Erosion of Memory

September sees the return to Mullumbimby of a long lost son. Internationally recognised artist and academic, Dr Kurt Brereton is holding a solo exhibition of paintings at Art Piece Gallery.

Kurt's parents Kevin and Janet taught art at Mullumbimby High School and opened the first commercial art gallery on the far north coast in the 1960s. Kurt has followed in his parent's footsteps teaching at various universities in Australia. In 2000 Brereton resigned as a full academic to concentrate on his art career. With now over a dozen solo exhibitions around the country Brereton's work is in high demand from local and international collectors.Recently returned from a New York solo exhibition, Brereton will be showing paintings focusing on his early years growing up at New Brighton beside the beach. The exhibition titled Erosion of Memory is made up of large and small abstract and figurative works. Kurt notes that the title of this show is his homage to the memory of his late mother Janet who won the National Craft Award in 1975 with a fibre artwork by the same title. "A flood of vivid memories come back to me every time I return" Kurt says. Growing up in a creative family meant that a constant stream of influences fed his creative and intellectual education. "Famous artists, poets, musicians and even politicians were frequent visitors to our home and gallery throughout my childhood."

Brereton's luscious oils draw on the beauty of the local coastal environment. What is historically forgotten with the passage of time is also a driving force throughout this show. Rich colours pull you into the fine detailed layers composed of half remembered people and half forgotten events. Brereton's paintings are iconic and yet intimate. Close forensic inspection is rewarded with small fragments of images being revealed. Brereton's paintings also remind us of what is being lost with the rapid impact of global warming on sea level rise, beach erosion and climate change. Growing up amongst Pandanus palm groves, mangroves and littoral rainforest on the Brunswick River, Brereton is keenly aware of what has already disappeared or is under threat. Yet this is not a gloomy exhibition. There is a healthy sense of humour running throughout the show. "There were many funny and bizarre events in my childhood" Kurt remembers. "My father once dressed me up as Jesus Christ complete with Crown of Thorns and a life size wooden cross which I had to drag around the front yard while he sketched me for The 14 Stations of the Cross". The neighbours must have thought we were completely bonkers!"

This exhibition clearly displays a fascinating childhood spent in a subtropical paradise setting. Kurt adds that he feels very privileged to have grown up in a place and a time that saw the emergence of a vibrant culture that now attracts thousands of people to the region every year. "My parents were young Beat Generation visionaries from Melbourne who saw the potential of the region as an art and music hub in the early sixties" Kurt reflects. "The later 70's Hippy invasion followed in their footsteps and I remember the first prime movers of the Aquarius movement visiting my parents for survival tips". Now based in Sydney and Wollongong Kurt Brereton is Adjunct Professor in Creative Arts at the University of Technology and the University of the Sunshine Coast. Kurt Brereton is represented by De Havilland Gallery in Australia and Rivergarden Gallery in New York. His work can be viewed on his website at www.kurtbrereton.com

Dates:     Sept 23 - Oct 3  (Opening Friday 26th 6pm)

View exhibition gallery