OPENING NIGHT Tuesday 3 March 6pm to 8pm
ARTIST TALK Saturday 7 March 1pm
'Australian Stories' is a new exhibition of paintings and drawings by Philip Davey, presenting a visually compelling body of work that will feel both fresh and familiar to audiences. Working primarily in oil alongside works on paper, Davey continues his long-standing engagement with the Australian landscape and history.
The exhibition reflects the artist’s love of the natural world and his ongoing interest in Australia’s colonial past. Figurative works depicting convicts appear within expansive landscapes, often in quiet tension with native animals and plants. In Lost Prisoner 2025, a figure in a broad arrow convict uniform falls from the sky into the bush, an image that feels both surreal and unsettling. In Dreaming 2025, a sleeping convict reaches toward a glowing figure above him, suggesting longing, memory, or a dream of escape. Other works dispense with the human figure entirely, allowing the Australian bush to take centre stage.
Together, the works in Australian Stories form a thoughtful exhibition that deepens themes long present in Davey’s practice, while offering new perspectives on place, history, and the stories we continue to tell about the land.
