Opening Sunday, 28 January to Friday, 2 March 2007

Listening to the Land: Works on Paper by Brendon Darby

Reception with the Artist : Sunday, 28 January 2007, 4 – 6 pm

In his first American gallery show, Australian landscape artist Brendon Darby presents “Listening to the Land,” a group of oil and acrylic paintings and charcoal drawings based on his acclaimed public exhibition, “Listening to Paintings,” a series of large-scale paintings accompanied by his own musical score. The Booker•Lowe Gallery exhibition includes twenty works illustrating the lush, textural landscapes of the vast and diverse Australian terrain. The framed oil-on-acrylic paintings are on 300lb Saunders Waterford paper, and are accompanied by a hardwood box containing the DVD/CD package and book of “Listening to Paintings.” The framed charcoal drawings, on 90lb Saunders Waterford paper, are also accompanied by a DVD/CD package and booklet.

Darby, a painter and musician from Perth, Western Australia, first envisioned “Listening to Paintings” while he was giving an outdoor performance in his hometown a quarter-century ago. Recognizing the connection between the sights and sounds of Australia’s extraordinary landscapes, he began recording ambient sounds as he traveled, and then composed music appropriate to the scenes he was painting. As he developed both as an artist and musician, he continued to explore the concept.

Darby began concentrating on the series in 1997, first completing “Listening to Kakadu,” which earned him international recognition. He then expanded the concept to include ten different areas of Australia, and completed “Listening to Paintings” in 2006. He will introduce the group of ten paintings, each six feet by almost ten feet, and the complementary musical score, at a benefit for The Nature Conservancy at New York’s Museum of Natural History on Thursday, 16 January 2007. The “Listening to Paintings” exhibition then travels to Houston, where it will be displayed at the JP Morgan Chase Bank Building, 707 Travis Street, Monday, 22 January – Friday, 26 January 2007.  The exhibition is open to the public, 9 am – 5 pm, and is free of charge.

Booker•Lowe Gallery is pleased to welcome Brendon Darby to Texas, for his first American solo show, “Listening to the Land”!

Brendon Darby:
“One of my main motivations to paint is a very basic human trait that I think we all possess: the need to share experiences that stimulate us. For example, when we see something that moves us, we can’t wait to show someone else. Living in Australia, I’m surrounded by an infinite variety of landscapes that never cease to amaze me. There is a lot I want to share. . .”

Don't forget, if you're visitiing the Chesapeake Bay area . . .
Booker•Lowe Gallery is displaying Aboriginal art at the acclaimed Inn at Easton, a lovely restored mansion in the historic district of Easton, Maryland. The owner, acclaimed chef Andrew Evans, recently saw some of our collection at an exhibition at the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC, and contacted us about organizing a show for the Inn, located in Easton, recently rated as one of the “ten best towns to live in” in America.  Check out the Inn at www.theinnateaston.com.