Tuesday 16th January to Monday 15th April
Featuring artists Kari Bienert, Greta Laundy, Lisa Losada, Christopher Meadows and Sonya Unwin
The exhibition, curated by Sonya Unwin, is a taste of the creativity and diversity of South Australian visual arts practitioners. From the Clare Valley through the Adelaide Hills and into the metropolitan suburbs, each artist has a working studio and they all exhibit regularly in the contemporary galleries.
The abstracted landscapes from the studio of Greta Laundy take us into the outback through her dramatic use of the Australian colour palette, contrasting with the urban landscapes from Christopher Meadows that convey careful compositional draftsmanship. Lisa Losada’s paintings illustrate the verdant inspiration from her Adelaide Hills studio and Kari Bienert’s abstract, colourfield canvasses emphasise the form and process in her practice. Sonya Unwin, curator and artist, explores the Australian skies and landscapes, often painting out in the elements with her large format works on canvas.
Together all five artists depict the beauty and familiarity of Australia with technical dexterity and freedom through creative licence.
Primus exhibition will be on display for 3 months.
Displayed artworks may be purchased through the admin office.
CHRISTOPHER MEADOWS
Having worked as an artist and art educator for most of his life, Christopher Meadows has been actively involved in visual art, both in Australia and overseas. His practice is centred around painting and sculpture with a studio located in the beautiful Clare Valley. He is regarded as a careful compositional draftsman who uses traditional mediums and techniques to develop contemporary images that convey an enigmatic quality. Urban landscapes combined with familiar memories of domestic life remain a constant source of inspiration.
Christopher is the father of Dave Meadows, our Course Foreman
GRETA LAUNDY
Working with acrylic and oil paints, Greta uses colour and shape to respond to the ancient landscapes to be found in the Australian outback. Greta aims to inspire the viewer by sharing the physical energy and emotional resonance explored in these places of great beauty, calmness, and spirituality. Holding a Bachelor Visual Arts (Hons), Greta has exhibited extensively throughout Australia, with works held in collections locally and abroad.
KARI BIENERT
Kari Bienert is an Australian colour field painter whose oil paintings are recognisable for their unique geometric abstraction. Kari’s images are inspired by dreams. Her fascination with pattern and colour, nature and space produce paintings that reference our universe on a macro and micro level. Over the past 30 years she has travelled and painted extensively in the US, Europe, and Asia. Her works are held in private and public collections across the world, including Art bank and Macquarie University.
Kari has held over 20 solo exhibitions and won numerous awards, including The Art Curator Magazine ‘Collector’s Art Prize’ 2022, the Manhattan Arts ‘Her Story’, second place prize, 2017, the Circle for the Arts Foundation (France), ‘Artist of the Year ‘Honourable Mention 2018 and most recently the ‘Trevisan International Art Award of Excellence’, 2023.
Kari holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the University of South Australia.
LISA LOSADA
Lisa Losada graduated from Adelaide Central School of Art in 2015 and since that time has lived and worked in the Adelaide Hills. She has a daily painting practice and works mainly in the traditional mediums of oil paint on canvas, and charcoal drawing.
Lisa has been a finalist in numerous Australian art prizes and exhibited in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and regional South Australia. In 2019 she was awarded a 3 month scholarship to the Arts Residency Program in Civita Castellana, Italy.
Her paintings are a nod to dedicating time to the (often) overlooked details of the everyday. She states, “I am particularly interested in how we engage with, and locate ourselves in Place and how this can act as a locus of external autobiography.”
SONYA UNWIN
Sonya Unwin is a landscape Artist and Curator. With a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Hons) from the University of South Australia she has been a member of the Collective Haunt studios and Gallery in Norwood for over 5 years. She is an inaugural member of the Friday Frida’s, a group of friends who are artists and business women.
With her practice and process focussing on colour and expression, painting en plein air is a vital element of her methodology. She is inspired by the fall of light on the land, the enormous ever-changing skies and the deep hues of the abundant flora.
Winner of the Adelaide Hills Landscape Arts Prize in 2021, Unwin’s focus has always been on the creative process and authentic expression on the canvas. Predominantly using acrylics or oils on canvas, her works are developed in series.