Aura: Repetition, Reproduction and the Mark of the Artist features 10 artists who use printmaking techniques in their work. The unique purpose of this special project is to show the work of artists who leverage the supposed shortcomings of the printed media – such as reproduction, repetition, mechanical mediation and indirect mark-making – and by doing so, amplify the marks of the artist and the perceived “aura” of the works.

Aura has been curated by artist Ben Rak and is a Manly Art Gallery & Museum touring exhibition. The exhibition draws together a wide range of artists, some of whom have decades-long careers as printmakers, and others whose engagement with it has irrevocably changed the way they work, what they make and how they make it. The works on display in Aura bring together wall-based prints, installation, sculpture and video from emerging, mid-career and established artists.

Side by side, visitors can also eplore the intricate relationship between creator and artwork in Gestures: Traces of the hand, featuring prints by renowned artists drawn from the Gallery's own Margaret Carnegie Print Collection. From sweeping abstract lithographs to exquisitely detailed etchings, Gestures includes works by Arthur Boyd, Henry Moore, GW Bot and Frank Hodgkinson - and many more.

Aura and Gestures are both open from Saturday, December 9 and will officially be launched Friday, December 15 at 6pm. Both shows will run through the summer until Sunday, March 4.

Lola Greeno: Cultural Jewels 

THIS weekend is the final chance to enjoy Lola Greeno’s award-winning talent in shell-working, magnificently displayed in Cultural Jewels. An exhibition featuring fifty highly visual and textural works, each uniquely championing the traditions and culture of the Indigenous women of Tasmania’s Cape Barren and Flinders Islands.

The overarching theme of Cultural Jewels is storytelling: the meticulous crafting of stories of cultural knowledge, natural beauty, ancient traditions, and connectedness with the artist’s island home. It is also an exhibition of modern issues, featuring contemporary sculptural works that highlight Greeno’s concerns for the environmental future of shell stringing in northern Tasmania. Cultural Jewels closes on Sunday, December 10.