Visual arts and crafts - News and events

Events | Featured projects | Announcements

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Events

2009 Clemenger Contemporary Art Award - Melbourne

17 September – 7 February 2010

The 2009 Clemenger Contemporary Art Award is the final exhibition in the series of triennials established by Joan and Peter Clemenger through a generous gift to the NGV in 1991. Spanning nearly twenty years, the Award has focused the public’s attention on the achievements of a diverse range of distinguished Australian artists. The Clemenger Contemporary Art Award is national in scope, including participants across generations, and has forged dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists. A $50,000 award accompanies the exhibition. The Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia, Federation Square.

Brighton Jetty Classic Sculptures - Adelaide

28 January – 7 February 2010

This community-focused exhibition was inspired by Brighton Surf Life Saving members after experiencing Sculptures at Cottesloe Beach, WA, in turn modeled on the famous Bondi Sculptures. The exhibition is held in conjunction with the Brighton Jetty Classic Swim and Rowdown, combining both arts and sport. Artists enter their sculptures, large and small, for outdoor and indoor display, made from multi-media compositions (wood, wire, glass, metals, stone, clay, plastics, cement etc.). Brighton Surf Life Saving Club.

40 years: Kaldor Public Art Projects - Sydney

2 October 2009 – 14 February 2010

In 1969 artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude came to Sydney and wrapped the rocky coastline at Little Bay, 2.5 kilometres of coast and cliffs up to 26 metres high. This exhibition celebrates 40 years of groundbreaking contemporary art from Kaldor Public Art Projects with archival material, photographs and unique television footage. Another ambitious project by Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi will transforms the front of the Gallery. Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Contemporary Collection - Sydney

2 October 2009 – 14 February 2010

This display of works from the Art Gallery of New South Wales' collection incorporates the diversity of contemporary practice across photography, video, painting and sculpture. Highlights include Daniel Crooks' video work Train no.1 2002–2005, in which time seems to expand and contract as recombined slices of video trace the movement of an inner-city train. A selection of artist books by Ed Ruscha document the banal spectacle of the Los Angeles environment, while Pat Brassington's photographs cumulatively recall the effect of dread. Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Cook & Co: Antiquities for the Future Octavia Cook - Adelaide

5 December 2009 – 14 February 2010

Cook and Co was self consciously established in 2003 as a fictitious and irreverent family jewellery company for the aggrandisement of Cook and her ideas. Cook mines the themes of beauty, decay, providence and value within contemporary jewellery practice. Jam Factory.

Long Distance Vision. Three Australian Photographers - Melbourne

28 August – 21 February 2010

This exhibition examines the idea of the ‘tourist gaze’ and its relationship with three contemporary Australian photographers. This exhibition will consider the work of three contemporary Australian photographers Christine Godden, Max Pam and Matthew Sleeth, who have photographed not only aspects of the everyday at home but venture forth in the world with the delighted, but not uncritical, eyes of the traveller. The Ian Potter Centre:NGV Australia. Federation Square.

Ricky Swallow, the bricoleur - Melbourne

16 October 2009 – 28 February 2010

Like the bricoleur put into popular usage by anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss in his seminal book The Savage Mind, Ricky Swallow creates works of art often based on objects from his immediate surroundings. His method, however, is more of a second order bricolage: his sculptures are not assemblages of found objects, but rather elegantly crafted things. Hand carved from wood or plaster or cast in bronze, these humble objects are transformed into memorials to both the quotidian and the passage of time. National Gallery of Victoria, Ian Potter Centre, Federation Square.

Nicholas Harding exhibition: Drawn to paint - Sydney

15 January – 7 March 2010

This is the National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery Summer exhibition for 2010. The National Trust aims to promote the idea of a sense of place and the importance of recognising and preserving unique places. The Gallery particularly highlights the works of Australian artists who have not received adequate attention from larger institutions. Nicholas Harding documents a distinctly Australian sense of place in relation to Sydney, its beaches, industrial settings and its flora. The exhibition surveys Harding's artistic practice from 1984 to 2009, and is the first exhibition to showcase his works over twenty-five years and to cover his diverse themes, in both drawings and paintings. S.H. Ervin Gallery.

6 photographers - Sydney

5 December 2009 – 7 March 2010

In 1955 a group of six Australian photographers—Gordon Andrews, Max Dupain, Kerry Dundas, Hal Missingham, Axel Poignant and David Potts—showed 200 photographs in a key exhibition held at David Jones Gallery in Sydney. It was a shift from the traditions of pictorialism to the recording of contemporary life. The photographers engaged with the documentary mode for the fresh vision it offered. 6 photographers presents 29 photographs from the late 1940s to mid 1950s by these artists, drawn from various sources, some from the 1955 exhibition, along with publications and ephemera from the period. Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Master landscapes of the Mornington Peninsula: 1800 to the present - Mornington, Victoria

9 December 2009 – 8 March 2010

For 200 years, the Mornington Peninsula has attracted a roll-call of Australia's finest landscape artists. This exhibition brings together 50 exemplary works by 28 artists, including masterpieces such as Eugene von Guerard's Castle Rock, Cape Schanck 1875. The exhibition includes works by masters such as Nicholas Chevalier, Louis Buvelot, Arthur Streeton, Arthur Boyd, John Perceval, Charles Blackman and Fred Williams. Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery.

