Image above: Robin White, To see and to know are not necessarily the same, 2021
2022 gallery visits, summaries and images
Exhibitions list
Thursday 29 December 2022 Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf, Sydney
Four varied and interesting exhibitions:
Belinda Piggott – Stilled ‘series of sculptural works that contemplate the shift in cosmic power from spiritual to economic’
Jacqueline Rose – Enigmagnetic – drawing and collage – abstract ‘meditations on line and movement’
Karen Barbouttis – Fading Existance – original maps from the 1800s with animals from the regions ‘diverse animal and plant life of these regions that still exist but are sadly declining at an ever increasing rate, not just to climate change, but to poaching, the illegal wildlife trade, and land and habitat destruction’
Catherine Hickson – My Place – interiors ‘calm, relaxed, at home’
A small selection of the works
Belinda Piggott – Stilled
Belinda Piggott – Stilled
Jacqueline Rose – Enigmagnetic
Jacqueline Rose – Enigmagnetic
Karen Barbouttis – Fading Existance
Karen Barbouttis – Fading Existance
Catherine Hickson – My Place
Catherine Hickson – My Place
Wednesday 21 December 2022 Liquid Mountains, Bondi Pavilion, Sydney
Sun, surf, sand, and some art. Renovation of the pavilion impressive. “Summer exhibition featuring artists who make visible the unique connection with the ocean felt by those who surf. Considering the spiritual, the social and the sublime, the exhibition seeks a greater understanding only possible from those poised on a board. Liquid Mountains presents contemporary artists across video, sound, performance, installation and painting who meditate on that very sensation.”
Peter Sharp, Offshore, 2021
Lucas Davidson, In perfect stillness, 2022
Luke Kennedy, Night sea, scattered stars, 2022
Some installation views
Friday 16 December 2022 The Korea-Australia Arts Foundation (KAAF) Art Prize, Korean Cultural Centre, Sydney
Another art prize with an interesting range of works from a diverse group of artists “an annual art prize that aims to foster the Australian multicultural society by bringing artists together from diverse ethnicities. In its 9th year, the KAAF Art Prize is open themed and medium to 2D artworks”
Matt Bromhead, Breeze
Regina McCarty, Bamagaya, Yenggiba (Paperbark)
Sonia Martignon, The Charred Mosaic of an Ancient Landscape (winner)
Lizzie Hall, Centaur (9)
Andrew Antoniou, Surprise Party
Installation views
Wednesday 7 December 2022 Sydney Modern – new building, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
Stunning! Light and air, the building seems to float in the landscape overlooking Sydney Harbour. Three levels of cascading terraces full of incredible works from the collection – down to The Tank, an underworld – like walking into a 3D post-apocalyptic Dali dreamscape – Adrian Villar Rojas: The End of Imagination – inaugural Tank commission. The building “brings together art, architecture and landscape in spectacular new ways, with dynamic galleries, site-specific works by leading Australian and international artists, and extensive outdoor spaces.”
Entrance
Interior from ground level
Sylvia Ken, Seven Sisters, 2019 (left), Wingu Tingima, Kuru Ala, 2009 (top), Nyunmiti Burton, Seven Sisters, 2020 (right), Trudy Inkamala, Woman with Dilly Bags, 2019 (front), Yirbana Gallery, ground level
Kimsooja Archive of mind 2016
Samara Golden Guts 2022 (detail)
Lisa Reihana, GROUNDLOOP
Inside the Tank, level -4
Spiral stairs, inside the Tank, level -4
Adrian Villar Rojas, The End of Imagination (detail)
Adrian Villar Rojas, The End of Imagination (detail)
Thursday 1 December 2022 From Here, for Now, Art Gallery NSW, Sydney
A selection of Australian and international works from the collection. Some of the artists in the exhibition which explores “interrelated themes relevant to our current moment – Australia’s outback, personal identity, political urgency, the environment”
Anthony Gormley, Mike Parr, Louise Bourgeois
Mike Parr, The plague of fantasies 1, 2010
Mike Parr, The plague of fantasies 1, 2010 (detail)
Mike Parr, John Loane, Introjection of a horse, 2002 (detail)
Mike Parr, John Loane, Introjection of a horse, 2002 (detail)
Mike Parr, John Loane, Introjection of a horse, 2002 (detail)
Jenny Watson, Tracey Emin
Ai Weiwei, Forever, 2003
Marion Gaemers, Lynnette Griffiths, et al., Solwata, 2015-2016
Wednesday 30 November 2022 Marikit Santiago – We Eat This Bread, Fairfield City Museum & Gallery, Sydney
Eight complex layered works using a range of materials – oil and acrylic paint, ink, pen, graphite, gold leaf, collage, photographs “exquisite draftsmanship, exotic imagery, religious iconography – embraces and layers imagery from Western art history with rich cultural symbolism from her Philippine heritage, Catholicism, folklore, myth and personal memories.”
