This exhibition honours artworks created by University leaders, Professional staff, Senior lecturers, longstanding educators and students from both universities during the years 2000-2014, the term of a collaborative agreement between the Universities.
Styles of artistic presentation and media choices vary greatly between the works on display, reflecting the diverse genres and media types being created and taught within both institutions, including Fine Art traditions and Photography. Printmaking is a particularly strong feature of the exhibition, and we have also been delighted that new works have been created specifically for this exhibition.
The exhibition features surprising resonances too, for instance, in subject matter that looks to the urban environment and local architecture, scenes of daily life, a respect for peoples and in respect of the natural world.
This exhibition honours artworks created by University leaders, Professional staff, Senior lecturers, longstanding educators and students from both universities during the years 2000-2014, the term of a collaborative agreement between the Universities.
Styles of artistic presentation and media choices vary greatly between the works on display, reflecting the diverse genres and media types being created and taught within both institutions, including Fine Art traditions and Photography. Printmaking is a particularly strong feature of the exhibition, and we have also been delighted that new works have been created specifically for this exhibition.
The exhibition features surprising resonances too, for instance, in subject matter that looks to the urban environment and local architecture, scenes of daily life, a respect for peoples and in respect of the natural world.
This exhibition evidences the high standard of teacher and student work, revealing the wisdom and conviction of experienced artists alongside fresh artistic talents, fostered and nurtured by our universities’ commitment to scholarship and rigour. As artists mature through their university courses, and with the mentorship of respected artists, so too can they mature and develop their artistic acumen.
Evident in this exhibition is a deep understanding of how visual art practice exercises precision and intuition. This kind of focused philosophical thinking is capable of stretching our perceptions about the world.
Translations can only add to the wordless power of an image. We all bring something different to interpreting images, symbols and styles, and we can also find ourselves empathising with contexts that might previously be unknown and unfamiliar. This is the special responsibility of art education – growing artists that, in return, teach us and challenge us to new ways of thinking.
The exhibition also celebrates how our students and staff collaboratively engage to explore artistic horizons and build an enduring cultural interaction, understanding, and a people-to-people bridge linking both our countries through common interests in art and culture.
Image: Professor Ross Woodrow, Special Friends (or Happiness and Harmony) 2011, Mitsui zinc plate, etching and aquatint, 59cm x 49cm.
