Local artists among 33 selected for Gippsland touring exhibition
Artists from Sandy Point, Cowes, Fish Creek and North Wonthaggi are in the show opening at ArtSpace Wonthaggi before touring to Korumburra and Meeniyan
THIRTY-THREE artists from across Gippsland will show their work side by side when the inaugural Artists of Gippsland touring exhibition opens at ArtSpace Wonthaggi on Sunday November 8.
Sandy Point painter Cheryl Erskine, Cowes artist Phillip Sayers, Fish Creek’s Kerry Inkster and North Wonthaggi’s Martine Zajacek are among the local names selected for the show, which draws on artists from Bass Coast, South Gippsland, Baw Baw, Latrobe, Wellington and East Gippsland.
More than 100 artists applied with more than 275 works, and the final selection spans sculpture, installation, painting, printmaking, photography, mixed media and works on paper from nationally established, mid-career and emerging artists.
ArtSpace Wonthaggi committee member Meg Viney said the exhibition would bring together a creative community spread across a vast region.
“Artists of Gippsland is such a unique opportunity to lace together the artists community across the vastness of Gippsland and provide a rare opportunity to come together and exhibit,” Ms Viney said.
The exhibition is a re-activation of New Energies, a regional arts program started by South Gippsland Shire Council and Meeniyan Art Gallery that ran from 2000 to 2007 and was curated by Ms Viney.
Ms Erskine said the show would be her first formal exhibition with a gallery.
“I’m very excited to be involved in this exhibition,” she said.
Mr Sayers is showing his gouache Black Swans on Churchill Island Wetlands.
“I am absolutely thrilled to have been selected and very much looking forward to being part of the tour,” he said.
Ms Inkster, whose archival giclee on canvas The Blossoms Pale in Fingers White made the cut, was just as pleased.
“This is so exciting,” she said.
The exhibition runs at ArtSpace Wonthaggi in the Centennial Centre from November 3 to 28, with an opening celebration from 1pm to 3pm on Sunday November 8.
It then moves to Coal Creek Art Space in Korumburra from December 10 to January 31, opening from 6pm to 8pm on Thursday December 10, before finishing at Meeniyan Art Gallery from February 3 to 28, with an opening at 2pm on Sunday February 7.
