art factsTWEED

FRIENDS OF TWEED REGIONAL GALLERY INC. & MARGARET OLLEY ART CENTRE

NEWSLETTER VOL15 NO3 September 2014

TWEED REGIONAL GALLERY& MARGARET OLLEY ART CENTRE www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/artgalleryCnr Tweed Valley Way and Mistral Road MurwillumbahPO Box 816Murwillumbah 2484

P: 02 6670 2790F: 02 6672 7585E: tweedart@tweed.nsw.gov.auOpen Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm

Disclaimer: Please note that the information contained in artifacts is obtained from a variety of sources and that the views expressed are not necessarily those of the Friends of the Tweed Regional Gallery Inc. or the Tweed Regional Gallery.

Heather McLachlan ~ Editor

Design: Hetti McDonald ~ 0421 952 983

THE GALLERY CAFÉ Enjoy having lunch, morning or afternoon tea in the beautifully situated licensed café with its magnificent views over the Tweed Valley and the Border Ranges. View the artworks and treat yourself to delicious cakes and great coffee or a light meal and a glass of wine.

The café is open from 10am - 5pm, Wednesday to Sunday. For your preferred table, time or group bookings, please phone 02 6672 5088.

THE GALLERY SHOP has a beautiful range of jewellery, handmade pottery and glassware in a wide range of prices. The “View from the Balcony” postcards and bookmarks are ideal for gifts and souvenirs. Purchases at the shop not only boost the Friends’ contributions to the Gallery, but support Australian artists as well.

This page is sponsored by The Murwillumbah Weekly Phone 02 6672 4443 and Print Spot Printing and Design Service Phone 02 6672 8370

FROM THE DIRECTOR

It has been lovely to see and hear our visitors responding so positively to the incredible linocuts of printmaker Rew Hanks. The exhibition The Prince, the Tiger and a Toad is engaging visitors, as they are drawn to the intricate work of this highly skilled artist. Rew Hanks is a Sydney based

printmaker whose linocuts combine his dry wit and penchant for satire around social, political and environmental issues. There is so much detail in his work, and there’s no doubt his narratives are amongst the most complex and challenging in contemporary Australian printmaking.Historical references are a characteristic of the artist’s work. Rew’s work has received acclaim and he has been awarded many prizes. One of my favourite works, Krefft’s Chair, won the People’s Choice for the 2013 Burnie Print Prize. Krefft’s Chair visualises an anecdote about Australia’s first zoologist and palaeontologist Gerard Krefft. The story goes that when Krefft was fired from his post as Director of the Australian Museum in 1874, he refused to leave and was reputedly carried out from the museum while still sitting in his chair. What a way to go! I figure if I’m ever booted out of a position during my career, it would be a tempting way to exit the building!In Hanks’ most recent series, Cook’s Conquest, he addresses Australia’s cultural obsession with sport at the expense of art and the environment. He narrates the European invasion precipitated by Captain James Cook in 1770, and the invasion of the cane toads after their introduction in 1935. In the ironically titled Stop! There’s no need to shoot the natives Hanks engages with both the iconic 1902 image of Cook’s arrival by Emanuel Phillips Fox The landing of Captain Cook at Botany Bay, 1770 and a more recent 2006 post-colonial interpretation by Daniel Boyd, We call them pirates out here which presents an Aboriginal perspective. The Gallery is very lucky to now include this work, as well as Banks, which one is mine? in our collection, thanks to the generosity of the Friends. Thank you so much. As well, the Friends have decided to fund a two week residency for a regional artist. The artist selected, Gatya Kelly, lives and works in Mullumbimby and is a painter of still life, whose works often depict arrangements of sumptuous fruits. In her proposal Gatya stated that she wanted to use the residency as an opportunity to explore and absorb ‘something of Margaret Olley’s legacy to still life’. She also wants to produce, in the environment of the artist’s studio away from the business of everyday life, a body of work for a solo exhibition. Congratulations

