369 Elizabeth Street
North Hobart Tasmania 7000
Telephone: +61 3 6231 6511
Email: dick@bettgallery.com.au
Web: www.bettgallery.com.au

Drop Shadow my Heart
11 February—12 March 2009
Opening 6pm, Thursday 12th February 2009

Having completed her BFA at the Tasmanian School of Art, Hobart in 2003, Annika then went on to graduate with First Class Honours from the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne. Since then she has participated in numerous group and solo shows nationally and internationally.

In 2007 Annika was awarded the prestigious Keith and Elizabeth Murdoch Travelling Fellowship. This allowed her to travel extensively in Europe and complete a residency at the Foundation B.a.d. in Rotterdam in 2007 and 2008. While in Europe she participated in two group exhibitions: Project(or), Rotterdam Contemporary Art Fair, and Standard Room, Foundation B.a.d Gallery, Rotterdam.

Annika’s work is held in private collections within Australia and internationally, as well as the Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart and the Victorian College of the Arts Collection, Melbourne.

Annika’s first show with the gallery, Drop Shadow my Heart is a collection of finely executed paintings comprised of portraits that seek to confuse the boundaries between the real and virtual dimensions of the body and personal identity, while exploring the relationship between the mediums of painting, photography and digital technologies.

Price range: $2,000—$5,000

Clouds on a Distant Horizon
11 March—14 April 2009
Opening 6pm, Thursday 12th March 2009

One of Australia’s most significant artists, Imants Tillers has been at the forefront of contemporary art for over three decades. He has represented Australia at numerous international exhibitions such as the São Paulo Bienal in 1975, Documenta 7 in 1982 and the 42nd Venice Biennale in 1986. In 2006 a major retrospective of his work, Imants Tillers: One World Many Visions, was held at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Since 1981 Tillers’ paintings have explored themes relevant to contemporary culture, from the centre/periphery art debates of the 1980s, to the effects of migration and displacement.

Tillers’ work is held in many major public and private collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of New Zealand, Wellington; Osaka Cultural Foundation, Osaka; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; National Museum of Art, Riga, Latvia; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; Auckland City Art Gallery, New Zealand; Pori Art Museum, Finland and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey, Mexico among others.

Tillers’ first commercial solo exhibition in Tasmania will open Friday 12 March at 6pm at the gallery in North Hobart. Imants Tillers and his partner Jenny Slatyer are travelling from Canberra to attend.

Price range: $25,000—$95,000

Tasmanian Aboriginal Shell Necklace Stringers
March/April showcase

Aunti Corrie Fullard is a respected elder of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community. She was born on Flinders Island, in the Furneaux Islands group, off the northeast coast of Tasmania. Her mother, father and grandparents were also born on the Bass Strait Islands. The tradition of shell stringing was passed down through many generations of her family and Corrie has now passed these skills on to her daughter Jeanette James.

The art of shell stringing is a valued Palawa cultural tradition; a tradition that is many thousands of years old. Traditionally, necklaces were made as an adornment for ceremonies and as objects to be traded with other tribes and bands of people.

The work of both Corrie and Jeanette is widely collected and is held in the permanent collections of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston; the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin; Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Speers Point, New South Wales; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide and the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane – among others.

In 2000 Jeanette won the three-dimensional category of the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Prize in Darwin. In 2007 another of her necklaces, an echidna quill necklace titled Trimanya was short-listed for that year’s Telstra Art Award and was subsequently acquired through Bett Gallery Hobart by the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane. This exhibition will include two examples
of these rare and sought-after quill necklaces.

Price range: $850—$5,000

Freedom Solutions
3 February—31 March 2009

Continuing through 2009 with its line up of emerging artists, bettgallery@raincheck introduces the painting of Carolyn Wigston.

Carolyn graduated from the Tasmanian School of Art, Hobart with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours in 2007. Slick and sophisticated, her acrylic and fabric paintings, covered in glossy PVC plastic, comment on the way Western consumerism has become a part of our urban identity and lifestyle.

View the exhibition while having a coffee at the Raincheck Lounge, 392 Elizabeth Street, North Hobart or on the gallery website here.

Price range: $275—$450

Queensland Art Gallery have just confirmed their intention to purchase Spear/Oar, a work commissioned from Julie’s exhibition Fugitive History, shown at the gallery in April 2008. This sees Queensland added to the list of institutions and collections that purchased from this very successful exhibition. These included The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2 works), The Holmes Court Collection (3 works), The Big River Collection (2 works) and The Art Gallery of South Australia.

Julie’s next exhibition with Bett Gallery Hobart will be in October 2010.

Last November, Tim Burns won Australia’s richest landscape painting competition, the Fleurieu Biennale Art Prize, with his painting Arthur River Trance. Bett Gallery Hobart has represented Tim for twenty years and congratulates him on this timely recognition of his wonderful talent.

Bett Gallery Hobart has recently opened a new stockroom below street level. The gallery represents some 30 artists and this new space will allow clients to browse the large range of works held in stock. Literally doubling the size of the gallery, this new space has also enabled us to expand our exhibition schedule to include a second exhibition space and four exhibition showcases, specifically to exhibit jewellery and small, three dimensional objects.

A reminder that all new exhibitions are posted on our website during the week prior to the opening date. All previous exhibitions are archived and most works held in stock are to be found on the website with full pricing.