Contemporising the Modern: Australian Modern and Contemporary Photography

7 September - 28 October 2018

Contemporising the Modern - Photography from the Russell Mills Collection, features over 50 Iconic Australian photographs from some of Australia’s best known artists, including iconic works by Max Dupain and Olive Cotton through to Contemporary work by Bill Henson and Narelle Autio.

Contemporising the Modern is a touring exhibition from the Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA) and tours with funding from the Russell Mills Foundation, a foundation set up by the late Russell Mills to encourage the arts and social justice in Australia.

Russell Mills began collecting photography in the 1990s.Over an 18-year period he collected major images by recognised Australian photographers, including Robert McFarlane’s Bea nude (1978), Kerry Dundas’s Harbor side Life (1952), Roger Scott’s Queenscliff, Sydney (1975), and Wolfgang Sievers’ The Gears for the Mining Industry (1967).

Mills was initially drawn to the work of Australian photographer Olive Cotton, who achieved long-overdue recognition for her photography during the mid-1980s. Mills was captivated by Cotton’s imagery and acquired four works, making her the most represented photographer in his collection. The works included icons such as Teacup ballet (c.1935), Only to taste the warmth, the light, the wind (c.1939), Glasses (1937) and Fire escape (1935/1995).

Also well represented in the Mills collection is the work of Max Dupain including the iconic Sunbaker (1937/1980s), which has become synonymous with the advent of modernism in Australian photography.

Mills Foundation Chair and Russell’s niece, Alexandra Mills says, ‘Collections reflect the lives and loves of those who build them. This exhibition records the evolution of one man's passionate engagement with the beauty and power of photography.’

‘MAMA is pleased to share these photographs with audiences across the country says MAMA Director Bree Pickering. ‘And we are grateful both to Russell Mills and his Foundation for enabling them to be seen throughout regional Australia’.

Click here for more information on MAMA collections.

PUBLIC PROGRAM

Photography and Philanthropy

Sunday 28 October, 1-3pm

Join MAMA Exhibitions coordinator and photographer Jules Boag and Dennis Foster, Director of the Russell Mills Foundation for a walk through the exhibition Contemporising the Modern on Sunday 28 October. $5 per head, bookings though Eventbrite (refreshments served).

Click here to make a booking.

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