As an artist living and working in Melbourne, Richard Lewer is a lockdown veteran. He has had more shows cancelled or postponed than you can poke a stick at, including the group show Shadow Boxer (currently shuttered at Maitland Regional Art Gallery in NSW) and the touring show One foot on the ground, one foot in the water, which was due to open at Melbourne’s Bunjil Place Gallery in late September.
In his Smartphone Snaps photo-essay, Lewer shows us around his busy studio. He explains that during this latest lockdown he has been training for a 100 kilometre walk (also postponed now) and painting up a storm (for exhibitions that may or may not happen) in the company of his happy cats.
Weekend bike rides with my 10-year old nephew Sterling Curtis, mostly around the Merri Creek and Brunswick Velodrome.
A new map work for a group show at Jan Murphy Gallery at the end of September 2021.
The Batavia is part of a suite of works about the shipwreck made for an exhibition at Hugo Michell Gallery in Adelaide, which wasn’t able open due to lockdown.
These works are about to be wrapped and sent over to Suite Gallery in Auckland for an exhibition which I hope will still be able to go ahead given the latest outbreak in New Zealand.
More works for Suite Gallery in Auckland. The exhibition title is You don’t always have wake up every day fighting.
Out of the studio, most of my spare time has been spent training for the 100km Oxfam walk. However we’ve just been notified that the event is now postponed until next March next year.
The Richard’s Disasters body of work—made for the Melbourne Art Fair, postponed two times then cancelled due to Covid-19 event restrictions—was able to be shown after all when I had the opportunity to show it at the beginning of this year at Hugo Michell Gallery in Adelaide.
Our two cats Queenie and Charlie are very happy to have us home 24/7 during lockdown.
Travel restrictions meant I couldn’t take part in the opening events and public talks scheduled in June for the Shadow Boxer group exhibition at Maitland Regional Art Gallery.
Working in the studio on the bags for Shadow Boxer exhibition at Maitland Regional Art Gallery. The show is up, but currently closed.
One of the benefits of the many hours and kilometres spent training for the 100km Oxfam is the opportunity to visit areas and see things you might not see normally. My walking partner Mike and I came across this colony of flying foxes at Yarra Bend Park.
Fine Cotton was one of lithographs made as part of the Collie Fellowship at Australian Print Workshop (APW). However the exhibition of the body of work was cut short due to a lockdown.
This self-portrait mirror work was going to be shown at Spring 1883 Art Fair, which was cancelled due to Covid-19 event restrictions.
Shadow Boxer
Maitland Regional Art Gallery
8 June – 26 September (currently closed)
One foot on the ground, one foot in the water
Bunjil Place Gallery
Dates TBC
Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, opening hours of galleries and museums across Australia are affected. We recommend that you check gallery opening hours prior to visiting.
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