Customs House Gallery hosted the grand opening of its new exhibition, The Bendigo Collective on Friday, March 8.
The exhibition showcased the talents of 18 Bendigo artists, most of whom attended the grand opening.
There were 80 pieces on display in a diverse range of mediums, including paintings, drawings, digital art, photography and mixed media pieces.
Customs House Gallery is owned and operated by Alan Davidson and Kate Villarroel, who were ecstatic to be running the Bendigo Collective exhibition.
Ms Villarroel discussed how both became inspired to host the showing after seeing another exhibition in Bendigo last year.
“This exhibition is a culmination of months of planning as we were inspired by the exceptional artworks featured at the Bendigo Open Studios in October 2023,” she said.
“We recognised the need for a community art gallery in the area and saw the potential for a group exhibition to bring the artists together and showcase their styles and techniques.”
With most of the Bendigo Collective artists present on opening night, there was much excitement and reflection on the journey that led them there.
Chris Duffy, the artist who organised for most of the artists to exhibit their work in the gallery, was happy with how all the pieces came together.
“I was great; they approached me to collect the artists because I knew a few of them in Bendigo; I share a studio with some of the artists here tonight,” he said.
“It has been fantastic; everyone’s work is brilliant, so I’m very proud.
“I’m wrapped with the quality of the work as well.”
Mr Duffy thanked Mr Davidson and Ms Villarroel for staging the exhibition and engaging in a collaborative process where the artists could have their say.
“The fact that Allan, Kate, and Customs House have been so welcoming and open to something new is great; it’s been a very friendly and positive experience,” he said.
Nathan Sims, AKA Mr Dimples, is a Bendigo street artist who is also part of the exhibition; translated two of his works into canvas to have them on display at Customs House.
Mr Sims was thankful for the opportunity and happy to share work that has become therapy for him when life has been challenging.
“Because it is like therapy on a canvas, I need an idea or concept to get across, lately I’ve been pushing boundaries about stereotypes,” he said.
“It’s great because we don’t have many commercial galleries in Bendigo, so the fact that Echuca has been so supportive of us is excellent.
“It’s nice to celebrate local talent, even though it’s not in our town.”
Katherine Waight, one of the newest artists on display, painted portraits of actors or musicians and superimposed them onto pages from books that their films or songs are based on.
“My paintings are acrylic over book pages; I usually get a prominent actor or musician and put it on novel pages that associate with that celebrity,” she said.
“Showing here I have Kate Winslet over The Dressmaker, Johnny Depp over Chocolat and Kate Bush with Wuthering Heights.”
Ms Waight was thankful to Customs House Gallery for showing the Collective’s works, as they don’t get much exposure in the Bendigo community.
Ms Waight hoped that Echuca community members will come and view the art and take something away from it.
“It’s been really good because Alan and Kate opened it up to Bendigo artists because we are not represented in the Bendigo art scene.”
“It’s been a good opportunity for the locals to come and look as well.”
The Bendigo Collective exhibition will continue to be displayed at Customs House Gallery during April and May.
All of the artwork is available for purchase.