Touching and Turning
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Sneakers are a cultural phenomenon made up of paradoxes. Some see them as an accessible and inclusive force in fashion that serve as an outlet of self-expression for many; yet to others they are a symbol of out-of-control consumerism. Two Queensland exhibitions are embracing these dualities, though from contrasting angles: Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street at HOTA on the Gold Coast, and Torsion at Brisbane’s Metro Arts.
For Betty Muffler art making and healing are indistinguishable. Evoking Country through the view of the eagle, she’s now showing in the NGV Triennial alongside a host of international names.
A comprehensive new survey at the National Gallery of Australia pays tribute to Emily Kam Kngwarray and the Country she loved.
Vincent Namatjira was the first Aboriginal artist to win the Archibald Prize for his portrait of AFL player Adam Goodes in 2020. This painting, among his wider oeuvre, is showing for his first survey at the Art Gallery of South Australia.
Kirtika Kain’s Western Sydney apartment on Dharug Country is crowded with boxes of materials and new canvases. She came back from a residency in Italy in late 2022 and since then she’s been living alongside her work, preparing for her solo exhibition at Roslyn Oxley9 and for the Biennale of Sydney next year. The cohabitation has been intense and sometimes messy, but Kain says studio life is teaching her new confidence.
Since their radical rise in the 1970s, posters have been used by artists and activists for feminist, political, environmental and cultural issues. As an exhibition at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery attests, today may be no different.
