VICTORIA HOWLETT
Recherche
Boom Gallery, Newtown (Geelong)
Thursday 18 July - Sunday 11 August 2019
Opening Celebrations - Sat 20 July 2-4pm
Collage, colour and the calligraphic mark are the visual language of much of Victoria Howlett’s 2D imagery. Although the works in this exhibition range in size from 17.5 cm to 1.2M, and use materials as diverse as oil on board or paper collage, each work holds a compelling vibrancy. Mostly abstract, the images nevertheless contain narratives - and these narratives and tropes resurface over and over in a circular rotation as they evolve, recede and re-emerge through the years. Hence the title of this exhibition: Recherche – again rediscovered.
With a wide international and national exhibition history, Howlett has a substantial record of arts practice which includes over 5 decades as a professional ceramist, decades of lecturing in art schools and a recent Monash University PhD in painting – In Pursuit of Desirelines: A Woman in the Landscape.
For that Exegesis, Victoria organised women’s bush painting camps which provided the physical structure in which to explores site, gender, narrative and memory, and how these influence the development of a professional aesthetic.
These camp locations, in shared Aboriginal land, where we gave voice to women’s stories and feminist theory around the campfire, ranged from the lushness of ‘Bundanon’ and Broome to the dry plains of Silverton and Noonkanbah in the Kimberleys, to the rich and spiritual gorges of Mutawintji.
Collections: NGV; NGA; Art Galleries of SA, WA; Powerhouse Museum; Parliament House, Canberra; Art Bank; Australian Embassy, Iran; Regional Galleries of Newcastle, Ballarat, Shepparton, Castlemaine, Bathurst, Bendigo, Geelong, New England, Latrobe Valley; University of Melbourne, La Trobe; Victorian Ministry for the Arts
Click here to preview this exhibition
Boom Gallery | 11 Rutland Street, Newtown (Geelong), VIC 3220 | T 0419 410 252 | E [email protected]
Hours 9am - 4pm Mon - Sat & 9am - 3pm Sun | www.boomgallery.com.au