Below: Gatya KELLYCherry Amour 2013

oil on canvas

A Chairy Tale

Murwillumbah

Murwillumbah Railway Station

Tweed River

Mistral Rd

TWEED REGIONAL GALLERY& MARGARET OLLEY ART CENTRE

This page is sponsored by Martine Brinsdon, Optometrist, Murwillumbah Phone: 02 6672 3284

In October, Tweed Regional Gallery will present the much anticipated exhibition, In-Habit: Project Another Country. A collaborative art project, this exhibition invites all visitors and especially children to get involved, get those hands dirty and creative juices flowing. The Filipino-born, Brisbane based artists behind this fascinating work are husband and wife duo, Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan. Having migrated with their family of five children to Australia from the Philippines in hopes for a better life, the exhibition draws on their personal experiences of home, belonging, journey and memory. In-Habit: Project Another Country takes the appearance of a sprawling cardboard city that overtakes the Gallery, piled from floor to ceiling with towers, skyscrapers, laneways and nooks – all made from recycled materials such as used cardboard scraps, paper, tape, and glue.Upon closer inspection, visitors will realise that this magical metropolis is composed of hundreds of small houses, each made by hand and with their own unique details. Window frames, chimneys, attics and miniature hills-hoists can be spotted, as well as the occasional boathouse or Batmobile-home. Using the process of collecting and collaborating to express ideas of family and community, the artists work with local schools, children and the community to construct these small houses using only recycled cardboard boxes and found materials. The houses are continuously added to the installation as the exhibition travels from venue to venue across regional Australia, resembling a sprawling construction site or shantytown. The result is an ever-growing installation that embodies both real and imagined personal and shared stories. Nested within the cacophony of mismatched boxes is a multi-channel video work focusing on the children of the Badjao community. An indigenous ethnic group of Southeast Asia with a long history of nomadic seafaring, the Badjao are

now among the displaced poor in the Philippines and are at risk of losing their identity as they integrate with their adopted, land-based communities. Inhabiting makeshift houseboats and stilt houses on coastal settlements along the Sulu Archipelago, the Badjao must seek alternative ways to survive while their severely underprivileged but quick-witted children have learnt to increase their takings as beggars by infusing foreign rap music with local dialect. They perform their spontaneous routines on the streets of Filipino cities revealing uncanny humour and ingenuity. In-Habit: Project Another Country references the Badjao and via their lived experience focuses on themes of displacement, adaptation and resilience.In-Habit: Project Another Country is an impressive display that is both fun and deeply emotive. Catch it at the Gallery from 18 October to 14 December 2014, with Isabel & Alfredo Aquilizan hosting a suite of interesting activities and workshops at Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 October.In-Habit: Project Another Country is a Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation commissioned project, toured by Museums & Galleries of NSW. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

Above: Isabel and Alfredo AQUILIZANIn-Habit: Project Another Country 2012Used transport cardboard boxes, packing tape, handcrafted cardboard houses, makeshift drums and sound, single channel video projection plus 5 LCD screen installation.Installation view, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney. Photo: Jacob Ring.Commissioned by Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation 2012. Image courtesy the artists.

Above: Rew HANKSStop! There’s no need to shoot the natives 2013linocut Gift of the Friends of Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre Inc, 2014

Within the border region of SE Queensland and the Far North Coast of NSW lies the spectacular Tweed Erosion Caldera, the best preserved example of this type of volcanic landform in the world. The word Caldera is derived from the Latin calderia (meaning ‘cooking pot’) and is a distinct bio-geographical area embracing the Tweed, Scenic Rim, Gold Coast, Kyogle, Lismore, Byron, and Ballina local government areas. In terms of flora, fauna and natural landscapes, it is one of the most diverse in Australia and justifiably has been granted National Landscape status by the Federal Government and Tourism Australia. It is known as Australia’s Green Cauldron.Caldera Art, as a community based organisation, seeks to contribute to public awareness of these regional biodiversity values and environmental conservation initiatives by conducting annual touring art exhibitions and programs. The region has many artists who are passionate about wildlife preservation and sustainable land use. Caldera Art 2014 presents the work of some of these artists, seeks to generate a positive emotional response to the natural environment and encourages the

