Imbued with a Romantic conception of the awesome and spiritually restorative force of the sea, an evocative and critically-acclaimed exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery is currently on display at Tweed Regional Gallery until 15 November 2015.
Arcadia: sound of the sea brings together richly-textured photographs by John Witzig, co-founder of Tracks magazine and founder of SeaNotes, juxtaposed with huge ink drawings by Sydney based artist Nicholas Harding, and film footage from Albert Falzon’s Morning of the Earth..
In the first issue of Tracks Nat Young wrote “By simply surfing we are supporting the revolution”. Reflecting the perspective of John Witzig’s publications and their treatment of Australian politics; religion; environmental conservation; and alternatives to conformist ways of living, the statement underpins the visualised conception of freedom and potential reflected in the exhibition’s carefree images of young surfers.
Witzig’s photographs will be newly-printed to unprecedented size. Five sections from Falzon’s 1972 film channel dreams of an untrammelled lifestyle. Harding’s intricate drawings are a natural fit with the texture of the photographs and share their vigorous, yet gentle, sensibility.
Together the photographs, film and drawings evoke textures and odours: salt and fresh water, wet and dry sand, dune vegetation, undergrowth, tent canvas, floors of vans and shacks, hand-knitted jumpers, corduroy, spongy neoprene, stiff hair, dog fur, firewood, seaweed and rocks.
Arcadia: sound of the sea
Tweed Regional Gallery, 2 Mistral Roadd, South Murwillumbah
Exhibition continues to 15 November 2015
Free entry
For more information, visit: www.artgallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au for details.
Image: Albert Falzon, Nat Young c.1968 (printed 2014), pigment print, sheet 125cm x 183cm