Exhibition Program
Riddoch Art Gallery seeks to inspire, challenge, educate and present the visual arts in a way that
promotes an understanding of the world with a local, national and international perspective.

Current  Exhibitions

During 2010 while the Gallery is undergoing redevelopment exhibitions will be held outside the Gallery walls.  Starting February 2010 Riddoch Art Gallery will host exhibitions called First Fridays at Molten Chocolate Cafe.  These small-scale exhibitions will focus on our local artists.  

Past Exhibitions

prospectsProspects:  Re-imaging Gold Country at Ophir and Hill End
Works on paper and photographs by Ken Orchard and Ed Douglas
Saturday 19 September - Sunday 6th December 2009

Orchard and Douglas were collaborative Artists in Residence at the Haefliger and Murray Cottage Hill End, NSW.   They explored with camera and brush the historic gold-mining landscapes of Hill End and Ophir.  Comprising more than 50 works, in the medium of ink and pastel, and richly detailed black and white photographs, Orchard and Douglas have produced a significant body of work in response to historical locations and images made at different periods in the history of the area.  
The exhibition includes four original lithographs of Ophir by George French Angas (1851), a copy of Our Antipodes, (1852)
illustrating the Ophir gold-field, and a rare panoramic photograph Hawkins Hill, Hill End (c. 1872-3) by Beaufoy Merlin                                                                              and Charles Bayliss, all on loan from private collections

jo jo spooks

Migrants in Our Community
Tuesday 27 September - Sunday 6th December 2009

Everyone is influenced directly or indirectly by migrations:  through travel, food, fashion or lifestyle.  A number of local artists were invited  to submit artworks inspired by their individual international experience.  Forty-seven pieces are on display including paintings, photography, limestone sculpture, and textiles.  Come an view this display of local artwork.  Jo Jo Spook,  Bamboo Obi


contemporary showContemporary Art From the Riddoch Art Gallery Collection
Works on paper and photographs by Ken Orchard and Ed Douglas
Saturday 19 September - Sunday 6th December 2009

Approximately 50 works from the permanent Gallery collection are on display.  Included in this exhibition are pottery, sculpture, tapestry and paintings providing a rich display in colour, medium, style, and texture.  This exhibition can be enjoyed by everyone.


friendly showThe Friendly Show
Celebrating 25 years of the Friends of Riddoch Art Gallery Saturday 26 September - Sunday 25 October 2009                                              

                                                                                                                              In celebration of  25 years of the Friends of Riddoch Art Gallery a selection of artwork from the Riddoch collection will be on view.  Approximately 30 works have been acquired through funds raised by the Friends which we are pleased to present.



admella jugCatastrophe, Courage and Commitment
The Story of the Wreck of the Admella 6th August 1859              
7th August to 20th Septemberadmella logI

It was  August 5th 1859, The SS Admella a luxury steamer set sail from Port Adelaide to Melbourne.  At the time, the ship was praised as one of the safest and most luxurious ships ever built.  However, the storm on the next day was ferocious, and forced the Admella onto Carpenter Rocks.  The lodge ship split into 3 parts.  100 people were stranded on the rocks and had to wait 8 days before the could be rescued.  This exhibition relives this historical event.  See a model of the SS Admella, view a collection of artifacts that survived the wreck, read about our local ancestors, Mr. Crouch, Mr. Fidler, and Dr. Wehl and their attempts to rescue the stranded passengers, and read of the stories of other heroic rescuers.


Iris FrameIris Frame
Land of Fantasy
1st September to 20th September 2009

Iris Frame collection is a recent acquisition for the Riddoch Collection.

Mrs. Iris Frame (1915-2003) was born in the Murray River and lived her last years in Tarpeena.  Over her lifetime she would have painted thousands of paintings.  Unfortunately, many paintings were lost, so the series of works that the Riddoch obtained are from her last period of life.  From the 1950's  onwards she created mythological creatures that inhabitated the southeast landscape of South Australia.  Frame incorporated lyrical poems into her paintings.  One painting, Sharra Sharra Wira Lees she refers to them as rascals and they are responsible in her mythological landscape for turning the Blue Lake blue every year.  She paints straight from the tube, she does not do any colour mixing, and it sits flat onto Masonite boards adding to the whimsical nature of her paintings.   

"...The more you look at her work, the more you see.  Naturally, the work speaks for itself visually, and critics no doubt  will make their own judgement in good time."  
Rimas Riauba, artist/writer
For further information on Iris Frame and her work listen to Lucia Pichler, Director, Riddoch Art Gallery on ABC Radio.  Click Jewel: Iris Frame
admellaImpressions of Catastrophe, Courage
and Commitment
Community Exhibition
7th August to 13th September

admella logoTwenty-five local Artists are exhibition artwork depicting their impressions of what happened 150 years ago to the Admella.  Art pieces include paintings, poems, quilts and pottery.  Several artists participated in the maritime watercolour workshop held at the Gallery.