Innehållsförteckning för March/April 2025 från Art Guide Australia

We’re all familiar with the adage that food brings us together. But I’ve become interested in the ways that what we eat can reflect our shared values as well as what sets us apart. Art, of course, has long grappled with this contradiction: think of the way a Dutch still life—lavish arrangements of grapes and figs and oysters—also hint at the colonial trade routes that helped ferry the produce to the table. As food critic Lee Tran Lam finds out in her incisive essay, which features artwork by Gemma Leslie commissioned especially for this issue, artists and chefs are drawing on this historical legacy. They are using food to challenge art world barriers while sparking conversations beyond them. If you are tuned into the news cycle, it can be difficult…

You Are Here Too [The Redo] Institute of Modern Art 12 April—29 June The exhibition You Are Here, held at Brisbane’s Institute of Modern Art in 1992, stands as one of the most significant shows in the history of queer Australian art. Bringing together the work of 11 gay male artists working across sculpture, painting and photography, it gave an unprecedented platform to queer representation amid the AIDS/HIV crisis of the time. Something of a redux, You Are Here Too is both homage to, and expansion of, that original exhibition 33 years on, featuring a range of contemporary queer artists. With the blessing of the 1992 curators, Scott Redford and Luke Roberts, curators KINK, a crossdisciplinary art collective, have produced a show that, they say, “looks urgently at threads that…

Joan Ross: Those trees came back to me in my dreams National Portrait Gallery On now—27 April Joan Ross has long used her multidisciplinary practice—which spans drawing, painting, collage, printmaking, sculpture, video animation and installation—to explore the enduring legacy of colonialism in Australia, and how colonial systems are entrenched in our museums and collections. Vibrant scenes of flora and neon are used to attract a viewer, before quickly revealing a sinister world of Indigenous exploitation and environmental degradation. Joan Ross: Those trees came back to me in my dreams, the artist’s latest exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), is a retrospective of sorts, showing significant works from throughout her career. But it also takes key pieces from the NPG collection, contextualising historic works within the narrative of colonialism that Ross…

Parrtjima – A Festival in Light Alice Springs Desert Park 4—13 April The theme for the 10th iteration of Parrtjima, the Aboriginal festival of light that takes place annually in the Northern Territory, is ‘timelessness’. As with last year’s ‘interconnectedness’, the concept might seem broad, but in the hands of curator Rhoda Roberts AO, it resonates with profound meaning and impact as it reflects Indigenous culture and beliefs: both ancient knowledge and contemporary concerns. “Timelessness is not about measuring time but about understanding our place in the web of life and the cycles of the Earth, where everything is interconnected and eternal,” says Roberts. “[It is] time as understood in the Dreaming concepts—past, present and future. Aboriginal teaching of time is that it’s cyclical, endless and intertwined with the land,…

I get the sense from Gregory Hodge’s latest series of paintings that they have been waiting to emerge for some time. The artist was once synonymous with bold abstraction, his signature gestural strokes exhibiting in galleries across the country and featuring on the cover of Amber Creswell Bell’s Australian Abstract (published by Thames and Hudson Australia in 2023). But in his latest show at Sullivan+Strumpf in Sydney, Hodge describes how, “For the first time in a long time, it’s a show that isn’t about abstraction. For the first time there’s been a real progression in the work. They’re much more related to imagery and figurative painting, representational painting.” The scenes are often personal: interiors of his home in France, featuring stacked bookshelves and potted plants, glimpses into family life. In…

Inside the dark cavernous womb of Australian Centre for Contemporary Art’s main gallery, one will currently encounter Sorawit Songsataya’s Unnamed Islands (2023) as part of The Charge That Binds curated by Shelley McSpedden. Devoid of narrative, the video is intoxicating as it takes the viewer on a trip-like experience through time and space, across past and present and various geographical locations. It presents as both a dream-like hallucination and a science-fiction drenched virtual reality. Here, luminescent krill-like creatures flit around upon a black backdrop, while footage of a white bird manipulated post-production, give off an uneasy air of military surveillance. Installed on an enormous screen that sits directly on the gallery floor, Unnamed Islands is, despite its formal qualities, focused on the very real nesting habits of the kōtuku, otherwise…

