Sue Smith Exhibition Western Serenade

WESTERN SERENADE'

An exhibition by Sue Smith

The Blue Mirror, 153 Auckland Street, Gladstone 

Friday 7 – Sat 29 October
(Open Tue – Sat 7 am – 12 noon)

A vivid orange sunset with billowing clouds. A lonely rider on a hill plaintively strums his guitar.

Sue Smith has a flair for capturing the heat and colour of the Outback, and evoking the action of classic Western films along with their corresponding mythology. Although the days of an untamed frontier are long gone, the cowboy’s life remains an inspiration for many. The Blue Mirror Gallery, Gladstone, is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by Sue Smith, whose work will inspire, provoke and mesmerise.

Left: Sunset serenade

View the online flip book catalogue here https://suesmith.art/western-serenade-catalogue/

Many of the paintings capture the iconic imagery of the West  ̶  cowboys and cattle, roundups, sunsets and cinema stars (the Lone Ranger and Clint Eastwood, the star of many spaghetti westerns, make appearances in two of the works).

Cactus serenade (Left)  
The one that got away (Right)

Sue Smith tells many tales of the West, from cowgirls and rodeo queens (including a surreal scene of cowgirl climate activists holding up a coal train) to Indigenous drovers and wild horses at home in our vast open landscapes.

I want your vote (Left)
No Exit (Ambush at High noon) Right

The scenes pictured are often comical but sometimes have a profound subtext, with considerations of human vulnerability at the heart of the work. The Man with no name and I want your vote with their menacing so-called “good guys” play up the ambiguity between villains and heroes, underscoring the essential duality in human nature. No Exit (Ambush at High Noon) a surreal work depicting a small dog ambushed by snarling cats, draws on the classic Western film High Noon, where Gary Cooper faces a showdown with a gang of gunslingers  ̶  reminding us of the inevitability of death and the need to lead a meaningful life in preparation.While her subject matter varies from the traditional to the surreal, Smith’s photorealistic scenes employ a Pop Art style featuring bold flat colours and linear outlines.

Sue Smith lives and works in Rockhampton, central Queensland. Her work is in the collections of the Stockman’s Hall of Fame, Longreach, the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, The CQUniversity Art Collection and many private collections.

Train to nowhere (End of the line)                                                         Rodeo queen