Emu Island – Modernism in Place Penrith Regional Gallery & The

Emu Island – Modernism in Place Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest 26 August – 19 November 2017

Sydney Australia: Celebrating 75 years of Modernist art and living at its Emu Plains site, Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest presents a suite of exhibitions and associated programs titled Emu Island – Modernism in Place that will be open to the public from 26 August until 19 November 2017.

Once the home and studio of artists Margo and Gerald Lewers, the Gallery site was - and is today – a place of lively debate, artistic creation and exhibition at the foot of the Blue Mountains on the banks of the Nepean River. Coming up against the Nepean River, early settlers thought the land on the mountainside was an island inhabited by Emus hence ‘Emu Island’. The place was considered to be land’s end, but as the home of artists Margo and Gerald Lewers it became the place for new beginnings.

The Gallery site was an ‘island of modernism’ in the Australian suburbs. The Lewers’ home was founded on the principles of modernism - they lived, worked and entertained like-minded contemporaries set on fostering modernism as a holistic way of living. Curated by Dr Shirley Daborn together with consulting curator Dr Cassi Plate, Emu Island – Modernism in Place highlights the cultural significance of the Gallery’s history and site to Modernism in Australia.

Emu Island – Modernism in Place in the Main Gallery showcases the work of the Lewers and their immediate contemporaries over the four-decade period of their residence (1942-1978). In this place, artists and friends gathered and were inspired by the energy and experimentation of the Lewers home, and beyond, by a rapidly changing world. The exhibition features works by those at the heart of Sydney Modernism such as: Margo and Gerald Lewers, Frank and Margel Hinder, Judy Cassab, John Olsen, Tony Tuckson, Carl Plate and Robert Klippel among others.

Elsewhere on the site the legacy of Sydney modernism will be highlighted within the original historic home of Margo and Gerald Lewers, now known as the Lewers House Gallery. The work of eight young contemporary artists who continue to grapple with modernist ideals will be showcased in Young Moderns. These Artists include: Emma Beer, Terrence Combos, Sanne Koelemij, Mason Kimber, Nadia Odlum, Helen Shelley, Kael Stasce and Kate Tucker.

In Ancher House, now known as the Modernist Research Centre, the work of the Gallery’s 2017 artist in residence Ian Milliss will be exhibited in Shifting Dirt. The artist takes his place as the youngest member of the legendary 1960s artist venue, Central Street Gallery, which revolutionised abstract art practice in Sydney. Having access to the Gallery’s modernist art collection and archive, Millis has produced an extraordinary text based exhibition which

reaches into a worker’s history of place based modernism.

Through the Gallery’s Modernist Research Centre, leading scholars have been commissioned to write on distinct perspectives of Australian modernism. Their contributions will investigate the differing dynamics of modernism and Australian Abstraction and will be published within an online publication in conjunction with the exhibition program:

• Shirley Daborn: The Lewers’: Modernism and Difference • Cassi Plate: Lewers within the context of the Sydney art scene • Rhonda Davis: Design in the home: Margo Lewers and Margaret Preston • Kirsty Grant: The Melbourne and Sydney Dynamic • Ian Milliss: Modernism in Sydney and International trends

PUBLIC PROGRAMS Throughout the exhibition there will be a public program including symposium, talks, education activities and family fun days.

Modernism in the Garden - Explore Margo Lewers original garden design through garden tours and talks. Enjoy a jazz trio, and picnic in the garden, buy plants and flowers. 11 – 3pm, Sunday 17 September 2017. Free

Into the Archives – Storytelling and Research – Local historians, archivists and librarians reveal the process of digging into the archives to bring the past to life. 2-4pm, Sunday 24 September, 2017. Bookings Essential, Free

Modernist Art + Architecture – On site and out of site, Author and Designer talks, Sunday 15 October, 2 – 4pm Places Limited, Bookings Essential

Emu Island - Modernism in Place – Author and Exhibition Curator talks, Sunday 22 October, 2-4pm, Places Limited, Bookings Essential, Free

- Ends -

MEDIA CONTACT: For interviews and general press inquiries, please contact: Claire Martin, Articulate, [email protected], 0414 437 588 or Jasmine Hersee [email protected], 0406 649 393.

EXHIBITION DETAILS: Emu Island – Modernism in Place suite of exhibitions 26 August until 19 November 2017 at Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest, 86 River Road, Emu Plains 2750. The Gallery is open every day from 9am to 5pm. Full program of events: www.penrithregionalgallery.org

EXHIBITION CURATOR BIOGRAPHIES Shirley Daborn is a curator, collections manager and cultural researcher with an interdisciplinary practice, spanning visual arts, cultural studies and modern architecture. She was awarded First Class Honours from the UWS in 1999, an Australian Postgraduate Award and a Doctorate from UNSW in 2010. Her research interests include the built environment and how it interfaces with issues of public access, gender and cultural identity. Shirley has published articles on shopping centres as everyday sites of modernity and presented at international

Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest 86 River Road Emu Plains NSW 2750 Operated by Penrith Performing & Visual Arts Ltd. ABN 97 003 605 089 Proudly supported by Penrith City Council and Create NSW

and national conferences. Publications include: ‘Portraits of a Place: Visual Responses’, in Sydney's Martin Place, A cultural and design history in 2016. ‘Big Bright Beautiful, The New Shopping Centre’, in Leisure Space: The Transformation of Sydney, 1945-1970 in 2014. Shirley’s curatorial experience includes Hello Dollies (2012), Holiday & Memory (co-curated 2013) and the social history component of Home/Front 2015. Shirley has also curated many shows exploring key elements of modernism through the Penrith Regional Gallery’s Permanent Collection, including Thoroughly Modern (2014).

Dr Cassi Plate curates and writes about mid-twentieth century Australian modernism. A former ABC radio broadcaster, her Doctorate examined the restlessness of turn-of-the-century colonial culture in the Australasian/Pacific region, through the Penrith Regional Gallery & Lewers Bequest archive of artist, photographer and writer A. G. Plate, father of artists Margo Lewers and Carl Plate. Her book, Restless Spirits was awarded the 2006 Magarey Medal Highly Commended Citation. Lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney, and the University of Newcastle, she worked as Research Associate, Western Sydney University. Recent exhibitions include Sydney 6: Hinders, Lewers, Plates – Abstract artists, friends, partners, siblings, 1940s-1970s (Newcastle Art Gallery, 2015) and Carl Plate Collage 1938-1976 (Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, 2009). Currently editing letters between acclaimed Greek writer Costas Taktsis and Carl Plate, she was awarded the Power Studio in Paris to develop a creative project around Karel Kupka, a Paris-based Czech artist and collector of Aboriginal bark paintings.

ABOUT PENRITH REGIONAL GALLERY & THE LEWERS BEQUEST

Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest is set on the western bank of the Nepean River at the foot of the Blue Mountains at Emu Plains, and was established in 1981 at the former home and property of sculptor Gerald Lewers and painter Margo Lewers. Within a beautiful heritage setting the Gallery is a centre of excellence and home to the Modernist Research Centre. The Gallery is open daily from 9am - 5pm and admission is free.

Image captions (left to right, above):

• Artwork, Margel and Gerry Reading, 1942, pencil and watercolour on paper, Frank Hinder. Reproduced with the kind permission of the estate of Frank Hinder. • Ancher House Loungeroom, 2014, Adam Hollingworth • Silversalt Photography