The 2021 IMA Gala and Benefit Auction honours two seminal Australian artists: the late trailblazing Indigenous artist Laurie Nilsen, and conceptual painter Jenny Watson.
Born in Roma, Southwest Queensland and hailing from Mandandanji country, Laurie Nilsen‘s practice as both an influential artist and teacher spanned over forty years. He was one of the first Indigenous artists to have work acquired by the National Gallery of Australia. Laurie was a founding member of the Campfire Group and the renowned artist collective, proppaNOW. He exhibited at the IMA in 2005 as part of Shoosh! The History of the Campfire Group, and is widely known for his sculptures, paintings, and works-on-paper featuring his totem, the emu.
Jenny Watson is a leading Australian artist whose practice spans more than four decades. She first exhibited at the IMA in 1980 with a solo exhibition titled Six Paintings, preceded by group exhibitions Minimalism (1983),
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This year’s Benefit Auction draws on the IMA’s extensive exhibition history, featuring more than 30 artworks by local, national, and international artists who have shown at the IMA throughout our 46 year history.
For the first time Benefit Auction artworks will be on view and open to the public at the IMA galleries for the evening of 14 June as well as 15 & 16 June, before moving to The Calile Hotel for the night of the Gala.
This allows three ways to secure an artwork: join us at the Gala, visit the auction preview at the IMA, or bid online from anywhere in the world.
Image: Raquel Ormella, Pick Me #13, 2013, cotton, flannelette, satin ribbon, 90 x 160 cm
