A new exhibition opening tomorrow (Friday) at the Tweed Regional Gallery featuring original artist prints produced by 12 printmakers from the northern rivers.
The exhibition, titled Local Provenance, also forms part of the nationwide celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Print Council of Australia (PCA).
Gallery director Susi Muddiman, who curated the exhibition with Jan Davis, said Local Provenance is a botanical term which describes plants grown from locally collected seed.
The exhibition presents the work of talented printmakers who live in the Lismore, Tweed, Byron, Kyogle and Grafton area.
‘The development of these artist’s careers from their local seeding to their current status as artists of national significance is aptly described in these terms,’ Ms Muddiman said.
‘The curators thought of the printmaking studios of Southern Cross University in Lismore as a kind of “hothouse” for growing printmakers, and the local institutions such as the Lismore, Grafton and Tweed regional galleries as elaborate trellises that have supported these artists as their careers grew,’ she said.
‘The prints in the exhibition include those purchased from the artists early in their careers and now loaned by the local regional galleries and the university, alongside more recent works by each artist.’
Ms Muddiman said that in selecting this group of artists, the curators considered those who had also benefited from the support provided by the PCA through their annual print commission.
‘Jan Davis and I have both enjoyed our association over the years in contributing to the national management committee of the PCA, and it seemed apt to celebrate the PCA’s significant birthday locally with an exhibition of printmakers of our region,’ she said.
The artists included in Local Provenance are Darren Bryant, Jan Davis, Sarah Harvey, Gary Jolley, Jenny Kitchener, Leonie Lane, Shelagh Morgan, Travis Paterson, Rochelle Summerfield, Scott Trevelyan, Samuel Tupou and Christine Willcocks.
Ms Davis said the artists had been selected for the quality of their prints ‘and the way they have built their professional careers through continued exhibition and publication of their practice, critical review and further study’.
‘Their works have been shown throughout Australia, some have exhibited internationally, many have been commissioned artists of the PCA and all of them are in some way continuing to contribute to the local arts community,’ she said.
All are welcome to attend the official opening of Local Provenance by Dr Stephen Garrett, coordinator visual arts at Southern Cross University on Friday, 15 July, at 6pm.
A range of public programs have been developed to complement Local Provenance. See the artists demonstrating their work in the gallery on Sunday 14 and 28 August, and Sunday 11 September from 11am-2pm.
Continuing the gallery’s collaboration with the Byron School of Art and c.a.s.e., all welcome also to the Art in the Pub: The Printmakers on Monday, 17 October, at 6pm (for 6.30pm) at the Courthouse Hotel, Burringbar Street, Mullumbimby.
The exhibition continues at the Tweed Regional Gallery until Sunday 4 December 2016.
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