Exhibition dates: 24th July – 22nd August, 2023
Official opening: Saturday 29th July, 4-6pm
Official guest speaker: Sandra Conte, Arts Consultant & Curator
ca Gallery is privileged to present the works of the late John Rigby DUniv and Joy Roggenkamp OAM, in concurrent exhibitions jointly titled ‘Visions of Land and Sea’.
John Rigby and Joy Roggenkamp were both acclaimed Queensland contemporary artists from the latter half of the 20th century.
We are incredibly fortunate to share this collection of works courtesy of their families, and selected for their representation of each artists genre and passion for the landscape, featuring some iconic scenes from the Sunshine Coast.
Online catalogues will be available from early July.
Please register your interest via email.
JOHN RIGBY
The vibrant and diverse artistry of the late artist John Thomas Rigby (1922–2012) will be showcased in this special exhibition. Art lovers on the Sunshine Coast will have the extraordinary opportunity to immerse themselves in nearly 60 captivating artworks gathered around the theme of Visions of Land and Sea.
Renowned as one of Queensland’s leading art figures during the second half of the 20th century, Rigby’s artistic legacy will be on display through artworks drawn from the remarkable collections of his three children – Mark, Renée, and Tony. This exhibition is a rare occasion to appreciate and acquire some of Rigby’s interpretations of Queensland’s breathtaking coastlines, picturesque countryside, and more distant iconic locations such as Kakadu, Central Australia, and the tropical South Pacific.
While Rigby was also well known for his portraits and genre works, this exhibition is mainly devoted to landscapes and particularly acknowledges his love of the area north of Brisbane. He began his artistic endeavours during some of his teenage years growing up in the Glass House Mountains during the 1930s. He had an enduring attraction to the Sunshine Coast and its hinterland until his late eighties and this exhibition includes coastal landscapes of Coolum and Noosa.
In 1955, Rigby won the Italian Government Travelling Art Scholarship. This was his first major national prize. After returning to Australia in 1958, he won the Australian Women’s Weekly Portrait Prize with a portrait of his wife Margaret. He was a finalist 24 times in the Archibald Prize, 24 times in the Wynne Prize for his landscapes, and 21 times in the Sulman Prize for genre and subject matter; winning the 1962 Sulman Prize with an oil painting titled ‘Children dancing’.
Beyond his contributions to the fine art world, Rigby’s career spanned across multiple artistic endeavours. From the age of 16 until 1972, he worked as a commercial artist. For 18 years, he served as a Trustee of the Queensland Art Gallery, helping guide its relocation from Gregory Terrace to its current home at South Bank in Brisbane. Additionally, Rigby dedicated a decade as the officer-in-charge of fine art at the Queensland College of Art. Throughout his life, he conducted art classes and served as a judge for numerous art prizes throughout Queensland.
Rigby received an Honorary Doctorate from Griffith University in 1994, honouring his considerable services to the arts and education. In 2001, he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Queensland Art Society, and in 2003, he was made a Companion of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences. His work is represented in many public galleries as well as corporate and private collections.
JOY ROGGENKAMP
Joy Roggenkamp OAM (1928-1999) was a significant artist of her generation, celebrated and awarded for her skill in the medium of watercolour. From the collection of her family, we are delighted to exhibit a selection of her works including iconic Sunshine Coast landscapes, scenes from travels to New Guinea, portraits of children, wildflowers and sailing boats. The exhibition includes a series of her stunning watercolours, as well as a selection of acrylic works.
Joy Roggenkamp commenced her early arts education privately in 1943, under the instruction of Percy Stanhope Hobday, and later that decade under the tutelage of Melville Haysom. During this time Joy also studied physiotherapy at the University of Queensland. In 1955, Joy attended classes with Jon Molvig at his Kangaroo Point studio, and here continued to develop her own style, lending to deft strokes and flowing, calligraphic lines and compositions. Her first major award was the 1959 Queensland Art Gallery LJ Harvey Prize for drawing, and her most significant successes in her artistic career: receiving the Art Gallery of NSW Trustee’s Watercolour Prize in 1962, the Pring prizes of 1966, 1967, and the Wynne Prize in 1968. Joy was a founding member of the Queensland branch of the Contemporary Art Society in 1957, and held regular exhibitions across the capital cities of the states of Australia from the late 1940’s until the 1980’s (excluding Western Australia). Her work is held in public collections nationally including QAGOMA, AGNSW, and NAG, and private collections.
Joy sat as subject for Jon Molvig’s (1923-1970) Archibald finalist portrait in 1962, which was acquired by the University of Queensland Art Museum in 2012. In 1997 she was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her arts practice as well as service in judging of the arts.
From the late 1950’s, Joy’s paintings often featured the landscapes of the Sunshine Coast owing to the families time spent at their holiday house near to Dicky Beach, Caloundra. Her work captures the wildflowers of Currimundi (pre-Nicklin Way), coastal landscapes, vistas to the Glass House Mountains, and notably children enjoying the playfulness of childhood; flying kites, maypoles, picking flowers, and playing at the beach.
