2022 Past Exhibitions | Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery

Audiences will be treated to an award-winning selection of regional Queensland talent in the exhibition Paint the Town.

Paint the Town is the touring exhibition of the 2021 Queensland Regional Art Awards, and coincides with Flying Arts Alliance celebrating 50 years of delivering visual arts projects and services to regional and remote Queensland.

Evoking the spirit of all things jubilant, exhibition artists have responded to the question – How do you celebrate? Is it serene or riotous – a party, a big bash, a festival, or a simple elegant affair? Does it display explosions of joy or quiet moments of reflection and gratitude; ceremony, tradition or ritual; a sense of occasion or ‘just because’? The Queensland Regional Art Awards is an annual visual arts prize and exhibition for established and emerging artists living in regional and remote Queensland.

Paint the Town, touring exhibition of the 2021 Queensland Regional Art Awards, is an initiative of Flying Arts Alliance in partnership with Museums & Galleries Queensland. This project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland; and proudly sponsored by Holding Redlich.

Image: Western Campbell, Town Meets Town, 2021, photograph, 58 x 77 cm, image courtesy of the artist and Flying Arts Alliance, Photo: Louis Lim.

Curated by Djon Mundine OAM FAHA, Three Echoes – Western Desert Art is a stunning exhibition exploring the poetic notion of echoes – how metaphorically and metaphonically we can echo a thought, a sentiment or a consciousness. In the 1970s Australian Aboriginal people from the desert began talking to the world through art, transferring their creation stories of the land and people to canvas. Now in the 2020s, this foundational echo is going back and forth. No longer a one-sided, outward calling, it reverberates multi-dimensionally within wider Australian and global communities.

Three Echoes – Western Desert Art is an initiative of Museums & Galleries Queensland developed in partnership with Karin Schack and Andrew Arnott, and curated by Djon Mundine OAM FAHA. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through its Visions of Australia program and through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.  It is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, part of the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy.

Image: Tommy Lowry Tjapaltjarri (born c. 1935 - 1987), Pintupi language group, Unentitled, 1982, synthetic polymer powder paint on composition board, 38 x 76 cm. Photograph by Andrew urtis. copyright the artists | Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd. 

Peep Show is a voyeuristic installation by artist, Adam Anderson. Having just returned to Bundaberg after completing his PhD, Anderson's practice incorporates masquerade performance, video, animation, projection, sound, drawing, photography and wearable art. In this installation, created for The Vault, Anderson plays on the concept of Peep Shows as a voyeuristic titillation. The seduction of peep shows is created through the performer's interaction with objects of fetishist power, such as masks, jewellery, and sumptuous fabrics, that tease and fluff the beholder's imagination, daring them to be transformed by occulted ways of seeing oneself and the world. The installation explores the ability of Peep Shows to tear temporary holes in the homogeny of daily life, to provide respite, and to remediate perceptions of reality assures their price of admission is seldom too high.

Image: Adam Anderson, Bronze, 2019, performance still.

Emergence is a celebration of emerging arts practice by young First Nations people and collaborative peers from the Bundaberg region. Curated by Taribelang artist, Dylan Sarra, in collaboration with Bundaberg Regional Galleries, this pop-up exhibition is a showcase of work created over a four week immersive workshop period in two key secondary schools - Kepnock State High School and North State High School.

Responding to the theme of ‘Belonging’, the works in the exhibition were created by the artists in response to the stories and arts practice shared by Sarra. For many, it was their first foray into creative practice, and the power of the arts to give a voice to those who may find themselves not listened to.

The exhibition will embrace a variety of media from sculptural works to printmaking, all woven together through the creative direction of Sarra to form a cohesive whole.

Image: Sierra Hughes, BNSHS year 7 student. Collagraph on Fabriano paper.
“The spiral is like cultural knowing. It starts off small and expands and grows… like a spark that gets bigger the more you work it.”

Now in its fourth year, the HERE + now Exhibition is all about celebrating artists from the Bundaberg Region and showcasing our strong and vibrant arts community.

