Arts Monday 10 February 2014
ArtiFacts Eastside.
Join me, Jane Raffan, for a program that takes an in-depth look at the exhibition Holiday + Memory.
I’ll be chatting with Dr Lee-Anne Hall, co-curator and director of Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest.
Holiday + Memory explores the annual holiday experience of mid 20th century Australia – places ventured to, and experiences had and found along the way. Largely celebratory, Holiday + Memory also investigates the way we filter experiences through collective memory, the means by which community traditions are shaped and maintained, and by which we cohere as a nation.
The featured artists mesh individual experience with collective memory to reveal and question how places and artefacts of the holiday experience are invested in the national psyche. Collectively, these artworks communicate our belonging to place and its stories and mythology with affection, nostalgia, with and razor sharp observation.
“Herein, we are taken on a journey under big blue skies and night skies, with cars and caravans on winding roads and highways with oversized pineapples and cries from the backseat of ‘are we there yet’. It is a land of campgrounds, barbeques and backyard pools, of romantic sunsets and eerie shadows, of riotous colour on the harbour, bush retreats, the brilliant white heat of the beach at noon, flies and mozzies, sand dunes, grass and gnarled trees, being tossed in the surf, burnt to a crisp, sticking to vinyl car seats and dripping ice cream. It is a place we all share each long hot Australian summer …”
And the music? … a touch of hot and heavy amid mainly smooth and cool jazz, and definitely no Madonna “holiday” or Streisand “memory” title songs …
As always, I look forward to your company, 10:30 to noon.
Jane
Extra Info:
Featured artists: Ian Abdulla, Narelle Autio, Jessica Bradford, Jody Broun, Anna Carey, Marc de Jong, Ken Done, Max Dupain , Martine Emdur, A.H. Fullwood, Edna Garran-Brown, Mini Graff, Annabelle Josse, Peter Kingston, Waratah Lahy, Joanna Lamb, Fred Leist , Jon Lewis, Ruth Maddison, Noel McKenna, Stephanie Monteith, Kendal Murray, Chris O’Doherty aka Reg Mombassa, Trent Parke, Amanda Penrose Hart, Patricia Prociv, David Ralph, Sally Robinson, Vincent Serico and Anne Zahalka
Vintage Auction – Sunday 23 February
To coincide with the exhibition’s closing, the gallery is hosting an auction of vintage and retro kitsch items, which will also include some of the items from the exhibition’s “summer house” installation.
More information on the exhibition and vintage auction:
https://www.penrithregionalgallery.org
Submit a memory to the exhibition blog:
https://holidaymemory.tumblr.com/