Renowned local artists showcased in exciting exhibition at Cairns Art Gallery
Four renowned local artists have had their work purchased for Cairns Art Gallery's permanent collection as part of the celebrated ARTNOW FNQ exhibition.
ARTNOW FNQ, which runs until February 18 at the gallery, aims to showcase exciting new works by established and emerging contemporary artists from the Tropical North region.
Alexi Glass-Kantor, Executive Director of Art Space Sydney, commended each of the twenty-eight artists in the exhibition for their ability to explore new directions in their art practice, and congratulated the Gallery on an outstanding exhibition.
In May this year, when selecting from almost one hundred artists who had submitted an application for inclusion in the exhibition, Glass-Smith admitted that the process had been an exciting though very difficult one.
At a gala launch in December, Gallery Foundation Director Sarah Coll announced that works by four artists had been selected for acquisition with funds raised by the Foundation - Grace Lillian Lee, Daniel O’Shane, Vincent Babia and Michael Marzik.
Grace Lillian-Lee is a Cairns based artist whose work is represented in a number of major public gallery and
private collections in Australia. Her work in the exhibition uses large-scale body sculptures to explore traditional and contemporary body adornment, with the style and media of each representing the past, present and future.
Daniel O’Shane is of Torres Strait Islander descent and lives in Bamaga in the Northern Peninsula Area, Far North Queensland. In 2016 O’Shane was awarded the prestigious National Works on Paper Prize, and this year won the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair’s People’s Choice Award.
Vincent Babia is from, Seisia, in the Northern Peninsula Area. In 2014 he was awarded the 7th annual Gab Titui Indigenous Art Award, and his work has been represented in a number of exhibitions, including Evolution: Torres Strait Islander Masks at the National Museum of Australia, Canberra in 2015. Babia’s works are represented in public gallery collections, including the National Gallery of Australia.
Michael Marzik is a Swiss born photographer and arts professional who has lived and worked in Cairns for
many years. Michael has exhibited nationally and internationally and his most recent series of black and white photographs depicts various views of Cairns taken through the window of a parked car.
Other artists represented in the exhibition include Vernon Ah Kee, Andrew Bonneau, Gertrude Davis, Andrea Huelin Heather Koowootha, Danie Mellor, Rosella Namok, Julie Pulsen, Francesca Rosa, Bernard Lee Singelton, Michael Anning, Paul Bong, Shannon Brett, Jeanie Holroyd, Elizabeth Hunter, Serene Kuring, Glen Mackie, Arone Meeks, Mark Misic, Rose Rigley, Yixuan Ruan and Kristen Tennyson.
ARTNOW FNQ will be on display until 18 February 2018. Click here for more information about the exhibition.
