Join Umbrella and FORCED PERSPECTIVE exhibiting artists Stephen Coutts (Ayr), Ann Debono (Melbourne) and Marion Gaemers (Townsville) for an In Conversation event with the exhibition curator Daniel Qualischefski. FORCED PERSPECTIVE brings together playful and immersive works by contemporary visual artists, and considers the positions of the curator and artist in directly shaping the experience of the viewer. Umbrella's Gallery Manager and Curator Daniel Qualischefski will explore this curatorial premise further while discussing with the artists their respective practices and works in the exhibition.

FORCED PERSPECTIVE is on display 2 June – 2 July 2023. The North Australian Festival of Arts (NAFA) is a commissioning partner for the exhibition.

This event will be followed directly by an Umbrella Floortalk with Suzannah Babicci and Veronica Calarco at approximately 10:30am.

                                                                          

Stephen Coutts (b. 1957, Burdekin) has lived in Ayr / the Burdekin, Queensland for most of his life. He holds a Diploma of Fine Art, Queensland College of Art (1979) a Graduate Diploma in Teaching, Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education (1980), Bachelor of Education, Deakin University (1993) and Certificate in Studio Ceramics, Burdekin TAFE (1998). Coutts was a senior Visual Arts teacher from 1984 until 2019, and has since retired and exhibited more broadly in North Queensland. The artist held his first solo exhibition at Umbrella in 2020. Coutt’s practice spans drawing, sculpting and printmaking and engages with chance, pareidolia and the subconscious.

Ann Debono (b. 1989, Maitland, NSW) lives and works in Melbourne, Victoria. Debono is represented by Sutton Gallery, Melbourne. She has held solo exhibitions for Sutton Gallery and at Gertrude Glasshouse, KINGS ARI and CAVES Gallery. The artist’s work is held in the collections of Artbank, Monash University, Joyce Nissan Collection and private collections throughout Asia and Australia. Debono holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts/Visual Arts, Hons. (First Class Honours), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. She completed a Cranbourne Fellowship at the British School at Rome, and was awarded a John Vickery Scholarship (2014) and the Chapman and Bailey Prize for Painting (2013). The artist has twice been a finalist in the Bayside Art Prize and was recently included in the Geelong Contemporary Art Prize (2022).

Marion Gaemers is (b. 1958, Australia) has exhibited her work in local and national exhibitions since 1988. Gaemers considers herself a basket maker, continuing the traditions of women using traditional techniques. Teaching and sharing these traditions plays an important role in her arts practice. Gaemers has worked with Lynnette Griffiths, Erub Arts and the Ghost Net Collective extensively, collaborating for projects and exhibitions. Gaemers has works held in major collections including the Australian National Museum, Australian National Maritime Museum, Museo Sa Bassa Blanca, Spain, Musee d’ethnographie de Geneva (MEG) Switzerland and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Recent exhibitions have included Left Over Love: New Directions, Pinnacles Gallery (2023), Sculpture botanica, Cairns (2022) and the duo exhibition Final Curtain with Lynnette Griffiths at Umbrella (2020).

Daniel Qualischefski is a curator and arts professional who has worked in regional and contemporary galleries in south-east Queensland, Melbourne and most recently North Queensland. His roles have encompassed curation and gallery management, marketing, public programs and collection management. Qualischefski holds a Master of Arts and Cultural Management from the University of Melbourne, a Bachelor of Visual Arts and a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Creative Arts), Honours from the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ). He is the 2023 UniSQ School of Creative Arts Alumni Fellow. Qualischefski is passionate about contemporary art, making art accessible and engaging audiences with innovative exhibition designs, curation and programs. He also creates multi-disciplinary artwork under the pseudonym of Danish Quapoor. The artist works primarily in a distinctive illustrative and flat-colour style in which organic, geometric and stylised forms float amidst sparse compositions. His practice includes ceramics, textiles, painting and drawing. He finds that making art helps to inform his work in galleries (and vice versa).