31 January -
1 March 2025
Gertrude Glasshouse
44 Glasshouse Road, CollingwoodOpening event:
Thurs 30 Jan, 6-8pm
Founded in 2017 by Gertrude Patrons Michael Schwarz & David Clouston and Antje & Andrew Géczy, the Glasshouse Stonehouse partnership is an annual opportunity for two invited Antipodean artists. Following a 6-week residency in Chenaud, France, the selected artists present an exhibition at Gertrude Glasshouse, which is supported by a publication the following year. In mid 2024 Alex Pittendrigh and Michelle Ussher undertook a residency at Chenaud, reconnecting their artistic friendship spanning more than twenty years. This exhibition presents two new series of works that draw on their separate research during their Stonehouse residency, creating a dialogue between the artists’ practices. Both artists have responded to the regional characteristics of Chenaud. Ussher’s work developed specifically from the carved rock monolithic churches of Aubetterre and Saint Emilion and the sound of the Romanesque church bell that was the residency’s temporal marker, whereas Pittendrigh paintings draw from the religious totems and geographic specificities of Chenaud and its surrounds to create whimsical evocations of form, line and light.
Alex Pittendrigh is an artist based in Naarm Melbourne and Tanja, New South Wales. Recent solo exhibitions and projects have been presented at Shepparton Art Museum, Victoria (2019), XXX Space, Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand (2018), Stereo Exchange, Copenhagen, Denmark (2018), Murray White Room, Melbourne (2007-2016); Robert Heald Gallery, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand (2015), and Contemporary Art Tasmania, Hobart (2014). Group exhibitions include Lurid Beauty, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2015); ART#2 ACCA Regional Tour: Hamilton, Hamilton Art Gallery, Victoria (2011); Wilderness, Art Gallery of New South Wales (2010); Uncanny Nature, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2006); Alex has undertaken residencies at Stereo Exchange, Copenhagen, Denmark (2018); Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France (2012); Hamilton Art Gallery, Victoria (2011); and The British School at Rome, Italy (2002). Alex Pittendrigh is represented by Murray White Room, Naarm Melbourne.
Michelle Ussher is an artist based in London, UK. Recent solo exhibitions include Art Gallery of Western Australia (2019), Artspace, Sydney (2015), TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria (2014), Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (2008), and Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne (2008). Selected recent group exhibitions include, Thin Skin, MUMA (2023), TarraWarra Biennial 2018: From Will to Form, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria; The Green Ray, Wilkinson Gallery, London (2016), The White Hotel, Gimpel Fils, London (2014) and Hysteria, Laughter & Seriousness, Karma International (2012) and Gregor Staiger (2012) in Zurich, Adelaide Biennial 2012: Parallel Collisions, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. Michelle has contributed writing to Frieze Masters Magazine on Edward Vuillard, Philosophy Kitchen on Nicole Eisenman and Catherine Malabou, and Daniel Sinsel for Office Baroque Brussels. Michelle is a PhD Candidate at Kingston University, and teaches at Central Saint Martins, London and West Dean College, Sussex. Michelle Ussher is represented by Station, Melbourne & Sydney
Alex Pittendrigh was in the Gertrude Studio Program from 2003 – 2004. Michelle Ussher was in the Gertrude Studio program from 2005 – 2006.
The artists wish to thank Michael Schwarz, David Clouston, Antje and Andrew Géczy for their generous support, and Mark Feary and Amelia Winata for their curation and direction. Alex would like to additionally thank Brent Harris and Andrew Browne for their generosity in availing their studio in preparation for the exhibition.