Annandale Galleries www.annandalegalleries.com.au Gadigal Country, 110 Trafalgar Street, Annandale, Sydney, NSW 2038 [Map 7] 02 9552 1699 Wed to Sat 11am–4pm. See our website for latest information 12 March—12 April Newcomers 25 Farnaz Dadfar, Emily Isabel Taylor, Saskia Vander Artbank Sydney www.artbank.gov.au 222 Young Street, Waterloo, NSW 2017 [Map 9] 02 9697 6000 Tue to Thu 12pm–4pm or by appointment for all leasing requirements. See our website for latest information. 27 February—25 April A gestural drift Artbank Window Gallery curated by Sara Oscar To celebrate the acquisition of Sara Oscar’s artwork A hyperrealistic photograph of a pregnant Thai woman, tall woman in suit, falling luggage, chaos, airport parking lot, theatrical gestures, falling – scale 1:1, quality 1, Artbank has invited Sara Oscar to curate our Sydney Window. Sara Oscar is…

Bett Gallery www.bettgallery.com.au Nipaluna Country, Level 1, 65 Murray Street, Hobart, TAS 7000 [Map 17] 03 6231 6511 Mon to Fri 10am–5.30pm, Sat 10am–4pm. 14 February—8 March Metaphysical Journey Imants Tillers Dear Diary Pat Brassington 14 March—5 April Pmara nurnaka nurna lhamala relheingkwia nurnaka nurna mapa-lela (Country visiting with all of our old people) HERMANNSBURG Potters, Judith Pungarta Inkamala, Anita Mbitjana Ratara, Dawn Ngala Wheeler, Beth Mbitjana Inkamala, Andrea Pungarta Rontji, Alizha Panangka Coulthard, Dalissa Brown, Josie Naminjimpa Fly 14 March—5 April When the World Goes Quiet Troy Ruffels 11 April—3 May PLATFORM 2025 Lili Montefiore, Helen Goninon, Ella Howard, Deborah Leisser Thagomizer Tom O’Hern Contemporary Art Tasmania www.contemporaryarttasmania.org Nuenonne Country, 27 Tasma Street, North Hobart, TAS 7000 [Map 17] 03 6231 0445 Wed to Sat, noon–5pm. Colville Gallery www.colvillegallery.com.au…

Art Collective WA www.artcollectivewa.com.au Whadjuk Country, 2/565 Hay Street, Cathedral Square, Perth, WA 6000 [Map 19] 08 9325 7237 Wed to Fri 11am–4pm, Sat 12pm–4pm, or by appointment. 8 March—5 April Chroma George Haynes, Giles Hohnen, Jeremy Kirwan-Ward, Trevor Vickers This exhibition presents paintings by four outstanding artists, born from decades of kinship, camaraderie and lively debate on the power of colour and its expression on canvas. Over many years, these artists have worked and exhibited alongside one another, at times in the same studios, each developing their own distinctive chromatic style – continuously evolving in dialogue with one another. 12 April—17 May Misintention Chris Hopewell New work by Chris Hopewell is centred on capturing the flux of movement and energy through successive layers, each tracing the evolving journey of…

MAP 1 VICTORIA 1 Ararat Gallery TAMA 2 Art Gallery of Ballarat 3 Artpuff 4 Arts Space Wodonga 5 Benalla Art Gallery 6 Bendigo Art Gallery 7 Bendigo Visitor Centre 8 Cascade Art Gallery 9 Castlemaine Art Gallery 10 Central Goldfields Art Gallery 11 The Convent Daylesford 12 Cusack & Cusack 13 East Gippsland Art Gallery 14 Everywhen Art at Whistlewood 15 Geelong Art Space 16 Geelong Gallery 17 Gippsland Art Gallery 18 Hamilton Art Gallery 19 The Hive Gallery 20 Horsham Regional Gallery 21 Latrobe Regional Gallery 22 La Trobe Art Institute 23 Maffra Exhibition Space 24 Mildura Arts Centre 25 Platform Arts 26 QDOS Art Gallery 27 Post Office Gallery Art Academy 28 Pt. Leo Estate 29 RACV Goldfields Resort 30 Ross Creek Gallery 31 Salt Contemporary Art…

