SLEEP MY HORSE… 5 AUGUST 1956

This summer, Maitland Regional Art Gallery will host a solo exhibition by the celebrated contemporary artist, Noel McKenna. Only once before have MRAG audiences had the delight of seeing Noel’s work at the Gallery. In 2020, three pieces were exhibited as a part of The Elliott Eyes Collection - two ceramic works and one oil painting on board. These works were exemplary of Noel’s style and medium, which spans across painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, and for this particular exhibition, installation.

Opening in November, Sleep my horse... 5 August 1956 makes a direct reference to the artist’s date of birth. This very personal moment in time, points towards a major theme of this show which sees the artist take us, the audience, on an idiosyncratic journey across the 67 years of Noel’s life to date.

He says of the exhibition:

‘It’s a contemplation of things that have come about or have not come about or what may come about or what may never come about.’

Noel is a keen observer of the world around him. His watchful eye gleans inspiration from all that passes within his orbit - Instagram posts; cast off items in the street; a garden fence; the pets we love; the monuments we build; the houses we live in, and the countless ordinary things and moments that surround us.

Noel poignantly captures this obsession and focus for the everyday by stating:

‘It is ordinary to love the sublime, but it is sublime to love the ordinary.’

Noel turns that observer’s eye inward to reflect on the artist’s own life from his childhood to the present day. Items that Noel has collected and lovingly kept throughout his life appear in the guise of what he refers to as his ‘relics’. The duality of the meaning of the term ‘relic’ is important here, as it references not only the physical remnants from the artist’s past, but also those of personal and religious significance, as a nod to his childhood and his Catholic upbringing.

One such relic is a postcard recently sent to MRAG by Noel from New York. The postcard depicts one of Noel’s favourite artworks and represents a specific moment in time - a travel memento from a working holiday in his favourite city. The postcard made its journey across the world, and when received it was read by MRAG staff at the gallery (all while wearing white gloves!). It was then photographed, catalogued and whisked away to the gallery’s storage, waiting for its moment to become part of the artist’s solo exhibition in the gallery.

This simple gesture, in the form of an inexpensive travel memento, the postcard, is transformed into an item of much greater significance. Noel’s humble postcard offers unexpected pause