An exquisite display of contemporary jewellery pieces by Australian and New Zealand jewellery artists is the centrepiece of current exhibitions at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery (TRAG).

Contemporary Wearables ’09, the 11th major biennial award exhibition of contemporary jewellery by prominent and emerging artists, is on display until October 25.

Also on display are Commemorative Wearables, award-winning pieces from previous Contemporary Wearables Awards, along with new work by previous award winners.

Modified, a show of three dimensional installation pieces, anodized aluminium prints and photographs, takes a satirical look at masculine obsessions with backyard tools and appliances.

Western Australian artist Paul Caporn presents ideas of masculinity and cultural identity, playing with interpretations of male domesticity.

For example, Caporn hybridizes man and machine in works such as Barbie Mate where he produces a Weber barbecue kettle with a fleshy gut, mimicking the stereotypical Aussie beer gut often seen in barbecue settings.

The artist is fascinated with objects of suburban backyard culture and the way they become humanised and intertwined with the desires and fantasies of their owners. Modified will be on display until November 8. The national tour of this exhibition is managed by Art on the Move.

On the local scene, an exhibition of selected works by St Mary’s College art students will be on display in the Cam Robertson Gallery until November 1.
Contanti Corona provides a panoramic view across ages, skills and cultures at St Mary’s, representing the best of arts practice by College students from Years 5 to 12.

TRAG is also hosting a series of exhibitions selected from its own collections. Flowers say it all is a display of selected oil paintings while Illustrated is a selection of artworks from those illustrated in the Lionel Lindsay Collection catalogue prepared by University Art Museum, University of Queensland in 1991.

It’s Greek to him: Sir Lionel Lindsay and the Modern World consists of artworks and printed materials selected from the Lionel Lindsay Gallery and Library Collection that reflect Sir Lionel’s love of classical Greece. Lines rendered are artworks taken from the Toowoomba City Collection that explore mark making and the use of line, curated by USQ intern Jessica Martyn.

Also on display until January 24 next year will be a selection of Lionel Lindsay watercolours in the Gould Gallery.