Emerald Art Gallery

  • About the gallery

    The Emerald Art Gallery has been bringing arts to the Emerald community for nearly two decades. The gallery provides a high-profile exhibition space located in the Central Highlands Regional Council corporate office building at 65 Egerton Street in Emerald. The exhibition space is large and bright with impressive hanging space and high ceilings.

    Features

    • Spacious gallery with high ceilings and white gallery walls
    • Two moveable walls
    • Approximately 58 running metres in hanging length
    • Professional gallery wire hanging system
    • Professional lighting system
    • Plinths and lockable glass display cabinets

    Opening hours

    Monday: 8.30 AM to 5.00 PM
    Tuesday: 8.30 AM to 5.00 PM
    Wednesday: 8.30 AM to 5.00 PM
    Thursday: 8.30 AM to 5.00 PM
    Friday: 8.30 AM to 5.00 PM
    Saturday: CLOSED
    Sunday: CLOSED

    View the September 2023 – February 2024 Exhibition Program

  • Current exhibition

    Artback NT Presents “Some Like it Hot”

    Some like it hot brings together two of the Northern Territory’s most respected artists: Frank Gohier and Therese Ritchie in an exhibition that reflects upon gender trouble in the tropics. Both Gohier and Ritchie consider the performative nature of gender, tracing the intersections between sweat, sex, desire and discord in Australia’s hottest and most remote capital city.

    Throughout history, climate has been held accountable for a range of behaviours and intense heat associated with inertia, sloth, promiscuity and violence. Art historian Andrew McNamara notes that the tropics have been seen as a space ‘beyond humanity and civilisation’, a place that for many carried a threat of anarchy and chaos.

    Alluding to gender stereotypes popularised in mid[1]twentieth century comic books, romance narratives and action films, Franck Gohier creates paintings and prints that deploy a pop art aesthetic to question sexualised binaries. Drawing upon narratives of fraught masculinity and trapped femininity, he humorously probes gendered expressions of love and strife in the sweltering heat of the Top End. Other works take their cue from recent superhero narratives depicting women as action heroes wrestling crocodiles or fighting the bad guys. Through parody, Gohier exposes the limited range of positions inscribed in many popular culture texts and the heterosexist frameworks that reinforce particular ways of being.

    Gohier’s practice is built upon a vast cultural substratum that spans the disciplines of art-making, social commentary, and historical inquiry – mobilising elements of all, without ever committing to one.  Tai Mitsuji, writer, art historian and curator.

    In contrast many of Therese Ritchie’s depictions are informed by the everyday scenes she witnesses on the streets around her. Her camera lens observes quarrels and clashes and men behaving badly, intoxicated by the Territory’s drinking culture. As cultural observer Susan Carson notes ‘as the temperature rises, so too does the propensity for violence.’ This regularly plays out in Darwin, a city with the highest rates of alcohol consumption per capita in Australia. Ritchie’s photographs are worked up into digital collages informed by art historical precedents. She is interested in the legacy of heterosexist frameworks that segregate gender into binary categories denying more nuanced understandings. In a number of images, she spotlights more fluid enactments to open up gender to a broader range of embodiment.

    At the heart of Therese Ritchie’s extensive oeuvre … is a refusal to compromise as an artist. Her work is deliberately historically derivative in style, but clearly empowering … and brandishes its politics for the benefit of developing a greater awareness of the lives of individuals enlarged upon through Ritchie’s journalistic agency and love of storytelling. Chips Mackinolty, artist and collaborator.

    As the temperature rises around the world through global warming, Some like it hot presents a timely opportunity to explore the synergies and tensions in the relationship between heat, place and gendered behaviour.

    Join us for the official exhibition opening on Friday 8 December 2023 at 6.00pm. All welcome.

    Exhibition will be on display from 4 December 2023 until 25 January 2024.
    Gallery opening hours: Mon – Fri 8.30am – 5.00pm
    Audio Files
    Simply Did Not Happen – Therese Ritchie
    Boyfriend – Therese Ritchie
    Look what you made me do – Therese Ritchie
    Bushranger from Buffalo – Therese Ritchie
    The Ring of Confidence – Frank Gohier
    Cut from the same cloth – Frank Gohier
    Leaving on a jet plane – Frank Gohier
    Darwin’s evolution – Frank Gohier
    Nature v Nurture – Frank Gohier
  • Upcoming exhibitions

    Ros Burns – Explorations of Creation

    Join us in celebrating Ros’ artistic career with her retrospective exhibition” Explorations of Creation” at the Emerald Art Gallery to kick off our first exhibition of 2024. Explorations of Creation comments on Ros’ distinguished career as a painter living in the Central Highlands. Her expression often depicts her love of nature, while intersecting with a surreal quality that captivates the viewer.

