July 19th, 2024Maldon turns arty to beat winter blues
As part of the Maldon in Winter program MANet Gallery invited 33 local artists to participate in a group show, together with the eight regular MANet artists.
The exhibition was opened by Jeff Makin, pictured, and runs till Sunday, July 28. A major supporter of the MANet Gallery, Jeff Makin, a grand old man of Australian painting, opened the exhibition.
Formerly a plein air painter, Jeff said “as old age creeps up” he now prefers to sketch from his car, then return to his studio to paint.
He added that the reason there are so many artists around this area was that the landscape is so beautiful. Regular places for him are the Dog Rocks and the Silk Worm Factory, which is a whole other story.
He said there was “an artist behind every rock” there. Jeff has held over 70 solo exhibitions nationally and internationally and has been recognised as one of Australia’s leading landscape painters with the monograph Australia Felix: Landscapes by Jeffrey Makin, published in 2002.
In 2007 a boutique hotel in Melbourne was named in his honour. Alongside his artistic career, Makin has held numerous senior academic appointments and was the senior art critic for the Herald Sun for over 10 years.
The artists represented include: William Beasley, Damian Callanan, Carol DeGraauw, Linda Dunstan, Mark Fuller, Graeme Galloway, Julie Goodwin, Geoff Hocking, Karen Holland, Marcus Hotblack, Irena Kaczmarek, Sean Kenan, Cheryl Kennedy, Helen Lehmann, Malini Lewis, Fionna Madigan, Jeff Makin, Gabrielle Martin, Jennifer Merkus, Eva Miller, Janet Neilson, Penny Peckham, Michael Rigg, Eleni Rivers, Ellen Hansa-Stanyer, Jennifer Stewart, Liz Sullivan, Catherine Tait, Liadaan, Carolyn Vickers, Mark Wardle, Smiley Williams and Selina Wilson.
Liz Sullivan will also be a familiar name (a former student of Jeff’s), having just recently exhibited at the Cascade Art Gallery and painted Germaine Greer for the Archibald Portrait Prize, where she was one of the finalists.
The Small ARTWorks exhibition is at the MANet Gallery, 27 Main Street, Maldon. Details: maldonmanet gmail.com
Words: Contributed | Image: Nancy Whittaker