Marikit Santiago, Filipiniana, 2021, acrylic, interior paint, pen and oil on found cardboard
Marikit Santiago, Filipiniana, 2021 (detail)
Marikit Santiago, A Seat at the Table (Magulang), 2022, acrylic, interior paint, pen and oil on found cardboard
Marikit Santiago, A Seat at the Table (Kapatid), 2022, acrylic, interior paint, pen and oil on found cardboard
Marikit Santiago, Apple of My Eye, 2020, oil, acrylic and pen on found cardboard
Marikit Santiago, Apple of My Eye, 2020 (detail)
Marikit Santiago, Maldita, 2020, acrylic, oil and pyrography on found cardboard
Marikit Santiago, Legacy, 2020, acrylic, oil and pyrography on found cardboard
Wednesday 23 November 2022 SubTerrains Bankstown Biennale 2022: Sanctuary and Sovereignty, Bankstown Arts Centre, Sydney
Small group show with sense of place and cultural depth, local narratives, thought-provoking works in a wide range of media “a First Nations-led project exploring the rich stories of culture and Country embedded within the landscape of Sydney’s south-western region: Bankstown”. Some of the works.
Abdul Abdullah, Boundless Plains to Share, 2019
Abdul Abdulla, Boundless Plains to Share, 2019 (detail)
Paula Do Prado, Birth of Sucuri, 2022
Kerrie Kenton, ‘There are plenty of fish in the river and land to grow all we want’ King Burraga – Joe Anderson
Dean Kelly, Gurracurrang, 2022 (l) & Carmen Glynn-Braun, here we stand, 2022 (r)
Aroha Groves, Underneath it all, 2022 (l) & Dean Kelly Gurracurrang, 2022 (r)
Madison Gibbs, No water no life, 2022
Madison Gibbs, No water no life, 2022
Friday 18 November 2022 Do Ho Suh, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Conceptual serenity “Veil of memories, concepts of home and identity. South Korean artist Do Ho Suh is known for his large-scale sculptures and architectural installations, which address the often complex relationships between the body, memory and space. Spanning three decades, from the 1990s to now, the artist’s first solo exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere presents emblematic works across a wide range of media that include large-scale installations, sculptures, drawings, printmaking, and video works. Suh’s works have a distinctive biographical dimension evoking the various spaces he has lived and worked in, including Seoul, New York, Berlin, and London.”
Do Ho Suh, Hub series 2015-2018 (detail)
“Suh’s Hub series of works are interconnecting structures that replicate transitional spaces such as corridors, entryways and foyers. Suh is most interested in transitional spaces – the space that leads you to your destination, rather than the destination itself.”
Do Ho Suh, Staircase -III, 2010, from Tate collection
“The room sized installation is based on a set of stairs that led to the landlord’s residence in the New York apartment building where Suh lived for 20 years. Created to 1:1 scale, the stitched fabric staircase suggests the passage of time and the boundary between public and private space.”
Do Ho Suh, Blueprint, 2014, thread embedded in cotton paper
Do Ho Suh, Medicine cabinet and Stove, Apartment A, 348 West 22nd Street, NewYork, 2013
Do Ho Suh, Rubbing/Loving Project: Seoul Home, 2013-2022
“This installation reconstructs the artist’s childhood home at full scale. Suh has meticulously rendered the exterior of his childhood home in Seoul, a traditional Korean hanok house, built by his father in the 1970s, with its characteristic tiled, curved roof, as a series of large scale graphite paper rubbings.”
Do Ho Suh, Rubbing/Loving Project: Seoul Home, 2013-2022 (detail)
Do Ho Suh, Floor, 1997-2000
“Repetition and multiplication are expressed in this vast floor-based installation, it features thousands of tiny sculpted figures. With arms upraised they collective support the transparent glass plates over which gallery visitors walk.”
Do Ho Suh, Floor, 1997-2000 (detail)
Friday 4 November 2022 Paddington Art Prize, Defiance Gallery, Paddington, Sydney
always interesting to see works by so many (52 this year) bright otherwise largely unknown artists in “a national acquisiting prize for painting inspired by the Australian landscape, now in its 19th year.”
Emily Imeson, When the Mud Dries (Lismore), acrylic on earth-stained cotton (winner)
Antonia Perricone-Mrljak, Emotional Landscape, acrylic on canvas
Jude Williams, Marrickville No Parking, acrylic, impasto medium, partial photo on canvas
Ash Leslie, To Manyana, acrylic on canvas
Danyi Hu, Lily Pond at Nan Tien Temple, oil on canvas
Lauren Guymer, In the Bush, water colour on cotton paper
Harold David, Moving through the Silence, mixed media on canvas
Installation views
Friday 28 October 2022 Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi to Tamarama, Sydney
Finally back after three long years and better than ever. Stunning range of works “24th exhibition, 116 artists from 16 countries, 108 sculptures, 35 first time exhibitors.”