CLAIRE G. COLEMAN is a multi-award-winning Noongar novelist, essayist and poet. Originally from Western Australia, she lives and works in Naarm. STEVE DOW is a Melbourne-born, Sydney-based arts writer, whose profiles, essays, previews and reviews range across the visual arts, theatre, film and television for The Saturday Paper, Guardian Australia, The Monthly, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Sunday Life, Limelight and VAULT. BRIONY DOWNES is an arts writer based in Hobart. She has worked in the arts industry for over 20 years as a writer, actor, gallery assistant, art theory tutor and fine art framer. Most recently, she spent time studying art history through Oxford University. RAYLEEN FORESTER is a Tarntanya (Adelaide) based arts worker and writer. Rayleen’s curatorial interests focus on cross-cultural engagement through contemporary and experimental art…

Residue + Response: 5th Tamworth Textile Triennial Manly Art Gallery & Museum 21 February–6 April Conceived in 2023, the 5th Tamworth Textile Triennial: Residue + Response has been re-staged at Manly Art Gallery & Museum for 2025. The Triennial, which showcases 25 diverse artworks, considers what contemporary textiles can be. Bridget Guthrie, director of Tamworth Regional Gallery (TRG) acknowledges this iteration was born from the question: “what different voices need to be heard?” First Nations Curator Dr Carol McGregor took an artist-focused approach, ensuring ample time for making and engaging in deep conversation with all artists. McGregor, who wanted the Triennial to consider social changes, explains her, “curatorial premise began with exploring residues of change, asking each artist: has there been a shift in where you, or we, place ourselves…

Frida Kahlo: In her own image Bendigo Art Gallery 15 March—25 July Frida Kahlo is one of the most mythologised figures in the world, enshrined in pop culture as a bright, colourful icon. But the Mexican artist’s life was much more complicated than that. “It’s inevitable that you get such a top-level story for somebody who has ascended to this demigod status,” says Lauren Ellis, curatorial manager at Bendigo Art Gallery. Frida Kahlo: In her own image takes the audience deeper into the artist’s life with her personal photographs, clothing and objects, borrowed from Casa Azul, Kahlo’s house museum in Mexico. “Colour was really something that she lived, as well as put on canvas,” Ellis says. “How she dressed and styled herself and constructed her home, and the way that…

Know My Name: Kee, Jackson and Delaunay National Gallery of Australia Ongoing from 22 March The bright, distinctive patterns of Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson’s designs are a pioneering part of Australian fashion history. The creative partners took inspiration from figures such as Sonia Delaunay, the French artist and designer who co-founded Orphism, a movement that revolved around light and colour, with her husband Robert. “The importance of Sonia to the development story of these two artists was really pivotal, and is something that hasn’t been looked at in isolation,” says Simeran Maxwell, the National Gallery of Australia’s Associate Curator of Australian Art. “She’s one of the very first people who promoted early art fashion, which was something that was key to Linda and Jenny’s career—this idea that fashion is…

