Gallery Visit I
Maitland Regional Art Gallery
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that I visited Maitland Regional Art Gallery (MRAG) a few weeks ago.
As an artist, visiting galleries (and sometimes museums) is a fantastic way to get inspired. You can see exactly what other artists are making and draw elements of their art into your own, or allow their art to fuel and stimulate your own practice and ideas.
One of my old university lecturers used to say:
‘nothing is created in a vacuum’.
I love this sentiment, and it can be applied to almost every industry, not just art. There’s a good chance that what you are doing has already been done before. But rather than finding it intimidating, I find this thought comforting. It makes me think of a web – all ideas are connected.
The whole reason I visited the MRAG (apart from the fact that it’s an amazing gallery space with a rich history), is because I interviewed the artist Paula Jenkins for a university assignment last semester.
(Paula is a landscape painter, and it was wonderful chatting with her about her practice and her thoughts about the art world. Plus she has a beautiful studio space!)
At the time of writing this, Paula has an exhibition at MRAG - Impressions of a Journey: Landscapes between Walcha and Paterson. I loved seeing her works in the gallery space, especially since I had originally seen them on the floor in her studio. There’s something about her colour choices that brightens up a space and makes your mood lighter.
Since MRAG is such a big space, there were also three other exhibitions taking place.
Here are some photos from Shadow Boxer, a collective exhibition highlighting the gritty history of boxing, and the artists’ fascination with the sport.
Photos from Not Just Australian, another collective exhibition that explores the artists’ personal connection and interpretation of Australian culture.
(I know it’s a serious exhibition exploring themes like racism and cultural misrepresentation, but I couldn’t help but laugh at these portraits.)
Photos from Barka, the Forgotten River, an exhibition illustrating the Barkandji people’s connection to the Darling River and their campaign to save the land from further change and damage.
There were a few other large-scale lino prints, but this is the best photo I took. The lines, the composition, how smooth the carving is… All of the prints were absolutely stunning. I could have stared at them forever!
Unfortunately, with the world the way it is at the moment, the future is uncertain. But there will be more gallery visits, I’m sure.
(Even if they’re virtual.)
Follow me on my art journey!
