Artist uncovers early Port Phillip
Whitegloss an exhibition by Pam O’Neil
31 August to 19 September 2010
What was Port Phillip like before white man came here? How has it changed? How did Aboriginal people live? These were the questions that set St Kilda artist Pam O’Neil on a visual quest to explore the 175 year evolution of the Port Philip landscape.
The resulting exhibition, Whitegloss, opens at the Angela Robarts-Bird Gallery at Gasworks Arts Park on 31 July and continues to 19 September. It depicts places around the city of Port Phillip as they are seen now and as they were before white people arrived.
The artist says the works are based not so much on the imagination but on the knowledge of the early Port Philip residents. She consulted the Boonwurrung people as well as paintings, prints, photographs and writings of early European inhabitants to reconstruct Port Philip’s earlier landscape.
‘Some of the places in my paintings will be familiar but others from the past may only be recognised by a clue to the present, hidden in the work,’ Ms O’Neil said.
‘I researched this exhibition for over one year to find out what the landscape was like before European occupation and how the indigenous people lived here. To me, in over 40,000 years of human habitation of Port Phillip 175 years is just one step in a 250 step staircase,’ she said.
Pam worked in conjunction with the Boonwurrung Foundation and Port Phillip Ecocentre to develop this evocative exhibition of oil paintings and mixed media works. Fay Stewart Muir of the Boonwurrung Foundation, who will also conduct a Welcome to Country at the exhibition opening, says that her ancestors had a very strong connection with the area.
‘Port Phillip was a place that was rich in spiritual meaning and food for my ancestors the Boonwurrung. They lived and travelled around this land for more than 40,000 years before the Europeans came here,’ she said.
Pam O’Neil will discuss her work at an artist’s talk at 1 pm Saturday 4 September and Saturday 18 September.
Title: Whitegloss
Venue: Angela Robarts-Bird Gallery, Gasworks Arts Park, Corner Graham and Pickles Streets, Albert Park
Exhibition dates: 31 August to 19 September 2010
Times: Gallery hours 9am to 5pm daily
Opening Function: Tuesday 31 August from 6 to 8pm
Artist’s Talks: 1 pm Saturday 4 September and Saturday 18 September
For more images, interviews and further information please call Madeleine McClelland, Marketing Manager, Gasworks Arts Park on 03 8606 4200
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it