December 9, 2012
Well-known Hivesville artist Shannus O’Sullivan has unveiled several new works at his latest exhibition which opened on Friday night.
The show, which also features popular pieces from throughout the artist’s long career, was officially opened by South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann at the Wondai Regional Art Gallery.
The gallery was packed with art lovers from across the South Burnett as well as visitors from Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.
The exhibition will be on show until January 26.
Shannus’s artworks have a distinctive texture and feel. He has mastered “indirect painting” which involves layering paint and varnish to build up pictures of brilliant colour.
The work is so time-consuming that even a simple painting can take three to four weeks to create but the final effect – as 100 guests at Friday night’s opening saw for themselves in the main gallery – is breathtaking.
For the next eight weeks, the Wondai Gallery will also be displaying works by “3 Hot Chicks”, ie stained glass by Val Usher, encaustic art by Betty Desovich, and pyrographic work by Gwen Olm in the Front Gallery. The Rear Gallery features pen and ink watercolours by Gold Coast artist Neville Logan along with fabric collage paintings by his wife Barbara.
Gallery curator Elaine Madill praised both the quality of the artworks on show, the amount of work that had gone into producing them and the thought that had gone into hanging them.
She said the exhibition had been mounted by a team led by artist Robyn Dower who had all taken an RADF-funded course in picture hanging earlier in the year.
“I think the results of this training speak for themselves,” she said.
Mayor Kratzmann said the gallery was putting on a “tremendous show” for visitors over the summer months.
He said Council recognised the important role that the arts played in expanding the depth and quality of community life, as well as fostering tourism.
He would like to take South Burnett art to other areas to show off the region’s artistic talent, and hoped something like this could be arranged in the future.
- The Shannus O’Sullivan Retrospective, 3 Hot Chicks and Gold Coast artworks by Neville and Barbara Logan will be on display at the Wondai Regional Art Gallery from 10:00am to 4:00pm daily (except Christmas Day) until January 26.
