Lauraine Diggins Fine Art will be closed Tuesday 4 November and then exhibiting at the Australian Antiques and Art Dealers Association Fair in Sydney at Paddington Town Hall.
Opening Preview Thursday 6 November 4pm – 8pm
Friday 7 November 10am – 6pm
Saturday 8 November 10am – 6pm
Sunday 9 November 10am – 4pm
We will be showcasing a selection of Australian artworks with a focus on women artists inspired by Dangerously Modern: Australian Women Artists in Europe 1890 – 1940, currently showing at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
The Gallery in Melbourne continues to present Fusions: A Blend Across Cultures and Time uniting contemporary paintings by Fu Hong, Guanting Li and Echo Cai with 19th Century antique furniture and decorative objects, along with a selection of Asian ceramics. Showing until 14 November.
Forthcoming events: Book launch – Unseen by Penelope Jackson Wed 19 November
Showing throughout September at Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, a selection of paintings by artist from Utopia including Emily Kam Kngwarreye; Gloria Petyarr; Nancy Petyarr; Kathleen Petyerre; Angelina Ngal; Kathleen Ngal; Poly Ngal; Greenie Purvis Petyarr, Cowboy Loy Pwerl; Elizabeth Kunoth Kngwarray; Genevieve Kemarr Loy. With the global interest in Emily Kngwarreye including an exhibition at Tate Modern, it is timely to celebrate leading artists from Utopia and their elegant artworks. Characterised by a harmonious balance of colour, a beautiful sense of movement and intricate mark making across the canvas, many of these paintings exhibited are on a grand scale, suggestive of the vast country some 350kms north east of Alice Springs that is depicted. These are representations of Country; of ceremony; of cultural relevance touching on initiation, food, flora, fauna and each artist’s relationship with Country.
The Gallery will be closed from Thursday 17 – Monday 21 April inclusive and will also be closed Friday 25 April. We will be open on Tuesday 22 – Thursday 24 April in the afternoons only between 1pm – 5pm.
We look forward to welcoming you to view Guanting Li : Harmonies, a survey exhibition of atmospheric ink paintings on rice paper including large scale scrolls and more intimate sized artworks, created over the last decade. The artworks in the exhibition are a harmonious fusion of east and west; of the traditional and contemporary; of calligraphic black line and colour, both subtle and strong; a mix of quietness and the sublime. These strands all come together in Mr Li’s painting, in a scale of harmonies.
Preview the works and download the catalogue here.
Guanting Li : Harmonies opening Sat 12 April and showing until the end of May – a fusion of meticulous training in traditional Chinese ink painting with the artist’s experiences of living in Australia over the past 20 years. The exhibition brings together a survey of artworks created over the last 10 years or so, from large scale scrolls to more intimate sized works depicting the grandeur of nature; people at leisure; symbolic elements, such as the lotus flower and the natural beauty found in the everyday – from plants and petals, to human connections, and animals including a koala and joey, and birds sheltering on a branch. The works evoke an atmosphere of calm and contemplation as Guanting Li expresses the joy in finds in his subject and in his skilful use of ink and brush.
Preview the exhibition on our website and download the catalogue. A video of the opening including Guanting Li speaking about his art through a translator and a special musical performance by Deng Chong Ying on guqin will be loaded to our site in due course.
Watch videos of artists Stephen Bowers and Mark Thompson as they discuss the artworks in their current exhibitions of new ceramic work. Learn about the ornithological inspirations for the birds on Stephen’s ornate plates and how Mark has several pieces on the go at once and what drives him to keep creating. Ceramics by nature includes an element that is totally out of the artist’s control, as every time a piece enters the kiln there is an unknown factor. The artist has to be patient through the process, allowing the kiln to cool enough before seeing if everything has turned out as planned.
See our website to view the videos, preview the artworks in the exhibition and download the illustrated catalogues with essays by Leslie Ferrin and John Neylon. A video of the opening with remarks by Dr Damon Moon, prolific writer on ceramics, as well as a ceramicist himself, is also available to view.
Concurrent exhibitions now showing until 7 December : Stephen Bowers – A Conference of Birds and Mark Thompson – sine qua non.
This exhibition brings together two celebrated artists from South Australia, internationally acclaimed ceramicist, Stephen Bowers and Mark Thompson, one of Australia’s leading set and costume designers in addition to being a painter and ceramic artist. Both artists showcase ornate patterning in their work and are inspired by the history of art and design within their own unique style.
STEPHEN BOWERS Paradise Parrot (last seen November 1927) 2024 earthenware diam. 33 cm
Bowers also looks to creatures, here a flock of birds across a series of plates, portrayed in bright colours against complex, fragmented backgrounds inspired by designs from ceramics, engravings and textiles. These works speak to the idea of pattern-in-nature and nature-in-pattern and reflect on the tensions of humanity’s appropriation of the natural world for our own use, the fragments representing this broken relationship.