viewer to take an interest in what living things are to be found under the surface, in the canopy, on the ground, in the sky, and in their own backyard.Thirty five works, in a variety of media and styles, have been selected from the over eighty entries received this year. The subject matter is as varied as Australia’s Green Cauldron itself. From detailed studies of rare and endangered species to light hearted interpretations of commonplace flora and fauna, the artists have once again excelled. Caldera Art is pleased to be able to loan these works to the Tweed Regional Gallery for the CA2014 exhibition. The previous two exhibitions at the TRG (CA2008 and CA2011) were both outstanding successes and it is hoped to return to the Gallery every third year. During the intervening years, selected works are exhibited at the Caldera Art Gallery in the Murwillumbah Visitor Information Centre. All entries for CA2014 have been compiled into an on-line exhibition at www.calderaart.org.au.

Andy Reimanis, Caldera Art Coordinator, info@calderaart.org.au

Caldera Art 2014

In-Habit: Project Another Country

elcome New FriendsOver 190 new members have joined this year. We look forward to seeing you out at the Gallery, at a New Friends’ Morning Tea and/or at openings, floortalks, concerts or special events. Each mailout you receive will be filled with opportunities to enjoy Gallery and Friends’ activities.

Search for a winnerThe raffle for this beautiful plate was drawn at the Opening on 8 August this year. “Deb S” was the lucky winner but unfortunately the phone number on the ticket has been disconnected. So, Deb S, if you read this and can prove your identity by giving us your old phone number, the plate will be yours. If no one comes forth in 3 months from the date the ticket was drawn, there will be a re-draw.

Gloria ROSZKIEWKZAvatar 2014fused and slumped glass

Gatya, and thank you so much to the Friends for providing this opportunity for a local artist. If you have visited the Gallery recently, you’re among the 70,926 visitors we’ve welcomed between 15 March and 24 August. That is truly amazing, and I thank you all for your ongoing support of the Gallery and our programs. Until next time. Susi Muddiman Director

Jan BRACHER, Tyalgum Textures of Nature 2014

pastel

Patrick Corrigan AM Patrick Corrigan AM is a man of movement: not just in his successive and successful freight businesses, but also in his attitude to art. Although describing himself these days as principally a collector, Corrigan’s overriding urge is to keep his acquisitions moving along. Choosing to only acquire works by living artists, he is able to support artists, enjoy their work and also support public galleries. He says that he takes delight in giving things away and in helping younger artists make their way. He does a cull of his personal collection every year and enjoys lending works for exhibitions and placing works in public spaces where others can also enjoy them. In 2000, Patrick Corrigan was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his “service to the visual arts, particularly as a philanthropist to regional galleries and through a grant scheme for artists”.Corrigan’s wife Barbara is very involved in the art scene as well and a great champion of our Gallery. She has organised numerous trips to the Gallery for both the Gold Coast chapter of the Australian Decorative & Fine Arts Society (ADFAS) and the Friends of the Gold Coast Arts Centre. She was instrumental in arranging the purchase of a coloured panel on behalf of the Gold Coast ADFAS and is an enthusiastic participant in many of our Friends and Foundation events. Patrick Corrigan’s life story is long and colourful. He was born in China in 1932 to English parents, interred in a prisoner-of-war camp in Hong Kong with his mother for four years during World War 11 and then migrated to Australia, where he and his mother were re-united with his father. He grew up in the Blue Mountains, left school at 15 and started work at Unilever, in their freight subdivision. Corrigan’s involvement in freight has been ongoing, innovative and characterised by moving on: building up highly successful businesses in one aspect of freighting and then branching out, from customs forwarding and clearing, to fashion, textiles, yachts, artworks, books and records. Later, he moved on to logistic services and perishables such as fresh fruit. Along the way, Corrigan made friendships with clients from which grew his interests in art, books and book publishing, including at times having commercial ventures in these fields.Corrigan started out collecting Australian art and books. His personal maxim, Above all stay focused, enjoy. And have fun!! is borne out through his acquiring significant selections of art books, works of art and associated materials. One collection has subsequently become the James Hardy Library of Australian Fine Arts, to which he continues to donate, and another, the Lindsay Collection of Pat Corrigan. Both are held at the State Library of Queensland. A collection of art exhibition catalogues at the Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, one of bookplates at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, another of indigenous art at Bond University: these are just some of his numerous collections in public institutions. Then there are the many, many donations to other public institutions: the National Gallery of Australia, the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, the State Libraries of Queensland and Victoria, the Fryer Library University of Queensland and regional galleries in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. Our Gallery has been the very fortunate recipient of over 170 donations by Corrigan, and until 19 April next year, many of them can be enjoyed in The Withey Family Gallery exhibition The art of giving: gifts to the collection by Patrick Corrigan AM.

