Latrobe Regional Gallery in Morwell is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an exhibition featuring 50 prominent Gippsland artists. It’s an eclectic exhibition in which almost all the visual arts are represented. Works in the exhibition are drawn from three sources; the gallery’s collection, the artists themselves and artist commissions.
The catalogue tells us that three themes have informed this exhibition;
land, and in particular the lived experience,
fortitude – a reference to the economic turmoil following the privatisation of the power industry in the Latrobe Valley and, more recently, the move away from coal fired electricity generation. And the ongoing impact of the 2014 fire at the nearby open cut mine that blanketed Morwell in acrid smoke for 45 days.
connection – a reference to everything we do in a community.
Some of the artists selected for the exhibition have taught art at the nearby Federation University Churchill campus and others have lived and worked in the Latrobe Valley for many years. A former gallery director is also included.
Reference in the catalogue is also made to the travelling exhibition “Contemporary Gippsland” featuring a number of local artists that was developed by LRG in 1990. The catalogue for that exhibition states that “regionalism does not mean a decline in artistic standards, irrelevance to contemporary artistic theory and practice, or that individualism is lost to some perceived notion of regional style or subject matter”. The aim of that exhibition was to spread that message far and wide and this current show is aimed at reinforcing that message.
Featured below are some of my favourite works from the exhibition.
Bill Young, Spirit Of Morwell, 1990, acrylic on MDF, 183 cm x 240 cm
Bill Young’s work perhaps captures the conundrum that is the Latrobe Valley – a questioning of its identity. This area of Victoria is unique in having a number of large rural towns in close proximity to each other. So is the Latrobe Valley residential, industrial or rural/agricultural? Or a bit of each?
Neale Stratford, Being Comforted By Death, 2013, digital pigment print on aluminium, 112 x 75 cm
Neale Stratford’s art draws on his experiences with Asperger’s Syndrome. In creating his art, Stratford references the dark compositional styles and themes of artists such as Goya and Caravaggio. I have visited a solo show staged by Stratford at LRG and it was a powerful and confronting experience.
Geoff Dupree, Waterloo Road, 1985, watercolour on paper, 77 x 221 cm
Apologies for the poor image quality, I had to scan the catalogue as I couldn’t find this painting online. The location is Trafalgar, but it could be any town in the Latrobe Valley at night. It’s a desolate and unsettling scene that is so typical of a depressed area at night.
Mandy Gunn, W(RAPT) 2012/13, recycled paper, shopping bags & wrappings on cardboard
Mandy Gunn does amazing things with cardboard and paper, and has for many years. De-constructing, abstracting and collaging with a reference to textile techniques such as weaving. I found myself drawn into the work through the swirling and undulating patterns, but there is an environmental concern in this work in that it references the issue of recycling.
Rodney Forbes, Submarine With Goat & Giantess, 2010, oil & acrylic on canvas, 92 x 259 cm
I think Rodney Forbes is at his best when depicting humour in his art. You are drawn into the work by the clarity of colour and the complexity of the composition. There is an almost cartoonish element to his work yet there is also a strong narrative element and Forbes often explores more serious themes.
Juli Haas, By The Banks Of Her Own Lagoon, 1995, watercolour on paper, 100 x 151 cm
Juli Haas, who died in 2014, won the Sir John Sulman Prize with this work in 1995. Although the scene is cluttered with figures, there seems to be no interaction between them. There are sinister overtones to the work and yet this is relieved to some extent by the use of vivid, contrasting colours and an element of puppetry and theatre in the scene.
There have been times when I wonder if the locals appreciate what an important asset they have in the Latrobe Regional Gallery, given the poor attendances I have witnessed at some exhibition openings. But long may the gallery survive and prosper.
“50 Years, 50 Artists” at Latrobe Regional Gallery runs until 12th December. And while you are in Gippsland, I suggest you visit the Archibald Prize at the Gippsland Art Gallery in Sale and the “Our Entries” exhibition at Rosedale (weekends only).
Reference;
“50 Years 50 Artists”, Latrobe Regional Gallery catalogue