Internationally acclaimed ceramicist, Stephen Bowers presents a flock of birds across a series of plates, vividly portrayed in bright colours against complex, fragmented backgrounds inspired by designs from ceramics, engravings and textiles. This rich mash-up of visual ideas is playfully and skillfully rendered using meticulous brushstrokes that are imitative of industrial process. The ornate patterning inspired by the history of art and design, speaks to the idea of pattern-in-nature and nature-in-pattern and reflect on the tensions of humanity’s appropriation of the natural world for our own use, the fragments representing this broken relationship.
Mark Thompson A juggling Pug 2024 earthenware, decal, gold lustre
Mark Thompson, one of Australia’s leading set and costume designers in addition to being a painter and ceramic artist, showcases ornate patterning in his work, inspired by the history of art and design within his own unique style. In this current exhibition, Thompson utilises the sculptural form of the bust for many of his fantastical works, with decorative elements and characteristic theatrical flourish. Another reference is the tradition of ceramic creatures, including the wonderful Juggling Pug with links to the Order of the Pug, established in Bavaria around 1740 with resulting porcelain commissions of that time.
Preview the exhibitions and download the illustrated catalogues with essays by Leslie Ferrin, Director Ferrin Contemporary, USA and John Neylon, Australian arts writer.
Lauraine Diggins Fine Art is participating at the AAADA Sydney Fair at Paddington Town Hall 7 – 10 November. The Gallery will be staffed during this time for visitors to the Stephen Bowers and Mark Thompson exhibitions, although you may wish to ring to confirm your visit time 03 9509 9855.
Although our exhibition centres on John Dent’s paintings, we are excited to be able to show and offer a selection of his etchings, the limited holdings of the artist’s own studio. Dent’s time in Paris allowed him to build on his printmaking skills and techniques at the premier printmaking studio Lacourière Frélaut.
Dent’s etchings are often on a grand scale with intricate and experimental use of line and texture, from a simple lightly scratched line to a rich use of stippling and patterning.
Some of the smaller sized monochrome works have a lovely immediacy, an artist capturing a mood and atmosphere of place.
Dent’s prints reveal his skilled technique, bold use of colour, interest in patterning and the unusual viewpoint of the assembled everyday objects encountered in an interior, all presented with a strong decorative element.
To read further and take A Closer Look At… John Dent’s etchings – please click here.
John Dent: Recent Paintings is now showing throughout July 2024. To preview a selection of works and download the e-catalogue or watch a video of the opening please see our website www.diggins.com.au
For those around Australia with a public holiday on 10 June, we hope you enjoy a long weekend. We look forward to welcoming you to the Gallery from Tuesday 11 to view our current exhibition of paintings by John Dent, showing until the end of June.
With his wide variety of interests, significant mentors and travel experiences, especially time spent in France, Dent has built a successful art career over the past 50 years and is always looking and always learning. Some of his paintings bear a clearer influence of a particular artist or movement, perhaps Baldessin here or Bonnard there, but each work is distinctly Dent.
Watch the video of the exhibition opening with remarks by Peter Perry OAM, former Director of the Castlemaine Art Gallery and currently working on a publication of John Dent’s art.
Hilda Rix Nicholas exhibition installation at LDFA
Our exhibition of paintings and drawings by Hilda Rix Nicholas is now on show after a crowded opening attended by the artist’s granddaughter, Bronwyn Wright and with introductory words by Dr Gerard Vaughan AM, former Director of the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria. A video of this illuminating speech is available to view on our website, where you can also download the illustrated catalogue and read further about the artist with an essay by Dr Sarah Engledow and an insight into the artist’s use of materials in Morocco by conservator, Catherine Nunn.
The exhibition is enhanced by posters, photographs and costumes, giving background and context to the artworks which represent the diverse range of her long and successful career, from Paris to Morocco to Etaples and Brittany, as well as images of Mosman and travels in northern NSW, to her later images from her time at ‘Knockalong’, a sheep station in the Monaro region, including landscapes, portraits and images of her son Rix.
Three concurrent solo shows by artists we believe deserve greater recognition for their contribution to the Australian Art story. Contemporary Melbourne artist Robert Clinchand his urban capriccios which are based on real places, allowing a sense of recognition and familiarity to the viewer. Robert adapts the elements to suit the message he seeks to present, making comment on universal aspects of humanity and life on earth. Murray Griffin (1903 – 1992) is admired for his lithographs of birds, but less well known for his paintings of landscapes and the spiritual influence on his work, culminating in The Journey series. Horace Trenerry (1899 – 1958) has been described as the Monet of South Australia. Little known outside his home state, his focus on the Australian landscape captures observed details, light and atmosphere.
Preview the artworks on our website and download the e-catalogues linked below to learn more about each of these underrated artists.
