What's On - Araluen Galleries
If you are an artist interested in having a show at Araluen, please complete the application form and return it to the Exhibitions Officer, Nathan King.
Exhibition Application Form (26Kb)
Treasures from Papunya
1st Mar 2013 - 28th Feb 2014
Come and explore some of Australia’s most significant Aboriginal art works on display for the very first time at the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs. The eight works that make up treasures from Papunya represent the very beginnings of modern Aboriginal art and tells the various stories of life including hunting scenes, bush tucker and dreaming places. These works will be on display at the Araluen Arts Centre for the next 12 months and a larger exhibition of the Papunya Boards that will tour nationally and international is currently being planned.
Deborah Clarke: Up in the Air
24th May 2013 - 30th Jun 2013
Image: Above two hills, 2012, rust, ink and oil pastel on paper, 50 x 105cm
Opening Friday 24 May
Exhibition closes Sunday 30 June
Deborah Clarke’s previous solo exhibition at the Araluen Arts Centre in 2007 was a pedestrian affair, not in the colloquial sense, but literally. Her multi media ensemble revolved around the power and beauty of the Larapinta Trail and the privilege of having walked it often, usually with groups of other artists engaging in one of Deborah’s Larapinta Creative Camps which she facilitates with partner Dr. Charlie Carter.
This time around Deborah takes to the air, focussing on aerial perspectives that reveal a different facet to the ancient terrain of Central Australia that she loves so much. In particular, Deborah divulges a fascination with water and its transformative properties that have literally shaped the earth beneath us in this ‘waterless’ place. Every pattern, shape and colour shift is a record of the way water has interacted with the earth; flowing, flooding, eroding, seeping and receding in a constant dialogue.
Up in the Air is evidently a reference point for the geological history of the Central Australian landscape that invites the viewer to consider the expanse of time that has passed, as an inland sea became slowly ‘arid’. Less obviously though, there is a deeper psychological resonance. The landscape considered from a bird’s eye view brings a palpable sense of viewing something vast and ancient within ourselves also. Deborah was moved to tears when she first saw Central Australia from the air and it is the depth of that emotion which informs her art practice and this exhibition.
Alice Springs Beanie Festival
21st Jun 2013 - 14th Jul 2013
Image: Alice Springs Beanie Festival exhibition beanies.
Beanies from the Heart – A Celebration of Friendship
Opening Friday 21 June
Exhibition closes Sunday 14 July
Over 250 extraordinary artistic beanies by makers from remote Central Australian communities and as far away as Europe and the USA, young and old, from long time makers to “my first beanie”, the most amazing pieces of headwear ever produced!
Alice Springs Beanie Festival Weekend
Friday June 21 2013 12pm-5pm
Saturday June 22 2013 10am-6pm
Sunday June 23 10am-5pm
Monday June 24 10am – 5pm
Venues - Araluen Arts Centre: Witchettys, Araluen Foyer, Carpark, Central Craft and Gallery One
Celebrating Alice Springs as the “Beanie Capital of the World” (Wikipedia), over 6000 hand made beanies from around the globe ready to find a special head to warm!
The weekend incudes textile workshops, a Tjanpi Desert Weavers workshop, Indigenous workshops, children’s craft workshops, our World Famous Teashop, kangaroo tail, damper, BBQ, live entertainment, fun, laughter and a whole lot more!
The Beanie Festival began 17 years ago to celebrate the humble beanie. The aim of the festival is to involve the Indigenous beanie makers of Central Australia and each year we run workshops in communities to teach beanie making. Currently a series of workshops are being held in Mutitjulu (at the base of Uluru) the results are stunning! We welcome the women of Mutitjulu to the Festival this year to help us celebrate our love of beanies!
Check website for details www.beaniefest.org or phone 0408 436 928.
Rod Moss: Anatomy lesson – You. Me. Us.
28th Jun 2013 - 11th Aug 2013
Image: Anatomy lesson, 2012, synthetic polymers and graphite on archival paper mounted to canvas, 70.5 x 110.5cm
Opening Friday 28 June
Exhibition closes Sunday 11 August
The first major retrospective exhibition of works on paper by renowned Central Australian artist Rod Moss,
comprising artworks drawn from the artist’s personal collection augmented by acquisitions held in the Araluen Arts
Centre’s permanent collection spanning an oeuvre from 1987 to the present day.
