Leading projection artist to host artist talk and workshop

Published on 25 January 2023

This February, Benalla Art Gallery presents three public programs in celebration of Deborah Kelly’s mesmerising projection artwork, The Gods of Tiny Things, which features in the current exhibition Between the Details: Video Art from the ACMI Collection.

The programs begin on Friday 3 February with Moving Parts, a special edition of the Gallery’s free monthly workshop for pre-school aged children and their guardians.

In this Little Artists session, Gallery staff will lead participants on a tour of the exhibition, before settling in front of Deborah Kelly’s artwork. Under the stars of the beautiful projected video, participants will be guided through dance and movement exercises in response to the projected characters. Participants will then design, decorate and colour in their own moving creatures.

Benalla Art Gallery will then welcome the Sydney-based artist Deborah Kelly to town. On Monday 6 February, as part of Benalla Art Gallery’s regular First Mondays series of talks, Kelly will delve deeper into her artistic practice, and the work The Gods of Tiny Things. The kaleidoscopic video unleashes a vivid collage of animated figures and landscapes cut free from the pages of old magazines and encyclopaedias. exploring social, political and environmental concerns, while conversely revelling in the hectic pleasures and desires of life itself.

Of the artwork, Kelly explains, “This work is blessed by the powers of the animator, musicians and collagists. Having such creative collaborators is the treasure of my life.” Following the artist talk, on Tuesday 7 February artists of all experience levels will have the opportunity to learn from Deborah Kelly during a day-long Masterclass.

Participants will explore the art of collage and learn the practices of cutting and composition. Kelly will guide participants to play purposefully with pictures and develop a range of technical skills to create original works that make the old new again. Informed by technical demonstrations, discussion and storytelling, participants will reimagine and deconstruct the past in playful and poignant ways.

Benalla Art Gallery Director, Eric Nash, said it was “an exciting program for all ages. It’s a treat to welcome Deborah Kelly to Benalla, coinciding with our current hosting of Between the Details. I’m sure our young creatives will enjoy dancing and making characters; and our adult artists will draw immense value from spending a day with Kelly exploring collage, composition and concept.”

For full detail about each program, visit the Gallery website, phone 5760 2619, or email [email protected].

Benalla Art Gallery’s hosting of Between the Details: Video Art from the ACMI Collection has been made possible with support from Panasonic, local sponsor Ray White Benalla, and through the Victorian Government through the Living Local Regional Grants Program and Engage! The exhibition continues until 26 February 2023.

Image: Deborah Kelly,The Gods of Tiny Things, 2019 (video still)