Vale Artist Ruby Spowart – b. 1928 – d. 2024
Sad news! Artist and co-founder of Brisbane’s Imagery Gallery has died – at almost – age 96 years. I met Ruby as a young artist working in Brisbane artist run spaces in the 1980s. Ruby with her son Doug established the photography gallery in South Brisbane as a type of commercial gallery and independent artist run space for contemporary art photography. Her work and publication ‘Patterns in Time’ lingers in my imagination, as work about temporalities, artful enchantment and the natural environment, core concepts at the very heart of Ruby’s creative practice for almost seven decades. Ruby will be sadly missed by many, and never forgotten.
My sincere condolences to Doug Spowart, Victoria Cooper and members of Ruby’s extended family. Hopefully a major retrospective of Ruby’s extraordinary contribution to knowledge will emerge in coming years.
Imagery Gallery | Ruby Spowart Photographs 1982 – 1992 Courtesy Doug and Ruby Spowart Collection
Doug & Ruby Spowart, Imagery Gallery 1982