2023 Past Exhibitions | Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery

Step into the extraordinary world of Lee Falk’s iconic creation, ‘The Phantom’ in a captivating and immersive comic exhibition like no other!

Phantom: Off the Drawing Board will take visitors on a thrilling journey through the mysterious and action-packed universe of The Phantom. With a rich international history spanning over eight decades, this immersive showcase delves into the Australian illustrators who have left their mark on the character, in particular Bundaberg based illustrator, Shane Foley.

Curated by Gallery Director, Rebecca McDuff, with the support of Australian Frew Publications, this never-before-seen collection of original artworks, vintage comic covers, and rare memorabilia, provides a unique opportunity to explore the enduring legacy of this masked crusader and experience exclusive behind the scenes insights into the creative minds that bring this hero to life.

Image: Shane Foley, Skull Ring (detail), 2023. Pen and Ink on Paper, 30 x 42 cm

Leah Emery | Shane Foley | Todd Fuller | Malki Studio | Jennifer McDuff | Reg Mombassa | Brian Robinson | Dylan Sarra | Cate Verney

The Phantom Response brings together a diverse group of artists, each reinterpreting The Phantom’s iconic persona through their own arts lens. This exhibition explores the enduring allure of The Ghost Who Walks and how artists across mediums continue to respond to this timeless hero.
 
Each artist chosen for this exhibition has identified a connection with The Phantom, and a desire to pay homage to this enigmatic hero, reimagining him through canvas, sculpture, print, and digital media, uncovering new dimensions of his character and world he inhabits.

This exhibition not only celebrates the significance of The Phantom in pop culture, but also showcases the character’s enduring inspiration for artists across generations.

Image: Reg Mombassa, Patrolling the Golden Highway (detail), 2023. Signed, Limited Edition 3/100. Digital Reproduction. 58 x 45.7 cm.

Celebrating the work of Queensland illustrator, Paul Mason, the Kid Phantom exhibition takes over Imaginarts for the summer!

Introducing ‘The Ghost Who Walks’ to a whole new generation of readers, the Kid Phantom comic was released by Frew Publications in 2017. It had a fresh new look and told the story of Kit and his lifelong friend, Guran, as they left their Skull Cave home and the jungles of the Deep Woods, to sail to America for Kit’s education.
 
In this interactive exhibition, explore the story behind Kid Phantom and design your own plot twists and storylines to add to the adventure.

Image: Paul Mason, Kid Phantom, 2017.

Enjoy a retro cinematic experience, as you watch The Phantom Serial (1943) this summer in The Vault.

Released by Columbia Pictures on the 24th December 1943, this black and white serial is split over 15 chapters. Produced by Rudolph C. Flothow and directed by Reeves Eason, it features Tom Tyler as The Phantom, and Jeanne Bates, as Diana Palmer.

Running Time:  299 minutes (please note this is on a loop)

Image: Tom Tyler, Phantom Comic Movie Serial (detail), 1943. Digital Reproduction.

Wajgan's Return celebrates the work of Ron Hurley (1946 - 2002). A Gooreng Gooreng/Mununjali man, the exhibition takes place in the country of his matrilineal ancestry from the Bundaberg and Gladstone regions. Curated by his daughter, Angelina Hurley, the retrospective exhibition is the first mixed-media presentation of Ron's work on country.

Wajgan's Return pays respect to and celebrates the totems and stories of the Gooreng Gooreng people, including 'Gnyala' the Owl and his personal totem 'Wajgan' the Willy Wag Tail.

Ron Hurley is recognised as one of the first Aboriginal artists to successfully mix First Nations and Western Art, and was the first Aboriginal person to graduate from the Qld College of Art, with a Bachelor of Visual Arts, in 1975. His arts practice crosses different media, such as painting, individual and public sculptures, ceramics, photography, printmaking and jewellery. His work, based on political and historical figures, recognised the plight of First Nations People in urban society, and he was a strong advocate for the artistic, cultural, and human rights of First Nations communities.

Wajgan's Return will feature artworks from the Hurley Family Collection, as well as works from the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection and the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum

Image: Ron Hurley, George Johnson (detail), 1989, oil and gold leaf on canvas, 121 x 166cm. Courtesy of the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection.

Ivy Minniecon is a proud Kuku Yalanji, Kabi Kabi, Gooreng Gooreng and South Sea Islander artist currently completing her Honours Degree at Griffith University, Qld College of Art. In this, her first exhibition with Bundaberg Regional Galleries, she responds to the artwork of Uncle Ron Hurley a man whose arts practice and story have been interwoven with her own.

Incorporating her practice of weaving balji (bags) and printmaking, Ivy transforms The Vault into a space that reflects her own strengthening of identity and connection to Country, while paying tribute to the ground breaking work of Ron Hurley, in breaking down barriers for First Nations people.

