Students Express Themselves

Self-portrait: naked truth by Morgan Frazer, Byron Bay High School

An exhibition filled with all the vibrancy, imagination and pluck of youth comes to Lismore Regional Art Gallery this week with the opening of ArtExpress, an exhibition featuring works by high school students sitting the 2000 HSC art examination.

ArtExpress is always one of the most popular art shows in the state and a big hit when it comes to Lismore every second year.

Blood butterflies by Kelly McEvoy, Alstonville High School

The Lismore show features 45 works by selected students from around the state, including a striking self-portrait by former Byron Bay High School student Morgan Frazer and an intriguing series of cubes exploring manipulation in the digital era, by former Kyogle High student Justin Kitchener.

The exhibition is challenging, witty, fun and thought-provoking, exploring the issues of youth and their fears for the future, as well as larger national issues like reconciliation and self-determination. In many of the works you can see the influence of the great artists of history, from Picasso to Whiteley and Kandinsky.

ArtExpress opens tonight at Lismore Regional Art Gallery and continues until June 10. Entry to the gallery is by donation.