Artspace Mackay www.artspacemackay.com.au Civic Precinct, corner Gordon and Macalister Streets, Yuwi Country, Mackay, QLD 4740 [Map 14] 07 4961 9722 Tue to Fri 10am–5pm, Sat & Sun 10am–3pm. Free admission. 18 January—6 April Thea Anamara Perkins: Dualities 12 April—22 June Maximum Madness 12 April—22 June Natalya Hughes: The Interior 12 April—29 June Alun Rhys Jones: The Wall | Rainbow Sport Caboolture Regional Art Gallery www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/caboolture-gallery Kabi Kabi Country, The Caboolture Hub, 4 Hasking Street, Caboolture, QLD 4510 [Map 13] 07 5433 2800 Tue to Sat 10am–4pm. 4 December 2024—8 March Maximum Madness: Art Inspired by Mad Max Isabel & Alfredo Aquilizan, Karike Ashworth, Martin Bell, Penny Byrne, Patrick Connor, Rod Coverdale, Alex Cowley, Claire Healy & Sean Cordeiro, Emma Gardner, Shaun Gladwell, Franck Gohier, David Griggs, Reg Mombassa, Adam Norton,…

Bhenji Ra: Biraddali Dancing on the Horizon Perth Institute of Contemporary Art On now—30 March For Biraddali Dancing on the Horizon at Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), Australian-Filipina artist Bhenji Ra presents a single-channel video of a performative conversation with teacher and collaborator, Tausug elder Sitti Airia Sangkula Askalani Obeso. Obeso is a cultural bearer of the pre-Islamic dance form pangalay, which is indigenous to the Tausug and Bajau peoples from the Sulu Archipelago and Sabah in the Philippines. Ra explains, “in 2018 I went south to visit family. Pangalay is active through new waves of decolonial understanding and I’d always wanted to learn. I needed someone to teach me and my relatives said, ‘you don’t need a teacher, we have a family member…’ So, I met Sitti. I’d…

Of Counting and Devotion Wanda Gillespie Craft Victoria 6 March—26 April For artist Wanda Gillespie, any item crafted by hand can become a sacred object. “In my opinion, an object hand-crafted with care and focused intention using natural materials like wood—a once living, breathing entity with deep time traces left through its rings—elevates its energetic qualities and makes it worthy of devotion,” she says. Using the rounded form of the bead as her focus point, Gillespie creates wood sculptures that reflect on the intersection of value (both personal and monetary) and the sacred. Beads used in counting tools like the abacus and rosary prayer beads, are of special interest to Gillespie, and much of her new work was developed during a recent residency at the Victorian Woodworkers Association. “I became…

Form and feeling: artists’ studies of the twentieth century Art Gallery of Western Australia On now—4 May In 1938, during a low point in his life following divorce and eviction, the English painter Stanley Spencer embarked on his Christ in the Wilderness series, planning to create 40 paintings depicting, “how Christ may have spent each day, the great adventure all by himself with leaves and trees and mud and rabbits and rocks, just as I was having among two chairs, a bed, a fireplace and a table.” He only finished eight paintings, and started a ninth, but created many preparatory sketches, drawing in a gridded pentimento style. All nine paintings, as well as the drawings and sketches, are showing at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) in Form and…

Pmara nurnaka nurna lhamala relhe ingkwia nurnaka nurna mapa-lela. (Country visiting with all of our old people.) Bett Gallery 14 March—5 April Using a hand coil pinch technique, the pots created by the Hermannsburg Potters of Western Arrarnta in Central Australia illustrate the lived histories of the artists and their surrounding Country. Crafted from terracotta clay and ceramic underglazes, each generously rounded vessel is covered with paintings of life in the desert and topped with figurative sculptures of people, animals and bush tucker adorning the lids. Featuring work by seven artists including senior Hermannsburg ceramicists Judith Inkamala and Anita Ratara, and emerging artists, Andrea Rontji and Alizha Panangka Coulthard, curator Emma Bett says this new collection of pots follows on from a previous exhibition themed around bush foods, to bring…

There is a small creature who lives in my house. I care for him daily: food morning and night, water, medication, litter, play. I know him more intimately than anyone else in the world, yet we don’t speak the same language. Sometimes his yowling frustrates me: what does that mean, I ask, and he yowls back, as though that answers the question. It does. It doesn’t. I wonder if, in another life, he would have been something else. His life as we both know it now is a pattern that goes, predictably, as such: eat, sleep, play, sleep, eat, sleep. But there is a wildness in him, sometimes: the pattern can be interspersed with random attacks, his pupils dilating, his claws appearing like weapons. I wonder if he thinks I…

