Best Of Three At 19Karen’s September Show

By Niall Roeder…

The 19Karen Contemporary Artspace is serving up a September to remember, with three exciting solo exhibitions set to go down. Jessica Watts, Ben Sheers and Petra Reece will have their goods hanging on the walls at the easy-to-find gallery (19 Karen Ave) through the best part of spring.

Debutante – Jessica Watts

Oils are Watts’ preferred painting poison, but she often uses collages in her works, utilising the wealth of ephemera she’s collected over her career. The mixed media works in Debutante explore the nature of femininity and whether beauty is more about the eye of the beholder or the one being beheld. Former waitress, uni student and successful art director, nowadays Watts spends her time creating and trying to follow the advice of Hollywood rogue Robert Downey Jr – “Listen, smile, agree, and then do whatever the f*** you were gonna do anyway.”

Night – Ben Sheers

Sheers is an Aussie contemporary oil painter who looks to the suburbs and industrial wastelands of our cities for subject matter and manages to find a beautiful side. Work on the Night collection begun when his sons were born, so painting time was reserved for after dark when everyone was asleep. His works were done burning the midnight oil and subsequently deal with how the night alters daytime landscapes.

In Search of Light – Petra Reece

Dutch born Reece immigrated to Australia with her family, of which her father and brother are both artists. Growing up she drew inspiration from the Vermeer, Rembrandt and Ruysdael copies her dad used to paint and later on took a shining to Australian landscape painters and the works of Morandi and Balthus. Light is a collection of still life and landscape beach works and a nod to her influencers, from her Dad to the Dutch masters. As the name suggests, her works focus on the depiction of light.

Complete your Gold Coast art experience with a night at designer hotel QT Gold Coast. Why not?… It’s romantic. It’s fun.

Opening Night

September 26

6 – 8pm

Image: Fish Will Fly, Oil, acrylic and paper on canvas, 2015 – Jess Watts