Akiho Tata (Japan), Love Aus
Andrew Rogers (Vic), Weightless 9
Ayad Alqaragholli (WA), Our Love Touches the Sky (Habana Yalmis Alsama)
David Ball (NSW), Ascendance
Koichi Ishino (NSW/Japan), Wind Stone – Threshold of Consciousness
Michael Le Grand (ACT), Global Minuet
Morgan Jones (NZ), Early Light
Nikita Zigura (Ukraine), Global Warming
Oleksii Zolotariov (Ukraine), Wind Rose
Paul Caporn, (WA), Heads It Is
R.M Ron Gomboc (WA), Embrace (As One)
Senden Blackwood (ACT), Susurrus
Tony Davis (WA), Folly Interstice (winner)
Friday 21 October 2022 I Loved You, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney
Inspired creativity at play- innate timeless artistic tradition permeate the works “Where have we looked for love? Within a humble bowl of rice or the fantasy of a boyband, either real or imagined, the artists in I Loved You search for the sites of our intimate lives.”
Some of the works
Zheg Haozhang, Self Portrait, 2017
Jian Zhi, Love Letters (series) 2014
Jian Zhi, Love Letters (series) 2014
Huang Shun-Hsing, Unaccompanied 1-8, 2008
Zhou Zixi, Classmates Four Policemen, 2017
Installation views
Thursday 6 October 2022 Helen Zhu, Little Treasure, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney
Strong, gestural works by a young artist “Zhu’s practice integrates the Western aesthetic of abstract expressionism with elements of traditional Chinese calligraphy, exploring how the dialogue between colour and gesture can manifest into evocative emotions. Xiǎo bǎo; meaning little treasure, explores Zhu’s relationship with her cultural background and personal journey of self-acceptance and discovery.”
Some of the works and installation views
Wednesday 28 September 2022 Ruth Law, Fresh Embrace, Lion Gate Lodge, Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney
Interesting range of techniques – ink, watercolour, and gouache on rice paper, collage, oils on canvas, enhanced by light bouncing reflections off the glass of the framed works. “Fresh Embrace was inspired by a trip in February to Flinders Island, in Bass Strait Tasmania. It is a mountainous island, along with fabulous beaches graced with granite rocks, splashed with orange lichen. The highest point is Mount Strezlecki, at 750 metres. Three-quarters of the way up the overgrown path to the summit, I came upon two pademelons that hopped away smartly, and there I viewed the mossy rocks and outstretched branches. When I later returned to my studio, I transformed it into a large oil painting on canvas. The complementary colours of green and purple lent themselves to this landscape. Fresh Embrace also relates to the embrace of oil as medium.”
Installation views
Sunday 11 September 2022 Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney
Fine day, big crowd, art feast – great opportunity after a three-year absence to see a diverse range of works all in the one location “90+ galleries, thousands of new works by 450+ artists. The main Galleries sector a significant platform for curated solo or group exhibitions of new and important work by artists from leading galleries. The Future sector a dynamic platform for young galleries which have been operating for five years or less, for curated solo or duo artist exhibitions of new work, and for established galleries to present the work of emerging artists or projects.”
Mary Tonkin, Ramble, Kalorama, 2017–2019
Mary Tonkin, Ramble, Kalorama, 2017–2019 (detail)
James Angus In through the out door, sculpture (front), Tom Polo Remember the end (balancing act) painting (back)
Al Poulet, Untitled (Mimosa)
Guido Maestri, Archaic self-portrait, 2022
Mikala Dwyer, Backdrop for base matters, 2016, and Backdrop for rounders, 2016
Naomi Hobson, Blue Lagoon in Season (Water Lillies)
Installation views
Friday 9 September 2022 Heart of Country: Arnhem Land Barks, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney Conceptual, spiritual, deep-time connection to country “featuring works by four generations of artists. Sacred clan designs recollection of a song some of which might have a hundred, two hundred verses. Representation of ancestral imagery saturates the art produced in Arnhem Land: ceremonial events, clan designs, hunting scenes, totemic animals, ancestral beings such as Nagylod (Rainbow Serpent), and spirits such as Mimi (malevolent sprites that conceal themselves in the cracks of rocks and can create disturbances when not placated) and Yawk Yawk (water spirits). This imagery affirms custodianship and connection to Country, as well as ceremonial knowledge in accessible to the uninitiated and non-indigenous people.”
Charlie Matjuwi Burarrwanga (c 1934- ), Sacred Symbols of the Mutta Mutta Lands
Charlie Matjuwi Burarrwanga (c 1934- ), Sacred Symbols of the Mutta Mutta Lands (detail)
John Mandjuwuy (Mandjuwi) (1935-2000), Wurrkadi Design (The Morning Star Ceremony)
John Mandjuwuy (Mandjuwi) (1935-2000), Wurrkadi Design (The Morning Star Ceremony) (detail)
David Daymirringu Malangi (1927-1999) Artist’s Clan Lands on the Glyde River c1985
Yirawala (1903-1976), Dancing Mimi Figures (White Background), 1962
Bobby Barrdjaray Nganjmira (Nganjmirra) (1915-1992) Untitled Mimi Spirits c 1960
Mavis Malaluba Gumana (c 1952- ) Dhatam (Malaluba), 2019
Mavis Malaluba Gumana (c 1952- ) Dhatam (Malaluba), 2019 (detail)
Installation views
Thursday 25 August 2022 Environmental Art & Design Prize 2022, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney
Youthful creativity, sensitive and restrained, carefully crafted works – explores “the diverse ways artists and designers Australia-wide have interpreted our unique Australian landscape, responded to our climate emergency and advocated for our planet through their creative practices. The Prize categories are: Ceramics & small sculpture; Film & video; Interdisciplinary collaboration; Painting & mixed media; Works on paper & photography; Wearable design; Functional design; and Young artists and designers 7-12 years and 13 – 18 years.”
