General News
2 May, 2025
Amigos to exhibit in Avoca
Panoramas of the Australian bush, captured by three artists with decades of experience, will be on show at Gallery 127 from this Saturday.
The works of Serge Daeffler, who died in 2022 following a battle with cancer, will be displayed alongside his longtime friends Viv Pells and Chris Moule — between them over a hundred years of experience as artists.
The three amigos, a name the exhibition shares, met in 1997 under the teaching of Gerard Mutsaers — an accomplished Australian painter.
For Ms Pells, the experience formed the groundwork of her art, which is defined by observation and conveying the ‘soul’ of the object or scene before her.
“It was like a new life starting,” she said.
In the decades since, the three artists’ lives remained intertwined, right through to when Mr Daeffler told Mr Moule his doctor wouldn’t tell him how long he had to live.
“He said, ‘I’m worried about all my paintings here and what’s going to happen to them.’ Not worried about himself, but his paintings,” Mr Moule said.
By his deathbed Mr Moule made a promise that has led to many exhibitions of Mr Daeffler’s work, including the current showing.
“I said ‘don’t worry Serge. No matter what happens I’ll look after your paintings’,” he said.
The pair have endeavoured to sell and share the products of Mr Daeffler’s devotion to his craft.
“Rather than having 10 or 15 he had 250 framed paintings which took up half of our house,” Mr Moule said.
Between the rooms of the exhibition guests may see similar landscapes captured by the three artists.
“You’ll see we’ve painted from the same spot and some of [Serge’s] paintings are from my photographs,” Mr Moule said.
Instead of a repetition, however, they offer an insight into each artists’ approach informed by decades of experience.
For Ms Pells it’s observation and watercolour, for Mr Moule it’s highly detailed realist works across mediums, and for Mr Daeffler a unique approach to colour.
“All of his washes, his colours, are clean,” Mr Moule said.
Visitors will be able to get an insight into the Australian bush, and three artists who have captured its scenes and scale, from May 2 to June 2.
The grand opening, with refresh-ments and a musical recital by harpist Carolyn Brophy, will be this Saturday from 2 pm.
The gallery is open Friday to Monday from 11 am to 4 pm.