Regarded as one of Australia’s most respected landscape painters, Water Works celebrates Joe Furlonger’s relationship with the sea. Drawing inspiration from his early years fishing with his father and working on fishing trawlers, Water Works pays homage to Furlonger’s life-long connection to Moreton Bay and fishing on the Queensland coast.

“I love the sea. It is really my subject matter. But it’s a mixture of beauty and terror. Queensland waters are too rough. Boats are always capsizing. Everything is double edged. The most beautiful fish are poisonous.” Joe Furlonger, 1988

Featuring drawings, prints, ceramics and paintings, Water Works brings together works from the collections of Redland Art Gallery, UQ Art Museum, HOTA and the artist, offering an evocative glimpse into Furlonger’s vision shaped by the sea.

Image: Joe Furlonger, Off Manly, 2019, Gouache on paper. Courtesy of Redland Art Gallery Collection. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2022. Photograph by Carl Warner.