Gallery closed for Winter recess: 29 July 5pm
Re-opening with new works throughout: 31 August 11am
Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Textiles, Ceramics
Spring Group Show:
Marian Blank, Damian Callanan, Adam Cox, Julie Coyle, Margaret Cromb, Helen Fraser, Trudi Harley, Margaret Lees, Samantha Leggett, George Lianos, Paula Martin, Mark Mason, Liz McLennan, Jan McNeill, Robert Norman, Dawn Robinson, Jane Rusden, Lee Shelden, Cliff Simcox, Asahi So, Greg Somerville
The new Falkner Gallery group exhibition commencing 31 August, welcomes the new Spring season after a long cold winter.
Painting, photography, textiles, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics and crafts are all represented throughout the gallery by over 20 artists who have a display section each.
The front gallery space houses a stunning collection of textiles and paintings. Massive, intricately embroidered quilts and relief wall sculptures by Greg Somerville and Paula Martin are complimented by a series of brightly coloured, still life oil paintings by Marian Blank.
The downstairs inner room displays birds, birds, birds…..a superb collection of works in different media and styles by artists Margaret Cromb, Jane Rusden, Liz McLennan, Ingrid Brooker and Jess Szigethy-Gyula.
Cromb’s woodcuts are of well-loved native birds expressed with superb underlays of inks while Rusden’s birds flit through a watercolored representation of their natural habitat. McLennan’s birds are described as costumed theatrical personages in detailed pen, ink and watercolour. Szigethy-Gyula’s realistic bronze magpies contrast with Brooker’s fragile wire sculptures, all giving expression to Spring.
Downstairs, in the back gallery space, Samantha Leggett’s acrylic abstracts vibrate with their wild, joyful colours while Julie Coyle’s acrylic paintings in indigo tones express the moods and atmosphere of distant skies.
Upstairs, Margaret Lees displays a series of vibrantly coloured oil pastel drawings of the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of Western Australia while Jan McNeill’s oil paintings explore the moods and ruggedness of Scottish and New Zealand highlands.
Robert Norman’s photographs describe awe-inspiring skies and cloud formations of Victoria while Dawn Robinson’s paintings and sculptures convey her expressions of abstraction.
Lee Shelden’s quiet, sensitive pencil drawings of threads and Helen Fraser’s delicate ink drawings of historic tassels complement the intricate oil paintings by Trudi Harley, all giving contemplative memories of a yesteryear.
Recent ceramics and sculpture by Mark Mason, Adam Cox, Minna Graham, George Lianos and Asahi So are displayed throughout the gallery.
The artists will display their current works for four months or so leading up to Christmas. Purchasers are able to collect their pieces immediately with the artists providing new works as replacements.
Falkner Gallery hours: Thursday – Saturday 11-5
Previous Exhibition, Early 2023: ‘Connections’
Many people have searched for connections during the last years of uncertainty whether by linking with their friends and family, exploring their environment, remembering aspects of their past, or planning for the future.
Twenty-one local and regional artists have explored these notions through painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, ceramics and textiles to create the group show ‘Connections’ at Falkner Gallery. They have expressed their connection to the world around them literally, metaphorically and symbolically.
For some, such as Greg Somerville and Lee Shelden, inter-woven threads and colours as embroidered textiles and coloured pencil drawings express this notion of connection. Helen Fraser’s pen and ink drawings symbolise emotional states of being while the paintings by Robert Williams and Trudi Harley explore with meticulous detail their nostalgic yearning for the past. Bronwyn Silver’s detailed photographs of flooded local swamplands, Margaret Cromb’s expansive watercolours and Diana Wiseman’s abstracted acrylic paintings all express their connections with the landscape around them.
Liz McLennan’s drawings explore links between the natural environment and theatre while Liz Caffin’s drawings associate the rich cultural depth of Italy with her own love of the Central Australian bush.
All 21 artists express their interpretations and feelings about the concept ‘Connections’ using a diverse range of artforms, mediums, techniques and styles.