Note: The Corrigan Walk provides a tour of the Indigenous art held in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine at Bond University. The walks are guided by a Bond University staff member or student and take approximately one hour. Next walk: midday, Tuesday 28 October. RSVP to Laura Harvey on 07 5595 1430 or to lharvey@bond.edu.au

This page is sponsored by O’Reilly & Sochacki Lawyers Phone 02 6672 2878This page is sponsored by Tweed Regional Gallery Foundation Ltd. PO Box 816 Murwillumbah 2484

The Yellow RoomSince the opening of the Margaret Olley Art Centre (MOAC), over 70,000 visitors have dined on the visual feast that is Margaret Olley’s home studio. While Olley’s art work has, for over 40 years, presented us with views of her home, the opportunity to collectively view the actual objects and re-created interiors, preparatory works and finished paintings brings an unparalleled richness and depth to our understanding of her artistic vision.The Yellow Room Exhibition celebrates its name-sake - the small, unassuming, pale yellow room at the rear of the Victorian terrace that formed part of Olley’s home studio at 48 Duxford Street, Paddington, Sydney. The exhibition of still lifes and interiors depicting the yellow room will hang adjacent to the re-creation of the yellow room, offering visitors further opportunity to gain insight into Olley’s poetic and immensely subjective vision of her unique abode.For the initial months of the exhibition period (until 30 November 2014) the exhibition will include Olley’s famous Yellow room (triptych) 2007 on loan from the New England Regional Art Museum in Armidale. Alone, each panel in the painting depicts a familiar ‘slice’ of the room. When making the work Olley commented that she aimed for each panel to succeed as a stand-alone painting. When presented together as a triptych they present a glorious sweeping interior that shows the room as Olley envisioned it to be – a sanctuary and a space that she felt both inspired and nurtured by.

The earliest work in the exhibition is a still life, Coffee pots 1991. Here we see Olley re-visit her Morandi-inspired choreography of monochromatic objects. The simplicity of the background encourages us to focus on form, texture and composition, so eloquently imbued with signs of life. When we look into the Yellow Room re-creation and the Hat Factory re-creation (from the garden doors near her wrought iron painting chair across to the shelving outside her green kitchen) we can recognise these white coffee pots and jugs in amongst her collection of objects.The latest example in the exhibition is a generous interior, Yellow room 2011. This painting was the final work Olley completed before she died. As recalled by photographer Greg Weight in his artist statement for his photographic series See you tomorrow at 2, this painting was the final work to be collected and photographed by Weight at 2pm on 26 July 2011. Of course, before he arrived to collect the work Weight had received the news that Olley had died early that morning. Weight kept his promise to Olley and returned to her house at 2pm, although in addition to collecting her final painting, he also photographed the interior of her home studio, and continued to do so over the coming weeks. The result is a poignant photographic series that Weight gifted to the Gallery collection in 2013. Six photographs from the series will be included in this exhibition. Also featured in the exhibition will be a small collection of unfinished paintings

