Burra Regional Art Gallery has celebrated the opening of a pair of exhibitions, celebrating the depth and diversity of local talent.
Stephen Hudson’s exhibition ‘NATURES ABSTRACT,’ now showing in the Bence Room, sees the familiar brought into sharp relief with a series of works exploring the dynamic interplay of shapes, shadows, and colours in the environment.
Mr Hudson has spent the last 30 years working on and off on painting, with little formal education outside of three years studying drawing at the Adelaide Central School of Art.
“I have no particular subject or style that I pursue so I like to have a go at everything,” he said.
“If I have any leaning at all, it would be towards botanicals as you can see in this exhibition.”
Mr Hudson noted his brain did not lend itself easily to abstract painting, yet the theme for the exhibition came organically.
“After seeing images of macro and aerial photography, they spoke to me of the abstract that the natural world provides. I thought, why not use nature which provides me with an endless array of subjects to capture on canvas,” he said.
“The golden quartz veins within geological specimens and the soft, velvety curves of river deltas as seen from satellite images further fuel my creative process.”
These natural phenomena, with their inherent intricacies and captivating patterns provoked a challenge to translate their visual stories into paintings.
“My goal is to evoke the same sense of awe and admiration I feel when observing these subjects in their natural setting,” Mr Hudson said.
BRAG has also opened its vault of rarely seen works, for Collections to BRAG About, an exhibit of five artists’ collected works owned by the gallery.
On display in the main gallery, works from Len Bence, Barbara Hanrahan, Ken Pickard, Nan Arnells and the Glenys Christopher collection.
Len Bence was born in Burra in 1923, the son of Olive and Arthur Bence.
Len’s father enjoyed painting as a hobby and was a skilful water colourist and copper etcher. In 1975 Len and wife Muriel opened a gallery in one of the Paxton Square Cottages, which became a “must visit” for tourists and locals alike.
At this time Len began to develop his career as a painter, capturing what has become an extensive historical record of the unique buildings in Burra and surrounding areas.
His work conveys a sense of place in pictures of the small cottages, imposing churches and friendly pubs, the Market Square and the work place, where the Monster Mine once dominated the life of the town.
Born in Adelaide, Barbara Hanrahan is remembered for producing more than 400 art works (screen prints, paintings, linocuts and wood blocks) during her lifetime. Her works are held in most major Australian art galleries. She also was the author of numerous novels.
Burra local, Barry Wright knew Barbara in the 1960s and has written his memories of their relationship ‘Barbara and Me and the Moon’, available to buy at Burra Gallery.
Ken Pickard began drawing in pen and ink in 1972 while stationed in Tasmania. An old tumbledown set of stables attracted his attention, so he drew them with a fountain pen on a piece of cardboard, which started him on his hobby.
Ken had art exhibitions in Terowie, Peterborough and Burra, operating a gallery in Terowie for 10 years.
Nan Arnells was a renowned Mid North watercolourist – a delicate painter of flowers; she was great company, a terrific hostess, with a decisive dry wit; a true raconteur, itinerant bicycle traveller around China and the UK, a gallerist in Victor Harbour, greeting card producer, silk scarf maker and printer.
Nan gave public demonstrations of the technique she refined, at the Burra Show, the Spring into Burra Garden festival and the Burra Artist Society.
The Glenys Christopher Collection is comprised of works by South Australian women artists, bought over many years by local watercolour painter Glenys Christopher, and donated to Burra Regional Art Gallery.
BRAG loves to share them with visitors and to remind us all that artistic skills, creativity and lifetime experience can be so easily forgotten without gifts like this.
Burra Regional Art Gallery is open from 1 to 4pm daily. Both exhibits are on display until March 9.
