Gallery Walk

A research visit and meet-up with fellow MFA students, always so good.

Our first stop after coffee was Melanie Roger Gallery and Kirstin Carlin's exhibition, Afternoon Sun.

Loved the paintings of course, so fresh and garden-like - we loved the loose painting on the walls behind the paintings, extending that feeling of being outside in a garden.

Next stop was Two Rooms Gallery, and their group exhibition 'Theatre', with stunning large works by Gretchen Albrecht, Matt Arbuckle, Basil Beattie, Marie Le Lievre, Leigh Martin, Ann Shelton, Robin White & Ebonie Fifita. Every work so good. Below is an image of Leigh Martin's work.


^{_{Leigh Martin, Untitled #5, 2022, Synthetic resin and pigment on canvas, 2270 x 2180 mm}}

Upstairs were photographic works by Ann Shelton, one of which is called 'Theatre', and hence the exhibition name.

I thought the double image was a good idea, giving another view altogether and something else entirely, although the same. So a few experiments in the studio using two different paintings, underneath each other. Not successful so far, but I'll work on the idea a bit more.

The next gallery was Fox Jensen, which had a Mark Francis 'Harmonic Fields' exhibition just ending. His work unsettles me and I find it hard to relate to it in any way apart from disturbing. Maybe that is the point!

But they had works on the floor, and some hung for the next exhibition of Geoff Thornley. According the gallery assistant, Geoff doesn't give away much information on process or materials, but the works themselves are so strong, yes so delicate in colour, and also the use of what looks like muslin, makes them seem delicate to view.

^{Geoff Thornley, MEASURE OF, #1, 2023, OIL ON CANVAS,149 X 142.5 CM}

Trish Clark Gallery was next with an exhibition by Stephen Bambury, Slow Burn (Redux). I can see landscapes everywhere and I loved his mediums, those chemical reactions.

^{Sight Line (XXXI), 2024, Chemical action and acrylic on four copper panels and aluminium extrusion, 183 x 360 mm}

Our last gallery for the day was Threads by Amanda Mackenzie at RM Gallery.

"Threading, knotting, and twisting of fibres were among the oldest of human arts from which the technologies of both textiles and building are derived. A network of flexible lines, these things we live with, catch and reflect our stories.... Tracing these fibres back to what they were like before they were joined up and joined with the stuff that makes them a thing is to acknowledge them as dynamic and ever-changing."

The words explain it well - connections, threads. The coat hangers used in the wire constructions were also intriguing, as we slowly realised they were all in their complete state, not twisted or manipulated as we initially thought.

That was a good day, a lot of inspiration, ideas direct and non-direct coming up. It's all study!