Award-winning author David Malouf will discuss autobiography and self-portraiture at 2pm on Saturday, June 5 at the University of Queensland’s recently opened new art museum.
The talk is part of a free series being held at 2pm every Saturday until June 19 in the James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre, St Lucia, in association with the exhibition, ‘To Look Within: Self Portraits in Australia’.
Malouf will speak about the parallels between autobiographical writing and the self-portrait, making reference to works in ‘To Look Within’, which continues until Sunday 20 June 2004.
The first survey exhibition of Australian self-portraiture, the exhibition comprises 100 paintings, prints and photographs, from the colonial period to the present by a diverse range of artists, including Rupert Bunny, Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, William Dargie, Fred Williams, Tracy Moffatt, Margaret Olley, Jeffrey Smart, Gordon Bennett and Mike Parr.
Malouf’s first novel, Johnno (1975) is the semi-autobiographical story of a young man growing up in Brisbane during World War Two, a period in the author’s life he later wrote about in his memoir, 12 Edmondstone Street.
Upcoming speakers in the program include:
• Bettina MacAulay, art historian, curator and consultant on self-portraits by women, on May 22.
• Glenn Cooke, Research Curator, Queensland Heritage, Queensland Art Gallery, who will discuss Jon Molvig’s 1956 Self-Portrait and other artists of the Molvig era, on May 29.
• Artist Stewart MacFarlane, on his 2001 self-portrait, Father to Be and Luke Roberts on his 1970s self-portraits featuring his persona Alice Jitterbug, on June 12.
• Associate Professor Margaret Maynard, University of Queensland School of English, Media Studies and Art History, who will analyse ways in which artists in the exhibition have represented themselves through dress, on June 19.
The James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre is located in the forecourt of the Forgan Smith Building, The University of Queensland, St Lucia campus.
It is open from 10am to 4pm Tuesday to Saturday (closed Mondays and public holidays) and admission is free.
For information visit www.uq.edu.au/mayne centre or phone 07 3365 3046.
Free parking is available on weekends in car parks on Sir Fred Schonell Drive.