Margaret OLLEY (1923 - 2011)Coffee pots 1991oil on boardCollection of Mark Williams© The Estate of Margaret Olley

Margaret OLLEY (1923 - 2011)Yellow room (triptych) 2007oil on boardPurchased though the Yellow Room appealThe Howard Hinton CollectionNew England Regional Art Museum© The Estate of Margaret Olley

FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRIENDSHow wonderful to arrive at the Gallery each day and see the hundreds of people arriving by car and bus to view the exhibitions and take in the sights and sounds of the new Margaret Olley Art Centre. I think it can be said without any exaggeration, that the new Centre is an outstanding success. As Friends of the Gallery, your membership

fees, donations and financial support at Gallery fundraising events has enabled the Committee to contribute to the project on your behalf. Congratulations, you truly are ‘Friends’ of the Gallery. As you’re renewing your memberships for the current financial year you’ll note that we have a new Membership Card system. The newer automated card has the benefit of being very durable and also features an attractive image of the new MOAC. We now align with the other galleries and institutions around the state that also use this system. This term, the school children in our region have been busy preparing their entries for the annual Les Peterkin Portrait Prize, to be exhibited from 17 October until 14 December 2014. The opening of will be held at 10.00am on Sunday 19 October. Celebrations will begin at 10.00am with a performance by Circustrain, followed by the official prize giving at 11.30am. The wonderful staff and a host of volunteers at Tyalgum Public School coordinate this event each year, which I believe has attracted up to 3,000 entries thus far. The Friends Committee sponsors this annual event, and

Right: Euan MACLEODPat Corrigan AM 2006

oil on canvasDonated by the artist through the Australian Government’s Cultural

Gifts Program, 2008Tweed Regional Gallery collection

Below: Barbara Corrigan with Susi

provides catering plus cash donations for prizes and entertainment. Please mark the date on your calendar and bring your children and grandchildren along. It’s wonderful to see the children and their families filling the Gallery exhibition spaces on these special days. In the past few months the Friends Committee helped to fund three new acquisitions for the Gallery’s Collection. The first is from artist Craig Tuffin’s recent exhibition Yahna Ganga. This photographic work is titled Ngandowal Jugun and features Robert Appo, Tweed Shire Council’s Aboriginal Community Development Officer. This work was acquired jointly, with funds provided by the Friends and the Gallery’s Donation Fund. Two works identified as complementary to the Collection by Gallery Director Susi Muddiman, were acquired from artist Rew Hanks’ current exhibition The Prince, the Tiger and a Toad. These two linocuts are titled Stop! There’s no need to shoot the natives and Banks, which one is mine?

The Friends Committee plans to host another Melbourne Cup Day event this year in partnership with the Gallery Café. Morning tea and a refreshment will be served on your arrival followed by a delicious midday lunch. We’ll have large screen televisions, competitions for the Best Dressed and Best Hats and Cup Sweeps throughout the day. If you can join us, please telephone to make your booking, enter your details on the booking slip and post it to the Gallery. See you there! Lyn Stewart

acquired from Olley’s home studio. The unfinished works date from the mid-1990s to the late-2000s. They are wonderful illustrations of Olley’s process, of working from chalk drawing on masonite to finished oil painting with many hours of looking, re-working and laying of colour in between. When Olley passed away in the early hours of 26 July 2011, time in her home-studio stood still. We now have the privilege of viewing her belongings in the re-creation in stasis, yet still brimming with the life of this charismatic woman and celebrated artist. The spaces remain full of visual conversations of paintings, drawings and creativity and with each new exhibition in the Margaret Olley Art Centre we have the opportunity to connect with and explore these conversations via Olley’s incredible legacy. Ingrid Hedgcock, MOAC Curator & Collections Manager

Above: Craig TUFFINNgandowal Jugun (the language group of Tweed’s traditional country) 2013 - 2014(10) 25 x 20cm plates, five layered diptychs, mounted in an acrylic shadowbox with tintypes at the rear and glass ambrotype at front