The Kedumba Collection of Australian Drawings exhibited at Orange Arts And Health for almost eight weeks during June and July 2012. The response was positive and comments very encouraging. Below is the wall text that Orange Arts And Health displayed during this period.

The Collection will stay at Orange and suitable drawings will continue to be exhibited in the gallery annex at the Orange Hospital.This is a first in Australia, where an annex of a Regional Gallery is in a hospital. This concept of displaying fine art for both unwell and well people is inspiring and Orange Arts And Health is to be congratulated for their vision.

Wall Text At Orange Arts And Health

The Kedumba Collection of Australian Drawings

The Kedumba Collection has become the most representative collection of drawings of this period in this country.

– John Olsen AO OBE

Orange Regional Gallery is delighted to present this extensive survey of the Kedumba Collection of Australian Drawings.

The Kedumba Collection embodies and reflects all the elements of outstanding drawing created in Australia over more than thirty years.

This is the first time in the Collection’s twenty-two year history that such an extensive selection is being shown at one time. Almost all of the works in the Kedumba Collection are shown here, giving audiences in the Central West an unprecedented overview of the art of drawing in Australia.

Since its inception in 1990, the Kedumba Collection has acquired almost two hundred drawings. These have been sourced from the annual Kedumba Drawing Award, approved gifts from artists and other benefactors, and acquisitions by the Trustees and Director on behalf of the Collection. As a result of this unique approach, the collection is considered by distinguished art authorities to be of outstanding significance and importance.

The diversity of work on display here highlights just how varied the personal visions of different artists can be within a single discipline. Artists represented include Rick Amor, Elisabeth Cummings, Rachel Ellis, Donald Friend, Kevin Lincoln, John Olsen, Lloyd Rees, Jan Senbergs and Aida Tomescu among many others.

It also demonstrates the varying subjective tastes of the judges of the Kedumba Drawing Award over the years, a list which includes notable artists such as Kevin Connor (1991), James Gleeson (1993), John Wolseley (1997), Garry Shead (2001), Nicholas Harding (2005), Cherry Hood (2007) and Jenny Sages (2008).

It is important to acknowledge the vital role that the Kedumba Award and Collection have played in fostering the appreciation of drawing in this country over the past two decades.

Drawing is the foundation of all visual art and this principle lies at the heart of the Kedumba Collection. While there are periods when the art of drawing is overlooked in teaching institutions and the art world, it continually re-emerges as an essential practice. This is largely because it is the primary means of visual expression, offering to the artist a direct and immediate way of responding to experiences and expressing ideas.

The appeal of drawing generally is that there are no secrets to how most drawings are made and it is less mediated than most digitally based or graphic arts. Usually burnt pieces of willow, a simple pencil or watercolour wash are enough. The rest depends on how well the artist integrates the hand, the eye and the mind.

Orange Regional Gallery would like to thank the Director Jeffrey Plummer, Curator Marlene Plummer and the Kedumba Trustees for allowing this significant collection to come to Orange.