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.

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Patrick Hall on creating an elegy to the World War II generation

The art of Patrick Hall is like a repository of memory that weaves together poetic narratives of world history and personal experience, in particular the history of World War II. His work is now showing at Despard Gallery.

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Linda McCartney’s Life From a Moving Car

Whether snapping her iconic rock’n’roll portraits or intimate family moments, Linda McCartney was a trailblazer.

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Joan Ross on history and hi-vis

With myriad references to museum curios, colonial landowners, and lashings of highlighter yellow, Joan Ross’s aesthetic is instantly recognisable. The Sydney-based artist, whose exhibition ‘Land of the Broken Hearted’ is currently on display at Bett Gallery Hobart, shares the stories behind five of her recent works.

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In Hapyhazard Michael Gromm offers a luminous blend of order and chaos

In Hapyhazard, online at Flinders Lane Gallery, Michael Gromm performs a lyrical dance between figuration and abstraction.

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Caroline Rothwell on our botanical worlds

From drawing with fossil fuel by-products, to creating art from historical botanical books, Caroline Rothwell looks at the increasingly complex relationship between humans and nature.

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Dean Cross tackles the centre/periphery hierarchy

Dean Cross examines his past, present and future ambitions through the lens of a Greek myth in his solo show Icarus, my Son at Goulburn Regional Art Gallery. He spoke to Briony Downs about leaving his regional home for the big city and the responsibility of being a culture-maker.

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Yhonnie Scarce on telling multi-layered stories through glass

Kokatha and Nukunu artist Yhonnie Scarce talks about the power of visual narratives, how her work reveals hidden truths, and her latest show Missile Park now on at the Institute of Modern Art.

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Jennifer Keeler-Milne returns to painting in Autumn & Spring

Jennifer Keeler-Milne rediscovered her love of oil paint thanks to wattle, leaves, and lockdown. Autumn & Spring, at Australian Galleries in Sydney, is her first solo show of paintings in nearly a decade.

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Light in the Dark

As Mona celebrates its 10th anniversary, the gallery is strengthening its connection with Tasmanian locals and harking back to its beginning: a private art collection.

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The power of older women

Sally Rees celebrates the witchy magic of female ageing via the figure of the ‘crone’.

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Should we abolish the Olympics?

In a ritualised performance of Olympic events, Pony Express takes a deep dive into what lies behind the gold, silver and bronze.

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Ruth Burgess use printmaking to record The Music of the Planets

Ruth Burgess filters the work of a 17th century astronomer and her own youthful career as an experimental composer through a decades-long printmaking practice in her latest solo show, The Music of the Planets at Grace Cossington Smith Gallery.

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Briony Downes

Writer

Briony Downes's Articles

Patrick Hall on creating an elegy to the World War II generation

Linda McCartney’s Life From a Moving Car

Joan Ross on history and hi-vis

In Hapyhazard Michael Gromm offers a luminous blend of order and chaos

Caroline Rothwell on our botanical worlds

Dean Cross tackles the centre/periphery hierarchy

Yhonnie Scarce on telling multi-layered stories through glass

Jennifer Keeler-Milne returns to painting in Autumn & Spring

Light in the Dark

The power of older women

Should we abolish the Olympics?

Ruth Burgess use printmaking to record The Music of the Planets

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