From the Collection: Bridget Currie

Opening 3 December - 5 March 2023

From the Collection is a series of exhibitions, commissions and interventions presented in the spirit of Margo Lewers and her desire for her home and collection of artworks to be shared with the people of Penrith and surrounds. We invite artists, writers and people from the local community to engage with the Gallery’s collection, and in doing so, provide fresh perspectives and insight.

It has been a great pleasure to spend time in the Collection, focusing on the Lewers personal archives.

What is it like?

A very personal storehouse overflowing with a jumble of artworks; paintings in racks; sculptures and ceramics on shelves; notebooks, photographs and drawings in plan drawers. I could spend hours rummaging through the treasures housed in institutional grey metal shelving.

In curating this selection of works I have chosen objects that spoke to me, and that relate to my own practice. I have a strong interest in the history of Abstraction and the Lewers collection illuminates the progression of Abstraction in Australia. I am also interested in the social fabric of Margo and Gerald’s life; it is often those personal connections that form what can seem from the outside an institutionalised artworld.

The themes of my exhibition Message from the Meadow, including spiritual aspects of Abstraction, combining art and life, interior and exterior, are all reflected here in this selection of works.

– Bridget Currie, 2022

*The Gallery and Cafe at Lewers are closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Good Friday.