Doppelganger - online

23 October 2009 – 23 March 2010

Doppelganger is the second in a series of virtual exhibitions held by the National Portrait Gallery that explore contemporary notions of portraiture in the online environment. Based in Second Life the exhibition features the work of five artists interested in exploring the concepts of constructed self, identity, truth and illusion in the digital realm. At the heart of the exhibition is the, often fearful, societal fascination with the ideas of twinning, cloning and the concept of the other self. The participating artists from Australia, Italy, USA and China have analysed notions of portraiture and identity in their works that exploit the unique qualities presented by the Second Life environment.

Art Month Sydney

1–30 March 2010

Art Month Sydney is an initiative to celebrate the importance and diversity of the Sydney art world. Commercial art galleries, auction houses, public museums and institutions will unite to stage free artists' talks, lectures, exhibitions, social events and tours, raising the profile of Sydney as a centre of fine, visual and contemporary art.

Sculpture exhibition by Antone Bruinsma - North Tambourine, Queensland

28 November 2009 – end March 2010

24 contemporary stone sculptures are on display. Antone Bruinsma is a professional sculptor who has been creating meaningful sculptures for landscapes, urban spaces and private homes for over 25 years. His signature sculptures for small and large residential and commercial developments landmark various projects. He creates pieces individually for spaces. Songbirds Rainforest Retreat.

Queensland Festival of Photography 3 - Brisbane, Cairns to Toowoomba, Queensland

April 2010

A month long festival presenting the finest photography Queensland has to offer, the festival has expanded to include 20 participating institutions to present an exciting program of events showcasing contemporary photographic practice across Australia. Artists talks and exhibitions will present the work of luminaries such as AES+F from Russia, Tracey Moffatt, Patricia Piccinini, Bill Henson, Marian Drew and Ray Cook from Australia. Various locations.

The 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art - Brisbane

5 December 2009 – 5 April 2010

The sixth exhibition in the gallery's Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art will include the work of more than 100 artists from 25 countries, including collaborations and collectives, which reflect the diversity of practices across Asia, the Pacific and Australia including works by artists from Tibet, North Korea (DPRK), Turkey and Iran, and from countries of the Mekong region such as Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma). Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art.

2010 Sculpture Biennial (North East Sculpture Event) - Wangaratta, Victoria

2–5 April 2010

The North East Sculpture Event has been hosted by the Wangaratta Rural City Council's Cultural Services Unit since 2003. Artists invited by the Rural City of Wangaratta will exhibit at this event. The CURRENT Acquisitive Sculpture Award is a $12,000 prize for sculptural work developed for permanent outdoor installation. The CURRENT Ephemeral Sculpture Award, a $3,000 non-acquisitive prize, is for sculptural work suitable for installation at Merriwa Park, Wangaratta.

The Wilderness Gallery International Mural Fest - Sheffield, Tasmania

4–10 April 2010

Sheffield's 2010 Wilderness Gallery International Mural Fest is an art competition that sees nine artists engaged in a public paint-off over six and a half days. Each artist must complete a 2100mm x 4800mm mural, using the same poem as their mural's central theme and inspiration.

Ron Mueck Exhibition of Sculpture - Melbourne

22 January – 18 April 2010

This exhibition presents the work of sculptor Ron Mueck, who is known for very lifelike creations. It is the largest and most comprehensive Mueck exhibition so far held in Australia, and features twelve sculptures. Highlights are 'Mask II 2001/02', 'Man in a boat 2002', 'Old woman in bed 2000/02', 'Wild man 2005', 'Two women 2005', 'In bed 2005', and 'Dead Dad 1996/97'. Four new works, created specifically for this exhibition, will be unveiled for the first time in Melbourne. National Gallery of Victoria.

The City of Fremantle Festival of Photography: Fotofreo 2010 - Fremantle and Perth

20 March – 18 April 2010

In FotoFreo 2010 over 40 of Australia's and the world's leading photographers and photography commentators gather for an event that provides a chance to look at work, debate the issues and learn from the photographers. There will be three five-day workshops and four major forums looking at the changing ways that photographers are distributing their bodies of work.