Julia Davis & Jane Sheldon, To the heart: a calling, video
Jenny Pollak, Free fall, digital photograph (triptych)
Fleur Schell, Making room for wildlife, porcelain, wire, cement
Fleur Schell, Making room for wildlife, porcelain, wire, cement (detail)
Jo Mellor, Fish skin, up-cycled cotton, embroidery
Installation views
Friday 19 August 2022 David Fairbairn – Drawn Together, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, Sydney
Figurative, gestural, intense – life of the line “explores the ‘double portrait’ and the relationship between one or two sitters and the artist. With restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fairbairn was unable to work with his regular sitters, so his partner, the artist Suzanne Archer, offered to sit for him, which resulted in a new and extensive body of work and the focus of this exhibition. The series reflects a long and sustained personal and artistic relationship extending back more than three decades. His works transcend the material construct of how they look and what they mean, by making us feel. The eternal gaze captured in Fairbairn’s work is the result of aesthetic equivocation between abstraction and figuration, narrative and affect, all of which combine to enliven our experience of the picture, and heighten the sensory impact on us.”
David Fairbairn, Double Lives D.F and S.A No.1, 2021
David Fairbairn, Large Head T.J.K No.3, 2019
David Fairbairn, Passing Time D.F and S.A No’s. 1-12, 2022
David Fairbairn, Passing Time D.F and S.A No’s. 1-12, 2022 (detail)
Installation views
Wednesday 3 August 2022 Ken Done – Paintings You Probably Haven’t Seen, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney
Colour blast – “Features a selection of paintings executed between 2000 and 2020 largely from the artist’s private collection, reveal Ken’s love of colour and of life.”
Ken Done, Looking to the Beach, 2005
Ken Done, Madonna and dog, 2000
Ken Done, Violet coral head, 2011-16
Ken Done, Butterfly dreams yellow, 2006
Ken Done, Magpies and lorikeets, 2019
Installation views
Wednesday 27 July 2022 Luke Sciberras survey exhibition – Side of the Sky, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney
Massive amount of work, impressive range “covering 25 years of practice with focus on Sciberras’ extensive travels, and highlights his connection to Wedderburn, Hill End and the Central West region. Sciberras draws inspiration from the immediate environment, working directly in the landscape, capturing elements, symbols, shapes and textures of places, usually over a series of visits. Upon return to his studio, he processes this raw material and, drawing on his memories and connections to local people, creates work that is as much about the process of painting as it is about the landscape where he began, and the place of the people within it.”
Luke Sciberras, Creeping Shadows Flinders Ranges, 2010
Luke Sciberras, Out of Katherine, NT, 2016
Luke Sciberras, Fish in a barrel, Gallipoli, 2014
Luke Sciberras, Ugly Fingers, 2014
Luke Sciberras, Polygon Wood, 2017
Luke Sciberras, Manager’s Quarters, Wilcannia, 2013
Luke Sciberras, Buffalo Country, Katherine, NT, 2015
Installation views
Friday 22 July 2022 Vivienne Binns: On and through the surface, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
A lifetime of insightful work. “Tracing 60 years of work by one of Australia’s most significant feminist artists. Binns rose to prominence in the 1960s with her psychedelic depictions of sexual imagery, which anticipated the feminist art movement. Since that time, she has continued to shape some of the most significant developments in Australian visual culture, both within and beyond the domain of the gallery. The exhibition charts the key periods, themes and methods in Binns’ work, from her early iconic depictions of the body to the socially transformative impact of her community projects, and the breadth of ideas that she has explored since returning to studio practice in the 1980s. Above all, it reflects Binns’ enduring interest in testing the possibilities of the painted surface”
Vivienne Binns, No title (abstract motif), 1966
Vivienne Binns, Topographica, 2014
Vivienne Binns, Termounds and Captain Cook, 2003
Vivienne Binns, The adolescent is a boy?, c1985
Vivienne Binns, Symphony of uncertainties: in memory of unknown artists and scenes of popular reverie, 2005-07
Vivienne Binns, This moment then, 2013
Vivienne Binns, Vag dens, 1967
Vivienne Binns, Orange flam, 1967
Vivienne Binns, Floating, 2000
Installation view
Friday 8 July 2022 Colin Lanceley: Earthly Delights, National Art School Gallery, Sydney
Colour, light, vibrant “Earthly delights surveys the significant creative achievements of Colin Lanceley (1938-2015) over five decades from the 1960s to 2012 – this exhibition traces the evolution of his work from the early, raw collages, to his assembled sculptures of the mid-1960s and his subsequent incorporation of hand-carved assemblage into his painted surfaces over ensuing decades.”
