OFFICIAL OPENING | Spring & Summer at GRG

Grafton Regional Gallery invites you to the Official Opening of:

NIGHT BLOSSOM | Catherine McGuiness

DOUBLE LOGIC | Ross Manning

FORT REST | Paul Walker

FULL BLOOM | Stacey Conridge

Saturday 10 October, 2026

2pm | Artist Talk with Catherine McGuiness
Night Blossom

3pm | Official Exhibition Opening
Featuring guest speakers
Complimentary refreshments & Friends of the Gallery pay bar

Live music by Melissa Christie

Entry by donation

NIGHT BLOSSOM | Catherine McGuiness

Night Blossom is the first solo exhibition by Catherine McGuiness (b.1986), a multidisciplinary artist who has been commissioned and exhibited by some of Australia’s most prestigious art institutions and works with Studio A.

‘Catherine’s vibrant works glow like jewels in the night: a collection of large scale paintings, works on paper and a dinner table that perpetually awaits for guests to arrive.

This festive exhibition is an invitation into aspects of Catherine’s world. It’s a generous offering to her community and a much-welcomed space of wonder.

Catherine is enthusiastic and caring and her magical energy is infectious to anyone who meets her, especially those on a dance floor. I say this because it’s clear to see these same attributes infuse her art practice. There is an unselfconscious power to her work that seems to mimic these personality traits.’

— Shan Turner-Carroll, Curator

Night Blossom is an exhibition of Studio A artist Catherine McGuiness. Studio A is a leading Australian supported studio for professional artists with intellectual disability.

Night Blossom is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW. The exhibition was originally commissioned by Mosman Art Gallery and guest-curated by Shan Turner-Carroll. Special thanks to collaborators and fabricators Mud Australia, Ellen Bagge at Kil.n.it Experimental Ceramics Studio and Digital Fabrics.

DOUBLE LOGIC: Ross Manning

Ross Manning lives and works in Brisbane, Australia. His exhibition, Double Logic, is inspired by an Artist Residency at Grafton Regional Gallery, which he undertook in April 2026.

Known for his exploration of our on-going relationship with technology, Ross Manning’s work focuses on the electronic image, the digitisation of the natural world, and the ephemeral nature of data and machines. It is distinguished by its ability to render invisible forces into precise and poetic material encounters. His practice sits at a rare intersection of experimentation and accessibility, engaging audiences through perceptual phenomena while sustaining a deeply considered sculptural and conceptual framework.

FORT REST: Paul Walker

FORT REST is a physical and conceptual space offering a safe haven from the busyness of business. It invites us to slow down and be gentle, practicing self-preservation while softly subverting the pressures of capitalism and grind culture.

In FORT REST, time passes as slowly as your breath, and your body decides when to move. We gather to co-regulate, rest, and collectively dream. Here, comfort and pleasure are not earned, but inherent.

At the core of the work is The Art of Slowing Down, a methodology and ideology that explores the individual, collective, and social choreographies of rest. Inspired by Tricia Hersey’s book ‘Rest is Resistance’ (2022), it frames rest as a radical, creative, and political act.

This iteration of FORT REST includes Dream Banners created by members of the Northern Rivers community during rest gatherings held in Lismore, Byron Bay, and Grafton in 2026.

On show until Sunday 29 November

FULL BLOOM: Stacey Conridge

As part of Grafton Regional Gallery's Creative Clarence program, Stacey Conridge's exhibition Full Bloom celebrates the beauty and immediacy of flowers, gathered from her seasonal garden and received as gifts. Reflecting Grafton's long-standing appreciation for floral beauty—seen in events like the annual Jacaranda Festival and the Gallery’s collection featuring artists such as the O’Grady sisters—Conridge’s oil paintings bring joy to Clarence art lovers who share a love for nature’s uplifting charm and the joy of gardens.

Images:

Banner image) Catherine McGuiness, Water fights and flowers, (detail), 2024. Photo documentation: Cassandra Hannagan. Courtesy of Mosman Gallery and Studio A.

1) Artist Catherine McGuiness. Photo documentation: Cassandra Hannagan. Courtesy of Mosman Gallery and Studio A.

2) Courtesy of the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane.

3) Photograph by Valentina Penkova.

4) Stacey Conridge, Hippeastrums, 2024. Courtesy of the artist.