Proposal Abstract

‘As far as the eye can see’ celebrates the contemporary topography of both landscape and printmaking. The exhibition challenges these doubly conventional themes through the work of 22 Australian artists whose work reflects the breadth and depth of print practice in Australia today. The artists express their individual relationships with the land through a variety of print media, describing both the vast scale and the intimate details of our diverse natural environment and portraying Australia’s unique and varied geography. From Aboriginal desert storytellers and knowledge keepers, through the regional experience of World Heritage sites and journeys from city to country (or simply from place to place), to the urban printmaker’s challenge of speaking up in the face of climate change and mining, the common thread running through the exhibition is a deep respect for the land and a desire to continue sharing a meaningful relationship with it. These artists make it clear that in a virtual, digital and mechanical age, the need to remain connected to the natural world has never been more urgent.

Featuring Antonia Aitken, Raymond Arnold, G. W. Bot, Susanna Castleden, Jan Davis, Gary Jolley, Locust Jones, Martin King, Judith Martinez, Clyde McGill, Helen Mueller, Alice Nampitjinpa, Dorothy Napangardi, Daniel O’Shane, Janet Parker-Smith, Julie Paterson, Olga Sankey, Gary Shinfield, Rochelle Summerfield, Chris Tobin, Judy Watson and Freedom Wilson.

The exhibition was first held at Blue Mountains City Art Gallery (Katoomba, NSW) in 2016 and then toured to nine venues across five states in Australia with the support of a Visions of Australia touring grant (2018-2020).