Salient: Contemporary Artists at the Western Front and Terry Burrows: Objectivity will both be on exhibition until October 7.

Twelve leading Australia artists – including Oberon’s Harrie Fasher – visited the World War One battlefields of the Western Front in 207, a century after the conflict, and Salient brings together the works they created in response to the history and present-day reality of those sites.

The participating artists includes Fasher as well as Deirdre Bean, Paul Ferman, Michelle Hiscock, Ross Laurie, Steve Lopes, Euan MacLeod, Ian Marr, Idris Murphy, Amanda Penrose Hart, Luke Sciberras and Wendy Sharpe. 

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Bathurst Regional Art Gallery director Sarah Gurich said artworks included paintings, photos, works on paper and sculptures.

“The 12 artists’ artworks are responses to being in that Western Front landscape,” she said.

“One of the artists – Euan MacLeod – heard there was still tunnels under the Western Front battlefields, so he responded with artworks of characters going through the tunnels.” 

“Wendy Sharpe travelled to the Western Front sight but went back home to work on her artwork.

“Harrie Fasher works with sculptures, so she’s created some with the focus being horses.” 

The Terry Burrows’ exhibition Objectivity features a selection of medium to large-scale minimal-palette paintings and drawings which explore and underpin the artist’s distinctive practice, defined by his morphic “objects”. 

Objectivity and Salient opens at the gallery at 6pm on Friday by Brad Manera, the senior historian and curator at the Anzac Memorial.

Beforehand, at 5pm, the Salient artists will take part in a panel discussion about their experiences. 

Burrows and Ms Gurich will be in conversation this Saturday, August 11, at 11am.