2021 Past Exhibitions | Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery

Florence celebrates the iconic designer Florence Broadhurst, and her strong ties to the Mount Perry and Bundaberg regions.
 
This exhibition, curated by Gallery Director Rebecca McDuff, with the generous support of the Mount Perry Arts Society Inc., tells the story of the early years of Florence Broadhurst and how the cultural tapestry of the region in the early twentieth century influenced the creative, independent, successful woman that Florence became.

Born at Mungy Station, near Mount Perry in 1899, Florence went on to live an extraordinary life, renowned for her flamboyance and creative approach to reinventing herself, up until her death in 1977.  Her strongest legacy is her wallpaper patterns, which are still being used in interior design on an international scale to this day.   

These patterns have also influenced fashion designers such as Akira Isogawa, Nikki Zimmermann, Kate Spade and Karen Walker, and examples of this cross-over into the fashion world will be a highlight of the exhibition, through collaboration with fashion anthropologist and owner of the Darnell Collection, Charlotte Smith.  

Alongside these garments, will be the iconic wallpapers, portraits of Florence from the National Portrait Gallery, photographs, and a portrait of her father, William Broadhurst, painted by Florence herself, and rarely seen.

Image: F. [Florence] Broadhurs wallpaper, 8 September 1962 / photograph by Victor Johnson. Courtesy of the Mitchell Library, Sate Library of New South Wales.

In 1929, Gladys Moncrieff asked “gallery girl” Elsie Wilson to go on tour with her to help out behind stage as a dresser. That role lasted for 46 wonderful years and over that time, they became life-long companions.

Step into the dressing room and sit and admire the immeasurable singing talent of Bundaberg-born operetta and musical comedy performer Gladys Moncrieff. Hear first-hand from an ABC interview with Elsie, what it was like to be on the road with Gladys and her journey from humble beginnings in Bundaberg to becoming one of the most famous and loved singers of her time.

Image: "Gladys Moncrieff in Katinka", from the collection of the Our Glad Associaltion, donated by Stuart Green who purchased a collection of items from Don McPhee, the former manager of JC Williamson. Photographer unknown.

Wildflowering by Design seeks to explore contemporary responses to our botanical and wildflower heritage with female artists creating new work across the art and design spectrum.

Inspired by the her-stories of groundbreaking wild/flower women Kathleen McArthur and Vera Scarth Johnson, and designer Florence Broadhurst, female artists from Bundaberg, Fraser Coast and beyond transform the delicate beauty of our native wildflowers into new, re-imagined works, and a dynamic exhibition experience.

Artists include: Julie Appo & the WildCrafters, Nicole Jakins, Marlies Oakley, Shelley Pisani, Edith Rewa, Cara Ann Simpson, Marni Stuart, Emma Thorp, Annette Tyson and Cate Verney.

This exhibition is being supported by Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery and Bundaberg Regional Council. It is also being supported by Hervey Bay Regional Gallery and Fraser Coast Regional Council through its RADF Program. The Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Fraser Coast Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.

Image: Marnin Stuart, The Paths. The women, 2021, pattern design.

Legacy: Reflections on Mabo celebrates the man behind the game-changing Native Title Act, Eddie Koiki Mabo. Co-curated by Gail Mabo, Dr Jonathan McBurnie and Kellie Williams, the exhibition brings together a selection of 22 works by 25 Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists in the spirit of reconciliation, almost three decades after the historic achievement.

Each artist has responded to an aspect of Eddie Mabo that they are drawn to, whether it is his life, politics, activism, or legacy. The works come together in surprising ways with reverence, compassion, anger, sadness and respect, celebrating a man who was both a rebel and a dreamer.

Artists:

Blak Douglas & Adam Geczy, Elisa Jane Carmichael & Sonja Carmichael, Toby Cedar, Dian Darmansjah, Katina Davidson, Shane Fitzgerald, Hayley Megan French, Marion Gaemers, Patricia Hoffie, David Jones, Ian Kaddy, Talitha Kennedy, Jo Lankester, Veronica Lulu & Kim Mahood, Ron McBurnie, Arone Meeks, Jim Paterson, Tommy Pau, Obery Sambo, Anneke Silver, Ken Thaiday Sr., Judy Watson.

Kyra Mancktelow is a Quandamooka woman with links to Mardigan, Kabi Kabi and South Sea Islander peoples. Heritage and family are central to her practise. Printmaking and sculpture feature most prominently as methods employed to create her work, which explores her culture’s history, traditions and identity.

The exhibition Sitting Down Place speaks to the history of Minjerribah by referencing the Myora Mission and speaking to the resistance and resilience of the Quandamooka people through the artist’s methods of sculpture and printmaking.

Kyra Mancktelow is represented by Nicholas Smith Gallery.

Image: Kyra Mancktelow.

Ayuva Meenha is the latest solo exhibition by talented Injinoo artist Teho Ropeyarn. This exhibition of selected linocut prints offers a cross-section of Ropeyarn’s work spanning the past three years, and gives insight into the different stages of Injinoo and the history of the Northern Cape York Peninsula.

