2015

Cowra Library: Operation Art

4 December to 27 February 2015

Operation Art is an initiative of the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, in collaboration with the Department of Education and Communities. This program encourages students from Kindergarten to Year 10 in all NSW schools to create artworks for children in hospital. It is an important statewide visual arts exhibition that focuses on creating a positive environment to aid the healing and recovery process of young patients. The touring exhibition is comprised of 50 works from painting, drawing, collage and photography.

Stephen Bowers: Beyond Bravura

Blue Roo – a little bird told me, 2011, wheel-thrown earthenware, underglaze colour, clear glaze, 63 x 6 cm. Private collection. Reproduced courtesy the artist. Photo Grant Hancock.

13 December to 1 February 2015

For over 35 years, Stephen Bowers has been creating works that fire the imagination, combining intellect and inventiveness with skills and traditions that stretch back thousands of years. From familiar, everyday items, to the transformative alchemy of deluxe and super deluxe bravura pieces, his art is acclaimed and collected across Australia and overseas.Bowers uses an array of large vessels and other objects made by various collaborators – including wheel-thrown plates, vases and mugs, as well as handmade surfboards. He creates images and stories on ceramic surfaces that blend art historical references with Australian motifs and icons from popular culture.

Stephen Bowers: Beyond Bravura is a major survey of one of Australia’s leading ceramicists and is a JamFactory touring exhibition.

This exhibition is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government program supporting touring exhibitions by providing funding assistance for the development and touring of Australian cultural material across Australia.

Transplantation: A Sense of Place and Culture – British and Australian Jewellery

Jack Cunningham, The Great Barrier (Series), 2010, silver, wood, shell, plastic readymades, 70 x 100 x 20 mm.

 7 February to 15 March 2015

Jewellery is an art form which provides a means of recording memory and experience in a portable and wearable form. Through this medium, it is possible to express ideas, thoughts, and concerns, which may not be achievable in other ways. This exhibition brings together 12 contemporary jewellery artists from the UK and Australia, who draw on and interpret their own experiences of ‘transplantation’. Each artist has created up to three pieces of work which explore a sense of place and cultural identity. Transplantation: A Sense of Place and Culture is a travelling exhibition developed by the University of Lincoln, assisted by the National Centre for Craft and Design and funded by the Arts Council England. In Australia, it is toured by Museum & Gallery Services Queensland.

Recent Acquisitions

Left: GW Bot, Entrance I, 2000, linocut on tapa cloth and Magnani paper, 92 x 52 cm (irregular). Gift of  Professor Alexander Grishin, through the Australian Governments Cultural Gift Program 2014. Right: Margaret Loy Pula, Anatye Bush Potato, 2013, acrylic on linen, 120 x 120 cm. Purchased with the assistance of the Friends of the Cowra Regional Art Gallery.

7 February to 15 March 2015

A selection of recent acquisitions from the Gallery collection, including works by GW Bot, Petra Dzubiel, Peter Gardiner, Gladdy Kemarre, Margaret Loy Pula, Naomi White. Curated by Brian Langer, Gallery Director.

The 2014 Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award

Emma Walker, Keys Bridge in Flood (detail), 2014, graphite, charcoal, pencil and pastel on paper, 150 x 200 cm. Winner 2014 Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award.

22 March to 26 April 2015

JADA seeks to encourage and promote innovation and excellence in drawing and plays a vital role in fostering Australian drawing practice. The 2014 JADA exhibition features 50 drawings by 50 artists, selected from 340 entries by a panel of art professionals. The judge for 2014 was John McDonald, Sydney Morning Herald’s art critic and art historian. The exhibition showcases a diverse range of subjects and mediums, including the integration of new and old mediums and new electronic mediums. The 2014 JADA winner was Emma Walker from northern NSW. Other artists in the exhibition include Wendy Sharpe, Angus McDonald, Bruno Leti, Graham Fransella and Christopher Orchard. Toured by Grafton Regional Art Gallery.