ACAE Gallery www.acaearts.com.au Wurundjeri Country, Australasian Cultural Arts Exchange, 82A Wellington Street, Collingwood, VIC 3066 [Map 3] 0406 711 378 Tue to Sun 10am–5pm. See our website for latest information. ACAE Gallery is a cultural venture presenting artworks and exhibitions by contemporary Australian and Asian artists. Our bilingual service, delivered in English and Mandarin, offers access to a range of artworks and public programs. Alcaston Gallery www.alcastongallery.com.au 84 William Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 [Map 2] 03 8849 9668 Thu 12pm–6pm or by appointment. See our website for latest information. Established in 1989, Alcaston Gallery is based in Melbourne with a national and international focus and exhibition schedule. The gallery represents contemporary artists from Australia and the Asia Pacific Region and is renowned for representing and exhibiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait…

Aarwun Gallery www.aarwungallery.com.au Ngunnawal Country, 11 Federation Square, Gold Creek, Nicholls, ACT 2913 [Map 16] 0499 107 887 Daily 10am–4.30pm and by appointment in the evening. See our website for latest information 7 March—30 March Time Travelling Bernard Ollis. Artists Shed www.artistshed.com.au 1–3/88 Wollongong Street (lower), Fyshwick, ACT 2609 0418 237 766 Tue to Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 11am–4pm. See our website for latest information. Australian National Capital Artists (ANCA) Gallery www.anca.net.au 1 Rosevear Place, (corner Antill street), Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country, Dickson, ACT 2602 [Map 16] 02 6247 8736 Wed to Sun 12pm–5pm, closed public holidays. 19 February—9 March Pattern/colour/space/form Al Munro The exhibition continues Munro’s investigations of the interaction of colour, pattern and space in painting. The works include fold-like corrugations in the painting’s surface that disturb and activate its physical…

Adelaide Contemporary Experimental www.ace.gallery Kaurna Yarta, Lion Arts Centre, North Terrace (West End), Adelaide, SA 5000 [Map 18] 08 8211 7505 Tue to Sat 11am–4pm. See our website for latest information. 15 February—12 April Shared Skin Atong Atem (AU), Hana Pera Aoake (NZ), Jared Flitcroft (NZ), Juanella Donovan (AU), Jumana Manna (GER), Jacob Boehme, KTB + Narungga Family Choir (AU), Tuan Andrew Nguyen (USA), Bhenji Ra (AU), Steven Rhall (AU), Marikit Santiago (AU) and Jennifer Tee (NL). Curator: Rayleen Forester (Associate Curator, Adelaide Contemporary Experimental). Art by Farquhar www.cbdgallery.com.au 1070 South Road, Edwardstown, SA 5039 0434 957 371 Mon to Fri, 930am–4.30pm, Sat, 10am–1pm, Sun, 12noon–3pm See our website for latest information. 1 March—30 April Pantu Janice Stanley (APY) We currently have a collection of paintings by Janice Stanley (Ernabella…

Araluen Arts Centre, Mparntwe www.araluenartscentre.nt.gov.au 61 Larapinta Drive, Mparntwe/Alice Springs, NT 0870 08 8951 1122 Open daily 10am–4pm, closed Mondays. See our website for latest information. 25 April—15 June Archibald Prize 2024 Regional Tour This Art Gallery of New South Wales touring exhibition is travelling to the Northern Territory for the first time in its history offering audiences outside of NSW the opportunity to see all 2024 finalists. First awarded in 1921, the Archibald Prize was established to foster portraiture, support artists, and perpetuate the memory of great Australians. The Archibald Prize 2024 recorded 1,005 entries with the highest known number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. The Araluen Arts Centre will also be presenting the Young Archie Mparntwe competition with four age categories awarded. 15 March—11 May Know…