Artists: Alana Baxter, Ariella Anderson, Austin Bloesch, Barry Smalley, Carmel Birchley, Caroline Palmer, Cate Verney, Colleen Helmore, Debbie Bennett, Debra West, Donna Lamprecht, Edwina Rowan, Elaine Kirk, Elaine Lyons, Helen Robertson, Henrika Ambrutyte, Jassy Watson, Jennifer Kenny, John Olsen, Judith Hopwood, Julie Middleton, Kate Taylor, Kellie McHugh, Kris Baggetto, Lesley Perk, Maggie Spenceley, Malki Studio, Marilyn Batty, Marlies Oakley, Maxine Harwood, Melissa Christi, Necia Rosevear, Nicole Jakins, Philippa Milbank, Robert Andrews, Rosemary Anderson, Sabrina Lauriston, Vanessa Allegra, Virginia Hendren, Wendy Francis, Winfried Hoerr and Zahra Smith.

Bloom, v.  To flourish in youthful beauty, freshness, or excellence

Curated by Bundaberg Regional Galleries, Bloom, is an exhibition that celebrates the flower as the subject of traditional and contemporary artworks.

Drawing extensively on the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Art Collection, with additional loans from the Central Queensland University Art Collection and significant private collections, this exhibition lends a modern, playful filter to this more traditional subject matter. The pairing of Ellis Rowan watercolours from the late 19th century, with the hand-coloured ochre works by Yuwi, Torres Strait and South Sea Islander artist, Dylan Mooney, or the exquisitely painted oils by John Honeywill, reminds the viewer of the ongoing fascination with flowers for artists across artforms, culture, and time.

Bloom also gives a nod to the vibrant arts community that has long existed in Bundaberg, with the inclusion of works by Sheena Hazzard, Mark Dutney, Althea Deeley, Caryl Plant, Betty Searle, Frederick Bates and Ann Warnes - an artistic peerage of over five decades. The joyous abundance and beauty of flowers is ultimately captured in the bespoke wall painting by Jay Feather that unfurls across the rear wall of the gallery.  This painting, created on-site over a three day period, is also a reminder of the fleeting nature of flowers, for unlike the other permanent works on display, it will only be in bloom for the duration of the exhibition.

With thanks to Central Queensland University for their partnership.

“As a young adult growing up and watching the world of social media continuously grow and impact everyday life, I am aware that we are left in a world of constant judgement and being watched. Whether this judgement is positive or negative, we now live in a society where others are always watching and critiquing every decision you make.”

Scrutiny is an installation by Bundaberg artist, Siobhan Lowth, reflecting on the pressures of social media and public judgement. As a 26-year Cis Woman whose autoimmune disease ANCA Vasculitis has severely impacted her adult life, Lowth draws on her experiences to create this powerful exhibition. “At the age of 23, I became too unwell to work, and had to move back to the care of my parents while I began my journey of healing. During this time, I was able to dedicate all my time back into painting and using it as a tool to express my emotions during this time. This disease is a blessing in disguise as it allowed me to truly embrace a passion and love of art and to now achieve goals I never thought possible”.

Image: Siobhan Lowth

Behind every tattoo is a story. Ink in the Lines, a touring exhibition from the Australian War Memorial, shares the stories of Australia's military veterans through their tattoos.

Ink in the Lines steps outside the chronological military history narrative in favour of a thematic structure that portrays the deeply personal wartime experiences of Australian men and women through the medium of their tattoos. Each tattoo is as personal and unique as the story it conveys.

The exhibition covers 22 personal stories across all branches of the Australian Defence Force.

The narrative is divided into four major themes: Identity and Belonging; Mateship and Family; Loss, Grief, and Commemoration; and, Healing. These themes collectively explain how and why tattooing has become an integral - and intricate - part of Australia's military history.

Image: Australian War Memorial
#InkintheLines #AWM

Just as the bugle called the troops from their slumber, a line is asked to mobilise. In this series of experimental videos and drawings, Sydney based artist Todd Fuller collaborates with conductor and brass musician Ryley Gillen. Together they create an interdisciplinary call and response.

