Ash Bolt
Geelong Gallery was abuzz last weekend as it officially opened its suite of exhibitions over the coming months.
Geelong Gallery president Gerard Mullaly and chief executive Jason Smith welcomed a collection of artists and gallery supporters to the gallery on Friday, March 18 to launch the exhibitions.
Exhibitions the gallery are presenting over autumn include Sally Smart’s P.A.R.A.D.E, Dianne Fogwell’s Prescience, Barbara Campbell’s ex avibus and Ponch Hawkes’ 500 Strong.
For ex avibus, multi-disciplinary artist Barbara Campbell took inspiration from the journey of shorebirds that migrate every year from one end of the globe and back along ancient flyways.
The exhibition runs until June 19.
In P.A.R.A.D.E., Sally Smart creates an immersive environment comprising textiles, sculptural components and performance inspired by the sets and costumes designed by Pablo Picasso for the Ballets Russes’ Parade in 1917.
It runs until Sunday, July 3.
Also running until July 3 is 500 Strong, a photographic exhibition by Ponch Hawkes showing older women from Melbourne, Shepparton and Geelong “stepping out of public invisibility”.
Dianne Fogwell’s multi-panelled installation, Prescience, presents a panoramic view of the Australian landscape, highlighting both its beauty and its precarity due to climate change.
It runs until June 19.
Friday’s opening also allowed the gallery to celebrate the rehang of its permanent collection.
