Published On: November 1, 2024737 words4 min read
Tropical art

Aspire Gallery’s Exhibition, ‘Bliss’ has Opened in Brisbane

Aspire Gallery put out the call to Australian artists for Summer inspired artwork earlier in the year and the time has finally come to reveal the carefully selected works. Their gallery, a wonderful circa 1880s converted church, opened its doors on Saturday in Brisbane with one of their best exhibitions to date. This show has drawn in works by artists from all over the country with the theme of Summer singing loudly. From beautifully interpreted coastal landscapes to quirky summer table spreads, from beach-goers and swimmers to creatures great and small, this exhibition is an invigorating ode to the Aussie Summer experience. And we are delighted to share that four Smith & Brooks artworks made the cut to hang in this gorgeous collection of work.

The Smith & Brooks artworks that were selected by Aspire Gallery to be included in ‘Bliss’ are actually our first exploration pieces into the tropical north. We have been working on a project that required an indepth look at native plants from the Port Douglas region and these works are a result of that. Kerrin grew up in Cairns and spent a lot of time in the Tablelands region as well as in the coastal areas and was able to dig into those childhood experiences of beaches and rainforest for these works. Two of the works that are on show in the gallery feature fan palms, ‘Fan Palm Moment I’ and ‘Fan Palm Moment II’. These two works along with ‘ Native Monstera Moment I’ were created to hang in succession forming a rainforest waterway complete with smooth river stones and glistening reflections. ‘Black Palm Solitude I’ is also part of this Summer exhibition and features a single draping black palm leaf – a native palm that is specific to the Port Douglas, Mossman and Rossville area. All of these works were created with a colour palette inspired by the unique coastal area where the rainforest comes down from the mountains and meets the ocean.

While we have 4 works included this makes up only a small part of the incredible Summer inspired artwork exhibition. There are around 70 artists that have been included and these artists are not just located in the local Brisbane area but from all over Australia making the show a well rounded tribute to the Summer months. Some of our larger scale favourites from the show include Vanessa Wallace’s ‘Terra to Table’ – such a vibrant and tantalising floral feast for the eyes! As lovers of native flora we just couldn’t go past this piece with its use of a variety of banksias and flannel flowers nestled into contrasting vessels. Our other large scale favourite is the fun filled ‘Off Leash Dog Beach’ by Emily Viski. This artwork is just pure joy with the happy tumble of doggies and seagulls set against the bold yellow backdrop.

There are so many amazing works in the show that we just can’t include all of them in our blog. So to contrast with the larger works we loved we thought we would scale down and share some of our smaller faves. The first petite work we wanted to mention is by Karen Canning and is titled, ‘Sunsafe’. This little work is only 23cm x 23cm and features a gorgeous little beach umbrella. What we love about Karen’s work is that it is a mixed media encaustic wax work. This type of practice is pretty rare and specialised these days and that’s what makes Karen’s work so special! Our other smaller scale favourite is the artwork, ‘Refreshed’ by Natasha Mott. We love the colour palette and the brushstrokes and the swimmer with their face buried in a towel – we all know that wonderful feeling of drying off after a swim – it’s just a beautiful summer moment captured by Natasha.

There are so many works that we could mention from this exhibition. All of them to be exact! So the best way to really experience these works is to visit Aspire Gallery in Paddington, Brisbane in person. That way you can fully immerse yourself in the wonderfully curated collection of Summery artworks. And if you can’t make it into the gallery you can view the full exhibition catalogue online now where you will find the Smith & Brooks original artworks alongside all over the other included works.