EXPLORE Sydney Contemporary

Mehwish Iqbal, Nicholas Blowers & Hubert Pareroultja

10 November — 13 November 2021

Nanda\Hobbs is thrilled to present in our Chippendale gallery and online with Explore Sydney Contemporary—a powerful presentation of works by three outstanding Australian artists; Mehwish IqbalNicholas Blowers and Hubert Pareroultja

Mehwish Iqbal’s beautifully crafted works comment on the fragility of the human condition and the power of community in healing the wounds of this world. The refugee and migrant diaspora, the commodification of human agency, the monopoly of power play, and the challenges surrounding hybrid identities are all commonplace within her practice. Growing up in Sangla Hill, Pakistan, Iqbal was raised by strong women in a deeply patriarchal system. Her experiences of inequity encouraged the artist to delve into the importance of female agency within her practice. Drawing from her own experiences, Iqbal also examines the geopolitical shifts that prompt the refugee and migrant predicament. As viewers, we delve into her deeply personal work; each layer of fabric reminiscent of the layers of history that are weaved into the picture plane. By incorporating a combination of eclectic printmaking techniques, etching, hand embroidery, 24 carat silver leaf and dressmaker’s paper, Iqbal’s intricately crafted works speak of the complexity and vulnerability of our existence.

Iqbal has been a finalist in various prestigious prizes and has held solo exhibitions in Sydney, New York and Istanbul.  One of two major works—Assemblage of a Fragmented Landscape (2020)—exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art as part of The National 2021: New Australian Art biennial survey this year has been acquired by the institution.

Nicholas Blowers’ intricate paintings remind us of our responsibility to, and impact on, the land. Biographical in nature, his paintings become memorials to the places he has experienced—ephemeral sites in a state of vulnerability, collapse or decay. Blowers’ haunting compositions reflect the natural world’s beauty and defiance in the face of destruction. Scrutiny of the sites visited and their cyclical growth form the foundation of Blowers’ reconstructed microenvironments. In his work, Blowers captures minor moments in a non-descript place, while subsequently memorialising the statuesque structures that form the landscape. They are works of great poetry—melancholic tangles of branches providing a vision of order and regeneration. Through the hand of the artist, each branch or twig has an unwavering presence. 

Blowers was a finalist in the 2021 Hadley’s Art Prize and the 2020 Wynne Prize.  He was also the winner of the Paddington Landscape Prize in 2007 and 2009, as well as the Kings School Art Prize in 2007. He has also been a finalist in numerous other art prizes. Blowers is represented in the Parliament House collection, the Newcastle Art Gallery, Artbank and Macquarie Bank.

Hubert Pareroultja is a Western Arrarnta man. He has always lived in this land and his understanding of the landscape is absolute—he knows every nuance of it. He paints it the way he sees it—the twist of a ghost gum, every colour change on the ancient ironstone as the sun passes over the valleys, and the sand of the dry Finke River that meanders past Hermannsburg. It is the oldest river course in the world. You can feel the sun-backed history of the world.

Hubert’s father Reuben, and uncles Otto and Edwin, were leaders of the Hermannsburg School of watercolour painters—the first desert painting movement in the 1930s—a legacy that continues to this day. Hubert’s mother Janice was sister to Rubina who married the great Albert Namatjira. It is in this extraordinary environment that Hubert learnt to paint from an early age.  His life of painting and living in the landscape has led to a unique understanding and vision of the country to which he belongs. His meticulous eye, and sense of the subtleties of colour translated through watercolour, is now collected and recognised world-wide.

In 2020, Hubert won the prestigious Wynne Prize for landscape painting at the Art Gallery of NSW. It was the culmination of a story of an artist whose unique vision of the land has been decades in the making. 

EXHIBITION DRINKS AND TALK
SATURDAY, 13 NOVEMBER
1-4PM
RSVP

 

\ Exhibition featured works

Mehwish Iqbal

Hijrat

2021 \ Etching, silk screen, collagraph, hand embroidery, 24 carat silver leaf on paper \ 82 x 83cm

SOLD

Mehwish Iqbal

Laal

2021 \ Etching, silk screen, collagraph, hand embroidery, 24 carat silver leaf on paper \ 71 x 81cm

SOLD

Mehwish Iqbal

Majlis

2021 \ Etching, silk screen, collagraph, hand embroidery, 24 carat silver leaf on paper \ 78 x 81cm

SOLD

Mehwish Iqbal

Naqsh

2021 \ Etching, silk screen, collagraph, hand embroidery, 24 carat silver leaf on paper \ 80 x 73cm

SOLD

Hubert Pareroultja

Palm Valley

Cat: 125-21 \ 2021 \ Watercolour on 600gsm paper \ Paper size 75 x100cm Framed size 103.5 x 132.5cm

SOLD

Nicholas Blowers

Pond Reflections I

2021 \ Oil on board \ 31.9 x 46.6cm Framed

SOLD

Nicholas Blowers

Pond Reflections II

2021 \ Oil on board \ 29.9 x 46.6cm

SOLD

Nicholas Blowers

Pond Reflections Orange Morning Sky

2021 \ Oil on board \ 31.6 x 46.7cm Framed

SOLD

Mehwish Iqbal

Roustam

2021 \ Etching, silk screen, collagraph, hand embroidery, 24 carat gold leaf on paper \ 84 x 75cm

SOLD

Nicholas Blowers

Unquiet I

2021 \ Oil on canvas \ 128 x 204cm

SOLD

Nicholas Blowers

Unquiet II

2021 \ Oil on canvas \ 141.5 x 160cm

SOLD

Hubert Pareroultja

Untitled

Cat: 135-21 \ 2021 \ Watercolour on 600gsm \ Paper size 100 x 75cm, Framed 103.5 x 132.5cm

Hubert Pareroultja

Untitled II

2021 \ Watercolour on 600gsm Arches cold press paper \ Paper size: 100 x 75cm

SOLD

Hubert Pareroultja

\ Installation Image

Mehwish Iqbal

\ Installation Image

Nicholas Blowers

\ Installation Image

Nicholas Blowers

\ Installation Image

\ Other exhibitions

David Fairbairn

THE SPACE BETWEEN THE LINES

24 October — 16 November 2024

Adam Nudelman

UNDER THE CANOPY OF A LOST PARADISE

23 October — 16 November 2024

Jun Chen

RED LAND

24 September — 19 October 2024

Contact Us

to find out more about EXPLORE Sydney Contemporary.

12 - 14 Meagher Street Chippendale, NSW 2008
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm Saturday, 11am - 4pm Closed Public Holidays (and Easter Saturday)