Image left: <em>Rosalie Gascoigne</em> 1993 (detail)<br/> by Greg Weight<br/> gelatin silver photograph on paper<br/> 45.5 x 35.6 cm (image); 50.4 x 40.4 cm (sheet)<br/> National Portrait Gallery, Australia<br/> Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.<br/> © Gregory Weight/Copyright Agency, 2021 <br /> <br /> Image right:<br /> <em>Portrait of Lorraine Connelly-Northey </em>(detail)<br /> by Jules Boag<br /> Courtesy of Jules Boag<br /> © Jules Boag

Found and Gathered

Rosalie Gascoigne | Lorraine Connelly-Northey

Free entry

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square

Ground Level

4 Nov 21 – 20 Feb 22

Found and Gathered: Rosalie Gascoigne | Lorraine Connelly-Northey brings attention to the shared materiality at the heart of the practices of Rosalie Gascoigne (1917–1999) and Lorraine Connelly-Northey (b. 1962). Both artists are known for their transformative use of found and discarded objects to create works of art that challenge our understanding of the landscape, and Country.

New Zealand–born Rosalie Gascoigne is recognised for her textural works assembled from items that she had collected, including corrugated iron, feathers, wood and wire, as well as her distinctive wall-mounted pieces formed from retro-reflective road signs and soft-drink cases. Gascoigne moved to Mount Stromlo Observatory, a remote community on the outskirts of Canberra in 1943. Describing the area as being ‘all air, all light, all space, all understatement’, the surrounding region where Gascoigne regularly searched for materials greatly inspired her artistic practice. Her first exhibition was held in 1974 when she was 57 years old, and in 1982, Gascoigne was selected as the inaugural female artist to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale.

Lorraine Connelly-Northey was born and raised at Swan Hill in western Victoria, on the traditional lands of the Wamba Wamba people. Much of her work is inspired by her maternal Waradgerie (also known as Wiradjuri) heritage. Connelly-Northey gathers and uses materials often associated with European settlement and industrialisation, and repurposes them into sculptural works that reference traditional weaving techniques and Indigenous cultural objects. Through her work, Connelly-Northey explores the relationship between European and Indigenous ways of being and draws attention to the dynamic and resilient ways that Aboriginal people have been, and continue to be, custodians of Country.

Through a major display of more than 75 wall-based and sculptural works, Found and Gathered highlights each artist’s unique and significant place within Australian art, while also illuminating the sympathetic relationships between their works. Continuing the popular series of paired exhibitions hosted by NGV, this is the first exhibition in this series focused on the work of two women.

Held at The Ian Potter: NGV Australia, this exhibition includes works by both artists held in the NGV Collection as well as works from major public institutions and private collections around Australia.

Select Works

Lorraine Connelly-Northey
Kooliman 1 2002
from the Koolimans and string bags series 2002
wire
16.5 x 18.0 x 14.7 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Supporters and patrons of Indigenous Art, 2003
2003.674.1
© Lorraine Connelly-Northey
Rosalie GASCOIGNE
Inland sea (1986)
weathered painted corrugated iron, wire
(a-ff) 39.1 x 325.0 x 355.5 cm (variable) (installation)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1993
S4.a-ff-1993
© Rosalie Gascoigne Estate/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Rosalie GASCOIGNE
Flash art 1987
tar on reflective synthetic polymer film on wood
244.0 x 213.5 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by the Loti & Victor Smorgon Fund, 2010
2010.4
© Rosalie Gascoigne/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Rosalie GASCOIGNE
Crop 2 (1982)
Salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius), galvanised wire, corrugated iron
36.0 x 126.0 x 90.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Ben Gascoigne AO through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2009
2009.202
© Rosalie Gascoigne Estate/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Rosalie GASCOIGNE
Clouds III (1992)
weathered painted composition board on plywood
(a-d) 75.4 x 362.2 cm (installation)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1993
A8.a-d-1993
© Rosalie Gascoigne Estate/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Lorraine Connelly-Northey
Possum skin cloak 2005-2006 (part)
from Hunter-gatherer 2005-06
rusted corrugated iron, wire
119.5 x 131.5 x 5.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, NGV Supporters and Patrons of Indigenous Art, 2006
2006.336.1
© Lorraine Connelly-Northey
Lorraine Connelly-Northey
Possum-skin cloak: Blackfella road 2011-2013
rusted iron and tin, fencing and barbed wire, wire
268.5 x 703.0 cm irreg.
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, NGV Supporters of Indigenous Art, 2014
2014.1978
© Lorraine Connelly-Northey
Lorraine Connelly-Northey
Narrbong (String bag) 2005
wire mesh, echidna quills
33.0 x 15.3 x 12.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Supporters and Patrons of Indigenous Art, 2005
2005.474
© Lorraine Connelly-Northey
Lorraine Connelly-Northey
Narrbong (Container) 2005
iron, emu feathers
30.5 x 34.0 x 35.5 cm (variable)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Robert Cirelli through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019
2019.315
© Lorraine Connelly-Northey