Newsletter
Newsletter 531
Monday, March 4th, 2024 Newsletter,This is another one of those weeks when I’m travelling and have no time for long fulminations – which may be a relief for some readers. I’m in Riyadh, having just arrived from the UAE, where the latest edition of Art Dubai is underway. I don’t know if there is any way of measuring whether […]
Newsletter 530
Monday, February 26th, 2024 Newsletter,This week, bowing to the overwhelming blanket coverage in all forms of media, I took a look at the most important global news story of our times: Taylor Swift’s concert tour of Australia. It’s reassuring to know that with bloody conflicts raging in Ukraine and Gaza, the media still manages to overcome such distractions and […]
Newsletter 529
Monday, February 19th, 2024 Newsletter,As it’s exhausting to be indignant on a permanent basis, and there are so many things in the arts that induce this condition, I’m taking leave from the Powerhouse, the AGNSW, the NGA, the APYACC, and other hobby horses, to say a word about two major anniversaries in the Australian art world. First of all, […]
Newsletter 528
Monday, February 12th, 2024 Newsletter,I haven’t given up on the wretched Powerhouse yet, but I was distracted this week by another recurrent topic – the dear old APY Art Centre Collective. The story so far is that we are waiting to learn what action – if any – will be taken by two bodies who have had the opportunity […]
Newsletter 526
Monday, January 29th, 2024 Newsletter,This week, I found myself wishing that the media, which has made such loud and relentless noises about Albo’s “broken promise” in not going through with the Morrison government’s “Stage 3 tax cuts” (it sounds just like cancer), would show the same outrage about NSW Labor’s broken promise to save the Powerhouse Museum. It says […]
Newsletter 525
Monday, January 22nd, 2024 Newsletter,Lots of concerned feedback for last week’s blast on the Powerhouse Museum, which is approaching doomsday on 4 February, when the government intends to close the Ultimo building for at least three years. I know I previously said “the end of February” but that was a wishful error. The good news is that the National […]
Newsletter 524
Tuesday, January 16th, 2024 Newsletter,Apologies for the gap between newsletters, but when one gets off the hamster wheel – even momentarily – over the Christmas season, the temptation is to stop writing for a bit and pick up a good book or stare dully at the cricket. As it stands, I’ve had two weeks off the art column, and […]
Newsletter 523
Monday, December 25th, 2023 Newsletter,Big news this week is the handing down of the Review of the APY Art Centre Collective, commissioned by the government of South Australia, with the support of the Northern Territory and Federal governments. Many were sceptical that the three-person panel, with minimal experience of the visual arts, would produce the goods. The results, however, […]
Newsletter 521
Monday, December 25th, 2023 Newsletter,You’ve heard this before, but it’s been a very busy week, divided between Melbourne, Canberra and Bundanon. Along the way I saw the NGV Triennial, which lived up to expectations; and the Emily Kngwarreye and Jordan Wolfson presentations at the National Gallery of Australia, which proved to be a mixed bag, supplemented by an excellent […]
Newsletter 520
Monday, December 4th, 2023 Newsletter,Looking at NSW Minister John Graham’s many titles, I can’t help wondering if he has confused his role as Minister for the Arts with that of Minister for Music and for the Night-time Economy. On the very same day I received a series of alarming emails about the future of the Powerhouse Museum – which […]