There's still time to view our Martin Gallery Archive displays, because we've extended the exhibition until 12th May!
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| Artworks from the JCU Art collection on display with the Martin Gallery Archive displays, April 2025. |
The Martin Gallery was a beloved art gallery that began its life in 1972 in a room at the rear of Ralph Martin’s chemist shop in Flinders Street, Townsville. Running for 16 years, the Gallery held more than 173 major exhibitions* before its closure at the end of 1988.
JCU Library Special Collections holds the Martin Gallery Archive, which includes more than 800 photographs, exhibition ephemera, correspondence and newspaper clippings, as well as 192 files on artists whose work was represented by Martin Gallery. A portion of the archive relates to the business of running a regional commercial art gallery and includes receipt books that record artist activity in the Martin Gallery; receipts for the purchase of artworks; records of artwork returns; and gallery mailing lists.
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| Artworks from the JCU Art collection on display with the Martin Gallery Archive displays, April 2025. |
And you won't want to miss the selection of artworks from the JCU Art Collection that we've carefully handpicked to complement the archival displays. Works chosen for display are by artists once represented by Martin Gallery. Some of the works were in fact purchased from Martin Gallery, while others were later donated to
the JCU Art Collection by generous donors.
Whose work is on display?
You can view artworks from more than 20 artists, including: Irene Amos, Veda Arrowsmith, James Brown, John Coburn, Deanna Conti, Jim Cox, Valerie Crunden, Clem Forbes, Josephine Forster, Brian Morton Hatch, Jane Hawkins, Ron Kenny, Richard Lane, Anne Lord, Ron McBurnie, Sidney Nolan, John Rigby, Anneke Silver, Thancoupie, Ben Trupperbaumer, Judy Watson, Anne Willis. And that's just the artworks co-located with the archive displays - you'll find artworks on all three levels of the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library!
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| Martin Gallery Archive displays, JCU Library, April 2025. |
The Martin Gallery Archive displays - now showing on Level 1 of the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library, JCU Townsville campus (Bebegu Yumba).
Trisha Fielding, Special Collections Library Officer
* Forbes, Celie (2024) In defence of the north: the narrative of place and the art of becoming. Northern Queensland 1971-1981. PhD thesis, James Cook University, p. 143.
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