Renowned Artists Return to the Silver City

Published on 02 April 2025

* Blow Back Ins artists Renata Pari-Lewis, Gina Bruce, and Paul Connor.

Broken Hill City Art Gallery invites the public to a special Blow Back Ins Artist Panel this Saturday, 5 April 2025. Doors open at 6:00pm for a 6:30pm start. Entry is free, and all are welcome to attend. Bar facilities and light refreshments will be available.

The panel will feature exhibiting artists Paul Connor, Ann Cape, Willemina Villari, Renata Pari-Lewis and Gina Bruce in conversation with esteemed guest speaker John McDonald, art critic for the Sydney Morning Herald and former Head of Australian Art at the National Gallery of Australia.

This engaging evening is part of the Blow Back Ins exhibition, currently on display at Broken Hill City Art Gallery. The exhibition showcases work created by a group of prominent Australian artists who travelled to Broken Hill in May 2024 to immerse themselves in the city’s rich cultural and natural environment. Following in the footsteps of the original “Blow-In Art Collective” who visited in 2014, several members returned as part of this new cohort of ‘Blow Back-Ins.’

Over two intensive weeks, the artists were based at the Palace Hotel and worked across a range of iconic local sites, including the Junction Mine and the Line of Lode. Their experiences have resulted in a compelling body of work across media including watercolour, sculpture, and painting on salvaged steel, all responding to Broken Hill’s striking position on the edge of the desert.

The Blow Back Ins features artists of national standing whose work is held in public and private collections across Australia and internationally. Their practices span en plein air painting, contemporary abstraction, and mixed media installations, and many are regular finalists and winners of Australia’s most prestigious art prizes.

Join us for a unique opportunity to hear directly from the artists about their time in Broken Hill, their creative process, and the stories behind the works on display.

Event Details:
Blow Back Ins Artist Panel
Saturday 5 April 2025
Doors open 6:00pm | Panel begins 6:30pm
Broken Hill City Art Gallery, 404–408 Argent Street
Free event | All welcome
Bar facility and light refreshments available