The exhibition
Maitland Regional Art Gallery - 16 Oct 2021 – 6 Feb 2022
A view of part of the exhibition, A Conspicuous Object - The Maitland Hospital, at the Maitland Regional Art Gallery.
For the exhibition, ten artists were invited to respond to the hospital site and to stories about the hospital. Their task was to capture the diversity of experiences, people, items and places that make up Maitland Hospital.
Each artist focused on a particular aspect of the hospital and its history. The aim was to present both familiar and unfamiliar moments, invite reflection, offer challenges, and evoke the complex and layered nature of this object that has peered across Maitland since the 1840s. The aim was also to highlight the ways in which art, history and health can intertwine to tell stories, offer distraction and engage community memories.
The exhibition included items from the Maitland Hospital Collection.
For an overview of the exhibition from the curators’ perspective, view the video:
Curators’ talk.
Produced by Newy Digital for Maitland Regional Art Gallery, December 2021.
Click on the images below to view more details about each artist’s works and the exhibition.
G.W. Bot - It all takes place in the garden
Linda Greedy - Hospital blue
Oliver Harlan - First light last light
Anita Johnson - An archaeology of care
Adrian Lockhart - Inspired by the people.
Catharine Neilson - Little things
Catharine Neilson - Working, caring, recovering, reflecting
Peter O'Doherty - Facelifts, rebuilds, additions and adaptions
Susan O'Doherty - Stitched together
Peter Poulet - Fragments of memory
Lesley Salem - Birthing at Maitland Hospital
Maitland Hospital rocking horse and Peter Poulet paintings
Equipment and instruments - Measuring, diagnosing, treating
Books, records, photographs and documents - Books and records
Plaques and community involvement - Written in stone, metal and wood
A Conspicuous Object Art trail + Education Resource are available on the MRAG website: https://mrag.org.au/a-conspicuous-object-maitland-hospital/