Art from the Margins (AFTM) presents our third exhibition this year, Black Dog, Blue Butterflies. The exhibition, developed by Moreton Bay Regional Council, is coming to AFTM Gallery & Studios in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane this April and includes artworks created by artists from Brisbane, Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales.
AFTM, a creative initiative of Wesley Mission Queensland, supports, exhibits and promotes the work of artists living with adversity, mental health issues, physical or intellectual disabilities, or experiencing homelessness and social isolation.
Curated in 2018 by Tracey Wallace from Pine Rivers Art Gallery, Black Dog, Blue Butterflies brings artists together to break down the stigma associated with living with mental health illnesses. Exhibiting artists have found a way to express themselves and investigate their states of mind by using art to communicate their own experiences, or their experience of assisting a loved one through mental illness.
Re-presented for Brisbane audiences, the exhibition displays artworks produced by contemporary artists: Katka Adams, Karen Benjamin, Penny Bennett, Lisa Blake, Joanne Braddy, Glenn Brady, Felicity Clarke, Vicci Gates, Marina Meier, Luisa Nardi-Scott, Belinda Peel, Tamika Peterson, Marian Riginato and Hayley Roberts.
Many of the featured artists in Black Dog, Blue Butterflies are regular participants in AFTM exhibitions and programs, exhibiting in group shows and the annual AFTM Outsider Art Awards.
With 1 in 5 Australians experiencing mental illness in Australia each year, the exhibition reminds us that the ‘black dog’ of depression or the ‘butterflies’ of anxiety are part of many people’s daily life.
Black Dog, Blue Butterflies opens at AFTM Gallery & Studios on Saturday 13 April. Join the artists for the official launch from 2 – 4pm. Please RSVP by phone 07 3151 6655 or email aftm@wmq.org.au.
Black Dog, Blue Butterflies is on display until Saturday 18 May, at the AFTM Gallery & Studios, 136 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley, 10am – 4pm Monday to Saturday.
For more information on the exhibition, please visit www.artfromthemargins.org.au.
Image: Hayley Roberts, The Blue Girl, 2015
