Bundanon: Painting a Promised Land

6 - 17 March 2024

Matthew Elliott, On the River, Bundanon

Gifted to the Australian people in 1993 by Arthur and Yvonne Boyd, the Bundanon property is located on 1,100 hectares of land overlooking the Shoalhaven River on Dharawal and Dhurga Country, two and a half hours south of Sydney. The wildlife sanctuary and cultural complex includes an art museum, the heritage-listed Boyd family homestead, Arthur Boyd’s original studio, and supports a dynamic, interdisciplinary artist in residence program.

Bundanon: Painting a Promised Land presents a new suite of abstract paintings and gestural drawings by artists Luke Abdallah and Matthew Elliott, produced throughout and in the aftermath of their 2022 Accessible Arts Bundanon Artist Residency. Accompanied by a feature documentary film, the exhibition is a multi-sensory showcase of Luke and Matt’s unique perspectives and approaches to artmaking, and their considered, emotive response to the site.

The exhibition is curated by Zachariah Fenn and supported by Studio ARTES – a not-for-profit organisation that delivers creative programs in visual arts, performing arts, and life skills for adults living with disability. 

About the Artists

Born totally blind and living with elective mutism, Luke Abdallah creates expressive, abstract paintings, applying paint in swathes of texture and colour. Entranced in his artistic process, Abdallah’s gestural strokes capture his actions and movement, forming a tapestry of rhythmic energy.

Matthew Elliott is a practicing artist living with Cerebral Palsy. As an abstract painter and drawer he has a fascination with dream states, creating lucid ‘mindscapes’ with a range of media that draw inspiration from the natural environment.

Luke Abdallah and Matthew Elliott work alongside one another as long-term members of Studio ARTES Northside.

Bundanon: Painting a Promised Land  is supported by the Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf Community Exhibitions Program.