Jeremy Barrett: Survey Exhibition

The Castlemaine Gallery and Historical Museum has a proud history of representing artists of the Central Victorian region in its calendar of temporary exhibitions and within its permanent collection.

The artist, Jeremy Barrett states, ‘I am very happy to have been given the opportunity to show a survey of my work at the Castlemaine Art Gallery and Museum. I am grateful to the former director Peter Perry for inviting me to exhibit, to Dr Dick Turner for acting as intermediary, and to the present director Jennifer Kalionis with whom  it has been a pleasure to collaborate in organising this exhibition.

The work on show is a selection from a large amount of drawings, prints and paintings done since moving to Central Victoria in 2002. My artwork has been strongly influenced by the natural environment of this part of Victoria, as well as by visits to areas further inland such as the Flinders Ranges. The traces of extreme age, and the huge forces that have shaped our landscape, are of particular interest to me’.

The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue with essays by Carole Fabian and Wendy Kelly.

Director Jennifer Kalionis writes in the foreword to the catalogue, ‘Within his work, Barrett responds to the topographic morphology of the region; interpreting the natural world which is patterned with lineament signatures and threaded with quartz veins. These signatures indicate the earth’s buried secrets, and the immense gold province of Central Victoria has attracted prospectors and artists for more than one hundred years; the former driven by the lure of wealth and adventure and the latter almost magnetically drawn to the cultural region’.

The artist, Jeremy Barrett, gave an artist’s talk on Saturday 18 July, at the Gallery.

Image: Jeremy Barrett, "Insite 8", 2005, Oil on canvas