​At our September session we were introduced to the exhibition entitled Always and Altered. These are several works inspired by the Art Galleries idyllic position between the artificial Lake and the Benalla Botanic Gardens. The curator of this exhibition Dr Suzie Baker who acquainted us with her recent setting up Artists in Residence at Dookie College. The provider of one of the exhibits on display Jen Valender explained the meaning in her video. The video is of an installation in the Dookie Quarry and shows two snakes slithering up and down two camera tripods held together with harp strings that hum with the wind and noise is amplified through sound boxes attached to the top of the tripods.

There is an installation of items gathered at Winton Wetlands and a series of photographs of some history of Winton Wetlands. It is interesting to note that Winton Wetlands was recognised as being the most productive land in the area by both settlers and indigenous people.


​Neville Gibb

At our August meeting we listened to local Benalla artists Victoria Cooper and Doug Spowart traverse themes, both personal and political, in the investigation and representation of “site” and “place” in the Australian landscape. Much of this work was created in response to the historical and contemporary changes to our place in the landscape and the philosophical concept of Solastalgia. From this they have created work through artists-in-residences and commissions in places across Eastern Australia including Arthur Boyd’s Bundanon, Muswellbrook, Myall Park Botanic Garden in central southern Queensland and Mildura.

Victoria and Doug take photographs using both conventional and Camera Obscura methods. They produce unusual and artistic books which give an impression of site. They have started to work on Winton Wetlands and we look forward to the results of their endeavours.

​Coming up - Join U3A Benalla Art Appreciation members on the 'First Monday' at the Benalla Gallery -  - September, 4 September, from 10 to 11 am - for a presentation by Dr Suzie Fraser, Coordinator at the Centre of Visual Art, University of Melbourne, in conversation with exhibiting artist Jen Valender, about the ‘Art + Ecology’ residency program at Dookie Campus. The presentation coincides with the display of four works resulting from the residency program in the major exhibition Always and Altered.

​Neville Gibb

On Monday 4th July we listened to a talk given by local elder and artist Desiree Walker.

Desiree Walker is an Auntie within the Indigenous Community and has devoted herself to learning how to make authentic indigenous products and handiwork as they were in the past. She has made herself familiar with weaving techniques used in basket making and fish traps. She has used this knowledge to not only to reproduce artifacts but to also use these methods in the production of artworks that stand on their own.

Desiree's work is on display in the Gallery under the title Interwoven:Stories of Country from North and South.

​At our last First Monday we were acquainted with the work of Eamon O’Toole.  Eamon is a self confessed revhead, artist and dirt bike rider and is fuelled by his life-long passion for all things motorsport — a passion which he turns into sculptural creations of his favourite motorbikes and cars.

Eamon spoke of a lifetime obsession with sculpture and gave us full details of his complete career  in art.

Painstakingly created out of hand-moulded plastic, enamel, aluminium foil, texta and more, Eamon's works are authentic scaled replicas of an impressive array of motor vehicles, tools, and motorsport paraphernalia.

It is not always possible to discern art in installations but in this case it is easy to comprehend the artistic input in his sculptures. Eamon has managed to mould a mixture of things into his interesting take on motor sport which has resulted in an enjoyable display.

Join us at our next 'First Monday' at the Benalla Art Gallery, Monday 3 July at 10am, for an artist talk by Aunty Desiree Walker, coinciding with the display of her work within the exhibition Interwoven: Stories of Country from North and South.  Stay behind afterwards and join others for a coffee and chat at the Munro and Sargent Cafe. 

Neville Gibb

​On the 1st Monday in May we were privileged to listen to Mike Nicholls tell us about his life and his artistic career. Mike sculpts from single pieces of wood. Some large - some small.  Some are very large.  It is not always obvious that they are one single piece of wood.  His aim is to visually express commentary on such issues as the futility of war, concern for the environment, and indicating humanity’s spiritual self.  

Mike was able to go into detail about his technique and we saw a series of slides giving a true indication of his work.  Mike explained that it's virtually impossible to attach two pieces of wood together and expect that the wood will stay attached.  The finished product will reveal itself as the sculpture progresses.  It is always inside the piece of wood.  This is the same with all sculpture.

Mike also acquainted us with the brutal realities of pursuing an artistic passion. In order to start work on a project he first has to arrange the finance.  And he has to allocate time.  He has the same responsibilities as most people and his family always must come first. Nevertheless, he has managed to carve himself a career that has spanned several decades and he has been awarded accolades for his efforts.  He has succeeded in his endeavours. 

