LA BELLE EPOQUE: Casinos and Cigars<\/strong>
\n10-25 November, 2016
\nNanda Hobbs Gallery, Level 1, 66 King Street, Sydney
\nFor more information, visit nandahobbs.com<\/a><\/p>\n
Australian artist Gria Shead\u2019s latest exhibition LA BELLE EPOQUE: Casinos and Cigars is inspired by the romance of the Belle Epoque and the opulence of casinos and cigars. Living and working in Sydney, Shead\u2019s interior views of the Monte Carlo Casino complement paintings based on vintage cigar boxes.<\/p>\n
Shead has primarily focused on the subject of Kate Kelly (sister of infamous Australian bushranger Ned Kelly) in previous shows, but wanted to explore the pre- war era 1871-1914 in this latest collection. \u201cI love the BELLE EPOQUE and upon finding postcards from my grandmother who lived in Monte Carlo, I wanted to bring that era to life,\u201d said Shead. \u201cI have always loved cigar boxes, collecting them, appreciating their art, and using them on occasion to store paint brushes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Further to her decision to paint casinos and cigar box artwork was the fact that the BELLE EPOQUE was the era in which Australian impressionist artists had travelled to Europe and then returned to Australia and painted on cigar box lids their impressionist landscapes. Many of the female Australian impressionist artists were ignored during their time due to society\u2019s perceptions of women and this drove Shead to focus on the female identity, exoticness, and luxury through this project.<\/p>\n
Shead\u2019s research into vintage cigar art provided an education on the history of cigar art, and she notes that vintage cigar brand La Gran Marca was one that appealed most to her. \u201cI love the whole culture around cigars, the casino, and smoking room aesthetic. The fact that artists were (and still are) commissioned to create this wonderful cigar art made the subject even more appealing to me.\u201d Shead is also shocked by the effect of Australia\u2019s plain packaging. \u201cI hate plain packaging. I find it so hard to comprehend. It\u2019s good that health warnings exist, but as an artist I find plain packaging of cigar boxes a visual offence.\u201d<\/p>\n
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LA BELLE EPOQUE: Casinos and Cigars<\/strong>
\n10-25 November, 2016
\nNanda Hobbs Gallery, Level 1, 66 King Street, Sydney
\nFor more information, visit nandahobbs.com<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/gria-shead-cigar-casino-exhibition-sydney.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/victorian-cigars-gria-shead-exhibition-sydney.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/belle-epoque-casinos-cigars-gria-shead-exhibition-sydney.jpg\")
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