Lost Bear Gallery
Lost Bear Gallery, Katoomba
After a successful showing at Janet Clayton Gallery Paddington, the exhibition 'In Time' is now on show at Lost Bear Gallery 208 Katoomba Street Katoomba until 22nd July 2018. Artists include, James Blackwell, Sophie Conolly, Judith Martinez, Leonardo Uribe.
Entrance to Lost Bear Gallery, Katoomba
The exhibition in its latest incarnation, includes several new artworks and and installation of 'Pods'.
Leonardo Uribe's kinetic sculpture and self portraits made from hair.
Lost Bear Gallery, who represent me in the Blue Mountains has opened a smaller gallery space (annex) in the growing arts precinct at 208 Katoomba Street, Katoomba NSW. I am currently showing the most recent artworks which include wall pieces as well as sets of Pods made from natural materials, in sets of 3.
The exhibition space is located at the back of the gallery which showcases art objects, small sculptures and glasswork from the larger collection at 'Lost Bears' main gallery at 98 Lurline Street Katoomba NSW. So come visit the new space next time you're in Katoomba where one of the friendly staff can tell you more about the works on display.
Lost Bear Gallery is proud to present ‘Trove’, a joint exhibition of works by James Blackwell and Judith Martinez, running from 7 - 30 November. Blackwell has shown at Lost Bear Gallery since 2008. He has had several exhibitions at commercial galleries as well as three major exhibitions at public galleries. At Blackwell’s request, he is showing this year alongside Martinez, who is a more emerging artist. ‘Trove’ represents her first major exhibition. Blackwell and Martinez create distinctly different artwork and yet the collecting and repurposing of materials link their individual practices. For Blackwell, the materials are natural: leaves, seedpods and the like, gathered from the environment that is his inspiration. His painstaking recreation of this trove of materials into complex, enthralling artworks results in a multitude of connotations, from meditation to the cycle of life and death, to our fragile relationship with the natural world. For Martinez, the collecting is of manmade objects such as watch parts and old photographs. These become works of art that explore notions of humanity, memory and determinism. They challenge our ideas of identity and free will. Martinez also explores the trove of memories that form a person’s identity in her photographic work, similarly composed from multiple images. Martinez states that her use of layering “creates visual maps for the viewer to navigate, inviting them to return and decipher the stories within the works.”
Exhibition Opening: Lost Bear Gallery Saturday 7th November 3-5pm 98 Lurline Street Katoomba NSW
My anchor is the landscape in which I live.....the Blue Mountains of NSW. Here, the seasons are distinct, reliable and inevitable. This landscape adapts to the backdrop of seasons and offers inspiration in its repetition and symmetry. A value embodied in the artwork I create.
-JAMES BLACKWELL
I am a collector – in my work I use carefully curated images and objects that are repurposed through photography, digital montage and collage to create stories by layering old and new. The works invite viewers to unlock the narratives embedded within them.
- JUDITH MARTINEZ
Clockwise from top left: David Middlebrook, Geoff White, Cathy Armstrong, Robert Malherbe, Judith Martinez, Julie Harris, Mathew Lynn, Samm Hanika
Where: Lost Bear Gallery, Katoomba
When: 27th June-27th July 2015
David Middlebrook’s latest offering at Lost Bear Gallery is a collection of paintings and drawings which pay homage to the horizon and landscape.
This latest exhibition features oil paintings and sepia drawings of the Australian desert, together with a selection of black and white drawings of the Blue Mountains.
Middlebrook's painting technique is richly distinct and identifiable with the artist. With a steady hand, Middlebrook uses a palette knife to lay a fine trail of colour in horizontal strips to amass an abstract colourfield and sense of an endless horizon.
James Willebrant, Graham Hallett and Ida Halliday
Middlebrook was awarded a PhD (University of Newcastle) for his research and body of work in Australian landscape painting and art history in 2006.
His career spans 25 years, with over 30 solo exhibitions and works in numerous public collections.
Middlebrook was awarded a PhD (University of Newcastle) for his research and body of work in Australian landscape painting and art history in 2006.
His career spans 25 years, with over 30 solo exhibitions and works in numerous public collections.
The Lost Bear Gallery website describes the artists practice- Both Middlebrook’s paintings and his minimalist drawings in black ink share a sensitivity to mark making as a vehicle for distilling the essence or narrative of the landscape. There are striking aesthetic differences between the paintings and drawings, yet both come about through an obsessive practice and a unique approach. His work is quiet, with meditative qualities, perhaps suggesting more of a response to, rather than a depiction of place.
Young Ju Ku plays for the exhibition
The exhibition opening at Lost Bear Gallery was treated to the music of pianist Young Ju Ku, who volunteered her time to entertain the crowd with some classics. The opening was a successful gathering and celebration of David Middlebrook's unique look at the landscape.
