New exhibition by Brisbane’s Mitchell Art Gallery takes inspiration from the stunning natural beauty of Australia’s Kakadu

In June this year five renowned Australian artists travelled to a remote location in Kakadu in the Northern Territory to participate in a week long artist’s camp. It is the same site where recently found artefacts show that Aboriginal people have lived in Australia for 18,000 years longer than previously estimated.

Mike Mitchell, Director of Mitchell Fine Art, organised the trip to inspire the artists with some of the most exquisite landscape that Australia has to offer, while providing them the opportunity to engage with the Aboriginal traditional owners.

Participating artists include Steve Lopes, Franck Gohier, Euan Macleod, Peter Hudson and Christine Christophersen.

Travelling to Western Arnhem land the group spent time with traditional owners and their families exploring the country, visiting rarely seen rock art and scenery and learning about the area and the immense significance of country for the local Aboriginal people.

What followed was a week of plein air painting (French for painting outdoors) in and around Arnhem Land. It resulted in a body of work that is an immediate reaction to the landscape, inspired by the experiences and observations of the world’s oldest culture in a place unchanged over thousands of years.

The group witnessed snippets of a lifestyle and culture that goes beyond recorded memory. Aboriginal rock art depicting Thylacines (Tasmanian Tigers), ceremony and the mail plane from the 1930’s shows a pictorial history of the area. This all had a profound effect of this group of artists and is reflected in the artworks produced.

The exhibition ‘Kakadu’ opens 6pm September 1st, with some of the participating artists in attendance. An Artist Talk will be held in the gallery on Saturday Sept 2nd from 2pm.

The exhibition is showing at Mitchell Fine Art, 86 Arthur St Fortitude Valley, Brisbane until September 23rd.

 

The gallery can be followed on Facebook or Instagram or sign up to the gallery’s mailing list via the website.

 

To view all works in the exhibition online visit www.mitchellfineartgallery.com.

For media enquiries, interviews and high resolution images please email gallery@mitchellfineartgallery.com or phone (07) 3254 2297.