Colin Lanceley, Prince Felix, 1985
Colin Lanceley, Song of a Summer Night, (Lynne’s Garden), 1985
Colin Lanceley, Midwinter Spring (James’s Garden), 1986
Colin Lanceley, The nightingale singing in the persimmon tree, 1963
Colin Lanceley, Burning bright (Big top), 2005
Colin Lanceley, The great dictator, 1963
Installation views
Friday 17 June 2022 Daniel Boyd – Treasure Island, Art Gallery of NSW
Powerful works that make you think beyond the image. “The artist’s first major exhibition to be held in an Australian public institution. Featuring more than 80 works from across his nearly two-decade career, the exhibition unpacks the ways in which Boyd holds a lens to colonial history, explores multiplicity within narratives and interrogates blackness as a form of First Nations’ resistance. Working with an idiosyncratic painting technique that partially obscures the composition, Boyd refigures archival imagery, art historical references and his own family photographs, asking us to contend with histories that have been hidden from view.”
Daniel Boyd, Untitled (T14), 2015
Daniel Boyd, Untitled, (MINCC), 2014
Daniel Boyd, Untitled (BAT), 2020
Daniel Boyd, Untitled, 2015
Daniel Boyd, Untitled (ToVR), 2017-18
Daniel Boyd, We call them pirates out here, 2006
Daniel Boyd, Untitled, (RCB), 2016
Installation views
Friday 10 June 2022 Salon des Refusés, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
The alternative Archibald and Wynne Prize selection – wide ranging mix – 55 works.
Paul Ryan, After the downpour
Peter Godwin, Last light falling mist, Colo River and Canoe Creek Junction
Oliver Watts, Felling the Boundary Pines
Christopher Zanko, Wandering the LGA (Wollongong)
Steve, Lopes, Portrait of Brad Hammond – Director Orange Regional Gallery
Jun Chen, Artist – Ian Smith
Mark Rutledge, Tame Iti (artist)
Friday 3 June 2022 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2022, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
Portraits, landscapes and everything else. Missed last year due to lockdowns but got a kick out of returning to this annual event – a good year. Archibald entries: 816 (52 selected), Wynne entries: 601 (34 selected), Sulman entries: 491 (29 selected) “This year saw the highest known number of entries in the Archibald from Aboriginal artists (20) and the highest number of Aboriginal finalists in the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes overall (27)” – about time.
Archibald
Blak Douglas, Moby Dickens (winner Archibald Prize)
Anne Cape, Walking a tightrope
Wendy Sharpe, Self-portrait with ghosts
Noel McKenna, Patrick Corrigan AM with Rosie
Wynne
Nicholas Harding, Eora (winner Wynne Prize)
Margaret Richards, Tjukula tjuta
John R Walker, Eagle spirit Vathiwarta
Betty Chimney and Raylene Walatinna, Nganampa Ngura, -ngunytju munu untaipa (Our Country – mother and daughter)
Sulman
Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro, Raiko and Shuten-dōji (winner Sulman Prize)
Inawintji Williamson, Ultukunpa (honey grevillea)
Holly Greenwood, Grogans
Friday 27 May 2022 World Press Photo Exhibition 2022, State Library of NSW, Sydney
Always confronting – images of world events over the past year. “The annual World Press Photo Contest recognises and celebrates the best photojournalism and documentary photography produced over the previous year. Selected by an independent jury out of 64,823 entries by 4,066 photographers from 130 countries, the 2022 World Press Photo Contest regional winners are 24 photographers from 23 countries. Australian photographer Matthew Abbott is one of the four global winners (World Press Photo Story of the Year) with his photographs of the Nawardekken people, the traditional owners of Western Arnhem Land, using fire to rejuvenate the land.”
Some of the projects:
Matthew Abbott – The Nawarddeken, West Arnhem Land – cool burning
Lalo de Almeida – Threats to the Amazon
Rehab Eldalil – Bedouins of the Sinai peninsular
Yael Martinez – opium in Mexico
Vladimir Encinca – Columbia – evictions
Saturday 14 May 2022 John Olsen: Goya’s Dog, Ngununggula, Retford Park, Southern Highlands Regional Gallery, Bowral
The exhibition spans eight decades of his practice, from the 1950s to the present – stronger than ever. “It delves into the introspective and darker elements of the artist’s practice, and contrasts these with the sunny, more exuberant aspects of his work. The art and culture of Spain have had a tremendous impact on Olsen. He first spent time there from 1956-60 and returned subsequently. This exhibition traces the ongoing influence of these Spanish encounters on the artist’s sensibility, his palette and how he views the landscape.”