​Join us at ‘First Mondays’ at the Gallery on Monday June 5th, at 10 am for an artist talk by "self confessed revhead, artist Eoman O’Toole, coinciding with his major exhibition  Hot Lap. Eamon’s art practice is fuelled by his life-long passion for all things motorsport — a passion which he turns into sculptural creations".

Neville Gibb 

At our last First Monday we listened to Tony Lloyd expand on the exhibition of his paintings that are on show at the Gallery.  Tony’s paintings are realistic portraits of mountains and landscapes and are deliberately just short of super realist.  Tony’s talk ranged over his career in Art and can be summed up in the statement - have paint brush will travel.  Tony has travelled extensively and drawn inspiration from various parts of the world including the high country to our immediate north.  He admits having been influenced by both Caravaggio and early moving film.  Caravaggio is not immediately obvious, but when explained by Tony one can see the connection and the slightly out of focus state of his mountain paintings have the same look as the soft focus that is evident in early moving film.

Neville Gibb

At our March  First Monday we were fortunate to be lectured by Nina Machielse Hunt regarding the Art situation in Beechworth and specifically about the Beechworth Contemporary Biennale. 

This was an enjoyable experience as it is obvious Nina is a very energetic person dedicated to art.

Our next first Monday on April 3 will be an artist talk by Tony Lloyd, coinciding with his major exhibition High Plains Drift.  Stay behind and join others for a coffee and chat at the Munro and Sargent Cafe.  

​Neville Gibb

Unfortunately, our last First Monday had to be cancelled. We are confident all will be OK on the first Monday in March.

Can I take this opportunity to advise everyone who has not seen the Ledger Collection to take the time to study every painting. The Ledgers were very generous in donating their collection to the Gallery and there are a number of interesting paintings on show. There is a higher proportion of paintings by females than is usual for one thing. And the paintings have been hung by the Curator to show them in their best light.

Please make the effort to view this exhibition before it closes.

Our next First Monday - 6 March - 10 - 11am
​Speaker:  Nina Machielse Hunt – Beechworth Contemporary

​Neville Gibb

Join us at the Gallery on the 6th February from 10 to 11 am for an artist talk by Deborah Kelly, the first of the year in the ‘First Monday’ series. 

Deborah is well-known for her collages.  Her work, The Gods of Tiny Things, is currently on display in Between the Details: Video Art from the ACMI Collection, a kaleidoscopic video which “unleashes a vivid collage of animated figures and landscapes cut free from the pages of old magazines and encyclopaedias. It explores the threats of extinction and the climate crisis, the tolls of colonialism, and the global political shift to the right, while conversely revelling in the hectic pleasures and desires of life itself.” 

Stay after the session for coffee and catch up with friends at the Gallery’s Munro and Sargent Café.

​Neville Gibb

At our last Art Appreciation for the year we listened to a lecture by Jacqui Stockdale concerning her installation in the Simpson Gallery entitled The Outlaws Inn. This is a work that combines historical and fantasy. It depicts some members of the Kelly Family together with images of fantasy figures.

Jacqui gave an impassioned lecture that held everyone in its interest. The Kelly Myth is a large structure and is continually being explained by works like Jacqui's.

At our most recent Art appreciation we experienced something different. - a lecture in Auslan.  

​To comprehend a lecture in Auslan we needed an interpreter.  So we had an artist telling her story and we had an interpreter watching her symbolic hand and arm movements and explaining to us what she was saying.

What the artist was saying was interesting.   She did not hold back in telling us the difficulties a young deaf person experiences and what we can do to alleviate it.   There are many obstacles that a deaf person has to cope with that a hearing person never considers. 

Suffice to say there are real problems that are difficult to overcome.   Our speaker explained that the invention of the Auslan language was a revelation to her and she had to fight to learn it and to get other deaf people to learn it.   Apparently, it was not fashionable to learn Auslan in its early days.  

The basic premise of her lecture was that Auslan should be learnt by everyone.  It was interesting to experience listening to a lecture through an interpreter.   There was one slightly humorous moment when the sound system mal-functioned and the hearing people were subjected to a loud dose of reverberation coming through the speakers.   We had the experience of hearing a loud thudding electrical echo when of course our lecturer was not aware of the problem.   This was a perfect example of irony.

