Emu Island – Modernism in Place

Penrith Regional Art Gallery & Lewers Bequest 26 August - 19 November 2017

Once the home and studio of artists Margo and Gerald Lewers, the Penrith Regional Gallery & Lewers Bequest site was - and is today – a place of lively debate, artistic creation and exhibition at the foot of the Blue Mountains on the banks of the Nepean River, an area once known as Emu Island. The Gallery site was an ‘island of modernism’ in the Australian suburbs. The Lewers’ home was founded on the principles of modernism - they lived, worked and entertained like-minded contemporaries set on fostering modernism as a holistic way of living. Curated by Dr Shirley Daborn together with consulting curator Dr Cassi Plate, Emu Island – Modernism in Place highlights the cultural significance of the Gallery’s history and site to Modernism in Australia. Emu Island – Modernism in Place showcases the work of the Lewers and their immediate contemporaries over the four-decades of their residence (1942-1978). In this place, artists and friends gathered and were inspired by the energy and experimentation of the Lewers home, and beyond, by a rapidly changing world. The exhibition features works by those at the heart of Sydney Modernism: Margo and Gerald Lewers, Frank and Margel Hinder, Judy Cassab, John Olsen, Tony Tuckson, Carl Plate and Robert Klippel among others.