Sir Leslie Thornton: Castlemaine Art Museum's First Blockbuster
22 March—27 July 2025
Sir Leslie Thornton: Castlemaine Art Museum's First Blockbuster
Stoneman and Benefactor's Galleries, Castlemaine Art Museum
22 March to 30 June, 2025
Imaginative, humorous and subversive, the art of Les Thornton knows many forms. His carefully painted works have a surrealist humour but are also often poignant and unsettling.
This exhibition of paintings, works on paper, and sculpture celebrates one of Castlemaine's most loved artists. Thornton subjects are drawn from the world around him, from his boyhood home in Brisbane to the streets and buildings of Central Victoria. Much of his work involves manipulating objects or documents to surprise and enchant the viewer. Thornton's paintings are meticulously painted and notable for their vivid sense of design and colour. He has an eye for the vernacular in architecture, patterns of brickwork, signage, unlikely angles and arresting juxtapositions. An outstanding feature of the exhibition is a dense wall of images of Castlemaine and district painted over the decades since he arrived in 1972. The exhibition will be accompanied by an exciting range of public programs.
Exhibition supported by an Anonymous Donor
Opening Saturday 22 March, 2.00pm