Coming up at First Mondays on Monday 5 December 10-11am: "Join artist Jacqui Stockdale for a compelling talk on her exhibition, ‘The Outlaws’ Inn’. Jacqui will share her process, practice, and dive deeper into her interest in the story of  Ned Kelly and other dominant narratives of Australian colonial folklore."


Neville Gibb

In early October we listened to a very interesting talk, ‘Curating Migrant Stories’, where History and Art came together.  The history of Sikhs in Benalla is not well known, and we were privileged to hear some of their story from the curator of the exhibition Amrit Gill. M/s Gill is extremely well versed in some of our local history, and we enjoyed every minute of her lecture.  She is an extremely competent and articulate curator.  We learned that a local Hawker Siva Singh organised the first complete reading of the Sikh Holy Text in Australia.  This took place at Reef Hills in the early 20th century and was attended by many notable Sikh figures.  And luckily a Press Photographer as well.  The reading took approximately 40 hours to complete and is now treated as Historic. Siva Singh came to Australia from Singapore before Federation as a British Subject.  Unfortunately, he was affected by the Federal Government putting into place the White Australia Policy after Federation and he had his citizenship and voting rights withdrawn.  He would have been threatened with deportation.  He objected to this and after many battles it ended in the High Court and his rights were restored.  Thankfully he persisted for many years against the forces of adversity.

My recollection of Indian Hawkers in the local area was that they were always held in affection and well respected.  Of course, they knew everyone, and everyone knew them.  I cannot recall anyone who would have objected to them being citizens.

M/s Gill also explained the meaning behind the exhibits on show.  The Art on exhibition is of a symbolic type and not normally shown in Art Galleries.  The exhibits are mostly craft inspired.  Punjabi women have a special skill in needlework and this method was incorporated in producing the Artworks on display.  The symbols shown in the Artworks are attempting to incorporate Punjabi Culture into western understanding.

​Neville Gibb

​Coming up at 'First Mondays' at the Benalla Art Gallery on Monday 7 November from 10-11am, 'I Wish I'd Told You' -  Presenters: Claire Bridge and Chelle Destefano

What I Wish I’d Told You, centres Deaf voices, identity, language and culture. Auslan storytellers affirm Deaf experiences and complex identities, in an immersive exhibition of large-scale video projections, which bring visitors into a Deaf world.

Claire Bridge and Chelle Destefano consider themes of Deaf culture, Deaf pride and decolonising audism. The artists discuss critical approaches to embedding social justice concerns into exhibition design and curatorial custodianship.

“In Auslan, we pass stories from hand to hand. Our stories cannot be put on a page, detached from us. Our signed stories carry culture. They are a site of resistance and pride.” Chelle Destefano

Access: Auslan/ English interpreters

Brenda Williams, the new curator at our Gallery talked about the wonderful ‘Salon Hang’ of about half of the Ledger Collection. This has given many of us, a detailed look at this foundation collection for the first time and appreciate the wide selection of well known artists of the 1920s to 1950s that the Ledger family collected. The exhibition is dedicated to landscape paintings and some of our North Eastern and local landscapes are evident.

At a time when State Galleries are scrambling to collect the works of more women artists from this period, the Ledger Collection includes a surprisingly large number of women artists, many of whom you will not have heard and you may be seeing their work for the first time.

Pick up a copy of the exhibition catalogue at the door and use it to find the works of such women as Elizabeth Parsons and Alice Rowen who arrived from England and were exhibiting and painting landscapes in the 1880s.

Later Dora Meeson and Jean Bellette were painting in the 1920s to 1950s. while Shay Docking was painting a generation later. Joy Hester and Lena Bryant are also represented.

Jason Smith, director of the Geelong Regional Art Gallery, gave a comprehensive talk about Clarice Beckett, an early twentieth century Victorian artist most prominent in the 1920s and 1930s.

Ignored or pilloried by her  critics and forgotten for decades, her works were rediscovered by art academic Rosslyn Hollinrake who held a retrospective exhibition of Beckett’s works in 1971. Public galleries across Australia bought extensively from this exhibition and a new appreciation of her work developed.

