Media Release – May 2009

Joanne Currie Nalingu: Waterline
Vincent Serico: Some People Are Stories

FireWorks Gallery presents Waterline an exhibition of new paintings by award winning Queensland artist Joanne Currie Nalingu, alongside Some People Are Stories a new limited edition bound print folio with selected images by the late Vincent Serico.

Joanne has been painting professionally since 1989 and exhibited at FireWorks Gallery since it first opened in 1993, in both solo and group exhibitions alongside Indigenous and non Indigenous artists.

Waterline is Joanne’s latest body of work, inspired by the smooth contours and flowing ripples of the Maranoa River in central Queensland, where she grew up. Although site specific, the artist describes this river as a metaphor for all rivers. Rich undertones seep through layers of subtle, sometimes vivid, modern or earthy colour combinations to provide the viewer with a dream-like ambience. Through this unique, and very precise painting process of layering coats of paint, Joanne’s river transpires from the literal to an abstract expression of the landscape.

Vincent Serico (1949-2008) who’s artistic body of work spans over forty years, regarded himself as a history painter - interpreting the whispers- from both land and people, during his life’s journey through regional, remote and rural Queensland. Many of his paintings document significant events in his life or previous generations as Indigenous people struggled with cultural and lifestyle changes.

Director of FireWorks Gallery, Michael Eather comments that Vincent derived much inspiration for depicting both the ‘grand landscape’ such as that of Arcadia Valley, but also the Indigenous narrative buried beneath the surface, upholding a long tradition of blending oral history with distinctive visual design.

The unique, hard cover, A1 bound folio consists of 22 images that convey the artist’s views of history in a dense hive of colour and activity. The Folio includes a legend of stories, with interview notes and quotes by Vincent, collected between 1993 and 2007.

Both of these Queensland artists’ works are held in numerous public, corporate and private collections overseas and in Australia including The Queensland Art Gallery/GOMA. In 2008, Joanne won Wynne Prize for Landscape at the Art Gallery of NSW, and she has been a finalist 6 times in The Telstra Prize The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Awards, Museums and Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin.

Joanne Currie Works in this exhibition range from $1500-16,500. The launch price of the Vincent Serico Print Folio is $8800, for the first 10 editions.

For all information regarding this exhibition, as well as artist and gallery profiles, visit
www.fireworksgallery.com.au

FireWorks Gallery, 52a Doggett St, Newstead

Media Contact: Michael Eather Mobile: 0418 192 845 Email: michael@fireworksgallery.com.au