Curator of the Brett Whiteley Studio Nick Yelverton.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
More than 250 guests gathered at Shepparton Art Museum for the sold-out opening.
For non-art lovers, the appeal may lie in the fact that he rubbed shoulders with Jimi Hendrix or that he asked Janis Joplin to babysit his child.
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For art lovers, Brett Whiteley was a star in his own right.
The latter gathered at Shepparton Art Museum on Friday, June 27, for the sold-out opening of Brett Whiteley: Inside the Studio, a Victorian-exclusive exhibition celebrating the Australian artist’s meteoric rise in the global art scene.
More than 250 guests sipped drinks from Elsewhere at SAM and swayed to vinyl spun by Record Per Tutti before key voices delivered the opening remarks.
Undeniably, the loudest voice in the room, not in decibels but in presence, was Wendy Whiteley.
“For me, history exists in the now,” Whiteley’s ex-wife and longtime muse said.
“It’s in the relationship between you (the audience) looking at the picture, and I just hope you get the same kind of charge from Brett’s work that I still get.”
Wendy Whiteley, Brett Whiteley’s ex-wife and muse, visited SAM for the first time.
The exhibition is a bold, sensory journey through the artist’s creative sanctuaries across London, New York, and Sydney.
From eye-catchers to head-scratchers, it features paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, ceramics, and collages from the collections of the Art Gallery of NSW and the Brett Whiteley Studio.
Some of which have rarely been shown in public.
Curator Nick Yelverton described it as “a blockbuster Whiteley exhibition”.
“There’s his iconic works, early masterpieces, and some really interesting drawings ... it’s a little bit of everything for everybody in this show,” he said.
“This gallery really lets the works sing.
“SAM has a lovely new museum here, and the team are dedicated and talented – we jumped into the opportunity to work with them.”
SAM artistic director Danny Lacy noted that the opening event sold out in about two hours, making it the largest launch the new building has ever experienced.
“It’s a real coup to be able to bring an exhibition of this scale and magnitude to SAM for the broader region,” he said.
Brett Whiteley’s 1976 Archibald Prize-winning self-portrait, Self portrait in the studio.
The exhibition arrives in Shepparton while Whiteley’s original Sydney studio undergoes renovations.
Ms Whiteley, visiting SAM for the first time, was taken aback by how the space breathed new life into the collection.
She encouraged both locals and tourists to visit.
However, she specifically wanted to shine Whiteley’s star power on a certain demographic.
“Pass it on to your children and grandchildren, they should come,” she said.
Brett Whiteley: Inside the Studio is on display until October 5 at the Shepparton Art Museum, 530 Wyndham St, Shepparton.
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