Beckett is now recognized as an important early modernist, trained by Frank McCubbin [National gallery Art School -Melbourne] and later in 1917 by Max Meldrum who opened an art school that trained students in tonal realism. Beckett’s paintings are mostly landscapes of scenes from local beaches and Beaumaris, which she painted out of doors in all weathers. A few late paintings from Nariyal in the Western district have survived, although most of these were burned by her father after her early death aged 48. A sister stored around 2000 of her paintings in a farm shed near Benalla. Of these about 300 survived the rigors of this type of storage. Others had been bought by private patrons during the 1920s and 1930s when she held annual exhibitions.

Although she remained unmarried and caring for her parents, she never gave up her art practice, working in the very early mornings or late evenings after her home duties were finished. Her soft, misty views of beaches and street scenes are a unique picture of suburban Melbourne as no other artist saw it.

You should go to our own Benalla Gallery to see one of her paintings on display [Spring Morning] in the salon hang of the Ledger Collection. In 2023 the Geelong Regional Art Gallery will have a major exhibition of her works which should be well worth seeing.

Meg Dillon

​'First Mondays' in September - 'The Ledger Collection - the curator's perspective' Brenda Wellman, Education & Public Programs Curator, Benalla Art Gallery will discuss the Gallery’s feature exhibition The Ledger Collection',providing insights into the exhibition’s development and some of the history and stories behind the art and artists.  Monday 5 September 10 to 11am.

Found on the internet - Reflections on Clarice Beckett by Eleanor Amor

Catching up after August's 'First Monday' presentation ..

Staying after ‘First Monday’ sessions for coffee at the Gallery café is a tradition for Art Appreciation group members–caught chatting in August are Meg, Terry, Heather and Keith; Pat, Bill, Corrie and Carole.

​This month we were extremely privileged to listen to Peter Wegner who is a recent Archibald Prize winner. Peter explained the series of circumstances around him that came together and resulted in him winning the prize.  This was most illuminating and thought provoking.  Sometimes serendipitous occurrences can just happen and provide a pleasing unexpected result.  This is what happened with him winning the Archibald Prize.

The exhibition in the Gallery however is not connected with his prize winning portrait.  The exhibition he has in the Gallery is of Centenarians.  Pencil Drawings of people over 100. Each pencil drawing is on the same sized paper with space at the bottom for some comments from the sitter.  The most frequent comment is that no one expected they would reach 100 years of age. Each drawing has been dipped in Beeswax.  This greatly increases the sensation of the drawing.

This exhibition should not be missed.  

Coming up - Coinciding with Benalla Art Gallery’s display of Clarice Beckett’s Spring morning within The Ledger Collection, join Jason Smith, Director and CEO of the Geelong Gallery, on Monday 1st August from 10 to 11am, as he explores the artist’s life and practice.

​Neville Gibb

​Restoration and Repair are very important and can be extremely interesting.  Victoria has a large collection of Indigenous artifacts, and these have to be maintained.   For instance, did you know that Captain Cook collected a large amount of cloth from all over the Pacific on his travels. Cook was interested in most things, no matter how mundane.  We were shown examples of both these collections, and both were of extreme interest.

At our next First Monday we will hear a talk by Peter Wegner coinciding with the presentation of his exhibition, The Centenarians, at the Gallery. This will be held on Monday 4th July at 10am.

Neville Gibb

There has been a late change of  topic and speaker for Monday's 'First Mondays' session at the Gallery on Monday 6 June.   The speaker was originally advertised as Jason Smith, Director and CEO of the Geelong Gallery who was to explore The Life and Work of Clarice Beckett.

At Monday's session leading art conservation industry expert Robyn Sloggett AM will present an Introduction to Artwork Conservation and explain the work of Grimwade Centre for Conservation Services at the University of Melbourne.  Find out more here.

Join us after the session for coffee at the Gallery’s Munro and Sargeant café. 

At our last Art Appreciation gathering at the Gallery we were fortunate enough to meet four interesting artists who have an exhibition of their work showing under the title Oculi:Acts I-VII.

This is made up of photos meditating on the seven stages of life loosely based on the philosophy Rudolf Steiner. Some photos are intensely personal and some reflect on the meaning of life.

The presentation was curated by Aishah Kenton, Abigail Varney, Alana Holmberg, and Rachel Mounsey and we enjoyed their short explanation of their work.

We also appreciated the presence of a number of High School Students who also attended the lecture. It is always invigorating to see young people taking an interest in Art.

Neville Gibb

At our last meeting on Monday 4th April, we enjoyed an exhibition in the Bennett Gallery of the work of Adrienne Doig entitled It’s All About You.

