Two Hobart Exhibitions
Henrietta Manning
‘Doing Time, Oatlands Gaol Residency’ [May 3-8] and ‘Time is of the Essence’ [May 5-24]
Time is both an integral part of the artist’s art practice and a recurring theme in the work.
Henrietta Manning works predominately directly from life, whether a studio based portrait or still life or a subject out on site, hours are spent carefully choosing the best time of day. The play of light and casting of shadows, compositionally and emotively determine when each picture will be painted. As the piece progresses the window of opportunity to work locks in ever smaller to a particular light. The majority of the work is therefore season and time specific.
Sidespace Gallery will exhibit the recent body of work ‘Doing Time, Oatlands Gaol Residency’ in Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart 3-8 May.
The series was produced through a residency in the historic Tasmanian town of Oatlands in the Southern Midlands begun in September 2015 . These paintings explore our relationship with time and history through the buildings we inhabit, preserve or abandon. Painted from inside historical buildings, empty interiors that are atmospheric time capsules contrast with the often vibrant very personal interiors of private homes, while long thin landscapes give a sense of place within the broader landscape.
The location and experience available through the Residency has enabled Henrietta to build on the past series of work, ‘In Face of Isolation’ 2005, that explored communities that choose to live in challenging locations, and further pursue her interest in how our sense of identity is inexorably linked with our homes , ‘Nesting Series’ 2016. ‘Doing Time’ continues to explore how today’s lives build upon and co exist with the past.
‘Time is of the Essence’ May 7 -24th at Colville Gallery, Hobart is being held in conjunction with ‘Doing Time, Oatlands Gaol Residency’, is an exhibition of figurative and still life based work.
Including a number of larger figurative works undertaken as a recipient of an Australian Council Visual Arts/Craft Board , New Work Established Grant, when Henrietta experimented with the technique of Whistler. Using shorter multiple time specific sittings, at the finish large areas would be wiped back to start afresh the following session. A thin underbody of early work remains but the final bush work is therefore kept light, alive and spontaneous.
Life, death and the passage of time is referenced in these works, seen both through our bodies and in our surroundings.
Henrietta Manning is an established award winning artist, exhibiting since 1985, and was a 2017 Tasmanian Glover Prize finalist.
Sidespace Gallery, Colville Gallery
