Local artists explore Gallery's collection

Published on 10 June 2019

Exhibition features regional artists’ exploration of Gallery’s nationally significant collection.

An exhibition bringing together the voice of regional artists through explorations of works held in Rockhampton Art Gallery’s nationally significant collection will open on Saturday 8 June.

Counterparts is the result of six artists each undertaking a week long research internship at Rockhampton Art Gallery.

Throughout these internships each of the artists accessed and researched works of female artists held in Rockhampton Art Gallery’s collection. The artists were provided access to artworks, paper archives and reference book collections informed by the Countess Report (2016) as principal research sources. The Countess Report highlights institutional gender representation in the arts. 

Through the internships, the artists are each contributing to conversations of institutional gender representation, and consider this national topic on a local scale through the collection holdings of Rockhampton Art Gallery. 

Chair of Rockhampton Regional Council’s Community Services Committee, Cr Rose Swadling said the outcomes of the six artists contributes to not only a regional conversation, but also the national conversation of gender representation presented through new stories and ideas relevant to the political framework of 2019. 

“Artworks in the Gallery collection by female artists such as Margaret Olley, Del Kathryn Barton and Linde Ivimey will be brought to life by new stories and ideas from our regional artists relevant to 2019. This will contribute to the national discussion about gender representation in the arts,” she said. 

The exhibition Counterparts will show at Rockhampton Art Gallery from the 8 June – Sunday 8 September 2019. It will showcase the resolved 6 new artworks by Michelle Black, Amber Countryman, Erin Dunne, Anitha Menon, Emma Ward and Veronika Zeil. The new works will be juxtaposed with the responding work from Rockhampton Art Gallery’s collection, and further unpacked by a newly commissioned video produces by regional film maker John Muscatt. 

This project has been funded by the Regionals Art Fund. 

The Regional Arts Fund (RAF) is an Australian Government program designed to benefit regional and remote arts practitioners, arts workers, audiences and communities. The fund is provided through Regional Arts Australia and is administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.

Rockhampton Art Gallery is owned and operated by Rockhampton Regional Council.