Ropeyarn illustrates the history of his family and culture through works that display his talent as a carver and printer who takes risks, and pushes the medium of printmaking. The exhibition brings together well-researched, intelligent and culturally significant works. While the artworks in this exhibition are not representative of the style of art belonging to his people (the Injinoo peoples), they are an impression of developing what is blurred through a contemporary approach by using elements from body markings to ascertain imagery from his region.

Image: Teho Ropeyarn, Iwurra and Ipara, 2017, mixed media and vinyl-cut print on Hahnemuhle Paper. Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection.

Forever Memories, a solo exhibition by well-known Australian artist Robert Brownhall, captures landscapes and architecture around Bundaberg and Bargara that link to his early experiences living in the city. Known for his vibrant and lifelike renderings of suburban life, this exhibition takes the viewer on an emotional journey as Brownhall uses his artworks to explore his drowning in Moneys Creek, Bargara, when just a child and to make peace with his near-death experience.

Image: Robert Brownhall, Boy and Dachshund (detail), oil on linen. Photo credit: Mick Richards.
Robert Brownhall is represented by Phillip Bacon Galleries.

Throw is an autobiographical installation of six woven jacquard blankets derived from watercolour works on rag paper. It reflects on the artist’s life as a second-generation Italian living in Far North and Southern Queensland, with links to the Childers and Bundaberg region. Blankets have made up a significant part of Di Mauro’s artistic lexicon since the mid-1990s, and draw on the notions of comfort, familiarity and nurturing, to generate subtle undertones of protection, security and reassurance.

Sebastian Di Mauro, is represented by Onespace.

Image: Sebastian Di Mauro, Zucchero e Pane (detail), 2021, Jacquard woven blanket derived from watercolour on paper. Photo credit: Cian Sanders.

Rising Heroes invites us to recognise the heroic qualities we all possess and the positive change we can create in our community. Promoting resilience, self-esteem and belonging, this exhibition inspires us to see ourselves in our own story.  Monsters Unleashed shows us that when we tame our overwhelming feelings, they can become useful sidekicks to help us overcome challenges.

The Trouble with Clouds documents Sue Hutton’s enchantment with encaustic processes. After working with the spontaneous, carefree nature of digital drawing, Hutton’s work has turned towards the slower pace of building up layers with a lovely translucence that can only be achieved in wax.

Hutton is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice flows between drawing, print-making, small assemblages, photography and ceramics. Showcased in exhibitions both in Australia and overseas, her work engages the audience with its creative narrative and whimsical nature.

Image: Susan Hutton, Late Night Seamstress (detail), 2021. Encaustic wax with collaged papers, pen & ink, and coloured pencil.

Savour is an exhibition about slowing down and savouring the art. On average, gallery visitors spend just 17 seconds looking at each artwork. This exhibition encourages viewers to take their time and spend an extended period in front of an artwork, exploring the individual sensations and emotions that the image evokes.
In a nod to the Slow Food Movement, each artwork in Savour is inspired by food, the act of eating, or what remains after the feast. Food, like art, is often so much about the personal resonance, which can be complex or subtle, but always evocative.

Savour is a whole gallery experience, grounded in highlighting the sensations, knowledge, and emotions of the viewer.

Invested is an uplifting and empowering digital animation about the importance of choosing to engage with, and nourish, both our environment and community.

It has been created as an installation for The Vault by Emma Thorp, a Fraser Coast artist known for her strong digital works and short animations that are often autobiographical in nature.

It’s Queensland’s close encounters of the invasive species kind!  Place Invaders is a fun, 80s inspired game developed by Queensland State Archives - in the ImaginArts Gallery Space!

This interactive game enables you to use your mobile phone to stop invasive plants and animals from taking over the environment, teaching valuable lessons about how invasive species cause great economic and environmental harm in our state.

In the Shed, curated by Creative Regions, is a celebration of that humble structure found in backyards and fields across regional Queensland, and the importance it holds for the men that call it theirs.

In partnership with photographer Sabrina Lauriston, and journalist, Kallee Buchanan, Creative Regions initiated this project in Childers in 2020 and completed it in 2021 at Bargara. Its purpose was to uncover the stories that lay behind the shed doors.  Alongside the rusty farm implements, half finished projects, and the odd litter of kittens, they found links to past generations, treasures from yesteryear, and men who were willing to open up about what this space meant to them.

The National Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects. The annual prize is the Portrait Gallery’s most popular exhibition, promoting the very best in contemporary photographic portraiture by Australian photographers.

Photogruzzi celebrates the work of David Graham (Gruzzi), an artist who knew how to capture a thousand stories in his photographs. From his street photography to his Cosplay images, through to his intimate portraits of nature, Gruzzi’s interaction with his subjects and his ability to capture the moment are celebrated in
this retrospective.

“Everything in nature intrigues me. It happens nearly every time I go to mow the lawn, I discover something beautiful and then want to make images” David Graham.