MEDIA RELEASE
23rd NOVEMBER 2011
THE MAIN GALLERY
Missing Presumed Dead
Missing Presumed Dead is an exhibition of photographic works curated by Launceston based artist Paul Snell with assistance from The Devonport Regional Gallery and CAST (Contemporary Art Services Tasmania). Missing Presumed Dead has been supported by the Exhibition Development Fund and has been placed on the CAST touring program. This has enabled this Tasmanian produced exhibition to tour nationally throughout some of Australia’s most prestigious institutions in 2012 and 2013. This is an exceptional achievement and a great opportunity to promote Tasmania’s thriving creative community.
Missing Presumed Dead will showcase the work of three well established Tasmanian photographers, one mainland artist and three international photographers. Missing Presumed Dead focuses on the complex but intriguing relationship between realism and abstraction in contemporary photography. The works in the exhibition have been constructed digitally or through more traditional photographic techniques like direct sun exposure.
The Devonport Regional Gallery has produced a publication that will tour alongside the exhibition, it features works from the 6 participating artists and an essay by curator Paul Snell. The publication will be available for purchase from the Gallery. Paul Snell and a selection of participating artists will be conducting a floor talk on Saturday the 3rd and 11 am.
OPENING: 2nd December 2011 6pm
CLOSES: 15 January 2012
IN CONVERSATION : 3rd December 11am, Paul Snell and participating artists
THE LITTLE GALLERY
Julian Thompson
Mersey
The Devonport Regional Gallery is proud to present Mersey, the latest exhibition by Burnie based artist Julian Thompson. Thompson is one of the coasts most well known emerging artists and has exhibited in various locations throughout Tasmania.
Thompson has utilised internet-based images of the Mersey River in NW Tasmania. Thompson’s art is located in the emerging and pervasive trend of the virtual experience. In spite of this, it is the age-old concerns of picture-making that are played out on the canvas surface.
Thompson states:
‘there has always been, at the core of art, a tension between truth and pictorial rigour: here the truth of the subject – be it the visible landform processes or the quirks of the Google mosaic – are merely the starting point for a picture which will in turn mimic the natural processes it is responsive to. The use of painterly methods to represent imagery available direct from a computer screen reflects the fact that, in spite of decades of development, no technological means has been achieved digitally to surpass the directness of the marks available from the artists “grasped” brush’.
The Devonport Regional Gallery is proud to support talented local artists like Julian Thomson through the emerging artist program presented in The Little Gallery.
OPENING: 2nd December 2011 6pm
CLOSES: 15 January 2012
For more information please contact:
Astrid Joyce
Education and Public Programs Officer
Devonport Regional Gallery
[email protected] 0364 24 8296
Astrid Joyce: Education and Public Programs Officer Devonport Regional Gallery
