Tag: International Art
2024 Biennale of Sydney: Ten Thousand Suns
Saturday, March 16th, 2024 Art Column,Ten Thousand Suns may be the most joyous theme we’ve ever had for a Sydney Biennale. Whether we think of the Pharoah Akhenaten trashing the entire pantheon of Egyptian deities in favour of the Sun God, Aton, or the last words of J.M.W. Turner, who allegedly muttered “the sun is God”, it’s axiomatic that the […]
Fairy Tales in Art and Film
Saturday, February 24th, 2024 Art Column,Most fairy tales were written for adults. When Charles Perrault (1628-1703) was compiling the stories we know today as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Puss in Boots, the very idea of “childhood” was relatively new. Or so we understand from French historian, Philippe Ariès, whose influential book Centuries of Childhood (1960), has dominated our […]
NGV Triennial 3
Saturday, February 10th, 2024 Art Column,Over the past decade I’ve had so many positive things to say about the National Gallery of Victoria that I get accused of favouritism. My response to such charges is very simple: Put in the work and reap the rewards. The NGV owes its success to a busy, dynamic exhibitions program and an unwavering focus […]
Louise Bourgeois
Monday, December 11th, 2023 Art Column,It’s only taken a year, but Sydney Modern is hosting its first genuine exhibition. Until now, all we’ve had in this much-hyped building are rearrangements of the permanent collection, but Louise Bourgeois: Has the Day Invaded the Night or Has the Night Invaded the Day? is a most elaborate first venture. Australia has seen Bourgeois’s […]
Bob Edwards: A Eulogy
Friday, June 16th, 2023 Blog,Bob Edwards once asked me if I’d like to be director of a wellknown art institution. I said “No”, and have no regrets, but if I had wanted the job, I know he would have worked behind the scenes to make it a reality. He did this – discreetly – for others whom he had […]
The Return of Hong Kong
Tuesday, April 4th, 2023 Art Column,Roll the clock back four years to 2019. In Hong Kong, Art Basel was consolidating the island’s reputation as the heart of the international art market in Asia. The gargantuan West Kowloon Cultural District was starting to emerge but was still largely a building site. The world’s leading commercial galleries were opening branches, hoping to […]
Art Dubai 2023
Tuesday, March 21st, 2023 Art Column,Introducing the 16th edition of Art Dubai, Artistic Director, Pablo del Val, spoke about an art fair dedicated to ‘the Global South’. This new-old concept term has been around for decades but has gained momentum recently, as a way of dividing the developing world from its developed counterpart. At first, I thought this was a […]
Air
Tuesday, January 31st, 2023 Art Column,Some people say not to worry about the air Some people never had experience with… air Talking Heads Science tells us the average human being takes in 360 litres of air per hour. That sounds like a lot, but we do it without even noticing. It’s only when we have trouble breathing or […]
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 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 […]