Moss says of his art practice “For nigh on three decades I’ve been making narrative paintings about my friendships
with particular Eastern Arrernte families. Such commitment expresses an abiding respect and hunger for Indigenous
perceptions and experience of this astonishing space in which we dwell, to establish richer connection with the
place.
These are, in essence, history paintings that wrest order from the flux and intensity of our lives, often pitched in a
kind of metaphysical space for all the specifics of their many localities. In some ways, they are payment for what the
families have shared with me.
That I’ve prioritised the drama of human figures reflects the emphasis I place on our shared social life, though
aesthetic judgements necessarily determine the resultant art. In part to honour the people featuring in the work I’ve
insisted on the recognisable photographic fidelity that derives from our stage-mannered genesis; dreams grounded
in gritty realism.
Pre-twentieth century art, another generation’s dreams, has occasionally provided conceptual models to enhance a
mythological sense; a vain effort to make substantial and meaningful this thing, life, which keeps slipping from our
grasp.”
Wes Maselli: This Man Can Predict the Price of Petrol
12th Jul 2013 - 18th Aug 2013
Image: Predictor mask (headgear of the high shaman), 2011, oil on linen, 101 x 76cm
Opening Friday 12 July
Exhibition closes Sunday 18 August
Wes Maselli was employed as manager of Tjarlirli Art in the remote community of Tjukurla, Western Australia between September 2009 and September 2011. During this period he produced a body of work in his preferred medium, oil paint on linen, based on the concept of a shamanic deity that can elucidate the price of different types of petrol based on its aroma.
Whilst not directly referencing the damage caused by the practice of ‘petrol sniffing’, the paintings allude to this and other factors relating to the consumption of petrol and petrochemical products.
In a fossil fuel dependant world, who in fact sets the price of crude oil and its by-products? Which faceless shaman determines the cost to the individual, to the environment and to the collective psyche? What is the ‘true’ cost of petrol and its consumption? The recurrent theme of this exhibition revolves around alchemy, ceremony and worship in the context of a contemporary Western society that is engaged in a forced dependency on crude oil. An implied question then, is, what are the alternatives and how do we release ourselves from the current ‘spell’ in order to develop sustainable alternatives?
Central Australian Art Society - Advocate Art Award 2013
26th Jul 2013 - 11th Aug 2013
Image: Walter M. Nickels, Beautiful fantastic partytime, 2011, glitter paint on canvas, 160 x 100cm
Opening Friday 26 July
Walk in the Art and final day of exhibition Sunday 11 August
Presented by the Central Australian Art Society, the Advocate Art Award is a major annual showcase for Central Australian artists. It provides artists with the opportunity to exhibit in a professional gallery setting with potential for feedback and sale of their work. The work of both professional and emerging artists is presented in this unique exhibition that represents the vibrant and creative nature of the Central Australian art community.
The first Art Award was held in a carport, more than forty years ago. In 1978 the Centralian Advocate newspaper came on board as a major sponsor and the Advocate Art Award was born.
The Advocate Art Award’s success over the past thirty years mainly stems from the close collaboration between the Art Society, its sponsors and the Araluen Arts Centre and the support shown by the public each year. The Centralian Advocate has gradually increased its sponsorship over the years, which has resulted in attractive prizes for major categories. Other businesses have also shown their support by sponsoring various encouragement awards. The result is an interesting and attractive annual exhibition that continues to capture the interests of both locals and visitors alike.
Desert Mob 2013
5th Sep 2013 - 20th Oct 2013
Image: Ginger & Iwayi Wikilyiri, Husband and wife story, 2012, acrylic on linen, 200 x 200cm. Araluen Art Collection, acquired from Desert Mob 2012
Exhibition Opening: Thursday 5 September, 5.30pm
Exhibition Open: 6 September to 20 October
Desert Mob is Australia’s premier event featuring new artworks from Aboriginal art centres throughout Central Australia. This event brings together Desart (the Association of Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft Centres) member art centres in a unique exhibition that celebrates the vibrancy of Aboriginal art from this region. It is the only exhibition that offers a snapshot of what is currently happening in contemporary art from Aboriginal owned art centres across Central Australia.
