Links Gallery: 23 July - 5 September 2010

Viewpoints on display in the Links Gallery, 2010

It's often surprising how people can work with the challenges life sends and use them to see the world in different ways. When Chris Ellis was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's Disease fifteen years ago, his farming life became difficult, but now, with the farm as his inspiration and more time to spend on his art, he has created the exhibition Viewpoints to offer profound insights into rural life in uncertain times.

This exhibition not only captures the heartbreak and frustration of the farming community through a time of extreme weather events, but also the joy of the drought-breaking rains and lush new growth. His oils on canvas present his beloved landscapes in all their moods from a range of perspectives, enabling constantly changing views and ideas of the land: from the parched aerial view in Drought Farm, to the wide angle vision of Growing Green and Gold, and the curved horizon line in Global View.

Chris' passion for colour is evident from Global Warming, a powerful portrayal of a burnt and battered land, through to the more subtle shades used in The Filmy Veil of Green or the patterning of line and colour in Harvest Gold. In Viewpoints, Chris Ellis attempts to recognise Australian farms as the source of our daily food and to validate the mixed farming landscape as an important part of the Australian landscape tradition.

These vivid depictions of the Australian farming country as it changes from season to season under the threat of drought, flood and global climate change provide a modern narrative of the Virgilian agricultural landscape.

Chris Ellis, Drought Landscape, 2009, oil on canvas

Opening

When:     Thursday, 29 July 6:00 - 8:00pm
Where:    Main Gallery, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
Cost:       Free

Chris Ellis, Storm Clouds, 2010, oil on canvas

In conjunction with this exhibition, Chris very generously put up one of his paintings, Storm Clouds, as the prize in a raffle to benefit Parkinson's NSW, an organisation which has helped him as well as many others. Winner of the Chris Ellis work Storm Clouds was Glenda Heyhoe from Tumbarumba.