First Impressions: The Valley of Skies

First Impressions:

The Valley of Skies 31 October – 24 November 2018

Keith Burt Aaron Butt Michelle Gilbert Jane James Dylan Jones Kate McKay Carl Warner Lee Wilkes

Image: Lee Wilkes

First Impressions: The Valley of Skies The themes of place and exchange have played an integral role in the long and rich history of visual art in Australia. These responses address specific places, and their personal and cultural significance. The sharing of these experiences with others informs the majority of works that have produced in this country. This theme of place is embedded in the long, rich and continuing history of Australia’s Indigenous art and culture. More recently the formation of groups such as the Heidelberg School have highlighted this desire to travel to and represent new locations.

Creative relationships such as the Heidelberg School arise from a mixture of circumstances. These include where the artists live, their interests and the time they occupy, as well as chance. The artists participating in ‘First Impressions: The Valley of Skies’ have some of these elements in common, but are also united by exhibiting with Jan Manton Art Gallery. Through this mutual professional connection, other creative relationships have emerged. These associations have enabled this new group exhibition.

Conceived and curated by Lee Wilkes in conjunction with Jan Manton, the exhibition invites the artists to respond to a unique site in Cannon Creek, southeast of Boonah. The property, deep within Queensland’s Scenic Rim, boasts some of Australia’s most magnificent scenery. The owners have an obsession with mountains and skies, but in particular, storms - “the bigger the better” as far as they are concerned. They love the energy of this special place, where the earth and sky seem to touch. They can feel the vibration, and sense the spirit of this ancient but everchanging scene. The views encompass everything from Mt Lindesay in the Border Ranges to the south, to Nanango in the Blackbutt Ranges to the north. This spans a distance of over 200 kilometres.

The region marks the starting point for many of South East Queensland’s summer thunderstorms. From the vantage point of the property, these can be seen from conception to full blown potency. Heavy rainfall early in the year creates a lush and vibrant landscape. By June a striking transformation occurs, with luminous green being replaced by the driest of ochre. This transformation reminds us of nature’s continuous evolution. Combined with this most prehistoric landscape, it forces us to consider our purpose within this place.

The property lies on private land. As a result, the artists featured in the exhibition would be have been unlikely to have had access to this powerful and majestic landscape. This highlights the value of sharing meaningful connections and experiences with others.

Inviting artists to respond to an experience of a new site presents an interesting test. It highlights the momentum of a practice. Will the experience of this new place assimilate visually into an existing body of work, or will it be in contrast? What drives artists to feel compelled to represent some experiences and not others, even of equal interest? Adding to the complexity of these questions is the ability to experience places digitally. This raises the possibility that the physical experience will be in contrast to the initial, digital encounter.

‘First Impressions: The Valley of Skies’ explores the possibilities of a site both fixed and in a cycle of change. This combines with the interests, materials and processes that each individual artist brings to it. Each work represents a moment of interest in something seen for the first time, which is captured and shared.

These works generate new dialogue and experiences for those observing them.

Aaron Butt Lee Wilkes

Keith Burt I don't know anywhere else you can have your feet on the ground and see so far into the distance.

Boonah Gray Oil on canvas 25cm x 20cm $700 !

Boonah Evening Oil on canvas 30cm x 25cm $800 !

Aaron Butt Watching Dylan painting was interesting because it's so different to how I work. I added a veil of white to reflect how bright it was.

Dylan Painting Oil on canvas 30cm x 30cm $490 !

Michelle Gilbert Unable to visit in person, my experience of Cannon Creek was purely digital, a way many of us increasingly experience place living in the age of image and in a culture of connectivity. Like other digital encounters of place, mine was one of simultaneous connection and disconnection. I was lured by the awe and energy of this extraordinary landscape but was one step removed, experiencing it closely but at a distance.

Closely at a distance Oil on linen 56cm x 45.5cm $2200 !

Jane James As water has been one of my principle subjects throughout my practice, I was keen to explore this landscape through reflections. The shadows and reflections of the diverse flora above the waterholes were redolent of William Robinson’s work, much of which is done in the same region of the state. Taking a vertical perspective of the landscape, this image depicts everything from the rocky substrate of the creek to the skies above the property.

A nod to William Robinson Acrylic and cast acrylic on linen 91cm x 71cm $2880 !

Dylan Jones For me there was only one way to capture the unique and immediate beauty of this place and that was to be there painting it from life.

Arid Oil on board 30cm x 20cm $720 !

Undulating Oil on board 30cm x 40cm $1050 !

Welcome Strangers Oil on board 30cm x 40cm $1050 !

Kate McKay Elkhorn reflects my interest in the sculptural and primordial nature of Elkhorn ferns, which grow in Cannon Creek. Working from a photo taken by Lee on one of the expeditions to the property, I sought to convey the vibrant colours and striking form of the plant.

Elkhorn Oil on board 30.5cm x 30.5cm $780 !

Carl Warner Landscape. The word reminds of the old dictum ‘a tree is best measured when down’, it all depends on what you want to measure. A height? A girth?

Experience? Landscape means a border, an edge, an encapsulation and a denial of continuance beyond the frame. So I deny within a frame to bring the measuring to a frustrating stop. Â There is something in that blackness though, look closely. Put yourself in that landscape. Let it frame you, rather than having me frame it.

Dark Mirror, Cannon Creek Lambda print face mounted on perspex 60cm x 40cm Edition of 5 $2500 !

Lee Wilkes I had never experienced looking down on such a vista before. Even the Grand Canyon is somewhat controlled by its sheer walls. The way the land opens out before you combined with the almost unfathomable distance you can see is breathtaking.

Delving Into Dusk Oil on linen 61cm x 61cm $2000 !

Cresting Vista Oil on canvas 20cm x 20cm $550 !

A portrait of Greenhill's tree (Winter) Oil on canvas 20cm x 20cm $550 !

1/93 Fortescue St Spring Hill Qld 4000 ! +61 7 3831 3060!

Info@janmantonart.com!