Regional artists reflect on recent times

07 July 2020

Tweed Regional Gallery hosts new exhibitions by Dave Groom and Shannon Doyle

Tweed Regional Gallery will present two new solo exhibitions by regional artists from Friday 10 July 2020.

Scenic Rim-based artist Dave Groom will exhibit Surreal Nature alongside Tweed-based artist Shannon Doyle’s exhibition titled LIFE, DEATH, Innocence AND GUILT.

Dave Groom is a landscape artist who has been producing work for more than 25 years. Working largely from memory, he aims to portray the essence of the landscape, rather than a literal interpretation of it. Groom’s exhibition explores the surreal elements found in nature, highlighting the idea that nature’s shapes and forms and ways of evolving are at times incomprehensible to us.

“When I began work for this exhibition, there were no fires or floods or pandemics on the horizon. These events turned our world upside down. Nature’s surreal elements suggest now, more than ever, that maybe we need to look at our world from different perspectives,” Groom said.

Like Groom, artist Shannon Doyle has considered recent events that have affected the region and wider afield.

“By producing topical work about subjects such as climate change, the extinction crisis and coronavirus, I want to evoke an emotive response from the audience. My intention is to encourage the audience to emotionally invest in the work and therefore participate in a topical discussion about the work,” Doyle said.

“After being closed to the public for 11 weeks, I’m thrilled that we can now resume the Gallery’s programming with two very engaging and topical exhibitions. Artists have the ability to uniquely respond to the world around them and Dave and Shannon have both quickly responded to recent events in their own style and voice,” Gallery Director Susi Muddiman OAM said.

Surreal Nature and LIFE, DEATH, Innocence AND GUILT continue until Sunday 13 September.

With physical distancing measures in place, visitors can view the exhibition along with other works by booking a free timed ticket through the Gallery’s website. To book a ticket, visit https://trgmoac.eventbrite.com.au

Tweed Regional Gallery is also continuing to present public programs virtually at this stage.

Dave Groom will present a virtual Meet the Artist talk, which will be available on the Gallery’s website from 17 July. Alongside this, from 19 July, Groom will present ‘Re-imagining the Landscape’ – a free online drawing workshop, where participants will work with charcoal and learn classical drawing techniques to produce a tonal drawing of their own re-imagined landscape.

Shannon Doyle will also present a virtual Meet the Artist talk, available from 7 August on the Gallery’s website. Additionally, Doyle will host a free online acrylic painting still-life workshop titled ‘Pandora’s Box’ which can be viewed on the Gallery’s website from 9 August.

For more information on the Gallery’s virtual public programs, visit artgallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au/