SNAZZY watercolour paintings, strands of woven ribbon stars and colourful native textiles will feature in three exhibitions to open this month at Redland Art Gallery.
The wide mix of works will feature Cleveland painter and print maker Brian Hatch who will showcase a series of miniature watercolours and land and seascapes, as well as engraved zinc plates inspired by whale bone engraving techniques, from Saturday July 16 to Saturday September 3 at the Capalaba gallery.
Redland City Mayor Karen Williams said the exhibition, held with Queensland Seniors Week 2016, was inspired by Mr Hatch’s travels around Australia and a fascination with the old scrimshaw art form used by whalers.
“The exhibition called Mini watercolours, modern scrimshaw and prints showcases Brian’s talents and interests in printmaking and painting,” Cr Williams said.
“His watercolours are inspired by a journey from Fraser Island to Tasmania’s Bay of Fires and Wilpena Pound in Central Australia, while the engravings are informed by his studies and travels in the United States.”
Cr Williams said two new exhibitions featuring woven ribbon stars, textiles and artefacts would open at the Cleveland gallery from July 31.
“Birkdale artist Maryann Talia Pau will exhibit Catching Light, an installation of woven ribbon stars, as part of her One Million Stars to End Violence project, which aims to raise awareness of the monumental work that needs to be done to end all forms of violence,” she said.
“Supported by the Queensland government through Arts Queensland, Maryann’s goal is to exhibit 1 million woven stars at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and she is calling on the community to take part by weaving a star during the exhibition, or delivering woven stars to the gallery.”
Cr Williams said a selection of Pacific art from the Searle Collection, including fibre, string bags, body adornment and small scale sculpture, would feature alongside the woven star installation.
“Ross Searle is a collector and curator of contemporary Pacific art, with his collections including contemporary textiles, weavings, bilums (string bags), baskets, sculpture, prints and paintings,” she said.
“Since his first visit to Papua New Guinea in 1989, Ross has been curating and collecting works from Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
“He has long been fascinated by how Pacific Art has been radically transformed by new techniques, influences and materials and this exhibition will showcase how adapted materials such as European-made buttons and old coins have been used to replace traditional materials.”
Join the official opening of Catching Light: Maryann Talia Pau and Pacific Art from the Searle Collection on Friday, July 29 at 6.30pm.
To RSVP, call 3030 4163 or email gallery@redland.qld.gov.au by Wednesday July 27.
A floor talk and morning tea with Maryann Talia Pau and Ross Searle will be held on Sunday, July 31 at 10.30am, while a floor talk and morning tea with Brian Hatch will be held on Saturday August 20 at 10am during Queensland Seniors Week 2016.