In these works, drawing is activated through the form of live animation to perform alongside composition and live music, the pair create duets between their mediums in real time. Just as the bugle was used to signal action in the troops, here the artists undertake a contemporary song cycle, as unexpected artforms harmonise and advance.

Todd Fuller is represented by .M Contemporary

Image: Todd Fuller, Bugle Boy 3, 2022, photograph.

Curated by Makers’ Shopfront and Bundaberg Regional Galleries.

In 2019, Shelley Pisani kicked off a 2-year project that responded to an observed need in regional Queensland for professionalisation of visual arts practice. CQ Shopfront was a project that worked with Central Queensland artists and makers with the aim of building business and product development capacity. With the advent of the pandemic, the program initially went online, becoming more accessible for more artists across the participating regions of Banana Shire, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Fraser Coast, Mackay, North Burnett and Rockhampton.

Through workshops, webinars, residencies, mentoring programs and a forum, 527 artists had the opportunity to grow their practice into a business.  

Design CQ showcases the “products” of 32 of the project’s participants, inclusive of some of the Artisans in Residence who successfully led mentoring-based residencies. These artists have taken their learnings from the program, the networks they have built, and new directions forged, and have developed products that reflect their passions, their values and a desire to approach their arts practice with an entrepreneurial hat on.

The products on show range from original artworks scaled to be accessible for the artist’s target audiences through to bulk manufactured items inspired by their original work - and everything in between. This exhibition replicates a trade fair – with the artists and makers ready to take their products to market.

Exhibiting Artists:

Adele Outteridge, Andrew Treloar, Annette Tyson, Billie Jo Ogilvie, Carolyn Stevenson, Debbie Bennett, Felicity Chapman, Fiona Flohr, Helen Hutton, Jane Marin, Jeanette Stok, Jennifer Hollstein, Judith Hopwood, Karen M Andersen, Kellie McHugh, Lalune Croker, Lois Shoebridge, Lorraine Maskell, Marc Harrison, Mari Hirata, Megan Spencer, Melissa Peacock, Michelle Black, Patricia Coleman, Pru Morrison, Rebecca Lewis, Samantha Ephraims, Sarah Larsen, Sheena Larsen, Shelley Engwirda, Shelley Pisani and Yvonne Wingrove.

This project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland’s Touing Queensland Fund. The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Bundaberg Regional Council and Mackay Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland. A special thank you to the original CQ Shopfront project’s partners – Artisan, Arts Queensland, Australia Council for the Arts, CQ RASN/ CQ University, Community Lifestyle Support Ability Enterprises, Crow Street Creative, Flying Arts Alliance, Macadamias Australia and the Regional Arts Fund, as well as participating local governments – Bundaberg Regional Council, Fraser Coast Regional Council, Gladstone Regional Council, Mackay Regional Council, North Burnett Regional Council and Rockhampton Regional Council including their arts and cultural teams, RADF programs and host venues.

Image: Rebecca Lewis, Queenslander Tea Towel.

Between 1945 and 1970 an estimated 288,000 Italians migrated to Australia. Their contribution has been significant, helping to shape our culture, history, economy and taste buds.

This exhibition offers an insight into the personal experiences of Italians who immigrated to Australia, during this period. They courageously left behind their country, which had been devastated by the Second World War, to pursue opportunity, work and a new life.

In 2017 and 2019 artist and photographer Sabrina Lauriston and curator Trudie Leigo visited the homes of Italian immigrants in Bundaberg, Fremantle and Melbourne. They interviewed and photographed individuals, who were mostly aged in their eightiesor nineties.

Sabrina Lauriston migrated from Italy to Australia in 2007. Having experienced firsthand the dislocation of culture, language and identity, she wanted to undertake a creative project that would enable her to explore and honour those who had migrated before her. She invited curator Trudie Leigo to collaborate with her. Together they were welcomed into the homes of these men and women, whoselives have spanned some of the most significant events of the twentieth century. They are the firsthand witnesses of Fascism, war, hunger, poverty, displacement, survival, depression, migration, isolation and exploration.

