rare items in the Dubbo Regional Museum Collection.

12 July - 10 August 2008

  

CHILDREN'S GALLERY

Warm Fuzzies

Anne Neal 

  

Anne Neal is a Mendooran-based artist who works with fibre. Her exhibition of native animals rendered in a variety of materials, has been created with the express purpose of being touched. Visitors to the exhibition are encouraged to touch the artworks, expanding the usual experience of viewing artworks.

Anne Neal

Scratching Wombat

Acrylic fur, felted wool, machine appliqué, embroidered and quilted

Image © 2008 Anne Neal

Dubbo's First Representative Rugby League Team 1912

Photographer unknown

Collection Dubbo Regional Museum

5 April - 1 June 2008

  

REGIONAL ART SPACE

Second Skin

Tim Moorhead 

 

Second Skin is a celebration of the Australian way of life, the annual summer holiday and the simple pleasure of being close to the sun and the surf. The distinguished Australian writer Donald Horne referred to it as "the annual changing of the skin". This exhibition of paintings, prints and ceramics is a new body of work by well known Sapphire Coast artist Tim Moorhead.

Tim Moorhead

Bright Eyed and Ready 2007 Linocut

Image © 2008 Tim Moorhead

2 February - 4 May 2008

  

PROJECT SPACE

Rhapsody in Red

Russell McQuilty

 

Russell McQuilty didn’t take up sculpture until he was 45yrs old and since then he hasn’t stopped. His endeavours to create works that are dynamic yet simple, using solely steel and relying largely on intuition, he searches for structural solutions and simplicity in his work. McQuilty’s work is all about the interaction and juxtaposition of various elements; planes crisscrossing creating triangles and squares with the negative space becoming an integral element in the overall visual statement each work makes.

Russell McQuilty

Tokyo Rose 1999

steel, painted

45 x 73 x 36cm

Courtesy of Tetsuya Wakuda

Image © 2007 Russell McQuilty

13 January - 13 April 2008

  

VIDEO SPACE

Owls

David Noonan

 

 

  

David Noonan is one of Australia's leading contemporary artists. This video features a nest of owls filmed at Melbourne Zoo and is a meditation on these elusive creatures that have inspired artists and writers for centuries.

David Noonan

Owls 2004 DVD from Super 8 (Edition 3/9) Duration: 3 minutes (loop)

Collection Dubbo Regional Gallery Image © 2007 David Noonan

1 May - 30 June 2008

  

VIDEO SPACE

Video Work

Shaun Gladwell

 

  

Videowork surveys the work of one of Australia's most successful video artists. This unique exhibition presented over two months, will present different works every two weeks. Featuring the video Storm Sequence from 2000, a work that has become synonymous with Australian video art, this exhibition will provide an insight into contemporary Australian image-making.

Shaun Gladwell

Tangara 2003 DV/DVD, 14:00 minutes, 4:3, silent Videography: Gotaro Uematsu

Photography: Josh Raymond

Courtesy the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Australia

Image © Shaun Gladwell

5 April - 18 May 2008

  

MAIN GALLERY

Australian Ceramic Stories

 

 

  

Australian Ceramic Stories examines the use of narrative in the work of twelve contemporary Australian ceramicists. The exhibition, curated by Wellington-based curator Dr Julia Jones, charts the tradition of story telling and the variety of ceramic pratices in Australian. The exhibition features work by Stephen Benwell, Louise Boscacci, Bern Emmerichs, Kris Koad, Patrick Collins, Gudrun Klix, Pip McManus, Mel Robson, Fleur Schell, Vipoo Srivilasa, Thancoupie and Gerry Wedd.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

Stephen Benwell

Pedestal Pots 2007Earthenware Dimansions variable, tallest 160mm

Courtesy of the artist and Niagara Galleries, Melbourne Image © 2007 Stephen Benwell

23 February - 18 May 2008

      

CHILDREN'S GALLERY

Artist at Work

Lewis Burns

 

 

  

Lewis Burns is a well known and respected local Indigenous artist who has done a number of arts based and performance workshops with youth and community groups. Lewis has been invited to work as an artist in residence in the gallery space, creating an ongoing and evolving series of works for exhibit and to conduct a variety of practical workshops for youth and community groups whilst working at the gallery.

Lewis Burns

Image © 2007 Western Plains Cultural Centre

2 February - 27 April 2008

  

MUSEUM SPACE

Artists of Steel: The Art of Australian Stamp Engraving

 

 

  

From the 1930s to the 1960s, the one-colour, intaglio process was in use for the production of Australian stamps. This was the era of the “artists of steel” – a few skilful craftsmen who hand-engraved the steel dies of intaglio stamps at the Note Printing Branch, Melbourne. Hunched over the die, the engraver had to cut the stamp design into the steel’s surface, making cuts as shallow as one 500th of a millimetre and engraving the design in reverse! The extraordinary skills of hand engraving on steel, an art no longer practised in Australia, are celebrated in this exhibition. This is a Post Master Gallery Exhibition.

Bruce Stewart engraving a stamp die c1959

  

9 February - 30 March 2008

      

MAIN GALLERY

Multiplicity: Prints & Multiples From the Collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art & the University of Wollongong

 

  

Multiplicity explores the development of prints and multiples from the 1960s to the current day, tracking the rise of an art form that lies at the core of contemporary art practice. Drawing on the permanent collections of the MCA and University of Wollongong, Multiplicity offers visitors the chance to see the evolution of this influential medium across four decades, from its emergence out of the pop art and conceptual art movements of the 1950s and 1960s. The exhibition features work by Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp, Damien Hirst and Fiona Hall.

Tom Philips

Benches 1982

screenprint edition 51 of 85

plate size: 85.5 x 60, sheet size: 106 x 75.7

University of Wollongong Art Collection, donated by Dr Douglas Kagi under the Cultural Gifts Program, 2004

© the artist

      

13 January - 13 April 2008

  

REGIONAL ART SPACE

The View Inside, The View Outside - The

Constant Moment

Kath Morgan

 

 

  

Local artist Kath Morgan presents a series of works that engage with hidden narratives that '....suggest tension, something happening, a moment in a dream - where something can become something else or where the hidden can come into view; where a moment is caught between its inception and transformation - some people have to write, I have a need to paint my stories.'

Kath Morgan

The Mystery of Stillness 2007 Acrylic on canvas 38 x 28cm

Image © 2007 Kath Morgan

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