3 July - 8 August

MAIN GALLERY

RECYCLED LIBRARY: ALTERED BOOKS

Recycled Library: Altered books is an Artspace Mackay exhibition that traces a history of altered books in Australia through the work of seventeen artists. The works featured in the exhibition incorporate existing / found books presented as sculptures, wall-based collages, artists’ books, or as photographs.

During an era in which the printed page is in danger of being supersededby digital technology, the connecting element in all the work is a continuing fascination with the iconic significance and primacy of ‘the book’. The exhibition focuses on works that have a conceptual, political or social concern and range from the 1970 conceptual work Introduction to a book by Paul Partos (1943-2002) to the beautifully crafted recent work by the Melbourne artist Kylie Stillman (born 1975). Other artists include Simryn Gill, Marion Borgelt, Jayne Dyer, Julie Gough, Paul Hoban, Liz Jeneid, Yvonne Kendall, Archie Moore, Jánis Nedéla, Ti Parks, Patrick Pound, Alex Selenitsch, David Sequeira, Glen Skien and Hossein Valamanesh.

Recycled Library: Altered books is a national travelling exhibition curated by Michael Wardell for Artspace Mackay and toured by Museum & Gallery Services Queensland. The exhibition tour is supported by the Contemporary Touring Initiative through Visions of Australia, an Australian Government program, and the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian Government and state and territory governments.

Kylie Stillman

Buff-tailed thornbill 2005

Book. 43.5 x 33.5 x 6.0cm

Collection Artspace Mackay, Mackay Regional Council

Image © the Artist

26 June - 1 August 2010

REGIONAL ART SPACE

TONYA GRAHAM: RESIDUE & REMAINS

Residue & Remains explores the beauty of discarded objects and materials and the integration of these materials from nature and those manufactured by man into sculptures. The work reflects the interaction of these worlds and how this integration unfolds beauty and intrigue.

The act of walking and collecting is part of the artists art making prcess. it is through the collection of materials and objects that the aesthetics of the artworks are dictated. The artist explores the overlap of humanity and nature and how we can work together in a thoughtful and interesting aesthetic.

Rosalie Rigby

Summer Paddocks
Oil on canvas, 58 x 71cm
Image © Rosalie Rigby

29 May - 25 July 2010

NEW MEDIA SPACE

VIDEODOME

VideoDome comprises artworks which are collaborations between artists and research scientists referencing astronomical phenomena and contemporary art. Inspired by ‘the sublime’, the artworks by David Carson and Paul Bourke aim to capture the infinite and indefinable aspects of nature and the universe.

The program features fish-eye projections which play continuously on a 30 minute loop, accompanied by a complimentary soundtrack. The viewer is immersed in a full sensory experience, surrounded with vision and sound, inside a 5 metre inflated dome. This unusual environment is a whole new way
of experiencing projected moving images and surround-sound. The exhibition pushes the boundaries of contemporary art into the domain of planetariums and science museums.

Brian McClave / George Millward

Mixmaster Aurora 2003/08

Video still #2 20min duration 1400 x 1400 res

Image © The artist

24 April - 25 July 2010

PROJECT GALLERY

JOSEPH BANKS AND THE FLORA OF THE AUSTRALIAN EAST COAST

This exhibition features coloured engravings of Sydney Parkinson's original drawings which recorded the coastal plants collected between Sydney and far north Queensland by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr Daniel Carl Solander, on Captain James Cook's first voyage round the world, 1768-1771.

Sydney Parkinson completed 1,300 sketches and watercolours of botanical specimens and landscape views during his voyage on the Endeavour. He died on the return leg to England.

Joseph Banks commissioned five artists to complete Parkinson's watercolours and 18 engravers to cut copper printing plates to publish the illustrations in full colour. The publication never eventuated and Banks' collection was transferred to the British Museum in 1827.

Banksia serrata
Artist John Frederick Miller
© Natural History Museum, London
ANMM Collection  Gift from Dr and Mrs E Schiller

5 June - 29 August 2010

CHILDREN'S GALLERY

iVISUALISE

ivisualise is an exhibition of artworks by Western New South Wales region public school children from Kindergarten to Year 12.

These are visions of their dreams, lives and the world around them.

Installation view

iVisualise 2010

Image © WPCC

15 May - 25 July 2010

MUSEUM SPACE

IN LIVING MEMORY

From 1919 to 1966, the Aborigines Welfare Board (AWB) took thousands of pictures of Aborigines under its care. They include snaps of workmates at building sites, couples getting married, children at play, and young women taken from their families to train as maids at Cootamundra Girls School.

Whilst not a full or necessarily accurate picture of NSW Indigenous life during the period, the images now form an important part of the collective history of those connected with the AWB.

In Living Memory, a touring exhibition from New South Wales State Records (which now holds the collection) brings these memories to life. Using a series of iconic images from the collection, as well as text to fill out the stories of some of those photographed, this exhibition touches on many issues that affected, and continue to affect people today, including the Stolen Generation and those living on reserves.

Ruby Williams in service with Mrs J Simpson, Strathfield, Sydney

Reproduced with permission of Brenda Nicholas, Coonabarabran;
Joan L Baker & George William Leslie, Sydney; Alfred Leslie, Moree
And approval of NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs

MAIN MUSEUM

PEOPLE PLACES POSSESSIONS: DUBBO STORIES
Dubbo means red ochre. The city dwells in red soil western plains, infused with pastoral light and productivity. This place breathes the energy and passion of its people, past and present. We all experience place by moving through it, all our senses alive to its shifting shapes and moods. This sense of place is created through the entanglements of nature and culture, past and future dreams, shared stories and collective memory.

In this exhibition we explore pastoral landscapes with symbols of agriculture and family ambition. Dubbo streetscapes reveal the changing facades of shops and the hidden stories within. Storytellers spin yarns about Dubbo events and identities. There are many objects from the old Dubbo Museum, material traces of past lives and aspirations. They speak in eloquent silence about people, place and possessions.

LEARN MORE

Download catalogue (603kb)

Installation view:
People Places Possessions: Dubbo Stories