• Download the 2014 Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award Education Kit

2015 Calleen Art Award and Central West Regional Art Award

The 2015 Winner of the Calleen Art Award, Yvonne Boag and her winning work, Pathway, Namson Park.

3 May to 14 June 2015

The Calleen Art Award is an acquisitive national painting prize in any subject and style. It is the Central West’s signature art prize and one of Australia’s richest. The Award was established in 1977 by Patricia Fagan OAM and is made possible with the support of the Calleen Trust. The winner of the 2015 Calleen Art Award will receive $19,000 in prize money and their painting will join the Calleen Art Collection at the Cowra Regional Art Gallery. Recent winners include Claire Martin (NSW), Peter Gardiner (NSW), Gladdy Kemarre (NT) and Naomi White (Qld) in 2014. The Central West Regional Art Award is non-acquisitive, attracting entries from some the regions foremost artists. The 2015 winner will receive $2,500 in prize money. Finalists are selected by a panel of art professionals and the winners are announced by the Awards Judge at the Awards Gala Opening.

The Cowra Regional Art Gallery is delighted to announce the winners of the 2015 Calleen Art Award and Central West Regional Art Award.

• 2015 Calleen Art Award exhibition catalogue

2015 Winner Calleen Art Award

Yvonne Boag, Pathway, Namson Park, 2015 acrylic on canvas, 130 x 162cm.

Highly Commended Calleen Art Award

Anita West, Sandlewood Country, 2015, acrylic on linen, 100 x 200cm. Craig Handley, Kimbrik, 2015, oil on canvas, 60 x 100cm.

2015 Winner Central West Regional Art Award

Nic Mason, Caitlin, 2015, oil on canvas, 100 x 75cm.

Please see the full media release, announcing the award winners.

• Media Release – 2015 Calleen Art Award and Central West Regional Art Award winners.

2015 Calleen Art Award & Central West Regional Art Award Finalists

The Cowra Regional Art Gallery is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2015 Calleen Art Award & Central West Regional Art Award. We would like to thank all the artists who entered this year.

Please note: Entries were pre-selected into three categories for the final judging, these are:

• C = Calleen Art Award Finalist
• C/R = Calleen Art Award Finalist and Central West Regional Art Award Finalist
• R = Central West Regional Art Award Finalist

Kensuke Todo Sculpture and Drawings

Kensuke Todo, Takashimaya (Takashimaya Department Store, Kyoto), 2007, mild steel, 43.6 x 71 x 16.3 cm. Private collection.

21 June to 26 July 2015

This exhibition examines the paradoxical works of Canberra-based sculptor Kensuke Todo. Born in Kyoto, and educated in Japan and Australia, Kensuke Todo extends his bi-cultural perspective to sculptures and drawings that gesture towards imaginary architecture, with rigorously considered in-between spaces that function ambivalently as voids and energy fields. Curated by Peter Haynes, Consultant Curator, Art Writer and Art Historian.

• Kensuke Todo Exhibition Catalogue | PDF Download

Sacred Footsteps from the Roof of the World Tour

Finished mandala.

29 July to 2 August 2015

Over five days, a group of Tibetan Buddhist Monks visiting from monasteries in India will create a mandala in the Gallery as part of the Sacred Footsteps Tour 2015. The exact design of the mandala, proportions and use of colours, are laid down in ancient Buddhist text and memorised by the monks. On the final day, the completed mandala is then swept away by the monks during a special dissolution ceremony.

Contemporary Gallipoli

Stephen Copland, Eceabat Memorial, 2011, acrylic on stonehenge paper, 78 x 111 cm. Photography Effy Alexakis, Photowrite.