This exhibition featured several forms of Art - Painting. Embroidery. Sculpting. Video. Doll Making. Collage. In other words, Adrienne Doig works in many mediums.

One wall of the Gallery was devoted to smallish paintings on cardboard of various things that have happened to her and sees her in various situations both every day and important. Mundane and significant. When you study this wall, you think that she must have just about exhausted all that has happened to her, but in reality, it probably only just scratches the surface and there are much more paintings to be done before she is finished with this project.

Her exhibition has the title It's All About Me and Adrienne freely admits that this is what her work is all about. It’s all about her. 

The ultimate outcome is that she is assembling her biography through Art.

Adrienne grew up in Wangaratta.  So, we can claim her as a semi local.

Join us at the Benalla Art Gallery on Monday 2 May at 10 am for an introduction to the new exhibition, ACTS I-VII, by members of the Oculi Collective.  Oculi, a collective of 18 fine-art and documentary photographers, has been the leading influence in photographic documentary practice in Australia since 2000. 

Neville Gibb

At our last Art appreciation meeting we listened to Ivan Durrant talk about a painting he has on display in the Gallery. Ivan is always an entertaining speaker and is always willing to explain his passion for Art.  The painting in question is of two backpackers lying on a beach and entitled ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

In question time he was prevailed upon to make some comments about his reaction to his recent retrospective held at the National Gallery of Victoria.

Ivan has had a long and varied career in Art and a long association with this region.

​It is worth noting that the Gallery has a wonderful exhibition on at the moment in the Ledger Gallery.  A large number of Gallery owned works have been brought out and put on display. 

The Benalla Art Gallery is well worth a visit. 

Join us on Monday April 4th at 10 am for the ‘First Mondays’ artist talk by Adrienne Doig, which will close her stunning exhibition, It’s all about me!
​
Neville Gibb

Join us on the first Monday in March for an artist talk by Ivan Durrant. The talk coincides with the presentation of Durrant’s work, To kill a mockingbird (Backpackers) within the current Collection exhibition, The Human Figure.

Durrant’s talk will discuss the work specifically, how it fits within his broader practice, as well more recent achievements such as his momentous National Gallery of Victoria survey exhibition, Barrier Draw, staged in 2021.

Monday 7 March, 10-11AM
Registration essential: T 03 5760 2619 or gallery@benalla.vic.gov.au
Cost: $2

At our last well attended meeting at the Benalla Art Gallery we listened to a lecture from Anna White titled My Father's Garden. Anna is a local Artist who we hope will agree to talk to us again in the future.

Anna showed a short film actually shot in her Father's Garden with her doing a dance in the modern idiom. The film had extracts of what it was like after the last bush fire and the degree that the plants and trees can revegetate.

Anna also explained her development as a painter and her interest in colour and technique. She showed various examples of her paintings. Some of these paintings were done using an unusual method of putting paper down over paint already applied to canvas and the resultant paper after being peeled off becoming the work of art.

The session finished up with a vigorous question and answer period.

Neville Gibb

At our ‘First Monday’ session at the Benalla Art Gallery on 7th February from 10 to 11 am we will view a screening of Anna White’s recent film project, In my father’s garden, and hear Anna speak about her multidisciplinary art practice.  Anna is a Melbourne based artist with a PhD in Fine Art from Monash University (2015), and has been the recipient of and finalist in numerous notable awards.

"Speaking about In my father’s garden, White says, “In May and June 2020 I spent time with my 87 year old father in his garden in the Strathbogie ranges in Victoria. This video captures this time. It represents the culmination of a lifelong relationship with my father and with his garden, that has been an inspiration for my artistic practice.” In my father’s garden was her first video work, a self-taught piece resulting from a City of Melbourne COVID-19 Quick Response Grant...

In my father’s garden is a poetic exploration of family, human connection, the impacts of COVID-19, creative expression, lifelong learning, and a love of gardens, and as such bridges the themes of Benalla’s most recent Collection exhibitions, Re-gathering and Re-generation."*
​
Registration: T 03 5760 2619 or gallery@benalla.vic.gov.au   Cost: $2
Join us after the session for coffee at the Gallery’s Munro and Sargeant café.  

Neville Gibb

*Source:  Benalla Art Gallery Website

There will be more detail in the next newsletter, but here's the link for a 'sneak peek'!