According to Muswellbrook gallery boss, Brad Franks, the exhibition is an important step in the evolution of art in Murrurundi.

Around 40 people turned out for the opening, which unveiled not only a complete change in art directions but also a revamped exhibition church hall now labelled by the museum as "God’s waiting room."

Opening the exhibition, Mr Franks said the small community was fast developing into an art clique in the Upper Hunter.

The event encompassed three artists' all emanating from the Wollongong University regions on the New South Wales South Coast.

Now a local artist, Jelle van den Berg has been joined by NSW South Coast artists Richard Hook and Leonie Watson.

"This exhibition will present paintings by three Illawarra artists who make use of the human figure,” Jelle van den Berg said.

“Its rationale is two-fold: to contrast some dramatically different approaches to working with the body in painting and to show how these varied representations also embody very different approaches to the medium and its history.”

Richard Hook described his works as paintings that shift our attention to the ambiguous figure-ground relations of modern painting and abstraction.

"The body is celebrated for its inherent mobility and its potential to generate new structures for paintings,” he said.

"However, the figures are not merely arbitrary compositional devices.

“Each body takes up a position that is always part of some action, moving or still."

The exhibition is now open at the Presbyterian Church Hall on Mayne Street, Murrurundi and runs until March 10.