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Local artist David Laity to exhibit in Rose City throughout Benalla Street Art Festival
Benalla’s David Laity began his career in the arts back in the 1980s as a cartoonist featured in regional and metropolitan publications.
He has since gone on to exhibit across Australia and is now one of the country’s most respected artists.
Living in Benalla Rural City, he was excited to hear about the return of the street art festival and decided to apply to operate one of its fringe events.
For the duration of the 2024 Benalla Street Art Festival, Mr Laity will host a free exhibition, Underneath Clouds, at shop 2/43 Bridge St East, next to She’s Arty.
“I’ve gone into my back catalogue and looked at about 30 years of work and selected my favourites,” Laity said.
“I’ve reimagined them and made them fit into a calendar format.
“It’s 12 paintings, the earliest is from 1993, and the most recent would be from 2018.”
Laity said it won't be a shop, and the exhibited artworks are not for sale.
Each has been painted in the past two years, using the original as inspiration.
“These are some of my favourites, and I wanted to enjoy the process of painting without having to think about creating the image first.
“Painting is the bit I enjoy most.”
Mr Laity said the exhibition is designed to be viewed in order.
“There’s clouds at the start and dark clouds at the end. It’s got a bit of philosophy running through it.
“I’ve chosen these images because they're young and vibrant and female.
“As we get older, these things change, and that’s what the calendar’s all about.
“There’s a retro feel to it, too, as girls used to be featured in calendars a lot, not so much any more.
“But still, our attractions haven’t changed because we're human, and we’re supposed to be attracted to each other. It’s normal.”
Laity said the whole exhibition can be thought of as just one piece.
“My Gallery in Melbourne (Lennox St Gallery in Richmond) is looking to tour this exhibition.
“But this is its first outing. It hasn’t been on display anywhere. It hasn’t left my house.
“I only finished it a couple of months ago.”
Visitors to the Benalla Street Art Festival 2024 will be the first to see this exhibition.
It will be open from 10am - 4pm from March 21 - 28.