About the exhibition

The exhibition Heartland is comprised of 42 works, primarily paintings (oil on linen) and drawings in mixed media. The inclusion of two small bronze sculptures reinforces the Exhibition’s central theme of love for the land. Revisiting Wangambeam, a large farmland holding in Central Victoria that held many family and childhood memories for Barrett, proved to be a turning point in his work. Wangambeam was in the process of being transformed into what is now Lindsay Park, home to the Australian Racehorse Training Centre complex of the renowned horse trainer David Hayes. At the time there were stables and fences but no people; gradually the work progressed, and along with major building renovations, other improvements took place including the re-vegetation and restoration of creek beds. This transformation and positive care for the land alerted Barrett to his own connection to the land and it became the focus of his work over 2009/2010. The Pastorale ‘theme’ gained emphasis after returning from a camping holiday through massive flooding – a spotlight on land and landscape undergoing change. Roads, fences and buildings are treated with the same attention as animals and the land. The viewer is invited in to Barrett’s identification with place and scene, and his perception of the integration of land form and made form. Barrett’s recent paintings employ a distinctive palette and characteristic light touch that convey a particular sense of time and place. Drawing not only underpins his painting, it remains clearly articulated in the finished work. The ‘bones’ of the painting is in the drawing.

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