Toowoomba artists shine a light on dramatic year

Established Toowoomba artists Stephen Spurrier and David Usher have joined forces to present an exhibition that casts light on a dramatic year.

The exhibition, Gathering in the Light, captures Stephen and David’s direct responses to social, environmental and cosmic influences that shaped 2020.

The exhibition will be on display at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery from December 5, 2020, until Sunday, January 24, 2021.

Art works explore the artists’ creative processes. Stephen has been making art for 30 years, and David has been a creative professional for 20 years.

The works on display demonstrate how both artists respond to their surroundings and embrace the landscape in their respective practices.

“I wanted to share this work with the community as I saw such an interesting shift in both artists’ work as a result of their subconscious documentation of events occurring in 2020. I think it’s interesting how social issues translate in artists’ works,” said Alexandra Lawson, exhibition curator and Director Alexandra Lawson Gallery.

Shifting across painting, printmaking and ceramics, the exhibition includes works made by each artist during the isolation period of 2020, as well as collaborative and individual works made thereafter.

The exhibition delves into the artists’ psychological and emotional responses to physical locations and the unusual events of 2020.

There is a keen focus on landscape and the cosmos, and the pivotal moments and environmental situations that have influenced their work.

Stephen Spurrier and David Usher are represented by Alexandra Lawson Gallery, Toowoomba.

For more information, please see: www.tr.qld.gov.au/events

Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery is open from 10.30am to 3.30pm Tuesday to Saturday and Sunday from 1pm to 4pm. Admission is free.

Image: David Usher and Stephen Spurrier / 2020 / Courtesy Alexandra Lawson Gallery