In 1966, American pop artist Robert Indiana created Love, an iconic image in which the word “love” appears in red letters on a blue and green background. Since then, it’s been reproduced ad nauseam in painting, print and sculpture. Enter Melbourne-based artist Clare Longley, who repositions such romanticised imagery from a queer perspective.
Porcelain and sound waves do not immediately come to mind when thinking about textiles, yet these are the materials some artists are using to produce their textile-based work. Casting a wide net for Pliable Planes at Ballarat Art Gallery, co-curators Karen Hall and Catherine Woolley specifically looked for artists whose practice expanded the creative parameters of contemporary textiles.
Gardens tell us a lot about the natural world and the ways in which humans respond to and shape their surroundings. Catherine Truman spent a year researching at Adelaide’s historic Carrick Hill estate, emerging with work that speaks to the tension between the constructed and natural.
Geoffrey Bartlett’s new exhibition at Australian Galleries Melbourne sees the renowned sculptor’s career, in many ways, come full circle.
“The fog that keeps my words at bay is a sieve, and the colours move through it.” Madeline Simm’s inaugural solo exhibition, Blue Skirt Waltz, presents new abstract paintings at CHAUFFEUR.
Darwin-based artist Dawn Beasley uses nature as a reference point for her ceramic sculptures. The third instalment in her series, Botanically Porcelain, is coming to the Northern Centre for Contemporary Art.
The night sky tells many stories. For Indigenous Australians, it is also a symbol of sovereignty. Taking over the entirety of the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Black Sky asserts this sovereign vision.
The artistic exchanges between the Philippines and Australia is not only about art, but also “serves as an argument for cultural policy that sparks a new kind of dynamism”. Lies, Magicians and Blind Faith follows this idea, showing at Queensland Art Gallery.
The South African-born, Stockholm-based artist has been travelling the world recording the prayers of various faith groups and exhibiting the results—now it’s the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery’s turn.
“Few tasks are more like the torture of Sisyphus than housework…” wrote French feminist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. Adelaide-based artist Zoe Freney mentions this quote when talking about Work from Home at Newmarch Gallery.
Ochre Painters of the Kimberley at Japingka Aboriginal Art features paintings from the likes of Jack Britten, Shirley Purdie, Queenie McKenzie and Rover Thomas—and many works have never been publicly displayed until now.
The last few years have been characterised by grief and loss, alongside an unwavering hope for a flourishing future—it’s a dichotomy many artists are trying to capture, which Sam Jinks does exquisitely in his latest show at Sullivan+Strumpf Melbourne.