Ivy's work has recently been seen in Hatched: National Graduate Show 2023, at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, and she was the recipient of the 2022 lain Turnbull Memorial Award, Qld College of Art, for her outstanding engagement with printmaking and print culture.

Image: Ivy Minniecon, Hatched: National Graduate Show 2023. Photographer: Andrew Willis

Sacrifice is an exhibition of portrait photography and oral histories by artist, William Debois. Debois a photographer of French origin, based in Gladstone, and with a career spanning 25 years across four countries.

This exhibition Sacrifice reflects the universal notions of sacrifice, be it big or small, life-affirming or limiting, tragic or slightly trivial. The images in the exhibition have been captured by Debois over a period of three years, as he has travelled 'road-trip' style, listened to and captured the visual and oral representations of people he has met along the way.

Thanks to the support of a Regional Arts Development Fund grant, William has been able to undertake a residency in Bunda berg to connect with the local South Sea Islander community and include photographs and stories taken during this residency into the exhibition, giving it additional resonance within our region.

Image: William Debois, from the series Sacrifice, Giclee fine art print on art paper, 1/10 edition, 51 x 51 cm.

Touring exhibition by the National Portrait Gallery

Pub Rock celebrates the people, places, scenes and sounds defining 1970s and 1980s Australia. Drawn primarily from the Gallery’s collection and enriched with works by leading Australian music photographers including Tony Mott and Wendy McDougall, Pub Rock will feature staged portraits and publicity shots alongside images captured during unguarded moments and the grungy energy of live performances.

This exhibition is supported by the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program, an Australian Government program aiming to improve access to the national collections for all Australians.
 

Image: Jimmy Barnes at The Coogee Bay Hotel, 1984 by Grant Matthews Collection: National Portrait Gallery, Canberra.

During this Bundaberg Regional Galleries installation, you are invited to anonymously contribute and engage with the work by creating a Message in a Bottle, expressing everything from fears, concerns, feelings, notes to self or messages to loved ones.

Participation is simple. Write a message, then roll paper and carefully slip into a bottle. All messages will remain confidential.

The power of a Message in a Bottle is what it can capture about us and most importantly, here is a safe space to be your truest self, that which is most precious and unique to each of us.

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle’ - Albert Einstein.

Well known for her expressive and colourful works, artist Jay Feather, draws on her memories of Bundaberg and innate sense of fun, to transform The Vault into a place of wonder and joy for everyone to explore.

“To be amazed and in awe of life is to feel fully alive and present in the moment. Too much of our lives is taken up with mundane, beige tasks. Something Kind of Wonderful is the complete opposite of this”

Since moving with her family to Brisbane in early 2023, Jay’s arts career has gone from strength to strength, with her most recent exhibition held at Revival Art and Design Gallery. After the success of her large-scale mural for the Bloom exhibition in 2022, Bundaberg Regional Galleries are excited to welcome Jay back for Something Kind of Wonderful.

Image: Jay Feather, In Bloom (detail), 2022, acrylic and spray enamel installation.

Trying to Enjoy the Fruits of my Labour is a solo exhibition, by multi-disciplinary artist Chloe Smith.
Working primarily in textiles - under her pseudonym ‘I Make Soft Food’ - Chloe first exhibited with Bundaberg Regional Galleries in 2021 as part of the group exhibition Savour.

This new exhibition features her latest hyperreal representations of food, inviting viewers into an illusory game where the line between the real and the fake becomes blurred to the point of ridiculousness. In both subject and material, Chloe’s sculptures push the storytelling boundaries of the textile tradition, favouring play, silliness, exploration and absurdity in a world that seeks ever increasing seriousness and rigidity.

Trying to Enjoy the Fruits of My Labour represents a pivoting away from pure representation to a place where perhaps the territory no longer precedes the map and playing with your food is strongly encouraged.

Image: Chloe Smith, Thong Katsu, 2023, wool, embroidery, thread, plastic plate,
armature wire.

Accretions of History: ANZACS in Iraq, is the work of Captain Julian Thompson. An accredited professional landscape painter, Capt. Thompson joined the Australian Regular Army after a chance encounter with a recruitment advertisement. The decision to enlist enabled him to finish his radiology degree, a pivot made after the Global Financial Crisis impacted his career as an artist.

In 2016 and again in 2019, Capt. Thompson was deployed to Iraq, where the compelling visual imagery and symbolism re-energised his artistic practice.

