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Join Umbrella Studio at 10am on Sunday 19 July 2020 to hear from our latest exhibiting artists Neil Binnie and Stephen Coutts. The artists will provide insights into their practises and works for their respective exhibitions Urban Construct and Pareidolia & the Subconscious. Both exhibitions (and other projects) are on display from 27 June – 9 August 2020, with the official launch from 6pm Friday 10 July (bookings required).  You can also RSVP and invite friends to the Floortalks Facebook event here. 

Neil Binnie is a visual artist based in Townsville. He is currently completing a Master of Philosophy (Creative Arts) at James Cook University (JCU), and holds a Bachelor of New Media Arts (JCU) and a Bachelor of Visual Arts (University of Canberra). He has exhibited in group shows since 2014. Urban Construct is his first solo exhibition. Binnie has been a finalist in the Marie Ellis OAM Prize for Drawing and the 9×5 Landscape Prize, and received the Dean’s Excellence Award (University of Canberra) and Illustration and Visual Media Excellence Award (JCU).

Stephen Coutts is based in Ayr in the Burdekin.  He holds a Bachelor of Education, Deakin University; a Certificate in Studio Ceramics, Burdekin TAFE; and a Diploma of Arts – Fine Art, Queensland College of Art. Before settling into Visual Art education, Coutts worked delivering electrical appliances, as a depot keeper for a fertilizer company, as a junior clerk for Queensland Rail and as a field labourer on a sugar cane farm. Coutts became a Visual Arts teacher at Burdekin Catholic High School, Ayr in 1984 and worked in that role until August 2019. He has exhibited in group shows since 2010 and Pareidolia & the Subconscious is his first solo exhibition. The artist finds inspiration in the environment, travel, the cultural productions of others, and his wife, family and friends.