We have welcomed a staggering 19,000 visitors to Orange Regional Gallery to view the extraordinary exhibition ‘Nike Savvas: Purple Haze’, breaking attendance records in the process.

This exhibition, developed in partnership with the Art Gallery of New South Wales, features internationally acclaimed Australian artist Nike Savvas and has been one of the gallery’s most ambitious exhibitions to date.

Spanning three exhibition spaces, ‘Purple Haze’ is a riot of colour and movement. One of the highlights of the exhibition is the installation ‘Atomic: Purple Haze’. This artwork, made up of 31,000 painted spheres strung across the North Gallery, is described by the artist as a “landscape painting”. It references the Paterson’s curse she observed as she drove between Canberra and Sydney when the invasive plant was in bloom and the purples and greens populated the landscape. Industrial fans placed in front of and within the artwork turn on periodically to create gusts of air that activate the work into a shimmering spectacle.

Visitors are also enjoying ‘Rally’, on loan from the Art Gallery of NSW, finding it uplifting and joyous. Coloured streamers float from the gallery ceiling and waft gently and sporadically from air also generated by fans.

But there is more to experience in ‘Purple Haze’, such as the sparkling prints made from glitter and diamond dust, and, in the Gallery Theatre, a film by Savvas and Stephen Little. “A Million Suns” is a fantastical, hypnotic, swirling projection accompanied by a narrated children’s story about a group of forest animals ascending in a hot-air balloon.

‘Nike Savvas: Purple Haze’ is in its final weeks, so if you haven’t seen it yet, come on by. It will run until Sunday, November 15.

The exhibition was developed in partnership with the Art Gallery of NSW and proudly supported by TLE Electrical.

The gallery is open daily from 10am to 4pm, and entry is always free.