Liverpool City Council’s ‘Done’ on show at Casula Powerhouse

Liverpool City Council’s own ‘Done’ will be on display at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (CPAC) as part of two exhibitions in July showcasing arguably the nation’s most famous and commercially successful artist, Ken Done.

Through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program in 2011, CPAC was one of a few select cultural institutions to be gifted an artwork from Ken Done’s personal collection by the Ken Done Gallery in The Rocks.

The artwork titled ‘Square Beach’ was painted in 1990 and hand-picked by Council for its own collection. It portrays a quintessential landscape close to the heart of many Australians: the beach in summer.

Ken Done has spent many years of his artistic practice capturing the Australian beach through paint. His unique ability was recognised by an Order of Australia (A.M.) for services to Art, Design and Tourism in 1992.

Liverpool Mayor Wendy Waller said for many in the 1980s Ken Done’s art was as Australian as vegemite or a trip to the beach, and Council is proud to claim this piece of our national culture as its own.

“While our great City of Liverpool isn’t home to any major Australian beaches, we are still connected through our major waterway, the Georges River and, for many of our landlocked residents, heading to the beach is one of their favourite pastimes to beat the summer heat.”

“In recent years Liverpool has also emerged as an art capital in South West Sydney with many of our CBD’s streets and laneways brought to life by talented local artists,” said Mayor Waller.

Ken Done will also be the inspiration for burgeoning artists at several primary schools across the Liverpool Local Government Area who will be tasked with doing their own ‘Done.’

The painting, ‘Square Beach’, has been widely seen as part of exhibitions in Japan in 1991 and France in 1996 and was even in Parliament House in the Office of the Environment.

Now at its home in CPAC, ‘Square Beach’ will take a proud place among the facility’s two exhibitions.

Running from July to October, the first exhibition Liveable Art: Stories of Done Art and Design features a comprehensive collection of Done-designed products that have held a special place in Australian households from clothing and accessories to stationery and homewares.

This will run alongside a second exhibition Paintings You Probably Haven’t Seen: Selected Works 2000 – 2020 featuring a selection of paintings executed between 2000 and 2020, largely from his own private collection.

Complementing both exhibitions will be An Evening with Ken Done, held at CPAC on Saturday 31 July, where Ken will intimately reflect on his career to date in a conversation with CPAC Director Craig Donarski. Tickets to An Evening with Ken Done are $35 and available to purchase from www.casulapowerhouse.com

“Our reputation as a cultural destination continues to grow each year, and these exhibitions and events help us to appeal to people from all walks of life. I invite everyone to visit these exhibitions at Casula Powerhouse for a nostalgic look back at Australia though the eyes of one of Australia’s most iconic artists,” Mayor Waller said.