On display from 21 November 2026, Penrith Regional Gallery proudly presents Piece by Piece – an exhibition inspired by the stunning mosaics created by Margo Lewers.
The Gallery’s third major summer group exhibition, following the popular success of Spot the Difference and The Pool Show, Piece by Piece unfolds across the site, encompassing four exhibition spaces and expanding into the garden and unexpected places where art hides in plain sight.
Located beside Dyarubbin (Nepean River), Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery was previously the home and studio of influential modernist artists Margo and Gerald Lewers, who transformed their ten-acre property in Sydney’s west into an oasis of mid-20th century art, design, architecture and ideas, nurturing a lively creative community.
The mosaics Margo made by hand around the site here are among the most unique artworks in the Gallery’s extensive collection. Alongside their decorative qualities, they represent the artist’s driving experimentation and intuition; her embrace of readily accessible materials; and her gift for giving modern resonance to an archaic practice.
In partnership with the Art Gallery of NSW, the exhibition features the work of 25 artists and major loans including Rosalie Gascoigne, Esme Timbery, Khaled Sabsabi, Antony Gormley, Elyas Alavi, Julie Gough and Vivienne Binns, as well as new commissions from What, Emily Galicek and emerging Western Sydney artists Tia Madden and Bria McCarthy.
Emily Galicek, Blue Mosaic (After Margo), 2026, Piece by Piece delves into the term ‘mosaic’, how the meticulously repeated gesture builds a work line by line, stitch by stitch, or piece by piece. It presents multiple interpretations across eras and cultures, using materials as disparate as marble, silk, ceramic, cardboard and plastic.
Another new commission comes from Penrith-based emerging artist Ilana Lapid, who will create an interactive site-specific floor mosaic in the Loungeroom Gallery using river pebbles, ceramic stoneware beads and reused rubbish from the river. Inspired by Margo’s mosaics in the same space, this new work draws attention to caring for the environment and the beauty in everyday spaces.
Works by First Nations artists Julie Gough, Esme Timbery and Bria McCarthy explore concepts of time, multiplicity and cultural knowledge, and in Iranian-Australian artist Ali Tahayori’s Archive of Longing, a series of photographic images are pieced together from shards of fragmented glass.
Piece by Piece features an interactive activity for Gallery visitors, the opportunity to create their own mosaics with Margo’s leftover tiles in Ancher House. This building was architect-designed for Margo’s mother, and for the first time will be fully open to visitors, giving public access to previously closed spaces including Margo’s mosaic bathroom floor that first inspired this exhibition.
Students at local St Marys Public School will also make mosaic pavers to be installed in a nearby park, a collaboration between the school, Gallery and Penrith City Council.
On Dharug land, Piece by Piece is a celebration of the culture and creativity that has been practiced here since the beginning, and has continued through artists with connections from across the world here in Western Sydney. As Margo wished, her home continues to promote and expand artistic practice, experimentation and appreciation, bringing people together in this special place.
Groundbreaking Australian artist Margo Lewers (1908-1978) worked across many mediums including painting, sculpture, tapestry and ceramics. She and her husband, sculptor Gerald Lewers, were leading exponents of modernism and abstraction, championing the development of modern art practice in Australia.
They purchased the Emu Plains property in the 1940s and moved here permanently in 1951 to immerse themselves as practicing artists, creating a vibrant cultural space and community at their home on the periphery of Sydney.
After her death, Margo wanted her home to continue as a place of creativity and connection to art. Her daughters gave the property, including the gardens created by Margo and a significant collection of 20th Century Australian art, to Penrith City Council. Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery – Western Sydney’s first public art museum – opened in 1981.
Piece by Piece
Penrith Regional Gallery, 86 River Road, Emu Plains (NSW)
Exhibition: 21 November 2026 – 28 February 2027
Free entry
For more information, visit: www.penrithregionalgallery.com.au for details.
Images: Margo Lewers, Loungeroom hearth mosaic, c. 1955, glazed ceramic tiles, glass beads Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery | Margo Lewers (1908-1978), Untitled (mosaic) (detail), c. 1955, Glazed ceramic tiles, concrete. Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery | Ali Tahayori, Untitled #1 (Archive of Longing), 2024, archival photograph printed on hand-cut glass, silicone, on aluminium di-bond 34.5 x 52.5cm | Margo Lewers working on a mosaic, photographer unknown – courtesy of Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery collection