Tag: Art Gallery of NSW
The National 4: New Australian Art
Tuesday, April 25th, 2023 Art Column,Surveys of contemporary art are rarely smooth, coherent affairs and The National 4: Australian Art Now is no exception. In her catalogue essay, Jennifer Higgie tries to answer the unanswerable question: “What is Australian contemporary art?” and comes up with a long list of contradictory propositions. It’s not exactly revelatory, but it makes the point […]
2022 and Beyond
Monday, January 2nd, 2023 Art Column,There’s been plenty to think about in 2022, including war in the Ukraine, a looming global recession and floods along the north coast, but if one had to nominate Australia’s most momentous event of the year it would have to be the change of government. Whether this was equally momentous for the visual arts remains […]
Sydney Modern Revisited
Tuesday, December 13th, 2022 Art Column,“Campus” is word of the week. It seems to be a particular favourite of Art Gallery of NSW Director, Michael Brand, who kept using the term during the Sydney Modern launch. “My vision,” he writes in the book associated with the new gallery, “has been for the Sydney Modern Project to transform the Art Gallery […]
Sydney Modern Opens at Last
Tuesday, December 6th, 2022 Art Column,According to Premier, Dominic Perrottet, Sydney’s newest cultural attraction is set to be not only the greatest gallery in Australia, but the greatest in the world. Forget about the Louvre, the Met or the Prado, here’s Sydney Modern! This informed and thoughtful opinion was largely echoed by the other speakers at the media preview, with […]
The Archibald Prize in Ten Pictures
Tuesday, June 14th, 2022 Art Column,No fewer than 816 works were entered in this year’s Archibald Prize, with 52 being selected as finalists. I should be used to it by now, but I’m still amazed that so many artists plunge in, year after year, in the forlorn hope of making it into the charmed circle that hangs at the Art […]
The Archibald Prize 2022: Blak Douglas is the winner
Saturday, May 14th, 2022 Blog,Politics is never far away from the Archibald prize, but it’s often that nebulous strain called “art politics”. This year, with the winner being announced in the middle of a federal election campaign, it was always going to be hard to keep attention focused on the aesthetics. Blak Douglas (AKA. Adam Hill), proved to be […]
The Archibald Prize 2022: A First Look
Monday, May 9th, 2022 Blog,It was predictable that after last year’s orgiastic celebrations of the Archibald Prize’s hundredth birthday, the following year would bring the hangover. But it’s not worth complaining about the quality of the 2022 exhibition, as the Archibald is never better than mediocre, with a few standouts. The dominant aspect of this year’s selection is a […]
On Commissions
Tuesday, April 12th, 2022 Art Column,As the fabulous mirage of Sydney Modern rises on the edge of the Botanic Garden, the Art Gallery of New South Wales has decided to tell us what we might see when the building opens, allegedly before Christmas. Last week the gallery announced it had commissioned nine new works, from Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Karla Dickens, Simryn […]
23rd Sydney Biennale: A Brief Guide
Tuesday, March 15th, 2022 Art Column,Preparations for the 23rd Biennale of Sydney were well underway before somebody noticed this year’s theme – rīvus – was an anagram of “virus”. For director, José Roca, who has worked to assemble a vast international show in a locked-down world, it would have been impossible to ignore the pandemic. Roca is from Columbia but […]
Matisse: Life & Spirit
Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 Art Column,Unless you’ve been watching the Ashes there’s not a lot to be cheerful about at the beginning of this year. To go – literally – anywhere is to be sure of receiving a COVID-19 notification, but if you’re willing to take your chances with at least one exhibition in Sydney, it would have to be […]