Bronwyn Rees "Selected Works" at the Firestation Gallery 20th July to 17th August 2010

Bronwyn’s Exhibition Opening is on Saturday the 24^th of July 2010 at 2pm.

Bronwyn and I visited the You Yangs, west of Melbourne, for a drawing and walking daytrip in January of this year and she’s brought to this show a lot of work that was begun on the day or inspired by that beautiful part of the Australian bush. Included is a large installation of the You Yangs that was also inspired by her hero Fred Williams. Another print, ‘In a Dark Wood’, was started on the day by drawing straight onto the copper plate, which was prepared in the studio with a hard ground.

One wall is dedicated to a black and white collage and artist’s books, all derived from one print and based on the idea of the ‘long paddock’, where farmers graze their animals in times of drought.

There is also a set of prints depicting the whales off the coast of Lorne. This set of collagraph/monoprints was begun when Bronwyn took part in the Firestation master classes with Sarah Amos and is rich with Bronwyn’s trademark density of colour and texture.

But the iconic print of the show is ‘The Crow of Optimism’ (below). Ironically, the crow is rarely a harbinger of good but in Australia everything is back to front and our clever crow has discovered a way to kill and eat cane toads. Bronwyn says the print is a kind of portrait of her brother (not that he eats cane toads!) as the crow’s hairdo reminds her of her brother’s funny little army haircut.

Come and see another beautiful show of prints and paintings by one of our artists-in-residence. And make sure you check out the next issue of ‘Australian Book Arts Journal’ as there is an article by Julie Kearney about Bronwyn's art practice; the magazine is due out on the 1st of August.

She also has some work in the charity auction run by Menzies Fine Art Auctioneers, the Lasallian Foundation for Third World Children, to be held on Sunday the 29th of August.

Bronwyn and the rest of us at the Firestation would love to see you there on the 24th at 2pm. The exhibition continues until the 17th of August. But if you’re only able to follow us on the internet, have a look at Bronwyn’s website and her page on the Artist Book network, links in the sidebar of this blog.