"After a fashion, with a bag" by Australian artist Jenny Watson will be on display as part of Ararat Regional Art Gallery's permanent collection from tomorrow. Picture: ANNA SCHWARTZ GALLERY
Ararat Regional Art Gallery will unveil its new acquisition by Australian artist Jenny Watson tomorrow.
The gallery bought the work, 'After a fashion, with bag', with help from the Robert Salzer Foundation.
The artwork features acrylic on rabbit skin glue, primed cotton and silk pashmina.
The larger panel's dimensions are 179 by 130 centimetres.
Watson, a leading contemporary artist, visited the gallery last year and spoke about her family ties to the Ararat area.
She is known for her child-like mixed media works and represented Australia at the 1993 Venice Biennale.
Gallery director Anthony Camm said the Watson piece was a major artwork.
"This piece is especially interesting in the way it explores the formal and conceptual significance of the textile support in painting," he said.
"The fabric in this artwork was bought by Watson on a visit to India in 2008-09.
"The image and text were painted on the fabric during her stay in India.
"The text reads, 'I was staying in a big, old-fashioned hotel in India. There were birds, like crows, but bluer, and some of them were quite tame. These ones came down to the pool to drink, and paddle, despite people sitting around'.
"Watson's art makes an interesting link to other contemporary works in the gallery's permanent collection."
Mr Camm said Watson used beautiful and distinctive fabrics as supports for her paintings.
"The character of the fabric is never concealed, but instead contributes to the composition and brings what she calls a 'cultural quotient' to her work," he said.
"From the early 1980s Watson began painting on alternative materials such as hessian, velvet, cotton and taffeta.
"Her use of red velvet in the 1993 Venice Biennale is a notable example of the importance of fabric to her painting practice."
Mr Camm said people could call 5352 2836 for more information.