Wednesday 16 September

New Art Gallery for Kuranda

Contemporary art in Kuranda will have a new home this Sunday 20th of September with the d'ART GALLERY throwing open its doors to the community.

The brainchild of local artists Didi La Baysse, Iefje Boissevain, Kai Hagberg and Scott Bennett, d'ART GALLERY will feature the artists' work for sale and perusal as well as provide a fertile ground of inspiration and engagement for the greater Kuranda district.

Its founding owes as much to a shared artistic admiration as it does to the artists' shared desire to create meaningful dialogue with the local community. Co-founder Iefje Boissevain says it was a joint inspiration. "Kai, Didi and I have known each other for 20 years or more and Scott has recently relocated here from Brisbane after falling in love with the area,” she says. “The four of us get along really well. Didi had the space but not enough hours to commit herself full-time due to family commitments, Kai on the other hand was too busy at his jewellery bench creating rather than retailing. As a combined team we decided to create d'ART GALLERY within Didi's former gallery space.” Iefje says the venue is perfect as it centrally located on the main street in Kuranda Village.

"Apart from that we feel that Kuranda has a real need for a contemporary arts space aimed directly at the local residents and of course our visitors,” she says. “We really want to give local art collectors and enthusiasts a place where they could engage with art that speaks directly to their experience."

With community engagement as a key tenet of d'ART GALLERY's raison d'etre, visitors' experience of the space won't be limited to simply perusing works on walls. "We will be rotating so all of us will be at d'ART GALLERY at least a day and a half or two days each so we all get time to meaningfully interact with visitors,” Iefje says.

With each of the exhibiting artists mastering a number of different styles, and plans to expand the gallery's collection to include sculpture, limited edition prints and hand-blown glassware in the near future, visitors to d'ART GALLERY are sure to have their artistic appetites not only whet but completely sated.

About the artists…

Didi La Baysse
Didi's is an established Kuranda artist and has been selling world wide since 1991. Her acrylic paintings are generous with paint strokes, texture, energy and humour. Didi marries her Far Northern surroundings with her colourful French Polynesian influences with a whimsical imagination making her art work addictive and free spirited. Didi is also a gifted textile artist, sculptor and soon to release her own silver and gold jewellery line. Visit www.didi.net.au for more information.

Iefje Boissevain
Exploring the full diversity of colour, texture, application and moods, Cairns-based self-taught artist Iefje Boissevain, has created a canon of work that is both unique and uninhibited. Experimental in approach and resolved in execution, Boissevain's paintings showcase her distinctly individual style and commitment to expression. Visit www.underart.com.au for more information.

Kai Hagberg
Versatile, is the word that best describes Kai Hagberg as an Artist. A long-time resident of Kuranda. His works range from the fast and bold brush strokes of his Impressionist landscapes and portraits, sculpture in terra cotta and bronze to delicate jewellery in gold and silver. Visit www.kaihagberg.com for more information.

Scott Wilmot Bennett
An award winning painter, nominated this year as finalist in the prestigious Tattersall's Landscape Art Prize, alongside some of Australia's finest landscape painters, including 10 finalists from the Archibald, Wynne, Sulman and Dobell Art Prizes.  Scott recently moved to Kuranda from Brisbane, to take up painting full-time. His first love is the sea, and his seascapes are much in demand. Visit www.scottbennett.com.au for more information.

For more information or media enquiries, please contact Iefje Boissevain at d’ART Gallery on 0418 790 488.