Exhibition curator Carolyn Staveley said the retrospective exhibition was a coup for festival organisers, given Arkeveld rarely agreed to requests to show his work.
“He is amazing; his body of work is world-class but he doesn’t often say yes to exhibitions,” she said.
“His last solo exhibition was 12 years ago, so we are delighted he has agreed to be part of our festival.”
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Arkeveld’s body of work spans more than 50 years and is featured in many private and public collections.
A key theme in his work is the human body, which he studied while in residence at the School of Anatomy and Human Biology at UWA.
Ms Staveley said another key influence for the artist was his sense of social justice, with humanitarian issues the theme of many of his works.
In addition to the Arkeveld exhibition at Darlington Hall will be artwork by local artists and the first entries in the new Robert Juniper Landscape Art Prize.
Juniper lived in Darlington until 2012 and was one of Australia’s most prominent artists.
The Darlington Arts Festival started as a fundraising event for the local bush fire brigade and many WA artists who lived and worked locally donated artworks.
The festival grew rapidly to become the biggest community arts event in the Shire of Mundaring.
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