Coochie Art Group members enjoyed a wonderful outing to GOMA, where we enjoyed Margaret Olley’s wonderful retrospective “A Generous Life” and Ben Quilty’s emotional “Quilty”. Both were thought-provoking, informative and fantastic!!!! Our knowledgeable guide, Natalie, made Quilty’s work far more approachable to me, at least, knowing the background and emotions that drove Quilty to creation. Many, were utterly poignant and tragic – the fake life jackets littering bleak island coasts – remember the Syrian exodus?, the Bali 9 tragedy and Quilty’s reaction to the time he spent as war artist in Afghanistan and the soldiers he met, were a few that still haunt me.
Margaret Olley’s aptly-named Exhibition was a revelation and an utter delight! Indeed hers was a generous life and Australia is the richer for having enjoyed her breath-taking artistic talents, her generous mentoring of emerging artists and her on-going bequests to our national galleries. These bequests from her estate have enabled the purchase of wonderful treasures from overseas.
Special thanks to our tour guide and organiser extraordinaire, Diane! Thanks Diane for a wonderful day.

Sent from my iPad