John Olsen, Spanish Encounter, 1960
John Olsen, Abstract, 1963
John Olsen, The procession, 1960
John Olsen, The old boot, 1994
John Olsen, Nolan at Broome, 1991-92
John Olsen, Semana Santa (Holy Week), 2021
John Olsen, Reflection on Goya’s Dog, 2021
John Olsen, Reflection on Goya’s Dog, 2021
John Olsen, Reflection on Goya’s Dog, 2021
John Olsen, The chief, 1957
Installation views
Friday 13 May 2022 Paul Davis – under the influence, Sturt Gallery, Mittagong
ceramics – new work – showcasing works by Saka Yuta, Yoshino Tetsuro, Makino Isamu, Maeda Kazu, Umeda Kentaro, Terada Yasuo, Hiroe Swen.
“Over the 50 year span of his ceramic career, Paul’s ideas, aesthetic and practice have been impacted by a number of key individuals and experiences. Under the Influence, Paul’s first major exhibition at Sturt since 2008, includes his most recent work (2020 and 2021) as well as several pieces from a number of artist colleagues. These artists have, in some significant way, contributed to or influenced the development of Paul’s practice over time, causing him to reflect on his motivations and approaches to working in clay.”
Installation views
Friday 6 May 2022 Steve Lopes Encountered, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Excellent survey exhibition of an ever evolving artist. “Over eighty paintings, from 1997 to 2021, includes rarely seen drawings, prints and collages, together with the artist’s diaries and drawing books. The exhibition considers how the artist, through thematic narratives of migration and place, of the body on the land and the land without body, reflects on our age of complexity, volatility, crisis. The emergence of voids, barriers and paths that appear and reappear play an important role in Lopes’ work, and provide insights into his philosophy regarding representation and the social and art context through which his scenes of harshness and kindness emerge.”
Steve Lopes, Creek Bed Study, 2018
Steve Lopes, Possession Cart, 2017
Steve Lopes, Aurora Figure, 2017
Steve Lopes, Yellow Mountain West View, 2015
Steve Lopes, Inchoate Road, 2011
Steve Lopes, Unnamed Wood, 2021
Steve Lopes, Barefoot Figure, 2020
Steve Lopes, Settlement Souvenir Still Life, 2017
Installation views
Friday 29 April 2022 Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Maritime Museum, Sydney
As always high impact amazing images from the annual exhibition from the Natural History Museum in London “this exhibition features over 100 exceptional images which capture fascinating animal behaviour, spectacular species and the breathtaking diversity of the natural world. Using photography’s unique emotive power to engage and inspire audiences, the images shine a light on stories and species around the world and encourage a future of advocating for the planet. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the most prestigious photography event of its kind, providing a global platform that showcases the natural world’s most astonishing and challenging sights. The competition receives over 50,000 entries from all over the world.”
José Juan Hernández, Dead-tree fungus, Teno Rural Park in Tenerife
Kazuaki Koseki, Uplifting dawn – each year more than 100,000 birds arrive at Izunuma, Japan. Greater white-fronted geese are the most abundant bird species recorded here.
Henley Spiers, Turtle in paradise – a red-eared slider turtle swims peacefully among the water lilies in the Aktun Ha cenote in Mexico
Knut-Sverre Horn, Departure – black-legged kittiwakes, Varanger Fjord in Norway
Gil Wizen, Beautiful bloodsucker – Sabethes mosquitoe, found in Central and South America
Installation views
Friday 22 April 2022 23rd Biennale of Sydney (2022), rivus – Pier 2/3 and Barangaroo, Sydney
Following on from visits to MCA and Art Gallery NSW (see below) the scale of the works at Pier 2/3 and Barangaroo impressive, the works insightful and inspiring.
Pier 2/3
Aluaiy Kaumakan, Semasipu, Remembering Our Intimacies, 2021 – 2022
wool, cotton, silk on cloths by inking
Aluaiy Kaumakan, Semasipu, Remembering Our Intimacies, 2021 – 2022 (detail)
Melissa Dubbin and Aaron S. Davidson, The Cloud in the Ocean , 2022
Water, borosilicate glass, overclocked water-cooled computer, silicone soft robot manta, temperature sensors, micro-controllers, air compressor, air control system, simulated environment, monitor, metal, plastic and power supplies.
Yoan Capote, Requiem (Plegaria), 2019-2021
24k gold leaf, oil, nails and fishhooks on linen panel on plywood
Yoan Capote, Requiem (Plegaria), 2019-2021 (detail)
Duke Riley, The View From The Mouth Of The Newtown Creek During Final Days of Battle, 2022
Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi, Haukulasi, 1995-2021
mixed media – redefines the traditional Tongan form of binding or lashing known as lalava
Erin Coates, Never the same river twice, 2021
discarded oyster shell lids, silicon, river pearls, human hair, dog hair, glass eyes, porcelain, lead
Erin Coates, Never the same river twice, 2021(detail)
Barangaroo
John Gerrad, Leaf Work (Derrigimlagh), 2020, Stargazer lawn
LED wall, mirrored pavilion
Installation views – The Cutaway
Friday 8 April 2022 Clay Dynasty, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Creative treasure trove “celebrates studio ceramics in Australia as shaped by three generations of makers: from the 1960s pioneers who transformed the functional pottery tradition to contemporary ceramic artists who continue to push the medium. The first major exhibition to chart the astonishing diversity of ceramic practice across Australia, more than 400 objects from the Powerhouse’s significant ceramics collection.” A small selection of works in the exhibition.
