Australian Exhibit Opens In Manila

MANILA - "My Country: Abstract Interpretations of the Australian Landscape," a visiting exhibition from the collection of the La Trobe University Art Museum in Melbourne, Australia, opens at the Ateneo Art Gallery with a reception on 19 June 2007, Tuesday, at 5:30 in the afternoon.

The exhibition forms part of the 2006-09 Ateneo-La Trobe Art Linkage, and is part of the Ateneo Art Gallery's Engage program where works of significantartists from overseas are shown in the museum.

"My Country" shows alternatives to typical landscape painting by bringing together artists who aim to capture the essence of the Australian landscape and respond to their environment through abstraction.

The exhibition, arguably the most important collection of Australian visual art to be shown in the Philippines to date, includes the work of Australian modernist master Fred Williams, and more contemporary practitioners such as Judy Holding, as well as leading Indigenous artists like Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula.

The exhibition offers a concise overview of a continuing genre central to Australian art, and furthermore, presents uniquely different views, interpretations and processes towards landscape painting.

Preceding the reception on 19 June is an ArtSpeak lecture at 4:00 pm by "My Country" exhibition curator and Managing Curator of La Trobe University ArtMuseum, Vince Alessi. Another ArtSpeak lecture on understanding abstract art will be held on 18 July 2007 at 4:30 p.m.

"My Country" runs at the Ateneo Art Gallery from 13 June to 21 July 2007. The exhibition is supported by the Australian Commonwealth through the Cultural Relations Discretionary Grant Program of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The Ateneo Art Gallery is open Mondays to Fridays, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 pm, and on Saturdays, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Admission is free.

For further inquiries on the "My Country" exhibition, please contact Joel de Leon, at 426-6488 or at jdeleon@ateneo.edu or visit gallery.ateneo.edu.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Call Clarissa Chikiamco
Project Coordinator
Ateneo Art Gallery
Ateneo de Manila University
Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108
Tel (+632) 426-6001 ext. 4160
DL (+632) 426-6488
Fax (+632) 426-6488