Mixing Altona Meadows’ landscape with the work of local artists is the focus of a new contemporary art exhibition.
Running from Friday, March 10 to Sunday, March 26, Dear Agnes pays tribute to the land artwork created in Altona in 1998 by New York-based environmental artists Agnes Denes.
Her commissioned work, A Forest for Australia, was created and installed as a series of tree plantings within the environs of the Altona Treatment Plant in Queen Street in Altona Meadows.
A Forest for Australia included a ‘forest’ of 6000 endangered tree species planted into five spirals in Altona Meadows, so that trees at varying heights at maturity would create a step pyramid, would create seed supply and help alleviate serious land erosion and desertification.
Dear Agnes will be open to the public for nine days over three weekends at Truganina Explosives Reserve in Altona.
Hobsons Bay mayor Tony Briffa said the artworks are “incredible” interpretations and tributes to Denes’ work.
“Dear Agnes is a wonderful collection of contemporary art that inspires us to think of our local landscape in a different way,” Cr Briffa said.
“This exhibition is a love letter to Agnes, thanking and honouring her for the ground-breaking work she has done, both in our own backyard in Altona, and around the world.”
The exhibition will feature a mix of sculptural installation, digital works and diverse experiences.
Local Hobsons Bay and western artists, public art masters students from RMIT University and visual arts students from Deakin University are participating in the program after Hobsons Bay council’s callout for artists.
The selected artists have been working on developing site-responsive artworks since June 2022, with artists able to access the site, as well as mentors through the universities’ academics.
Details: www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/dearagnes
Matthew Sims
