Glebe debut a change of pace for Whitney

For a broadcast journalist who is used to her every professional move being relentlessly monitored, Whitney Fitzsimmons is surprisingly forthcoming when you ask her about her feelings about putting her art on exhibition. “There’s a part of me that’s absolutely panicked about this – I’ve been having nightmares!” she laughs. “For the last couple of years it’s the panicked part that’s been holding me back – and there’s a much bigger, stronger part of me now that’s overridden that.”

Fitzsimmons is most recognisable as the host of ABC TV’s ‘Lateline Business’, and further afield in the Asia-Pacific region as the anchor for ‘Business Today’. Not shy to give anything a go, her resume includes time as an actor (having studied professional acting at the University of Western Sydney Nepean), and awards for her art in the past, including an Amnesty International People’s Choice Award. Her new exhibition, Lines & Spaces, exhibits at Glebe’s Yuga Gallery from March 22.

“I’ve had the idea of having my own exhibition for a couple of years and I think now it’s finally time to do it,” she said. “I believe that art should be a natural part of everyday life and that the elitism that tends to be attached to it should be taken away. It’s really all about having a go.”

It isn’t all sweetness and light, however. “It’s not easy putting yourself out there professionally by any means,” Fitzsimmons said. “People feel they have the right to say whatever they like about what you’re wearing, or that your manner is terrible. But I guess if you choose to play in that field, as someone said to me recently – if you choose to put your head above the parapet, someone’s going to take a shot at you. It’s one of those things that you need to get used to.”

A serious painter for around five years, it was around three years ago Fitzsimmons started to put a few pieces out in the public zone. Lines & Spaces is her first exhibition, and centres around abstract art, heavily inspired by the fauves and abstract expressionism.

“For me, it was hard to put a theme on the exhibition, because I used a lot of very bold, angular lines, but there’s also plenty of strokes which are very sweeping and spatial,” she said. “I wanted something that was representative of work, but I was also conscious of the fact that there’s not a through-line, necessarily. Each individual piece has been painted to stand on their own.”

Lines & Spaces is a free exhibition running until May 7 at Yuga Gallery, 172 St Johns Road. Yuga Gallery is open seven days.