    Roslyn (Cassidy) Burns, (born 25 March 1953) is best known for her intricate, brightly coloured paintings of Australian flora, fauna and landscape.

    Drawing from a love of surrealism and contemporary art, her work brings the inner beauty of the subject alive and her unique use of colour allows the subject to own the canvas.

    Using various mediums including oil, acrylic, pen and ink, watercolour and pastel, Ros redefines pre-conceived ideas of the Australian bushland, wildlife and people, making her work popular both in Australia and the UK.

    Ros grew up on a property (now the Tarong Power station) near Nanango in southeast Queensland. Leaving high school to study nursing at St Vincent’s hospital in Toowoomba and later working at the Royal Women’s in Sydney she continued throughout her career to develop her distinctive talent.

    After marrying, Ros spent three years in New Zealand and returned to Australia, eventually moving to Emerald, Central Queensland to raise her family of five daughters and one son. Starting art classes for both children and adults, Ros continues to share her knowledge and love of art with the community.

    Ros has studied graphic design and fine arts by correspondence and honed her skills at the renowned Julian Ashton School in Sydney. Her studio is on the southern side of her old Queenslander where she spends most of her day painting.

    Join Ros and Family for the exhibition opening on Friday 2 February 2024 at 6.00pm.

    Exhibition will be on display from 5 February – 15 March 2024.

  • Annual Art Awards - Emerald

    The Central Highlands Regional Council Annual Art Awards – Emerald, is the gallery’s premier art event. It attracts local and national artists and is held in August each year as part of council’s Arts around August program.

    Established and emerging artists of all ages can submit entries in up to seven categories. From easel, paper-based and three-dimensional works to photography and digital art, each category comes with a $750 prize for first and $250 prize for second place.

  • Exhibit with us

    For information on exhibiting with the Emerald Art Gallery contact us on 1300 242 686 or email chgalleries@chrc.qld.gov.au

The Emerald Art Gallery has been bringing arts to the Emerald community for nearly two decades. The gallery provides a high-profile exhibition space located in the Central Highlands Regional Council corporate office building at 65 Egerton Street in Emerald. The exhibition space is large and bright with impressive hanging space and high ceilings.

Features

  • Spacious gallery with high ceilings and white gallery walls
  • Two moveable walls
  • Approximately 58 running metres in hanging length
  • Professional gallery wire hanging system
  • Professional lighting system
  • Plinths and lockable glass display cabinets

Opening hours

Monday: 8.30 AM to 5.00 PM
Tuesday: 8.30 AM to 5.00 PM
Wednesday: 8.30 AM to 5.00 PM
Thursday: 8.30 AM to 5.00 PM
Friday: 8.30 AM to 5.00 PM
Saturday: CLOSED
Sunday: CLOSED

View the September 2023 – February 2024 Exhibition Program

Artback NT Presents “Some Like it Hot”

Some like it hot brings together two of the Northern Territory’s most respected artists: Frank Gohier and Therese Ritchie in an exhibition that reflects upon gender trouble in the tropics. Both Gohier and Ritchie consider the performative nature of gender, tracing the intersections between sweat, sex, desire and discord in Australia’s hottest and most remote capital city.

Throughout history, climate has been held accountable for a range of behaviours and intense heat associated with inertia, sloth, promiscuity and violence. Art historian Andrew McNamara notes that the tropics have been seen as a space ‘beyond humanity and civilisation’, a place that for many carried a threat of anarchy and chaos.

Alluding to gender stereotypes popularised in mid[1]twentieth century comic books, romance narratives and action films, Franck Gohier creates paintings and prints that deploy a pop art aesthetic to question sexualised binaries. Drawing upon narratives of fraught masculinity and trapped femininity, he humorously probes gendered expressions of love and strife in the sweltering heat of the Top End. Other works take their cue from recent superhero narratives depicting women as action heroes wrestling crocodiles or fighting the bad guys. Through parody, Gohier exposes the limited range of positions inscribed in many popular culture texts and the heterosexist frameworks that reinforce particular ways of being.

