A new lens on Australian Impressionism
Art Gallery of Ballarat, 5 November 2022–19 February 2023
Beating About The Bush brings together the Art Gallery of Ballarat’s outstanding collection of paintings by Australian Impressionist artists with works by leading contemporary Australian female photographers. By bringing these contrasting perspectives together, the exhibition challenges our understanding of the Australian landscape and the perceptions behind the myths that have shaped our nation.
Since white settlement, ‘the bush’ has been portrayed in art and literature as largely a male domain. More recently, this has been challenged by contemporary women photographers who have applied a female gaze to our shared historical narrative, challenging ideas of what it means to be Australian as well as notions of gender, migration, class and the environment.
The exhibition includes paintings by Tom Roberts, Charles Conder, Frederick McCubbin, Arthur Streeton, Jane Sutherland and Clara Southern and photographs by photographers including Anne Zahalka, Leah King-Smith, Fiona Foley, Nici Cumpston, Polixeni Papapetrou, Jane Burton, Jacqui Stockdale, Siri Hayes, Nicole Welch, Tamara Dean, Peta Clancy, Jill Orr, Robyn Stacey, Janet Laurence, Hayley Millar-Baker and Maree Clarke.
The Gallery holds one of the most significant collection of artworks created by the Australian Impressionist (Heidelberg School) artists and other Australian artists of that era. This exhibition celebrates that holding and brings it into contemporary context by contrasting these older works with new work by leading contemporary female photographers that engage with the Australian landscape.
Art Gallery of Ballarat Director Louise Tegart, who has curated the exhibition says:
“Beating About The Bush brings together historical and contemporary perspectives to challenge and extend our understanding of the Australian landscape and the perceptions behind the myths that shaped our nation.
“The Australian Impressionists were criticised by artist and writer Ian Burn in his essay Beating About the Bush for creating romanticised images of the bush and its people, viewing them from the leisurely gaze of upper-middle class men whose imaginations did not really address the role of women, the precarious existence in the face of poverty, bushfire and drought, and the place of Aboriginal people in the bush.
“As well as giving due recognition to the work of women artists of the Australian Impressionist era, this exhibition explores what has been left out of the Australian Impressionist paintings, allowing contemporary female photographers to put these elements back in the picture. These artists don’t beat about the bush – they tell a more comprehensive story, addressing issues pertaining to immigration, First Nations people, gender and social status.
“The exhibition not only explores the Gallery’s significant Collection and long history, it also highlights the Gallery’s practice of looking for thematic connections between old and new works in the Collection, allowing audiences to examine them from a fresh perspective, or in this case, with a new lens.”
Public programs
The schedule of public programs starts on Saturday 5 November with a curator tour of the exhibition by Gallery Director Louise Tegart. This will be followed on 13 and 27 November by readings of works by bush poet Henry Lawson by local Ballarat performers.
The Gallery’s volunteer guides will be offering regular weekend tours at 2 pm every Saturday and Sunday of the exhibition.
An exciting list of events is planned for the summer, which will be announced later in September. These will include scholarly talks, in conversation events, a photography forum, workshops in plain air sketching and landscape photography and more.
Bookings are not required for the exhibition, unless the pandemic situation changes and space restrictions are brought in again. Bookings will be required for individual events and tickets for these will be available via links at the Gallery website.
The Art Gallery of Ballarat
Founded in 1884, the Art Gallery of Ballarat is the oldest, largest and most significant art collection in regional Australia. The Gallery brings in over 200,000 visitors annually and is a major part of Ballarat’s visitor economy as well as a focus for visual arts in the Ballarat region. A recognised leader in regional arts, the Gallery is known for mounting high-profile, high-quality exhibition that contribute to national conversations and debates about culture and identity.
Image credits
Tom Roberts
A summer morning tiff
1886
Oil on canvas
76.5 x 51.2 cm.
Frame: 103.7 x 79.0 x 11.5 (inc. fixtures) cm
Purchased with funds from the Pinkerton Bequest, 1943
Collection of the Art Gallery of Ballarat
Anne Zahalka
A summer morning tiff
2017
Pigment ink on rag paper
sheet: 76.0 x 51.2cm
frame: 78.5 x 54.0 x 3.8cm
Purchased with fund from the Joe White Bequest, 2020
Collection of the Art Gallery of Ballarat
Image courtesy of the artist. © Anne Zahalk