Head On Photo Festival 2010 - A Month of Photography Events - Sydney

April–May 2010

Head On is a non-profit organisation which aims to promote photography through an annual photography festival, a portrait competition (offering the Head On portrait prize) and related activities. The Festival brings together photography exhibitions and multi media events across Sydney. It has over 30 participating galleries and a diversity of shows. The 2010 seminar will run over two days during the festival.

Clay energy, Gulgong Ceramics Conference - Gulgong, New South Wales

28 April – 2 May 2010

In 2010, hundreds of ceramic artists will again converge in the picturesque historic town of Gulgong, 290 km west of Sydney for a triennial with international ceramics. Energy in all its forms will be the focus of discussion and events. Whether artistic or physical, various types of energy are vital for producing ceramics. In Gulgong there's an energy that keeps delegates returning year after year. It's a buzz that stems from the cross-pollination of conversations about clay, glaze, inspirations, making and firing. Cudgegong Gallery.

Fibre Textile Biennial Momentum - national tour

March 2009 – July 2010

'Textile artists work inventively because of the rapidly changing context of their world, pushing the boundaries and communicating through their original expressive forms. They challenge our preconceptions and move forward into unknown territories. The strength of this work comes from the artists' ability to respect their tradition and history while engaging with the momentum of progress.' The 18th Tamworth  Fibre Textile  Biennial is curated by Valerie Kirk. National tour includes Canberra, Wagga Wagga, Mornington Peninsular, Geraldton, Dubbo, Windsor, Mount Gambier.

Zhongjian: Midway - national tour

2010–11 tour: Albury; Broken Hill; Bundaberg; Cairns; Caloundra; Latrobe; Mornington Peninsula; Mosman; Newcastle Region; Perc Tucker; Port Pirie; Shepparton; Tamworth and Tweed River regional art galleries

Curated by Jin Sha, this exhibition features works investigating notions of identity, tradition and globalisation by fifteen contemporary artists with varying connections to China: Ah Xian, Julie Bartholomew, Lionel Bawden, Kate Beynon, Guan Wei, Guo Jian, Jin Sha, Liu Qinghe, Liu Xiao Xian, Lü Peng, Shen Shaomin, Sally Smart, Laurens Tan, Yang Xifa, and Zhang Qing. Various locations.

Hans Heysen - national tour

[27 November 2009 – 14 February 2010, Hobart; 30 April – 4 July 2010 Canberra; 31 July – 24 October 2010 Brisbane; 19 November 2010 – 30 January 2011 Newcastle]

Hans Heysen (1877–1968) is celebrated with the first major retrospective of his work in three decades by the Art Gallery of South Australia's touring exhibition. The exhibition features more than a hundred works created over the artist's seventy year career, and marks the 40th anniversary of Heysen's death. Ballarat Fine Art Gallery.

Featured projects

Craig Walsh: Artefact H10515 - Sydney

2 September 2009 – August 2010

Created with 3-D animator Steven Thomasson and composer Lawrence English, this abstract installation within a large museum-like showcase disrupts expectations of museum collections. It feeds on digital sources from a website: images, videos and sound files from public and private collections. Its form evolves randomly; its appearance changes in scale, colour and movement in response to the content. Powerhouse Museum.

Australian collection - Victoria

Permanent exhibition

Comprising more than 20,000 works, the NGV's collection of Australian art is one of the oldest in the country. Browse highlights from the Australian painting collection by artist name. It now includes the Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists (VFLAA). VFLAA purchases significant contemporary visual artworks by Australian artists for the NGV collection and for touring and lending to the network of regional and metropolitan galleries of Victoria. National Gallery of Victoria.

Announcements

Vale Nick Waterlow

November 2009

Nick Waterlow was a leading member of Australia's arts community, having curated three Sydney Biennales in 1979, 1986 and 2000. He has been Director of the Ivan Dougherty Gallery since 1991 and was a senior lecturer in COFA's School of Art History and Art Education. His current curatorial, research and writing projects included a book exploring the place of Australian art internationally and The Australian Presence in 1960s London.

Key online resources

• Arts OutWest
• artsource - The Artists Foundation of WA
• Living Treasures Online Resource
• WEB-ARTS
• Artistcareer

Collection resources and online publications

• Collections Australia Network
• RedBubble
• Artists of Australia
• Arts Northern Rivers - Visual Arts Network

Institutions and government organisations

• Artbank

Peak bodies and associations

• National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)
• Craft Australia - Australian guilds, societies and associations
• National Exhibition Touring Support Australia
• Viscopy
• Photography Australia Group
• The association of Western Australian art galleries

People

• Brett Whiteley
• Fiona Hall
• Grace Cossington-Smith
• Harold Cazneaux
• Margaret Olley
• Margaret Preston
• Dictionary of Australian Artists Online

Featured websites/projects

• Major visual arts prizes