Feature Théo Mercier’s sites unseen Equal parts monumental and fleeting, the sand sculptures of French artist Théo Mercier chart the histories—beyond our lines of vision—that a landscape reveals and conceals. Mercier’s MIRRORSCAPE is now showing at Mona. Briony Downes
Feature In the shadows: Gao Ping’s dialogue with the deeper heart For Chinese painter Gao Ping, the interplay between shadow and light is as much a symbol of our relationship with history as it is a visual technique. The artist’s latest exhibition Between the Shadow and the Soul, curated by Dr Luise Guest, is now showing at Vermilion Art. Louise Martin-Chew
Book Reviews Proof-sheet of an era: examining the golden age of documentary photography Examining the documentary photography of the 1950s to 1980s might seem like an exercise in looking back, but as Jane O’Sullivan discovers, Imagining a Real Australia calls loudly to the present. It’s full of arresting works on subjects that still speak to us today, from land rights to war and feminism. Jane O'Sullivan
Feature Yona Lee’s object lessons For the Auckland-based artist Yona Lee, who has a new commission at the Melbourne Art Fair, function is a source of formal possibility and ordinary material moulds space in extraordinary ways. Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
Interview Pat Brassington is mining the unconscious Since the 1980s Pat Brassington’s images have entranced the psyche of contemporary Australian art. With a new solo exhibition at Bett Gallery, Brassington gives a rare interview talking about studying art in her thirties, psychoanalysis, and discovering feminism through a wives’ book club. Tiarney Miekus
Interview Windows to the world: a conversation with Glen O’Malley Queenslander Glen O’Malley stands as a key figure among a generation of photographers who depicted the domestic lives of Australians in the 1970s and 1980s. In an interview with Barnaby Smith, he discusses the landmark 1988 show Journeys North, and QAGOMA’s current exhibition Suburban Sublime: Australian Photography. Barnaby Smith