Gympie Regional Gallery Is Reopening Next Week

The Gympie Regional Gallery is reopening its doors to the public on Tuesday, 16 June 2020 at 10am with two new exhibitions The Stencil Art Prize and The R & R Showdown on display until Thursday, 30 July.

The Stencil Art Prize is celebrating its 10th anniversary and is a snapshot of the grassroots stencil art form that is edgy, political, cheeky and pop-culture inspired.

The exhibition features artworks from 66 finalists represented by a whopping 23 countries including Australia, Canada, Croatia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands and USA.

Edward Woodley from Sydney won the $10,000 Stencil Art Prize at the Sydney launch with his controversial artwork ‘Eternal Spirit – 2’. The artwork is stencilled enamel paint on brass sheeting which was then hand bent and distorted to add a three dimensional quality to the work.

This art form has undergone a resurgence in recent decades and is now thriving on the streets in every country around the globe.

The Stencil Art Prize’s global community of finalists collectively push the boundaries of the stencil definition each year as they develop new stencil techniques, messages, materials and technology.

From photo realist stencils of dozens of layers, to intricate hand-cut stencils on delicate paper, the Stencil Art Prize is the authority on all things ‘stencil art’.

Also on display is an exhibition by young local artists Roy Mayfield and Rourke Wines titled The R & R Showdown.

Roy and Rourke are high-school graduates who were this year’s winners of the Gympie Regional Gallery’s Curator’s Award.

The theme for this exhibition is of power and drawing on the effects of the destruction of World War 2, which will be played out through stop motion video projections using archival footage creatively and 2D wall works.

Gympie Regional Gallery Director Joolie Gibbs says this exhibition provides an opportunity for Roy and Rourke to further their artistic careers, and a platform to feature new ideas and experimental artworks.

“This is the 2nd year of the Curator’s Award which we announced during the opening of the Hi artworks exhibition in November last year.”

“The award is presented to promising young artists for their commitment, skill and conceptual maturity.”

“Having their own exhibition straight out of high school will be a massive boost to their portfolio.”

Entry to the Gympie Regional Gallery at 39 Nash Street is free, with opening hours from 10am to 4pm Tuesday to Saturday.

For more information, visit www.gympie.qld.gov.au/gallery or call 5481 0733.