Michael Bell - Heartland
24 October, 2008 - 19 November, 2008

This exhibition is Michael Bell’s eighth at Ray Hughes Gallery. In this show, titled ‘Heartland’, Michael paints ceramic knick-knacks inherited from his parent’s home in Maitland. Demonstrating the quirky humour and whimsy of his previous work, this suite of paintings explores memory and nostalgia with a touching sincerity.

These tiny faces witness the lifetime of a family – its joys and its tragedies – all the while staring mutely from the mantelpiece. These paintings began as an approach to still life and gradually developed to become complex tableaux that play with scale and colour to almost surreal effect. By rearranging the group of a dozen or so ornaments Michael Bell strikes deep at the heart of Australian family life.