Desert Mob will comprise more than 300 recent artworks from approximately 35 art centres in Central Australia. This is a unique opportunity to view and purchase artworks by both established and emerging artists from Desart member art centres, all in the one venue.
Alice Springs Quilting Club 2013 Exhibition
1st Nov 2013 - 9th Nov 2013
Image: Dragonfly Dreaming (detail), 2012, Alice Springs Quilting Club members collaborative piece
Opening Friday 1 November
Exhibition closes Saturday 9 November
Formed in 1981, the Alice Springs Quilting Club has been exhibiting their annual exhibition at the Araluen Arts Centre for nearly thirty years, since the Arts Centre opened in 1984.
The aims of this not for profit association are to share the enjoyment of patchwork, piecing and quilting and to promote and exchange ideas among those with an interest in quilting. Through workshops and the annual exhibition, the Quilting Club also strives to share and demonstrate methods and techniques of creative quilting and to inspire personal achievements.
The past three decades have witnessed an evolution in the style and technique of quilting. In the early years the focus of the first quilts was on traditional hand quilting. More recently it has shifted to modern designs, which combine traditional patterns with newer quilting techniques.
Present members have utilised new technology like computerised pattern designs and computerised sewing machines. The support of the fabric shops that supply the large variety of quilting materials and embellishments has greatly enhanced the quality of quilted works which are mostly a labour of love and indeed a beautiful and invariably intricate art form.
Margaret Worth: G.E.M.S Exist
8th Nov 2013 - 2nd Feb 2014
Image: G.E.M.S (detail), 2010, shattered glass, dimensions variable
Opening Friday 8 November
Exhibition closes Sunday 2 February 2014
G.E.M.S. Exist will be a purpose-designed multi media installation filling the entire Sitzler Gallery with shattered glass, sand, projected CCTV images of the viewer and a soundscape that stimulates the imagining of being in two places at once - a spatial shift between simultaneous realities.
The viewer will actually become a part of the installation. Their image will be combined with forms that relate to cosmic dust on a macro-scale and stromatolites, the first life-form to move out of the ocean. Sound, composed especially for this work by Tom Harrer, will enhance the experience of the present co-existing with the other-worldly. The notion of simultaneous, multiple realities will be introduced and explored.
The concept is informed by reading about primordial cosmic dusts and their presence in our lives. For Margaret Worth, it also connects with experiencing the reflection of light off the Gibber Plains and shattered glass, the depth of the night sky in the Central Australian desert, and the relative ease there, of imagining ‘dream’ time and now as simultaneous.
Worth’s artwork raises comparisons of structure and conglomeration – of how formal design and random collection interconnect in a continual process. The meaning of mortality is contemplated and routinely challenged.
roads cross - contemporary directions in Australian art
15th Nov 2013 - 2nd Mar 2014
Image: Tobias Richardson, Maningrida House, 2000, acrylic and natural pigment on board, 66 x 71cm
Opening Friday 15 November
Exhibition closes Sunday 2 March 2014
Curated by Vivonne Thwaites, Fiona Salmon and Anita Angel, roads cross is an exhibition that comprises the recent work of sixteen non-Indigenous Australian artists who, since the mid to late 1990s have in various ways ‘engaged’ with Aboriginal Australia: its people, country and art. Four Indigenous artists are represented as cocreators of these works. The work of fifth Indigenous artist – the late Rover Thomas (Joolama) – provides the exhibition with its visual and art historical points of departure. His two limited edition etchings included in the show – Tokyo Crossroads 1995 and Crossroads 2000 – give the exhibition its title.
Works span a broad field of two and three-dimensional media: works on paper (paintings and collage, photographs, screenprints, woodblocks and inkjet prints), paintings in acrylic and oil on linen, fibre and textile objects, ceramics and mixed media (including found object) installations and sculptures.
Artists:
Alison Alder, Nyukana Baker, Lauren Berkowitz, Robin Best, Angela Brennan, Yaritji Connelly, Gus Clutterbuck, Richard Dunn, pura-lia meenamatta (Jim Everett), Franck Gohier, Jonathan Kimberley, Ildiko Kovacs, Pamela Lofts, Molly Nampitjin Miller, Una Rey, Tobias Richardson, Therese Ritchie, Nalda Searles, Quentin Sprague, Rover Thomas, Hossein Valamanesh.