Systems and Structures: A Focus on the TarraWarra Museum of Art Collection
Drawing predominantly from TarraWarra Museum of Art’s significant collection of abstract painting and sculpture, Systems and Structures features works by a range of Australian artists who employ patterns, geometry, modules and repetition as key elements in their creative process. Rather than restrict or limit their creativity, for many artists the introduction of a system or set of principles to guide their artmaking can be highly generative, providing a formal, material and conceptual basis for exploration, experimentation and discovery.
As the works in this exhibition reveal, there is a wide range of systems artists have explored and implemented in the development of their distinctive visual languages: from Robert Hunter’s transformation of humble everyday materials into luminous geometric compositions to Clement Meadmore’s use of a modular system to create sculptures that combine both the expressive gesture of the curve and the formal geometry of the squared surface; and from Hilarie Mais’s shimmering, handmade grid constructions that evoke a range of personal associations and reflections to Rosalie Gascoigne’s inventive assemblages of found materials which are infused with a spirit of place.
Featuring additional works by Howard Arkley, Lesley Dumbrell, Mark Galea, Robert Jacks, Callum Morton, John Nixon and Robert Owen, Systems and Structures highlights the various ways in which artists have investigated systematic parameters as a means to expand the dimensions of their practices.
Systems and Structures is presented concurrently with SUPERsystems, a joint exhibition of new work by Melbourne-based artists Peter Atkins and Dana Harris, and The Industrial Design of Clement Meadmore: The Harris/Atkins Collection, a comprehensive collection of innovative modernist designs by the acclaimed sculptor and designer, Clement Meadmore.
Related events
SEE ALL
SPECIAL EVENT
The TarraWarra Festival: Australian Chamber Orchestra 2024
- 4 May 2024 - 5 May 2024
UPCOMING
Melbourne Design Week 2024:
On Clement Meadmore's mid-century design
- 26 May 2024 | 2PM
SCHOOL HOLIDAY EVENT
School Holiday Workshop:
Geometric Body Movement
- PAST
- 9 April 2024 | 2PM
SLOW ART DAY at TarraWarra
- PAST
- 13 April 2024 | 11.30AM
UPCOMING
Artists in Conversation:
Peter Atkins, Dana Harris and the legacies of modernism
- PAST
- 21 April 2024 | 2PM
Further information
The Industrial Design of Clement Meadmore: The Harris/Atkins Collection, installation view, TarraWarra Museum of Art, 2024
Rosalie Gascoigne, Club Colours 1983
TarraWarra Museum of Art collection
Gift of Eva Besen AO and Marc Besen AO.
Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program 2009
© Estate of Rosalie Gascoigne
Clement Meadmore, Leather Chair 1953
Harris/Atkins Collection
Robert Jacks, Red Painting 1968
TarraWarra Museum of Art collection
Gift of Eva Besen and Marc Besen AO 2001
Clement Meadmore, Rainbow Box c. 1970
Harris/Atkins Collection
Clement Meadmore, Reverse Cantilever Chair 1954
Harris/Atkins Collection
Hilarie Mais, Bay 2001
TarraWarra Museum of Art collection
Gift of Eva Besen AO and Marc Besen AO.
Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program 2012
© Hilarie Mais
Robert Owen, Soundings (Composition #4, #8, #16) 2012
TarraWarra Museum of Art collection
Purchased 2013
Courtesy of the artist and ARC ONE Gallery
Lesley Dumbrell, Terreau 2008
TarraWarra Museum of Art collection
Purchased 2008
Courtesy of the artist and Charles Nodrum Gallery
Peter Atkins, Dr. No (after Maurice Binder) 2020–23
Courtesy of the artist, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne and GAGprojects, Adelaide
Mark Galea
Lamp, willow, life and death 2007
Titanium, unbleached with parchment and mica 2007
TarraWarra Museum of Art collection
Purchased 2007
Dana Harris, fancywork 2020–23
Courtesy of the artist
Callum Morton, Corner 2 2022–23
TarraWarra Museum of Art collection
Purchased 2023
© Callum Morton
John Nixon
Polychrome Painting 2006
Polychrome Painting 2006
Purchased 2007
Clement Meadmore, Calyx Pendant Light 1954
Harris/Atkins Collection
Howard Arkley, Pauses (Interchronic) 1976
TarraWarra Museum of Art collection
Purchased 2016
© The Estate of Howard Arkley. Courtesy Kalli Rolfe Contemporary Art
Robert Hunter, Untitled No. 1 1987
TarraWarra Museum of Art collection
Gift of Eva Besen and Marc Besen AO 2001
© J.L.S Hunter
Hilarie Mais, reflection/feather 2016
TarraWarra Museum of Art collection
Purchased 2017
© Hilarie Mais
Video: Non Studios https://www.instagram.com/_nonstudio/
