Hamilton
Hamilton Gallery – Emerging From Darkness: Faith, Emotion and the Body in the Baroque
8 December—14 April 2024

While this landmark exhibition includes a selection of major works by some of the great baroque masters, it is three female artists in particular that the show celebrates: Artemisia Gentileschi, Lavinia Fontana and Sofonisba Anguissola, all of whom produced powerful works addressing violence, suffering and femininity during the baroque period (early 17^th century until the mid-18^th). Other works come from Rubens, Valentin de Boulogne, Guercino and Bartolomeo Manfredi, in one of the most remarkable exhibitions to come to regional Victoria in recent times.

Mornington
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery – Know My Name: Australian Women Artists
Until 25 February 2024

This touring exhibition seeks to provide an alternative narrative of Australian art history informed by its diverse and influential female artists. The show focuses on innovation, daring and pivotal moments in art, with the works of modernists such as Grace Cossington-Smith and Margaret Preston sharing the space with works by the ground-breaking Vivienne Binns, contemporary practitioners including Natalya Smith and Kylie Stillman, and First Nations artists Emily Kam Kngwarray and Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori.

Ballarat
Art Gallery of Ballarat – Significant Others
Until 11 February 2024

Art Gallery of Ballarat is hosting a number of major exhibitions over the summer. One of these, Significant Others, examines connections between pairs of Australian artists – whether a relationship be creative collaboration, mentorship or friendship. Partnerships featured include Hans and Nora Heysen, John Brack and Helen Maudsley, Joy Hester, and Albert Tucker and many more.

Also at Ballarat is Whereabouts: Printmakers Respond (until 4 February). Here, curator Rona Green has assembled new works by no fewer than 56 Victorian printmakers who were invited to interpret notions of place, country, and home.

Another show is Layers of Blak (9 December—10 March), an exhibition of jewellery from 11 Victorian First Peoples artists, all of whom are enrolled in the Koorie Heritage Trust’s Blak Design program.

Araluen
Araluen Arts Centre – Raw Earth
Until 18 February 2024

Raw Earth is a collection of new ceramic, textile, and sculptural works by Alice Springs-based artist Claire Freer. The exhibition was inspired by Freer’s time spent in a remote desert community in Western Australia during the COVID lockdowns, where she allowed the local surroundings to inform her work in terms of colour, material and technique.

Also at Araluen Arts Centre is Tjoritja +Mpulungkinya (until 4 February), a group exhibition that celebrates the famous Hermannsburg School of Art, through depictions of the diverse terrain of Western Arrernte Country. Naturally, the show features Albert Namatjira heavily, and his legacy and influence can be found throughout the paintings. Another show, Groundswell +Momentum (until 4 February)—which focuses on the beginnings, impact, and art of the Papunya Tula Artists company—is also on at this Alice Springs gallery.

Devonport
Paranaple Arts Centre – Dusk
Until 20 January 2024

This group show takes its cue from this most atmospheric time of day, bringing themes and questions of psychology, philosophy and perception to its examination of light, dark and ephemerality. Curator Victor Manuel Medrano-Bonilla has assembled five Tasmanian artists—Lou Conboy, Peter Maarseveen, Bethany van Rijswijk, Rebecca C Robinson and Milly Yencken—working across diverse mediums and styles, including photography, collage, illustration and painting.

Murray Bridge
Murray Bridge Regional Gallery – Annabelle Collett
Until 28 January 2024

The late Annabelle Collett was a central figure in the cultural life of South Australia up until her death in 2019. Something of an artistic chameleon (and an autodidact), Collett’s practice embraced art and sculpture, fashion design, interior design, graphic design, public artworks and more, often addressing gender, the body and sexuality, and ecology. All this and more is celebrated in this timely exhibition, which focuses on the last 15 years of Collett’s life, during which she was preoccupied with ideas of disguise, camouflage and pattern in her work.

Bowral
Ngununggula – New Dog Old Tricks
Until 4 February 2024

On the surface, this group exhibition may appear to be about dogs—but its themes go much deeper, dealing with questions of communication, technology, history and myth to offer commentary on many contemporary issues. Canines, and the roles they play in our lives, are the jumping-off point for a multi-layered show that features the new works of 10 artists, including Kathryn Del Barton, Nadia Hernández and Madeleine Pfull. Alongside the new pieces, a number of dog-centric artworks have been borrowed from galleries and private collections.

Rockhampton
Rockhampton Museum of Art – Jenna Lee: To Carry Light
Until 18 February 2024

Melbourne-based artist Jenna Lee works across mediums such as sculpture, installation, body adornment and photography to explore her mixed ancestry: she is a Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Gulumerridjin (Larrakia), Wardaman and KarraJarri Saltwater woman. The emphasis of To Carry Light is works on paper that grew out of a recent artist residency in Kyoto, Japan.

Also on at Rockhampton Museum of Art is Collection Focus: William Yaxley. The paintings of this respected Central Queensland artist depict the landscape of the local Capricornia region, in a playful and colourful style that has become the self-taught artist’s signature over a long career. Alongside his own works, Yaxley has selected several works by friends and peers that also feature in the exhibition.

Bunbury
Bunbury Regional Art Gallery – Rhona Wallam: Painting My Country
Until 4 February 2024

Painting My Country is a celebration of Rhona Wallam’s extensive and ongoing body of work. An Elder of the Wardandi, Wadjuck and Balladong peoples, Wallam’s technically skilful and strikingly heartfelt depictions of Wardandi Country have evolved over the course of a lifelong practice that began in the 1940s. The exhibition covers her entire career, featuring early works alongside recent experimental pieces.

Also at BRAG is Stuart Elliott’s Ingress (16 December—18 February). A revered Western Australian artist over many decades, Elliott’s work is an urgent and timely exploration of the intersection between landscape and industry, often with dystopian elements. Ingress will feature an array of recent paintings and sculptures.

Illaroo
Bundanon – Miwatj Yolŋu: Sunrise People
Until 11 February 2024

This exhibition is a celebration of the diversity and innovation of Yolŋu artists from the Yirrkala Community in East Arnhem Land. Miwatj Yolŋu features works that rely on traditional modes such as bark painting and memorial poles, as well as pieces from artists working with reclaimed materials (from discarded office equipment to detritus from the mining industry), and audio-visual works. The exhibition shows both established and emerging Yolŋu artists. ‘Miwatj Yolŋu’ translates as ‘sunrise people’ in Yolŋu Matha (the Yolŋu tongue).