Living Treasures On At Cowra Regional Art Gallery

Cowra Regional Art Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of a major touring exhibition Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft \ Prue Venables on Saturday 20 August @ 2pm with guest speaker Prue Venables one of Australia’s greatest artists working in clay. Prue Venables is the ninth artist in the Australian Design Centre (ADC) series Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft, which celebrates the achievements of Australia’s most iconic crafts practitioners celebrating their mastery of skill and their contribution to Australian craft.

This “must-see” solo exhibition encompasses a unique and profound understanding of porcelain, that most precious and temperamental of clays, whose fine-grain and opaque qualities are expressed in rigorous works of refined detail. Prue Venables handmade functional porcelain artworks possess clarity, luminosity and a quiet beauty. Many of the works in the exhibition also feature wood and metal elements formed as handles, joints and other connecting pieces. Prue Venables’ forms are simple and elegant, with a minimal colour palette and subtle exaggerations – an oval lip or an elongated handle – that create a distinctive visual language.

Numerous national and international exhibitions, awards and publications celebrate the fine porcelain work of Prue Venables. Included in many public and private collections worldwide, these pots explore complex and unusual approaches to working with porcelain, challenge the significance of daily objects and highlight the richness that they bring to our lives.

Educated at the Harrow College of Art in London with a Masters of Fine Art – Ceramics from RMIT Victoria, Prue has been practising her craft since 1977. With a distinguished exhibition history, Prue has also mentored and taught generations of ceramicists. Prue’s work is collected by major institutions and public galleries and private institutions in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, UK, USA, Canada, Japan. She is a former President of Craft Victoria, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London. The exhibition opening of Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft \ Prue Venables is a free event however bookings are essential. Go to www.cowraartgallery.com.au/register to book with Eventbrite.

Exhibition dates are 21 August to 2 October 2022 (please note: due to unforeseen circumstances the Gallery is closed 21 August)

The Cowra Regional Art Gallery is located at 77 Darling Street, Cowra, NSW, 2794. Hours: Tues – Sat, 10am to 4pm; Sunday