FUNDAMENTAL is excited to announce PETRICHOR – THE SMELL OF RAIN, an exhibition of mixed media works by Australian artist Annabel Nowlan.

At a time of great change we see another reopening; these incredible works delve deep into the Australian landscape, exposing forgotten histories, human error, and focusing on the endless bounty of everyday aesthetic nuances.

‘Each panel reflects a deep engagement with the natural (and unnatural) environment. My artistic gaze is drawn to physical sites; of failed soldier settlements, ruins of agricultural pursuits, weather worn surfaces, botched mining incursions and native bird populations.’ Says the artist.

The beauty in the seemingly mundane and the everyday is celebrated in Nowlan’s work. Her use of unique surfaces and textures of crude and unrefined materials illuminate the often-overlooked inscriptions wrought on the land, such as animal/ human trails and ploughing furrows. The landscape is both the setting and primary subject and nothing is off limits: corroded water tanks, mining map legends and swagman’s symbols all attest to the tactile and kinaesthetic properties of landscape.

A visceral and instinctive attraction to rudimentary materials and surface qualities is clearly evident in this array of works, Petrichor. Nowlan manipulates scrap metal, found tin, rivets, tarpaulin, pigments and natural minerals in a process of recycling and repurposing. She is particularly drawn to surfaces that change and deteriorate with time and exposure to the elements, a process often represented in the altering shades of her signature colour, verdigris green.

Following from a recent solo show at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Nowlan and FUNDAMENTAL Gallery Director Marie McCord have together curated a selection of 24 works that take us across half of Australia- navigating timelines and cross-cultural narratives – eventually to the familiar ‘smell of rain’.

Please join us for the official opening with an address by John Sharp AM;
Saturday 6 November, 3 to 6pm

Exhibition dates: 5 November – 6 December 2021

DETAILS

FundaMental Gallery
11 Station St, Mittagong, 2575

Open weekly from Friday through Monday, 10am – 5pm.

Marie McCord, Gallery Director:
M  0424 958 834
E   cinemental@mentalbowral.com
mentalbowral.com

Annabel Nowlan:
annabelnowlan.com.au