The show never stops at Maitland gallery. The gallery has so many exhibition spaces there is always something new or different to see, no matter what a visitors taste in art may be.
Gallery director Gerry Bobsien could not contain her excitement this week as the gallery announced its 2023 program on social media.
Kungka Kunpu (Strong Women)
As well as a plethora of quality small shows, the gallery is bringing in an exhibition Kungka Kunpu (Strong Women) from March 4 through May 21, showcasing major contemporary works by celebrated women artists from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands.
The show has been curated by the Art Gallery of South Australia, featuring works from their collection.
"These women are probably the most internationally recognised Australian artists working today," Bobsien says. "They are the rock stars of Australian art at the moment, and some of them have just been shown in the Bangkok Biennale with a swag of international artists. They've had shows in Paris - Kaylene Whiskey was just in a show in New York.
"And so these are really incredible, large scale works that really demonstrate these artists connection to their culture and to their history and stories that are told from their mothers and their grandmothers.
"We are really excited about this show."
A couple of the artists will visit the gallery in March.
"It will be a really beautiful showcase of the incredible work that's coming out of the APY Lands," Bobsien says.
The exhibit will take over spaces on two floors of the gallery, and desert weavers, large scale sculptural works and paintings.
"The paintings are big, they're completely absorbing. And importantly, they are full of story," Bobsien says.
The APY works centre on caring for Country, mapping significant sites and life-sustaining practices of the desert, while also sharing complex narratives surrounding family obligations and relationships. This includes the Kungkarangkalpa (Seven Sisters) story about women who travel together and look after each other.
"The Seven Sisters story has always been important for Anangu women and it is more important today than ever before ... ," says artist Nyunmiti Burton. "This is the power of women leaders. We can make all the women coming behind us fly."
Upriver Downriver
In June the gallery will launch its own show, Upriver Downriver, occupying the entire gallery with works from Hunter-based artists.
"This is going to be epic," Bobsien says. "It's the whole building. We haven't really done that before."
It's not meant to be an "All Star" artist show, Bobsien says.
"What we really wanted to do was showcase the incredible breadth of creative talent in the region. We thought there was no better way to do that with us firmly based here on the banks of the mighty Hunter than by looking at artists who are based or make work from the Upper Hunter right down to the port of Newcastle, along the tributaries of the Hunter River. Just bring everyone together."
Every artist will have a dedicated space within the gallery's various exhibit spaces and project areas, Bobsien says.
"It's meant to look at geography and place, and look at artists working across a variety of mediums, so we've kind of tried to do it that way, rather than making it an all-stars event.
"It will show our audience the incredible talent we have here in the Hunter Valley. And we're creating an opportunity for 50 artists who work in the area to come together."
The list of artists includes Hanna Kay, Chris Langlois, David Darcy, Zoe Lonergan, Una Rey, Liss Finney, Lottie Consalvo, Sally Bourke, Clare Weeks, Wanjun Carpenter, Graham Wilson, Brett McMahon, Faye Neilson, Penny Dunstan, Nell, Dani Marti, Todd Fuller, Jamie Pritchard, Shane Turner-Carroll, Peter Gardiner, John Morris, Shonah Trescott, Toby Cedar, Gavin Vitullo, Ken O'Regan, Richard Tipping, Travis de Vries, Holly Macdonald, Osvaldo Budet, Saretta Fielding, Virginia Cuppaidge, Ryan Lee, Alessia Sakoff, James Drinkwater, Lesley Salem, Nigel Milsom, John Turier, Lucas Grogan, Georgia Hill, Nicola Hensel, Michael Bell, Vera Zulumovski, Claire Martin, Bronte Naylor, Nicole Chaffey, Rebecca Rath, Nicole Monks, and Braddon Snape.
The show includes a new work, a wood carving, commissioned through a philanthropic gift, to Graham Wilson.
All works in the show will be for sale.
CrownLand
August will see another original exhibition, CrownLand, featuring works from Karla Dickens, Vincent Namitjira, Ben Quilty and Andrew Quilty.
"We've been working on this project for some time with Ben Quilty and everyone is really excited about it," Bobsien says. "In September Ben and Vincent collaborated on a series of works and we will be showing these works - the first time they will be shown."
Bobsien says the exhibition is in development, but knowing the artists and their work, she's excited about it.
"This project has taken time to develop," she says. "We didn't have a preconceived idea of what it was going to be, and we still don't. We're just excited to have a group of artists working together that are developing a really strong exhibition.
"It will look at issues that are so relevant in the community right now. And have a very strong pull for schools and students to come and look at it."
Ben Quilty has also pulled in a mate, legendary British artist Jake Chapman, for the show, and Chapman is promising new work.