The artworks in Accretions of History: ANZACS in Iraq reflect his deployment and have been exhibited in the National Army Museum, New Zealand, in 2021. The body of work that comprises this exhibition was completed by Capt. Thompson in a private capacity. It is neither a polemic and nor does it seek to glorify or criticise. Rather, it represents the visual reflections of a deployed soldier with artistic training in an environment the Australian public rarely gets to see.

Image: Julian Thompson, A Moment of Peace, 2020, oil on canvas, Triptych.

Kellie O’Dempsey is known for her site generated installations and performances that integrate projection, video, collage, architectural space, gestural line, performance and digital drawing.

In Wish, a reimagining of her Wish You Were Here exhibition, O’Dempsey uses The Vault to create an immersive installation of collaged works on paper, projected animation, and sound. This installation offers the viewer a moment of hypnotic but joyful reprieve, as uncanny objects collide and figures attempt to travel but go nowhere. The original exhibition Wish You Were Here was created in response to the pandemic’s lockdown life, and in this reiteration, the search for connection amongst the elements of the installation in still apparent.

Sound by Mick Dick.

Image: Kellie O’Dempsey, Wish You Were Here installation. Photo credit: Louis Lim.

Sunken Houses is a series of images by Bundaberg photographer, Brad Marsellos, capturing the aftermath of the 2013 floods that severely impacted many across the Bundaberg region. The photographs are accompanied by a musical composition, by Brisbane-based composer, Heinz Riegler, and the entire series was acquired by Bundaberg Regional Galleries in 2017.

This series of photographs was first exhibited at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery in 2014, and proved to be a highly emotive and very personal exhibition for the community. Now, 10 years on from the devastating natural disaster, Bundaberg Regional Galleries takes the time to pause and remember with a retrospective showing of the exhibition.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a Creative Recovery Discussion, on Thursday 11 May, reflecting on the resilience of the Bundaberg community and the role of creative projects post the 2013 floods, in helping the region rebuild.

Image: Brad Marsellos, March: It Happened Weeks Ago, (detail) 2013, digital photograph. Courtesy of the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection.

Through drawing and lithography, Dr Nicola Hooper uses fairy-tale iconology and rhymes to explore concepts surrounding zoonoses (animal diseases that can infect humans). The exhibition ZOONOSES explores how we perceive certain animals in the context of fear and disease.

Nicola is a Logan-based artist with a background in design and illustration. Lithography and drawing became integral to her studio practice whilst she completed a MAVA and MAVA (Hons) at Queensland College of Art in Brisbane. She completed her Doctorate in 2019 with her research titled ZOONOSES – A Visual Narrative, after being awarded a GU Postgraduate Research Scholarship.

ZOONOSES is a touring exhibition of works by Dr Nicola Hooper presented by Logan Art Gallery, Logan City Council, in partnership with Museums & Galleries Queensland. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program, and is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, part of the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy. Proudly sponsored by Haymes Paint.
 

Image: Dr Nicola Hooper, The Giant Flea, 2017, digital print of hand coloured lithograph on foam board, 100 x 100cm, image courtesy the artist.

passing through v. To move or travel through (some place, thing, or space) on the way to some other place, thing, or space.

In this body of work, artist, Carolyn V Watson, explores the trust and inner strength that one must elicit to press forward. Created as an installation for The Vault, the artworks reflect the human response to carry forward expectations and doubt, but also to prize the knowledge that comes from each experience, and recognise that process is just a transitory state that makes space, and welcomes new paths to appear.

Carolyn V Watson is a multi-award winning artist who has strong ties to the Bundaberg Region through her biennial artist in residencies at St Luke’s Anglican School. Watson’s practice takes the viewer on an exploration of the world that lies between the natural and the unknown. Utilising found objects, often collected through her travels to  facilitate workshops and residences, this series of sculptures will bring the ‘natural’ and the ‘artificial’ into an absorbing union of bone and bio-organic forms, overlaid with an intricate network of lace.

Image: Carolyn V Watson, Glory crowned grief (the tick in time when your heart tightened...), 2022, Epoxy clay, doily, glass spheres, pearl beads, gold beads, ball bearings, upholstery thread, concave mirror, antler pieces, boar skull.

Femminile is a pop up exhibition for International Women’s Day 2023.

This exhibition explores female portraiture by female artists in the Bundaberg Regional Galleries’ Collection, with the addition of artwork loans from significant private collections. Spanning the 19th, 20th and 21st Century, the artworks in Femminile speak to the changing depictions of women over this time, both as sitters and in self-portraiture.

As unique as the women who created them, these portraits represent moments of vulnerability and defiance in the face of changing societal norms. The works on display challenge historical representation of female subjects by male artists, and make space for women to be the authors of their own narratives in Galleries and art collections.

Image: Helene Grove, Portrait of a Young Girl (detail), 1998, acrylic on cotton. Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection, acquired 1998.