Wollongong exhibition a treasured opportunity for homegrown artist

Wollongong Art Gallery will host a homecoming of sorts for Archibald Prize-winning artist Mitch Cairns.

Mitch’s latest exhibition, ‘Restless Legs’ will come to Wollongong from the Art Gallery of NSW in September.

Mitch, who grew up in the Illawarra, said he was excited to have the opportunity to show his work close to home.

“My parents moved the family to Stanwell Park in the mid-90s where I lived for my high school years up until my 20s,” Mitch said.

“Dad still lives down the road in Thirroul; it’s a site of great joy and significance for me so I’m thrilled to have the very generous offer to exhibit.”

It was during his time at Holy Spirit College in Bellambi that Mitch made his first forays into art.

While his friends chased sun, surf and sand, Mitch was initially more interested in sport.

As time wore on, however, he found himself more drawn to paints than footy.

“There was no winning or losing in art,” he said.

“You could invest in a way where you weren’t quite sure what the returns were or where and when they would come.

“Art was mysterious, which I liked.”

Mitch began to take after school classes with a neighbour – artist, illustrator and animator Michael Mucci.

Michael, who is deceased, was a finalist in the Doug Moran Portrait Prize, Blake Prize and Archibald Prize.

He is perhaps best known outside the art world for his illustrations for the Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review over 30 years from 1985 to 2016.

To Mitch he was best known as a mentor and friend.

“I didn’t really grow up with art in the house, and it felt like another language,” Mitch said.

“I remember reading art books at uni, not understanding them and wondering if that meant I would be a bad artist.

“Michael helped bring that into a closer orbit to me and I’m thankful for that.

“He was an incredible early influence, a kind man and a friend. He gave my ideas a vehicle.”

When Mitch finished school he didn’t have to think about what he wanted to do.

He knew he would be an artist.

His parents encouraged him to have a backup option at first, but Mitch said those conversations fell away as it became clear he had no interest in anything else.

“I’ve never wanted to do anything except make paintings,” he said.

“Some people have a difficulty wanting to know what to do, but I was incredibly fortunate in that I didn’t want to do anything but be an artist.

“I didn’t have to assess that situation for what it was or wasn’t or couldn’t be.”

Mitch said his work was driven by the need to create better works, and to sustain his practice.

His upcoming exhibition, Restless Legs, has everything from traditional oil on canvas paintings to sculpture.

The Wollongong edition will have some extra treasures, too, including the working drawings from the project and prints inspired by Scottish artist and poet Ian Hamilton Finlay.

“Ian Hamilton Finlay pioneered one-word poems – just the title and one word,” Mitch said.

“I’ve used a more visual extension of his idea, so a suite of images that are a single lino block of colour and a word, and it’s a play with whatever associations might come of that.”

The entire exhibition plays with the idea of how we make meaning out of what we see – Restless Legs is a reference to Mitch’s experience of trying to concentrate on his reading at night.

“My legs move around, I become very restless and I thought that was amusing,” he said.

“The idea that it gets in the way of my attempt to do something and the meaning I extract from what I’m reading has been compromised in some way; I thought that was attractive as an image idea.

“Language is really important to the exhibition.”

Restless Legs will run from 5 September to 30 November at the Wollongong Art Gallery.