Geraldton Regional Art Gallery new exhibitions showcase WA artists

Geraldton Regional Art Gallery threw open its doors on Friday night to launch two new exciting and high-calibre exhibitions, on view for the next five weeks.

The gallery is featuring The Past Stops Now, a collection of paintings and drawings by esteemed artist Peteris (Peter) Ciemitis — one of the few West Australians to be shortlisted in the prestigious Archibald Prize.

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The exhibition surveys Ciemitis’ work from 2008 to the present day, particularly focusing on portraiture as a psychological landscape.

Ciemitis has been shortlisted in the Archibald Prize twice and was the winner of the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture in 2010 (now known as the Lester Prize).

His artwork has been collected by the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, National Museum of Art in Latvia and several major Chinese state and private galleries.

Also showing is BLUE, which is part of the inaugural Indian Ocean Craft Triennial and provides an exhibition opportunity for local Indigenous, multicultural and crafting groups.

This dynamic craft exhibition is in collaboration with the Museum of Geraldton, Yamaji Art, Geraldton Knitwits and the Midwest Multicultural Association.

Both exhibition openings formed part of this year’s Big Sky Readers and Writers Festival.

The exhibitions are open to the public until November 2.