OBSERVER: Art Column with Peter Kemp
National Works on Paper
Congratulations to Adam Lee, winner of the National Works on Paper 2026 $20,000 Major Acquisitive Award for his work You Are The Wind, I Am The Song, and to Emma Bingham, winner of the Emerging Artist award for her work Holding Pattern.
The Mornington Peninsula Regional Galler’s National Works on Paper was established in 1998 and incorporated the former Spring Festival of Drawing and Prints acquisitive which began in 1973 and 1074.
With a long and rich history, NWOP attracts leading contemporary artists from across Australia working in the fields of drawing, printmaking, digital prints and paper sculpture.
Exhibition closes November 22.
MPRG
Civic Reserve, Dunns Rd, Mornington
Benalla
Speedscapes – Nick Beylart
Speedscapes captures the way the wide flat plains of North Central Victoria are experienced at6 speed fast glimpses of sprawling agricultural country seen most often by road or rail, across long vistas between roadside tree. Referencing the verticality and gestural mark-making of 20th century Australian painters, these works are memories of light and lines seen throughout the Goulburn Valley and beyond built up through layers of paper, paint, and spray.
Nicki Beylart is a former paper conservator and works in an unique mixed media style developed from his training in Melbourne and in Asia. Fine layers of kozo tissues are tinted, painted conservation techniques, to create atmospheric landscapes punctuated with trees, branches and shadows.
Exhibition closes Sunday November 8.
Benalla Art Gallery
Botanical Gadens, Bridge St, Benalla.
Queenscliff
The Call if Home – Romany Mollison
Romany Mollison’s atmospheric paintings convey the beauty and emotional resonance of the landscapes that surround her. Her work draws on vi vistas close to home in the Adelaide Hills, as well as Tasmania, Northern England and Western Victoria.
Captivated by changing light, shifting seasons, and movement of shadow and mist, Mollison depicts both the natural world – morning fog, rolling hills, misty valleys and silvery winter light – and the quiet presence of the pastoral landscape, with ghostly gums, distant roads and farmhouses emerging through the haze,
Continuing the tradition of classical landscape painting, Mollison seeks to capture fleeting moments of stillness and beauty. From intimate smaller scale paintings to large-scale immersive work, her paintings evoke sense of quiet, restorative calm. Exhibition closes September 27.
Salt Contemporary Art
33-35 Hesse St, Queenscliff
Hawthorn
IIlluminated Stillness – Lucy Watts
Flowers in vases, a table set for no occasion, stacked books and glass bottles catching the light. Lucy Watts community exhibition Illuminated Stillness honours the quiet poetry of everyday objects and domestic rituals.
Inspired by the distinctive glow and patterned light filtering through the leadlight windows of her home, Watts explores the emotional resonance of familiar settings and simple moments. Working both in linocut and acrylic she experiments with textures and processes to capture depth and mood and atmosphere in each scene in a particular time.
Exhibition closes September 18.
Town Hall Gallery
360 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn
Caulfield
Where Does the River know Where To Go? – Luke Zhai
Luke Zhia, winner of the 2025 Youth Art Exhibition (16-25 category) presents his exhibition Where does the River Know Where To Go?
Using the river as a central idea, the exhibition explores how we think about direction, purpose and identity.
Rather than fixed answers, the works suggest that direction unfolds over the through movement, change and direction.
Through a series of paintings, Luke explores themes of flow, path and connection, moving from realistic imagery to more symbolic and expressive forms.
Exhibition closes Sunday October 4.
Glen Eira Gallery
Cnr Glen Eira Rd and Hawthorn Rd.
Caufield
Peter Kemp