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With a little help from our Friends showcases 34 works the Friends of MPRG have acquired for the Gallery since 1996. Through funds raised through memberships and Friends events, the Friends of MPRG have generously enabled the purchase of important works on paper by artists such as Gareth Sansom, Fiona McMonagle, Catherine Cassidy and Raymond Arnold for the MPRG Collection.

This is the first time all these works have been displayed together. With a little help from our Friends honours the vital role all our members play in supporting the Gallery and the development of our Collection and celebrates the acquisition of these works for future generations to enjoy.

The Friends of the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery have generously contributed to the wealth of the Permanent Collection since 1969, by raising funds to help acquire works for the Collection.

With a little help from our Friends is an important milestone in the history of the Friend’s symbiotic and long standing relationship with the Gallery, lasting 50 years.

This exhibition pays homage to the Friends’ vital role in supporting the development of the Collection. This is the first time the 34 works of art acquired by the Friends have been displayed together.

The exhibition includes work by artists such as Gareth Sansom, Fiona McMonagle, Andrew Hazewinkel, Catherine Cassidy and Raymond Arnold and displays a selection of works as unique as the community itself, conveying many aspects of the Mornington Peninsula’s diversity and character, and celebrates the importance of these works for many generations to come.

Sandra Oluich President, Friends of MPRG, 2020

Install photos: Mark Ashkanasay

Rosalind ATKINS b. Australia 1957 Encroach 1999 wood engraving on paper, edition 1/25 Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 1999 ‘Encroach is a wood engraving done on end-grain boxwood. It is part of a landscape that is created in three blocks, but each block is printed as an image in its own right. The image is loosely based on the hinterland of southern New South Wales, where land use has encroached on the local geography and has, over time, changed the landscape. The foreground is cut in such a way not dissimilar to patterns of a fingerprint. The trees maintain a firm hold on the narrow valleys and steep slopes of the land.’ Rosalind Atkins, 1999

Ralf KEMPKEN b. Australia 1961 Cage 2012 cut paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by Friends of the MPRG, 2012 ‘My interest in paper screens is based on the context of them being ‘templates of perception’.

They are to be thought of as an internal process. We filter all we see through past experiences and memories. We perceive our emotional and physical environments through screens of our own making. Technically they have evolved from cutting paper stencils but are now the artwork in its own right. The work consists of two cut paper sheets from whence the image emerges and produces illusions of depth and movement.’

Ralf Kempken, 2012.

Ray KEN b. Australia c.1940. Language: Pitjantjatjara / Yankunyjatjara Karu - creek 2006 hard ground etching on paper, edition 17/20 Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2008 ‘In this etching Ray is telling us about the many creeks found in this country. The creeks remain dry beds of sand until the big rains occur about every 3-5 years. It rains during the summer months of November - February. The horizontal lines are the creeks. The holes indicate pools of water.’ Tjala Arts, 2006

Billy MISSI b. Australia 1970; d. 2012. Language group: Kala Lagaw Ya. Kulba Yadail (Old Lyrics) 2006 linocut on paper, edition 17/20 Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2008 ‘In our culture the stories and knowledge of our world has always been handed down orally from generation to generation since time immemorial. Kulba Yadail teaches us to read the stars, the moon and the sea. This piece is divided into three parts: the constellations of the stars, the land and the four seasons of the Torres Strait. The relationship between the stars and the seasons determines when we can cultivate, hunt and harvest the food from sea and land. The swaying pattern that runs diagonally symbolises all of this complex knowledge, that is known as Kulba Yadail. ‘ Billy Missi, 2006.

Nick MOURTZAKIS b. Greece 1950; arr. Australia 1954 A. drawing 2008-10 charcoal and pastel on brown paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2010 ‘The subject of A. drawing is Nasa Theofanis. While representing a specific person, it is the intimate and internalised presence of the ‘one who draws’ that is the deeper theme of the work. And further, the state of silence and focus that grounds the process of drawing in questioning, reflection and thought.’

Nick Mourtzakis, 2010

Jenny PHILLIPS b. Australia 1949 Coastal Banksia (Banksia integrifolia) 2011 watercolour on paper Acquired with the support of the Robert Salzer Foundation and the Friends of the MPRG, 2011 One of Australia’s leading botanical artists, Jenny Phillips was founder, artist and director of The Botanical Art School in Melbourne. Represented nationally and internationally, she has played a significant role in the contemporary resurgence of botanical art in Australia.

In 2010 Phillips was commissioned by the gallery to create drawing of a plant indigenous to the Mornington Peninsula, she chose the magnificent Coastal Banksia (Banksia integrifolia).

Patrick POUND b. New Zealand 1962; arr. Australia 1989 Portrait of the wind 2011 Gicilee digital print on rag paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by Friends of the MPRG, 2012 ‘My work has the idea of the collection at its core. From collections of found photographs which are scanned together, these modest documents speak volumes. The viewer is left to delve into them for little revelations. In this work the viewer gradually realises that each and every image is taken in the wind. There are people whose ties are flung behind them; there are skirts caught in the breeze; there is a canvas chair billowing. There is even a sign for a Wind Cave entrance. This collection of scans adds up, after all, to a portrait of the wind.’ Patrick Pound, 2012

Gareth SANSOM b. Australia 1939 They can’t get me mother 2002 synthetic polymer paint, enamel, ink, felt-tipped pen and collage on paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2002 Complex autobiographical content is important to Sansom as he delves into questions of sexuality, art and mortality, through what the artist has termed ‘a stream of consciousness’.

