May 13, 2016
“A fabulous exhibition” is how Cr Kathy Duff described the latest works by Hivesville artist Shannus O’Sullivan, on show at the Kingaroy Art Gallery.
Cr Duff officially opened the exhibition last Saturday, emphasising “it’s great that we have such talent in Hivesville!”
Shannus may be based in the small town between Wondai and Proston but his reputation extends far beyond the South Burnett.
The former NSW artist studied under some of Australia’s leading artists, including John Olsen and Rodney Milgate.
His showing in Kingaroy is his 40th one-man exhibition.
Shannus uses a very time-consuming layering process to create his colourful artworks.
Five coats of Gesso ground are applied to tempered hardboard. The colours and luminosity are achieved by alternate layers of colours, glazes and coats of varnish.
The finished work then receives four layers of protective varnish.
Shannus and his wife Evelyn moved from the Hunter Valley in the NSW to the South Burnett in 2004.
They watched as coal mines encroached on farming land in the Hunter and are now distressed to hear a new coal mine is planned for the Kingaroy area.
Shannus has expressed this dismay in his signature work in the exhibition, “The Hole”, which has been featured on the gallery’s “red wall”.
The work, which shows a cow peering into a vast pit of hellfire with the peanut silos in the distance, was painted especially for this exhibition.
He was still applying the final layers of varnish just days before the painting was hung.
The Shannus O’Sullivan exhibition will be on display until the end of May. Entry is free.