Gohier’s practice is built upon a vast cultural substratum that spans the disciplines of art-making, social commentary, and historical inquiry – mobilising elements of all, without ever committing to one.  Tai Mitsuji, writer, art historian and curator.

In contrast many of Therese Ritchie’s depictions are informed by the everyday scenes she witnesses on the streets around her. Her camera lens observes quarrels and clashes and men behaving badly, intoxicated by the Territory’s drinking culture. As cultural observer Susan Carson notes ‘as the temperature rises, so too does the propensity for violence.’ This regularly plays out in Darwin, a city with the highest rates of alcohol consumption per capita in Australia. Ritchie’s photographs are worked up into digital collages informed by art historical precedents. She is interested in the legacy of heterosexist frameworks that segregate gender into binary categories denying more nuanced understandings. In a number of images, she spotlights more fluid enactments to open up gender to a broader range of embodiment.

At the heart of Therese Ritchie’s extensive oeuvre … is a refusal to compromise as an artist. Her work is deliberately historically derivative in style, but clearly empowering … and brandishes its politics for the benefit of developing a greater awareness of the lives of individuals enlarged upon through Ritchie’s journalistic agency and love of storytelling. Chips Mackinolty, artist and collaborator.

As the temperature rises around the world through global warming, Some like it hot presents a timely opportunity to explore the synergies and tensions in the relationship between heat, place and gendered behaviour.

Join us for the official exhibition opening on Friday 8 December 2023 at 6.00pm. All welcome.

Exhibition will be on display from 4 December 2023 until 25 January 2024.
Gallery opening hours: Mon – Fri 8.30am – 5.00pm
Audio Files
Simply Did Not Happen – Therese Ritchie
Boyfriend – Therese Ritchie
Look what you made me do – Therese Ritchie
Bushranger from Buffalo – Therese Ritchie
The Ring of Confidence – Frank Gohier
Cut from the same cloth – Frank Gohier
Leaving on a jet plane – Frank Gohier
Darwin’s evolution – Frank Gohier
Nature v Nurture – Frank Gohier

Ros Burns – Explorations of Creation

Join us in celebrating Ros’ artistic career with her retrospective exhibition” Explorations of Creation” at the Emerald Art Gallery to kick off our first exhibition of 2024. Explorations of Creation comments on Ros’ distinguished career as a painter living in the Central Highlands. Her expression often depicts her love of nature, while intersecting with a surreal quality that captivates the viewer.

Roslyn (Cassidy) Burns, (born 25 March 1953) is best known for her intricate, brightly coloured paintings of Australian flora, fauna and landscape.

Drawing from a love of surrealism and contemporary art, her work brings the inner beauty of the subject alive and her unique use of colour allows the subject to own the canvas.

Using various mediums including oil, acrylic, pen and ink, watercolour and pastel, Ros redefines pre-conceived ideas of the Australian bushland, wildlife and people, making her work popular both in Australia and the UK.

Ros grew up on a property (now the Tarong Power station) near Nanango in southeast Queensland. Leaving high school to study nursing at St Vincent’s hospital in Toowoomba and later working at the Royal Women’s in Sydney she continued throughout her career to develop her distinctive talent.

After marrying, Ros spent three years in New Zealand and returned to Australia, eventually moving to Emerald, Central Queensland to raise her family of five daughters and one son. Starting art classes for both children and adults, Ros continues to share her knowledge and love of art with the community.

Ros has studied graphic design and fine arts by correspondence and honed her skills at the renowned Julian Ashton School in Sydney. Her studio is on the southern side of her old Queenslander where she spends most of her day painting.

Join Ros and Family for the exhibition opening on Friday 2 February 2024 at 6.00pm.

Exhibition will be on display from 5 February – 15 March 2024.

The Central Highlands Regional Council Annual Art Awards – Emerald, is the gallery’s premier art event. It attracts local and national artists and is held in August each year as part of council’s Arts around August program.

Established and emerging artists of all ages can submit entries in up to seven categories. From easel, paper-based and three-dimensional works to photography and digital art, each category comes with a $750 prize for first and $250 prize for second place.

For information on exhibiting with the Emerald Art Gallery contact us on 1300 242 686 or email chgalleries@chrc.qld.gov.au

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