Jun (Chun) glaze – “thick opaque blue glaze, it appears blue due to light refracting through small air bubbles created during firing. Jun glazes were first created during the Song Dynasty (960-1270 CE). First developed in Australia by Shigeo Shiga at Sturt Pottery in 1966-68 and by Ivan McMeekin and Peter Rushforth from the late 1970s.”
Red glazes – “among the most difficult to achieve. Potters in the Tang Dynasty (618-906 CE) were probably the first to discover that copper turns red when fired with reduced oxygen in the kiln but it was only in the 1400s that they perfected the rich red colour. Red glazes reappeared at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen the bright red langyao glaze (known in Europe as ‘ox blood’) made by Kanxi potters (1662-1722).
Stephen Bowers “former head ceramics at the Jam Factory, Adelaide – some works here dating from 1989-94. Combines Australian imagery with motifs from earlier textile, ceramics and literary traditions.”
Alan Watt – “trained in the functional tradition of wheel throwing in the 1960s, became one of Australia’s earliest and most influential abstract-sculptural ceramic artists.”
Peter Travis, Joan Campbell, Stephen Skillitzi – “among the few 1970s Australian artists to explore the abstract sculptural possibilities of clay.”
Pippin Drysdale, Flowering Time, Kimberley Region, 2020
Installation views
Friday 8 April 2022 The 500 Arhats of Changnyeongsa Temple, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Some peace and serenity – rare these days. “The Five Hundred Arhats were discovered in 2001–02 among the ruins of the Changnyeongsa temple in Yeongwol, Gangwon-do Province in South Korea and are believed to be between 600 and 1000 years old. In Buddhism, an arhat — or nahan in Korean — is one who has attained enlightenment. ‘Five Hundred Arhats’ refers to the five hundred disciples of the Buddha who gathered together in order to compile his teachings into the Buddhist sutras. This exhibition features one Buddha and 50 arhat statues with lifelike expressions, from joy and serenity to anger and sorrow: the gamut of human emotion.”
Reference: Discovering the Five Hundred Arhats of Changnyeongsa Temple, by Min-Jung Kim, December 8, 2021
Installation views
Friday 25 March 2022 23rd Biennale of Sydney, rīvus, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
Following on from visit to MCA previous week (see below) the theme rīvus – stream – flows through the works at AGNSW – “a contemplative, conceptual wetland. The participants offer visions of rewilding and caring for Country in the entrance court and the vestibule, and in a quiet space in the Grand Courts amid the works of 19th- and early 20th-century Australian artists. Anchored in ancestral technologies and critical Indigenous knowledges, the works in rīvus present an urgent call for the regeneration of and greater connection to Country, and the need to recalibrate and reassess our environmental impact. This wetland connects participants whose practices are underpinned by tireless and enduring activism, community leadership and custodianship. Active community participation plays an integral role in the creation of these works and in the rewilding of both virtual and real ecosystems.”
Badger Bates, Barka the forgotten River and the desecration of the Menindee Lakes, 2021-22
Badger Bates, Barka the forgotten River and the desecration of the Menindee Lakes, 2021-22 (detail)
Mike Parr, Asleep in the Tree. Wednesday 16 March – Saturday 19 March 2022, video still
Ackroyd & Harvey, Lille Madden-Tar-Ra (Dawes Point) Gadigal land, Sydney, 2022, seedling grass, clay, hessian, image imprinted through process of photosynthesis
Naziha Mestaoui, One beat, one tree 2012, video still
Installation views
Friday 18 March 2022 23rd Biennale of Sydney, rīvus, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
rīvus – stream in latin. Colombian curator José Roca, Artistic Director – artworks presented at several venues including: MCA, AGNSW, Barangaroo, Information + Cultural Exchange, National Art School, The Rocks and Walsh Bay Arts Precinct including Pier 2/3.
At the MCA a range of eclectic works always inspiring to see contemporary works from so many international artists. “rīvus at the Museum of Contemporary Art is imagined as a passage through deep time, vibrant matter, and dark psychological waters. Its 22 participants explore connections between human and non-human worlds, making links between earthbound and watery beings and cosmic and terrestrial waterways. Tensions between systems of nature and culture flow through the rīvus exhibition, as do themes of fluidity and interdependence, and the precarious relationship all life on earth has to water.”
