CDU Art Gallery to open new Salon exhibition

Charles Darwin University Art Gallery’s companion exhibition to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA) will open to the public on Thursday, 9 August.

Now in its third year at CDU and kicking off the Darwin Festival, the Salon des Refusés exhibition – or SALON18 – features art works that were entered into, but not selected for, NATSIAA.

CDU Art Gallery Curator, Kellie Joswig said the Salon concept provided a showcase for art that was not chosen for the final NATSIAA exhibition.

The original Salon des Refusés was an exhibition that took place in Paris in 1863, showing works that had been rejected by the official Paris Salon.

“The concept allows artists to still be part of an exciting exhibition, even if they weren’t chosen for the awards. It also gives audiences the opportunity to see excellent Indigenous art that otherwise would not be displayed,” Ms Joswig said.

“SALON18 is a carefully curated exhibition featuring 45 works in a range of media, including a unique comic strip artwork by a talented young Western Australian artist, a unique metal sculpture, fantastic paintings on canvas, and a pair of beautiful glass vessels by renowned ACT artist Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello.

“The exhibition will surely be one to rival that of the NATSIAA,” she said.

The exhibition is hosted by CDU Art Gallery and presented by SALON Art Projects.

SALON18 will be open from 9 August until 6 October.

For more information visit W: cdu.edu.au/artgallery