Beechworth artist Alan Phillips will present a new exhibition ‘A view from above’ at the Muse Gallery, Milawa, opening on Saturday 11 September.

 

Phillips has been exhibiting his landscape paintings of north-east Victoria and the Northern Territory, as well as charcoal drawings from Italy, since 2004.

 

This exhibition was inspired initially by Phillips’s response to the devastated landscape near his Beechworth home, after Black Saturday 2009.

 

‘At first I wanted to record the devastation, and feelings of loss’, Phillips said. ‘But I decided to take a long term view, and to respond to the landscape as it healed and recovered. The scars can still be seen and will always be there, but the land is reflecting the seasons again, and soaking up the winter rain.

 

‘There’s so much colour and life in the bush now; I wanted to contrast that to the burnt black and ash white and silence of those first weeks after the fires’.

 

The result is a series of paintings and drawings that are exuberant in their use of colour, and playful in perspective. They are unmistakably an artist’s view, from above, of the north-east.

 

‘A view from above’ opens at Muse Gallery Milawa on Saturday 11 September at 2pm, and will continue until Monday 27 September. Owner of the Muse Gallery George Piercy welcomes members of the public to attend the official opening which is proudly sponsored by Wood Park Wines and The Milawa Cheese Factory.

 

The Muse Gallery is open Thursday to Monday, 10am to 5pm including public holidays. Phone 03 5727 3599 or visit www.musegallery.com.au