Often densely layered with varied drawings, paintings, text, photographs and found objects, his work fuels a continual process of both covering up and revealing meaning.

Pedro WONAEAMIRRI b. Australia 1974 Pwoja 2006 natural ochres on paper Purchased from National Works on Paper with the assistance of the Regional Galleries Fund, Arts Victoria and the Friends of the MPRG, 2006 Pedro Wonaeamirri is a Melville Island artist whose work continues the rich Tiwi tradition of ceremonial body painting as well as carved and decorated Pukumani funerary poles (pwoja).

Traditionally during the Pukumani ceremony the Tiwi decorate themselves with a variety of rich ochre designs to conceal their true identity and to prevent being harmed by malevolent mapurtiti, the spirits of the dead. The ochre palette and abstract designs are a further link with tradition but here given new inflections.

List of works (ordered by acquisition date)

Hans KNORR The family 1987 blackwood Gift of Friends of the Mornington Peninsula Arts Centre, 1994 Helen TAYLOR Lagoon 1994 stoneware with Persian Blue glaze, cobalt stain and copper Gift of Friends of the MPRG, 1994 Bruce LATIMER Traffic (After Glover) 1996 colour etching and aquatint on paper, edition 3/20 Purchased from Prints Acquisitive by Friends of the MPRG, 1996 Kevin LINCOLN Self portrait - cello 1995 lithograph on grey paper, edition 11/12 Purchased from Prints Acquisitive by the Friends of the MPRG, 1996 Graeme PEEBLES Island 1995-96 colour mezzotint on paper, edition 1/50 Purchased from Prints Acquisitive by Friends of the MPRG, 1996 Carolyn STRAFORD Boy looks out window 1994 etching, aquatint and foul bite on paper Purchased from Prints Acquis-

itive by Friends of the MPRG, 1996 Deborah WILLIAMS Sniff 1994 etching and aquatint on paper Purchased from Prints Acquisitive by Friends of the MPRG, 1996

of the MPRG, 2002 Elissa SADGROVE Bundaland I 2003 gouache on paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2003

Francis LYMBURNER Boy at Window 1960 oil on cardboard Gift of the Friends of the MPRG, 1996

Deborah WILLIAMS Street dog #1 2002 etching and roulette on paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2003

Rosalind ATKINS Encroach 1999 wood engraving on paper, edition 1/25 Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 1999

Jon CAMPBELL Golden backyard 2004 enamel paint and enamel marker on gold card Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2004

Fred WILLIAMS The bluff, Mornington 1968 gouache on paper Gift of Mrs Lyn Williams, the Mr Alan Ingram Bequest, Public Galleries of Victoria Trust and the Friends of the MPRG, 1999

Rona GREEN The Krolik Boys: Niki, Boris and Valentyn 2004 digital prints on paper, edition 1/13 Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2004

Fiona McMONAGLE Untitled 2001 watercolour and pencil on paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2002

Louise HEARMAN Untitled #963 2003 pastel on paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2004

Gareth SANSOM They can’t get me mother 2002 synthetic polymer paint, enamel, ink, felt-tipped pen and collage on paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends

John RYRIE Daphne and Phoebus 2003 linocut on paper, edition 2/40 Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2004

Maria KONTIS If I were still a boy 2005 pastel on velvet paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2006 Pedro WONAEAMIRRI Pwoja 2006 natural ochres on paper Purchased from National Works on Paper with the assistance of the Regional Galleries Fund, Arts Victoria and the Friends of the MPRG, 2006 G.W. BOT Ocean Glyphs 2008 graphite and watercolour on paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2008 Ray KEN Karu - creek 2006 hard ground etching on paper, edition 17/20 Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2008 Billy MISSI Kulba Yadail (Old Lyrics) 2006 linocut on paper, edition 17/20 Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2008 Nick MOURTZAKIS A. drawing 2008-10 charcoal and pastel on brown paper

Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2010 Jenny PHILLIPS Coastal Banksia (Banksia integrifolia) 2011 watercolour on paper Acquired with the support of the Robert Salzer Foundation and the Friends of the MPRG, 2011 Ralf KEMPKEN Cage 2012 cut paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by Friends of the MPRG, 2012 Patrick POUND Portrait of the wind 2011 Gicilee digital print on rag paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by Friends of the MPRG, 2012 Unknown Schnapper Point, Mornington 1858 oil on canvas Purchased by the Friends of the MPRG, 2012 Guan WEI Play on the beach No.5 2011 synthetic polymer paint on canvas Purchased by the Friends of the MPRG with the assistance of The Robert Salzer Foundation, 2013

Catherine CASSIDY Landscape Twice Divided 2014 vinyl and synthetic polymer paint, white charcoal and collage on paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2014 Andrew HAZEWINKEL Material Collision [staring at the stars] Parts 1,2,3 2012 screen print on carborundum sandpaper (triptych) Purchased from National Works on paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2014 Brian ROBINSON Up in the heavens 2015 linocut on paper, edition 4/15 Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2016 Raymond ARNOLD Elsewhere World – Expanded Field Panorama 2017 etching on paper, edition 1/4 Purchased from National Works on Paper by the Friends of the MPRG, 2018 Patrick POUND Portrait of the wind 2011 Gicilee digital print on rag paper Purchased from National Works on Paper by Friends of the MPRG, 2012