New retrospective showcases Townsville art great
Date published: 18 June 2021
A career-spanning retrospective of Townsville-based artist Robert Preston will be exhibited for the first time at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery from today.
Inner Visions: Observation, Abstraction and Imagination, 1955-2021 is the largest and most comprehensive selection of Preston’s work.
Community and Cultural Development Committee chairperson Ann-Maree Greaney said the exhibition would include never-before-seen pieces.
“More than 65 years of artistic work are going to be on display when Inner Visions opens this week,” Cr Greaney said.
“Not only does this retrospective include key works from each of Preston’s periods, it also includes never-before exhibited student works, studies, commissions and commercial pieces.”
Cr Greaney said Preston was perhaps best known for his career-defining work Communion to the Trees.
“For the first time in 20 years, we will be exhibiting Communion to the Trees in its entirety. This is a beautiful manuscript that draws from the controversial Gospels of the Essenes and includes illustrations based on the flora of North Queensland,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing this expansive exhibition in full when it opens this week.”
Inner Visions: Observation, Abstraction and Imagination, 1955-2021 is curated by Townsville City Galleries creative director Jonathan McBurnie and runs from Friday 18 June to Sunday 22 August 2021.
Entry to Perc Tucker Regional Gallery is free. For more information, visit What's On Townsville.