8 August to 6 September 2015

Contemporary Gallipoli is a journey through a diverse landscape of remembrance, friendship and healing; a multi-textural exhibition developed within the context of reflection upon the ANZAC Centenary. Works include music, painting, drawing, printmaking, hand-built ceramic, sculpture, textile, mixed-media installation, artist books, wearables, photomedia and digital animation. Artists featured in the exhibition include: Ros Auld, Cenk Beyhan, Meredith Brice, Stephen Copland, Mark Davis, Ihsan Dogrusöz, Kate Downhill, Dianne Jones, Burt Muller, Susan O’Doherty, Toby Roberts and Chris Sainsbury. Curated by Meredith Brice and toured by Macquarie University Art Gallery.

Stars + Stripes: American Art of the 21st Century

Dylan Lynch, Sucked in Juice Box 2013, acrylic on steel, 53.3 x 66 x 71.1 cm. Courtesy of the artist and The Still House Group.

12 September to 18 October 2015

Drawn from the private collection of Sydney-based Lisa and Danny Goldberg, Stars + Stripes: American Art of the 21st Century from the Goldberg Collection is a vibrant selection of 51 works across the mediums of painting, drawing, photography and sculpture. It highlights the cutting-edge practices of a generation of American artists that explore the creative and conceptual possibilities these mediums hold.

Curated by Richard Perram OAM, Director, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, in conjunction with Lisa and Danny Goldberg, and toured by Museums and Galleries of NSW, the exhibition captures a fascinating snapshot of recent contemporary art from North America and provides a unique opportunity to present works by artists not easily accessible to Australian audiences.

• Stars + Stripes: American Art of the 21st Century from the Goldberg Collection Exhibition Catalogue
• Stars + Stripes Interactive Education Kit

2015 Lachlan Valley Biennial Art Awards

David Lake Evening Pastoral – Hay, 2013 oil on canvas, 46 x 61 cm. Winner 2013 Traditional Art Award.

24 October to 15 November 2015

The presentation of the Lachlan Valley Biennial Art Awards at the Cowra Regional Art Gallery is open to artists living within 100 kilometres of Cowra. The exhibition offers entrants from different art backgrounds and exhibition experience a unique opportunity to show their work in a public gallery and reach new audiences. Award categories include painting, drawing, watercolour, pastel, mixed media, and for the first time, miniatures.

UpstART 2015

Chloe Sanders Parliament (detail), 2014, pencil on paper. Winner 2014 Drawing Award (Year 12).

22 November to 6 December 2015

Now in its 12th year, the Gallery’s annual regional youth art exhibition UpstART is a showcase of talent and creativity by young artists in Years 10, 11 and 12 from high schools across the Central West region. The exhibition encompasses a striking collection of works including painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, 2D digital art, ceramics and sculpture.

Lola Greeno: Cultural Jewels

Lola Greeno, teunne (king maireener shell crown) (detail) 2013, king maireener shells, cotton thread, diameter 250mm. Photography John Leeming QVMAG.

12 December 2015 to 7 February 2016

This is the eighth exhibition in the ongoing series Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft, initiated by Object Gallery to celebrate the achievements of the most influential and iconic figures within the Australian crafts movement. Lola Greeno is a highly respected Indigenous shell worker, sculptor, installation and fibre artist, and the first Indigenous Living Treasure in the series. She is originally from Cape Barren Island but now lives in Launceston Tasmania. With more than 30 years of traditional shell necklace making and the knowledge and customs that were passed down from mother to daughter, Lola is one of a handful of women shell stringers who have been responsible for ensuring the craft is passed on from their Elders and continued to the present day.

Greeno has developed a major body of work specifically for this exhibition; supplementing fragile strings of coastal harvest shells, local to her country, with other traditional materials and techniques – fibre weaving, kelp, quills, bones, found objects.

Lola Greeno: Cultural Jewels is an Object Gallery touring exhibition and is part of the Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft series. The exhibition is supported by Object’s National Exhibitions Strategy, funded by the Australia Council and is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government program supporting touring exhibitions by providing funding assistance for the development and touring of Australian cultural material across Australia.