Opening of Capturing Flora: 300 years of Australian botanical art, courtesy of the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
The Art Gallery of Ballarat(AGB) has long been a gallery offering regional audiences a more refined experience. The oldest regional art gallery in Australia, AGB has announced it will have a newfound emphasis on self-curated exhibitions that showcase its own treasures.
Director of AGB Gordon Morrison recognises that in the past the gallery has not celebrated or showcased its own extensive collection enough, which holds significant objects and art depicting the history and growth of Ballarat.
‘We are now positioning ourselves in a place where we know we have a lot of wonderful things to share. We have an extraordinary collection that not only has fabulous things, but also extraordinary depth,’ said Morrison.
‘We have been exploring what we can do with our own collection to make it really special, to engage with communities, to engage in cultural conversations.’
Examples of the success of its self-curated exhibitions is In Your Face! Cartoons about politics and society 1760 – 2010, which drew the majority of its contents from the gallery’s own archives. Morrison noted the collection highlights the gallery’s hold of cartoon art that is unparalleled by other Australian galleries.
The recent exhibition Capturing Flora: 300 years of Australian botanical art, curated by Morrison, which has toured to three interstate galleries, was compiled primarily from prints and drawings in the gallery’s own collection.
Upcoming exhibitions will include Melbourne artist Ash Coates exhibition Mycolinguistics, an exploration into current movements in science, mysticism and ecology, along with Paper Scape by Ballarat artist Tarli Glover using recycled papers to create works which represent abstract elements of the natural world, as well as exhibiting artists Samuel Thomas Gill and Dena Kahan works.
With an exciting and rigorous program ahead, this year the gallery will host both the Victorian Indigenous Art Awards and the Ballarat International Foto Biennale in August, before becoming the exclusive Victorian venue for the 2015 Archibald Prize.
Morrison said the gallery is in a good position to host the nation’s most prestigious prize in October, with an already extensive collection of Archibald winners’ works on display. ‘The reality is that relatively few regional galleries actually have those resources. We see ourselves as being quite different to many of the galleries in regional Victoria,’ said Morrison.
Morrison said that the gallery seeks to simulate discussion and discourse through presenting works of art in engaging ways while telling Australia’s history.
‘By cleverly and effectively utilising the work that you have got at your disposal, you can really make people think deeply about their surroundings and the society they’re sitting within and you can have a lot of fun along the way,’ concluded Morrison.
For more information visit the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
