image: Macdonald Nichols, Moon Over Square Range, Nimmitabel, 2020. Inkjet print, 20.3 X 25.4 cm.
Gallery 1
Mark Mohell, Macdonald Nichols & Peter Ranyard.
5 November - 21 November 2021
Monaro, a Ngarigo word meaning βhigh plainβ, centres Mark Mohell, Macdonald Nichols and Peter Ranyardβs durational photographic exhibition, Plain Air, High Plain.
Their photographs investigate the dynamic forces that shape the endless, reciprocal drama that is Landscape. Drawing on generational histories, oral, written and re-written, their individual subjective identities are recognised as a mix of βbelonging and yet not belongingβ as they acknowledge the complexity of fractured, layered histories of place that exist in the region.
The exhibition is a result of numerous transversals of the βhigh planeβ that consider the distinctive character of Plein Air as a productive practice. The works are conceived completely in the Monaro environment affirming its presence and the individuals within it: a physical and affective immersion.
Through the works exhibited, a personal and collective shape of the Monaro forms and a central definition of place emerges, where the photographic medium is highlighted as a possible means for scrutinising the Monaro as well as the conventions of its photographic representation.