The Monks Sketches
2006
Graphite, pencil, acrylic paint, pen and red ink, scraping out on paper
Collection the artist, Courtesy the artist
On display at Redland Art Gallery 18 April - 30 May 2010

The Olympic Torch comes to Muttaburra
1999
Graphite, pencil, acryic paint, pen & red ink, scraping out on paper
Private Collection Sydney, Courtesy the artist
On display at Redland Art Gallery 18 April - 30 May 2010

Angels on the Great Wall of Shellharbour
2008
Collection the artist, Courtesy the artist
On display at Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery
Graphite, pencil, scraping out on paper

‘Thomas Spence: 35 Years of Expressing the Inexpressible’ is a resonantly beautiful exhibition detailing the career of one Australia’s premier artists working within the discipline of drawing. This retrospective comprises works from three decades of the artists practice, borrowed from public and private collections across Australia and is held at two Queensland Regional Art Galleries simultaneously. 

 Spence’s highly unusual signature drawing technique of engraving and overworking is given life in his subject matter, which over the years has been wide ranging: from reflective works about growing up in outback Muttaburra (Qld), to presenting an outsiders view of the sins and sights of the big city, the voyeurism of the suburbs to the religiosity that Tom sees as underpinning our existence.

 Filtered by his catholic upbringing, Spence’s deep sense of spirituality and his questioning of humanity are witnessed in pieces devoted to the lives of common people,(in particular farmers) and his later abstracts based on his observation of the land in combination with quantum philosophy. In examining Tom’s unique vision, technique and spirituality, ‘35 Years of Expressing the Inexpressible’, gives voice to an artist who has felt mute throughout his life.

Thomas Spence: 35 years of Expressing the Inexpressible is presented in partnership with the Redland Art Gallery and will be shown concurrently at the Redland Art Gallery from the 18 April - 30 May 2010.

Thomas Spence: 35 years of Expressing the Inexpressible is curated by Mel Forbes.

Toowoomba State High School, Araminta Pearce, Waste is the Backbone of Society, 2008, Digital collage/film, copyright, courtesy the artist and M&GSQ

The Creative Generation Excellence Awards in Visual Art and Design recognise and promote the outstanding achievements of visual art students from state and non-state schools throughout Queensland.

 Previously known as the Education Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Art, this touring exhibition has been conducted annually since 1990 and has helped raise awareness of the diversity and standard of arts education in Queensland secondary schools.

The 2009-2010 touring exhibition showcases 38 works selected in 2008 from more than 500 entries submitted by senior visual art students across the state, including regional and remote communities.

Albert Verschuuren, Jar, Stoneware, Shino glaze, vapour glaze, 1984, Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery Colllection

Albert Verschuuren is a name that is synonymous with pottery on the Granite Belt. Past and Present examines the processes and experiments that have occupied this master potter for over 40 years.

The exhibition will showcase dozens of works by Verschuuren since his immigration to Australia in the early 1970’s. The artist has lent a number of pieces and other works have been borrowed from private collections to demonstrate the 
breadth of this artists career. 

Absence of Light, 2010
Pat Benkendorff
Charcoal on paper

Unusual experiences of lines and cracks of light, a sparkling globe, light emerging from a room, sunlight and other forms of light.  Mystical light is interpreted in this exhibition through the manipulation of various media to simulate light; mystical light exists even when there is no light.

 Queensland Arts Council, One Page at a Time - Corrie Wright, 2010

Leave your worries behind with this fun and interactive exhibition, touring with Queensland Arts Council’s Ontour onexhibition. Corrie Wright started the “worry doll” project in 2004, asking people from all over the world to contribute by making small worry dolls and writing their worry on the tag. Create your own worry doll to add to the exhibition!

 Undercurrent, Hanna Kay, 2008, oil and tempura on linen
180 x 350cm

Created by Hanna Kay, Undertow is an exhibition that is influenced and informed by the Jewish Cemetery in Maitland; one of only two ‘stand alone’ Jewish Cemeteries in regional NSW. Kays evocative style of painting figurative images of land and the influence of nature tells the story of displacement and migration in regional NSW during colonial times.