To coincide with the launch of two new exhibitions at the Bendigo Art Gallery the curatorial team has changed over the contemporary works on display.
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Maticevski: Dark Wonderland opened at the gallery on Saturday, while the Paul Guest Prize will launch on August 26.
The new contemporary hang includes some collection favourites by Del Kathryn Barton, Bill Henson and Ben Quilty.
Quilty’s Kuta Rorschach No.2 has just returned from loan to McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park, where it was included in an exhibition focusing on Australian artists and Bali.
Born in Sydney in 1973, Ben Quilty studied at Sydney College of the Arts and University of Sydney.
He has been awarded numerous prizes and scholarships including the Brett Whitely Travelling Scholarship (2002), the Doug Moran Prize (2009) and the Archibald Prize (2011).
In 2014 he won the overall prize in the 2014 Prudential Eye Award for Contemporary Art.
He was the first Australian to have a solo exhibition at the influential Saatchi Gallery, London.
Quilty is undoubtedly one of Australia’s best-known and highly-regarded contemporary painters.
His artwork is characterised by a gestural painterly style and he is widely known for his quick working method, which deliberately leaves smears, smudges and almost three-dimensional brush marks on the canvas.
Kuta Rorschach No.2 shows the famous Bali beach a popular holiday destination for Australians, yet inextricably linked to the Bali bombings of 2002 – a terrorist attack which claimed the lives of 202 people from 22 countries, including 88 Australians.
Quilty is undoubtedly one of Australia’s best-known and highly-regarded contemporary painters.
- Tansy Curtin
Furthermore, Kuta is where members of the Bali Nine were arrested before being transported to Kerbokan Prison.
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, members of the Bali Nine, were imprisoned in Kerbokan and were executed last year in Bali.
Over the years Ben Quilty became a mentor to Sukumaran and they developed a strong friendship.
Quilty ultimately played a major role in supporting Sukumaran to pursue his art practice while in prison.
Through his friendship with Sukumaran, Quilty became a strong critic of the death penalty.
Quilty campaigned to have Sukumaran’s and Chan’s sentences commuted to life in prison.
Bendigo Art Gallery is open from 10am to 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday.
