LAST Friday night Orange Regional Gallery launched two new exhibitions, Natura Morta: recent perceptions of an age-old genre, and George Gittoes: I Witness.
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Both of these exhibitions feature powerful art works that consider the themes of life and death, war and peace and the complexity of the times in which we live.
Natura Morta: recent perceptions of an age-old genre is an arresting exhibition of paintings, sculptures and tintype photographs exploring the genre of still life.
For this exhibition the curator, Gavin Wilson, invited a group of artists to contribute works that ultimately reveal a deep felt sense of their own mortality, these artists include Genevieve Carroll, Guy Maestri, Janet Haslett, Euan Macleod, Luke Sciberras, Joanna Logue, Rosemary Valadon, Bill Moseley and Juz Kitson.
In this column I will focus on the larger of the two exhibitions, George Gittoes: I Witness, which is on display in the Alan Sisley Gallery; and consider Natura Morta: recent perceptions of an age-old genre in more detail in an upcoming column.
George Gittoes: I Witness has been assembled by Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre and presents the first major survey of the work of Australian artist and film maker George Gittoes.
This exhibition documents the past 45 years of Gittoes’ travels to sites of conflict and upheaval around the world, including Nicaragua and the Philippines in 1980s, Rwanda, Cambodia and the Middle East in 1990s, and more recently in Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
As one would expect, the art works produced from these experiences are confronting.
Gittoes does not shy away from depicting the violence and devastation that he encounters as he immerses himself in these war-torn communities.
Many of the works are large scale expressive paintings that present individuals and scenes in graphic detail.
Shown alongside these are smaller more sensitive drawings and prints, sometimes with a written narrative accompanying the image, that present an equally disturbing picture of what is happening in war-torn parts of the world.
The curator of George Gittoes: I Witness, Rod Pattenden says: “This is not an idealist exhibition of art about art, but a record of an artist wild with vision for the capacity of art to create change in the real world of the viewer. It is sometimes shocking, always provocative and clearly a unique visual experience. Gittoes steps outside a safe role for an artist and creates images of stunning power in some of the most difficult places on earth.”
Gittoes aims to expose the stories that otherwise would not get public attention, and inspire empathy in audiences and a willingness to work toward change.
It is hoped that exhibitions such as George Gittoes: I Witness will go some way in achieving this goal.
Natura Morta: recent perceptions of an age-old genre, and George Gittoes: I Witness will be on display at the Gallery until January 11, 2015.