They are a humble generation who sacrificed much to start a new life, working hard to raise their families in the stability that Australia offered. As this generation of immigrants reach an age which is more often marked by illness than health, they find themselves surrounded by memories and old photographs. They sailed away from family and friends, unsure if, or when, they would ever return. They endured firsthand the terrors of war, and to this day they carry deep scars of loss, grief and homesickness.

This exhibition is in honour of all the Italian immigrants who had few choices in life, but choose one of the hardest paths to take, to leave and to make a new start.

Thank you for choosing Australia.

Image: Pietro Rigo emigrated to Australia in 1951, Sabrina Lauriston, Bundaberg 2021.

Mary van Dijk-Argall is a name synonymous with the rich arts tapestry of our Bundaberg region. Now based in Bargara, Mary was born in Holland as the eldest of nine children.  Her love of painting and drawing was innate, but rubbished by her father and regarded as a total waste of time.

"I always had this feeling in my fingers, like I needed something in my hand, and it wasn't until later on that I realised it was a paint brush I was missing."

At the age of 12, she arrived by boat in Australia, and her love for her adopted country started from that moment.   

This latest exhibition My History of Bargara and the Evolution of a Garden was painted plein air, and is a testament to her skill as a traditional watercolour artist.  Capturing the lushness of her tropical garden, nestled in the heart of Bargara, this exhibition also reflects on the history of Mary's adopted home, and her personal journey that accompanied her development as an artist.   

Image: Mary van Dijk-Argall, Garden Joy, 2020, watercolour, 35.5 x 25.5 cm.

Fraser Coast artist, Kym Latter, used the tedium of the 2020 lockdowns to create, connect and share artwork utilising reclaimed materials. She challenged her Facebook followers every day for one month, providing prompts and ideas for reusing and recycling materials. This exhibition showcases Kym’s whimsical work during that month, but is a reminder of the 500-strong group of people that joined her to connect and create in a time of isolation.

This is a Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) project in partnership between the Queensland Government and Fraser Coast Regional Council.

Image: Kym Latter, Isolation Beetles, 2020, recycled materials.

JamFactory’s Icon series celebrates the achievements of South Australia’s most influential visual artists working in craft-based media. Tom Moore is one of Australia leading glass artists and over the course of his career has carved out a singular voice within Australian glass art making. His engaging, sophisticated and technically challenging hybridised animal/plant sculptures and the fantastical worlds they inhabit are deeply embedded in the history of glass making and scientific discovery.

JamFactory Icon Tom Moore: Abundant Wonder is a JamFactory touring exhibition.
JamFactory Icon Tom Moore: Abundant Wonder is supported by funding from the Australian Government’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications through Visions of Australia.
Tom Moore acknowledges the assistance of the Australian Government through the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Image: Tom Moore, Circus Fledging, 2019, hot joined blown and solid glass with steel and silicon, 340 x 270 x 160 mm, photographer: Grant Hancock.

A grand display is a sculptural installation by renowned Australian artist, Troy Emery. Developed for The Vault, this installation will feature Emery’s iconic textile sculptures.
    
Emery’s artworks examine the discourse surrounding how the history of our relationship with animals is underpinned by our ability to give meaning to them and use them in allegory and metaphor. As an artist, he is interested in the boundaries between fine art, museums, natural history, craft, and the domestic space, seeing the animal form as crossing between each of these.

Troy Emery is represented by Martin Browne Contemporary.

Image: Troy Emery, blue sapphire statue 2022, cotton, epoxy, aluminium, timber, adhesive, (custom terrazzo plinth by Mortadello Terrazzo), 76 x 70 x 73 cm. Photo provided by the artist.

Form is a celebration of the sculptural works from the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection. As an Element of Art, the term ‘Form’ denotes something that is three dimensional and encloses volume, having length, width, and height. This exhibition showcases key sculptural pieces that embody the idea of ‘Form’.

Image: Kayo Yokoyama, Where it Begins #1, 2015, blown glass and metal. Courtesy of the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection.