In a new exhibition exclusive to the Margaret Olley Art Centre at the Tweed Regional Gallery, the work of Ben Quilty and Margaret Olley, 2 of Australia’s most celebrated artists, will be exhibited together for the first time.
At Home tells the story of mentorship, art and friendship between Margaret Olley (1923 – 2011) and Ben Quilty (b.1973).
Quilty, confined at home during Australia’s first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, made a sublime collection of still life paintings that connect to Margaret Olley’s enduring career.
“We know them as the ‘odd couple’ of the Australian artworld,” said Susi Muddiman OAM, Director of the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre.
“But this will be the first time their paintings have direct association alongside one another in an exhibition.”
Olley and Quilty first met in 2002 when Olley was the guest judge of the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship. Quilty was awarded the prize that year and their friendship grew from this time on.
In 2011 their friendship was propelled into the media spotlight when Quilty’s portrait of Olley was awarded the Archibald Prize, just months before her death.
“Quilty’s extraordinary portrait of Olley will feature in this exhibition,” Ms Muddiman said.
“We are thrilled to have the portrait here again but also very excited to showcase still lifes, painted last year by Ben Quilty, on display in a public gallery for the first time.”
Margaret Olley dedicated her extraordinary life and enduring career to the genre of still life painting. For nearly 50 years her famous Duxford Street home, re-created in the Gallery, was both her site and subject for painting. She didn’t need to leave her own home to find inspiration or to paint.
In this exhibition, 2 very different artists show us their calm stillness of the everyday.
“It’s exciting to exhibit their work in this context,” Ms Muddiman said.
“It’s an opportunity to see their work through fresh eyes and to contemplate our own experiences of being at home during lockdown. Still life, while being humble and domestic, has a universal power for connection and contemplation.”
At Home: Margaret Olley & Ben Quilty will be on display in the Margaret Olley Art Centre at the Tweed Regional Gallery from 12 November 2021 until 20 February 2022.
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