A fascinating and animated talk was presented to a group of Friends at Twentysix Gallery in Newtown on a recent Friday morning. The Artists on Artists exhibition is the brainchild of curator and exhibiting artist, Lindsey Horne.
Artists on Artists is a group portraiture exhibition where each artist is the subject of another artist’s work. Often behind the scenes, behind the camera and behind the canvas, artists themselves are not often in the spotlight. This exhibition places the artists in the frame as the key subject matter.
Lindsey says she was inspired by the late photographer Marti Friedlander who took photographs of artists. She made Lindsey realise that artists make fascinating subject, but they’re often behind the canvas or behind the frame. 
Like links in a chain, we followed the artworks around the exhibition while Lindsey described how each artist painted, photographed and created work of another artist. The exercise was highly collaborative – as the artists sit and pose for each other, they had the opportunity to connect with each other, learn from one another, share work and ideas. There was one important caveat…. as they were not the ones commissioning the portraits, they had to accept the portraits as they were presented – whether they liked them or not!
The exhibiting artists are a diverse cohort, not only in demographics but across both emerging artists and established artists, and a diverse range of disciplines – featuring photographers, painters and illustrators as well as traditional wet plate photographers and authors. Portraits ranged from the very detailed to the very abstract, from the intimate to the flamboyant.
Artists exhibiting included Ritchie Adamson, Pam Brabants, Samson Dell, Kiran Morar, Delilah Te Aōrere Pārore Southon, Kieran Lowe, Vanessa Green, Hugo Van Dorsser, Billy McQueen, Belinda Griffiths, Marcel Kalma, Lindsey Horne, Clark Roworth and Jessica Gurnsey.
A thoroughly delightful session was enjoyed by all and we look forward to seeing it again in what promises to become an annual event.
Liz Medford, member.