Conversations with Clarice Beckett, Orange Regional Gallery, 2024/25
Conversations with Clarice Becket Orange Regional Gallery exhibition works on cardboard (cornflakes packaging)
Conversations with Clarice Becket Orange Regional Gallery exhibition works on wooden boards
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Text by Lucy Stranger, Curator and Exhibition Coordinator, Orange Regional Gallery
A photograph of Clarice Beckett working at the kitchen table struck a chord with Nic Mason in her research of the artist’s life. Considering her own process in relation to Clarice’s, she reflected upon how Beckett responded to her world. It was the blurring of the domestic space - life and work entwined - that was a shared experience for Nic with Clarice. Working from the kitchen table, Nic created a series of small studies of the kitchen across the day. Of her process she writes, “Back home, and working at the kitchen table, I continued intently looking and thinking - through the process of painting studies of Beckett’s work.” Taking Beckett’s lead, Nic worked with similar materials, painting on cornflakes packaging and board. Working on a small scale shifted her compositions, and the small, rectangular shapes of the cardboard acted as parameters for her to create within. Opting for quick acrylics over her usual oils shifted her process. Across the myriad of viewpoints and times of day, Nic presents intimate glimpses of her everyday interior by day and at night. |
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In situ installation images of Conversations with Clarice Beckett at Orange Regional Gallery
Behind the scenes of the Conversations with Clarice Beckett project
Conversations with Clarice Beckett exhibition details
7 December 2023 - 23 March 2025
EXHIBITION
Conversations with Clarice Beckett
Conversations with Clarice Beckett presents the work of 8 local artists from across the Central West who were invited to visit the National Gallery of Australia to study Clarice Beckett’s paintings. Shown alongside Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the Collection, this project asked the artists to respond to an element of Beckett’s work or life and reimagine it in their own work.
Linda Chant, Rebecca Dowling, Sally Falkiner, Clare Leeuwin Clark, Nicola Mason, Colleen Southwell, Joel Tonks and Jane Tonks.
Supported by Orange Regional Arts Foundation and the National Gallery of Australia.
Orange Regional Gallery
149 Byng Street
Orange NSW 2800
EXHIBITION
Conversations with Clarice Beckett
Conversations with Clarice Beckett presents the work of 8 local artists from across the Central West who were invited to visit the National Gallery of Australia to study Clarice Beckett’s paintings. Shown alongside Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the Collection, this project asked the artists to respond to an element of Beckett’s work or life and reimagine it in their own work.
Linda Chant, Rebecca Dowling, Sally Falkiner, Clare Leeuwin Clark, Nicola Mason, Colleen Southwell, Joel Tonks and Jane Tonks.
Supported by Orange Regional Arts Foundation and the National Gallery of Australia.
Orange Regional Gallery
149 Byng Street
Orange NSW 2800
Kid's trail Summer 24/25, Orange Regional Gallery activity brochure
Workshop and artist panel discussion events
Wednesday 29 January 2025
10 am - 12:30 pm WORKSHOP Painting plein air with artist Orange Regional Gallery West Room, Orange Regional Gallery 149 Byng Street Orange, NSW 2800 Join artist Nic Mason for this playful painting workshop inspired by the work of Clarice Beckett. Young artists will enjoy a mini tour of the Gallery where they will discover the work of Clarice Beckett in the exhibition Paintings from the National Collection and 8 local artists (including Nic!) in Conversations with Clarice Beckett. Nic will then guide children through a series of artmaking steps inspired by Clarice Beckett and what we know about her process, including how to select and prepare materials, how to choose a location and how to paint what you see while working outdoors ‘en plein air’. Age: 8+ Cost: $20.00 Bookings essential |
Saturday 8 February 2025
10 am - 2:30 pm WORKSHOP Artist-led painting workshop: Nic Mason Orange Regional Gallery West Room, Orange Regional Gallery 149 Byng Street Orange, NSW 2800 This half-day workshop will begin with a tour of Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the National Collectionand an introduction to the work of 8 local artists (including Nic) in Conversations with Clarice Beckett.Participants will then be supported through a series of artmaking steps inspired by what we know about Clarice Beckett’s creative interests and processes and guided by Nic’s own art practice. The workshop will include time in the Gallery , time spent preparing materials in our workshop space and also painting ‘en plein air’ in Robertson Park (a three-minute walk from the Gallery). Cost: $50.00 Bookings essential workshop is designed for adults and motivated young people of all skill levels. Please bring a hat and sunscreen. Ticket price includes all materials and tea/coffee/biscuits. We will stop for a 30minute lunch break. Please bring your own lunch. This workshop is supported by the National Gallery of Australia. Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the National Collection is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition supported by The Australian Government through Visions of Australia. Conversations with Clarice Beckett is supported by Orange Regional Arts Foundation and the National Gallery of Australia. |
Thursday, 13 March 2025
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm PANEL DISCUSSION Conversations with Clarice Beckett Orange Regional Gallery 149 Byng Street Orange NSW 2800 Conversations with Clarice Beckett presents the work of 8 local artists from across the Central West who were invited to visit the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) to study Clarice Beckett’s paintings. NGA Curator of Australian Art Deidre Cannon and NGA Senior Conservator Jocelyn Evans met with the group in the NGA Collections Study Room sharing their research and experience in working with the NGA Clarice Beckett Collection. Shown alongside Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the Collection, this project asked the artists to respond to an element of Beckett’s work or life, and reimagine it in their own work. Artists Linda Chant, Rebecca Dowling, Sally Falkiner, Clare Leeuwin-Clark, Nicola Mason, Colleen Southwell, Joel Tonks and Jane Tonks have playfully responded across painting, photography, sculpture and ceramics. Whether examining Beckett’s tonalism, the distinctly moody palette, or having imagined conversations, the artists are in dialogue with Beckett, celebrating her atmospheric, evocative paintings that continue to inspire us today. Conversations with Clarice Beckett is supported by Orange Regional Arts Foundation and the National Gallery of Australia. 7 December 2024 – 23 March 2025 Free |
Selected Media
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February Galah Weekly Digital Newsletter, February 2, The Great Doctor Auction
‘Conversations with Clarice Beckett’ at Orange Regional Art Gallery is mentioned in the Galah Weekly digital newsletter, February 2, and I’m delighted that one of my little works from this exhibition ‘From the kitchen table, the cat and the kangaroo’ is featured. This newsletter always has interesting stuff to read, ponder, connect with and share. This issue links to Orcas wearing hats of dead salmon - a return fad from the 80's and has info on the 2025 Galah Regional Photography Prize (with their Artists Subsidy Fund) closing soon on 10 February. Check it and more out @galah.press Image: screenshot of the February Galah Weekly digital newsletter |