This year Manly Art Gallery & Museum (MAG&M) celebrates 100 years of public collecting.  As part of this milestone, a still life painting by contemporary Australian artist Jude Rae has been specially commissioned. 

We spoke to the artist recently about her creative process, the work itself, and the importance of regional public galleries like MAG&M.

What’s the inspiration for your art practice?

Painting provides a way for me to respond to my immediate environment and to make a record of this experience in order to communicate it. It’s important to me that a knowledge of art is not necessary in order to appreciate my work.

What does it mean to be asked to create something specially for a public gallery collection? 

This was my first-ever still life commission. With years of hanging around charity shops and recycle centres I prefer to find beauty in objects that have little obvious aesthetic value. This helps to undercut the expectations set up by the still life tradition and focus attention on the painting.

The antique loud hailer made from galvanised metal, from MAG&M’s Collection, has the most beautiful, weathered patina of red paint.  If this wasn’t intriguing enough, placed on its widest end, it resembles nothing so much as an old jug that might appear in one of Giorgio Morandi’s still life paintings. How could I resist?

Was this project harder than your usual creative process?

I found it unusually difficult to integrate this wonderful object into a satisfactory composition but I persisted. It was a valuable insight into my own creative process, further underlining the growing importance of the formal considerations in my compositions and self-reflection.  

Why is this commission from MAG&M personal to you?

I was born in Manly Hospital and grew up in Harbord, now Freshwater. Half a century ago The Corso was a through-road used for the occasional drag race and the local dump was behind Curl Curl beach.  I left when I could although my mother remained here until she died several years ago. The commission from MAG&M was “a bolt from the blue” for me; I never imagined I would be invited back and honoured in this way.

Why are galleries like MAG&M important?

As the big public galleries present more blockbusters, more than ever the regional gallery system is an important focus for more personal and intimate experiences of art and art making.  Regional galleries are also increasingly important cultural hubs that reflect the increasing diversity of Australian society. 

Would the young art student Jude have imagined her career would have been this successful?

I was fortunate to have parents who were actively involved in the arts but I don’t think my young self had the confidence to imagine herself as having a successful career.  Like most artists I still suffer from self doubt and I’m still surprised someone buys a painting. I paint because I am curious and in awe of the world and I want to communicate something of this with others.

You can see SL490 (with loud hailer) in Collection 100:  Commission Spotlight – Jude Rae at MAG&M until Sunday, 8 December 2024