Briony Downes

Writer

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.

Interview

Grayson Perry talks about Them & Us

Grayson Perry takes to the stage in a one-person show, Them & Us, covering everything from politics and fashion to art and childhood toys. Briony Downes spoke to Perry ahead of his upcoming appearances in Sydney and Melbourne.

Interview

NGA curator Jaklyn Babington on #askacurator and watching Francesco melt

Urs Fischer’s four-metre red wax sculpture, Francesco, 2017, is designed to be lit and slowly melted like a candle. Recently acquired by the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), the sculpture’s decomposition is being documented on social media—and attracting lively discussion.

Preview

The shore, the race, the other place

In paintings like Our Rocky Shore, 2019, Neil Haddon blends the soft textures of clouds with contrasting colours, creating a surface crackling with orange hues and the veined branches of trees.

Preview

Artist run initiatives take over Hobart in Hobiennale

Spearheaded in 2017 by Tasmanian ARI (artist run initiative) Constance, Hobiennale is a week-long arts festival uniting ARIs from across Australia and New Zealand via free exhibitions, projects and artists’ talks.

Feature

Japan Supernatural

Once popular, then shunned in favour of sobering modernity, yokai – the catchall term for Japan’s ghosts, demons and mythical creatures – are back.

Preview

In Cahoots: Artists collaborate across Country

For In Cahoots: Artists collaborate across Country six art centres each invited a contemporary artist to visit and collaborate with the Aboriginal artists of their area: Neil Aldum, Curtis Taylor, Trent Jansen, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro, Louise Haselton, and Tony Albert.

Interview

Kent Morris on looking through a First Nations lens

In the exhibitions Barkindji Blue Sky and Unvanished, Melbourne based Barkindji man Kent Morris uses digital photography to illustrate how Indigenous culture adapts to change.

Feature

The Births of Venus and Olympia

The photographic works of Polixeni Papapetrou and Petrina Hicks traverse themes of womanhood, childhood and mortality.

Preview

John Scurry’s Winter the catalyst for new exhibition

John Scurry’s small paintings are formless and atmospheric, evoking only a suggestion of landscape or the misty hues of dawn.

Interview

Lisa Fehily on making female artists household names

Embracing the current push led by museums, galleries and public collections to highlight the work of women artists, Lisa Fehily has opened Finkelstein Gallery, an all-female commercial art space in Melbourne.

Preview

Sydney Contemporary 2019

More than 90 Australian and international galleries are taking part in Sydney Contemporary 2019. The competition for attention can be likened to an arena of visual titans, with galleries prominently displaying their biggest and most bankable artists.

Preview

Lucreccia Quintanilla: A Ripple and an Echo

Looking at the way sound and music can influence art making and storytelling, Lucreccia Quintanilla highlights the sounds of nature within the urban environment of Melbourne.

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Briony Downes

Writer

Briony Downes's Articles

Grayson Perry talks about Them & Us

NGA curator Jaklyn Babington on #askacurator and watching Francesco melt

The shore, the race, the other place

Artist run initiatives take over Hobart in Hobiennale

Japan Supernatural

In Cahoots: Artists collaborate across Country

Kent Morris on looking through a First Nations lens

The Births of Venus and Olympia

John Scurry’s Winter the catalyst for new exhibition

Lisa Fehily on making female artists household names

Sydney Contemporary 2019

Lucreccia Quintanilla: A Ripple and an Echo

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