Caio Reisewitz, Inko, 2020
Alex Cerveny, Atalantida, 2021
Paula de Solminihac, Black Bark 2021
Gail Mabo, Zendth Kes, 2018
Gail Mabo, Zendth, Kes, Tagai, Mabo Case, 2018
Robert Andrew, A Connective Reveal – water waking country, 2022, ongoing
Barthelemy Toguo, The Generous Water Giant, 2022
Eva L’Hoest, The Inmost Cell, 2020-21
Matias Duville, Picadero, Explorer, 2021
Kiki Smith, Underground, 2012
Kikki Smith, Congregation, 2014
Kikki Smith installation view
Milton Becerra, Lost Paradise – Vibration Energy H20, Sydney, 2022 (detail)
Milton Becerra, Lost Paradise – Vibration Energy H20, Sydney, 2022 (detail)
Installation view
Friday 11 March 2022 Destination Sydney: the natural world, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Always an intriguing range of works in what has been an annual exhibition – “the third (and final) iteration of the Destination Sydney series, developed and presented by Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Mosman Art Gallery and S.H. Ervin Gallery. Presenting the works of nine leading Australian artists all connected by their concern for organic forms and/or the environment. Destination Sydney: the natural world features the work of key Australian artists Jennifer Keeler-Milne, Juz Kitson and Bronwyn Oliver at S.H. Ervin Gallery. Each of the artists has created works that are synonymous with the natural world, in new and innovative ways. The intention to show artists whose interests are in organic forms and nature but with the added analytical appreciation and understanding of the environment.”
Juz Kitson, Grown under variable conditions; they are the reeds who bend in the storm, 2018, clay, porcelain
Juz Kitson, Grown under variable conditions; they are the reeds who bend in the storm, 2018 (detail)
Juz Kitson, Accumulated Associations; They form Potentialities or Possibilities, 2019, porcelain, timber
Juz Kitson, Pervasive and Enduring. Iheritable traits; the often remarkable resilience, 2019, porcelain, gazelle hide, leather, rabbit fur, pine
Juz Kitson, The Sanctuary; All That Is, 2021, porcelain, rabbit fur, resin, marine ply
Jessica Keeler-Milne, 100 Feathers, 2014-2021, charcoal on paper
Jessica Keeler-Milne, Spring Wattle III, 2021, oil on linen
Bronwyn Oliver, Labyrinth V, 1992, patinated copper
Bronwyn Oliver, Loop, 1995, copper
Installation views
Friday 25 February 2022 Primavera 2021: Young Australian Artists, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
The MCA’s annual exhibition of young Australian artists aged 35 and under. “In its 30th year, delivered by guest curator Hannah Presley. Participating artists Elisa Jane Carmichael (QLD), Dean Cross (NSW), Hannah Gartside (VIC), Sam Gold (SA), and Justine Youssef (NSW) explore materials that hold stories of the past and engage with techniques shared across generations, inviting new interpretations of the world around us.”
Sam Gold -installation view
Dean Cross, Prima Facie, 2021 (detail)
Dean Cross, Prima Facie, 2021 (detail)
Hannah Gartside, Lilith, 2021. Installation view
Installation view
Friday 18 February 2022, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
Matisse Alive and ARTEXPRESS 2022
Matisse Alive An exhibition of works inspired by Matisse – in conjunction with the major exhibition Matisse: Life & Spirit, Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris (see 2021 exhibitions summary 3 December 2021 Matisse: Life & Spirit). “Four new artist projects that present contemporary perspectives on this ‘modern master’. Ranging from dynamic textile environments to heroically scaled paintings and an immersive video work, these projects are by leading contemporary artists: Nina Chanel Abney (US), FRAMILY TIES; Sally Smart (Australia), The Artist’s House; Angela Tiatia (Sāmoa / Australia), The Pearl; and Robin White (Aotearoa NZ), VAIOLA. There is also an electrifying display of tivaevae – the Polynesian art of quilting. This and other Pacific textile traditions profoundly influenced Matisse’s late great works, the ‘cut-outs’.”
Nina Chanel Abney, Me, Laini, Kiyanna, Reese, 2021
Nina Chanel Abney, Crew, 2021
Robin White, To see and to know are not necessarily the same, 2021, barkcloth
Robin White, Soon, the tide will turn, 2021, barkcloth
Robin White, Vaiola, 2020, barkcloth
Robin White, Hufanga’anga, 2021, barkcloth
Sally Smart, The artist’s house, installation
Sally Smart, The artist’s house, installation (detail)
Sally Smart, The artist’s house, installation (detail)
Angela Tiatia, The pearl, video (stills detail)
Mama Mi’i (Mi’imetua) Marsters & Vanaga Teremoana Ringlao – tivaevae
Unknown artist, Hibiscus (Kaute), 2019, tivaevae
Installation views
ARTEXPRESS 2022 – HSC Visual Arts in 2021
Features a selection of student artworks developed for the art-making component of the HSC examination in Visual Arts in 2021. “The exhibition encompasses a broad range of approaches and expressive forms, including ceramics, collection of works, documented forms, drawing, graphic design, painting, photomedia, printmaking, sculpture, textiles and fibre, and time-based forms.” A small selection.
Daisy Tosh, It takes a village, 2021
Angus Baldwin, Turning a blind eye, 2021
Amelia Medbury, Perspectives of a negative space, 2021
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