Clarice Beckett, Australia, 1887 - 1935, The red sunshade, 1932, Melbourne, oil on board; Gift of Alastair Hunter OAM and the late Tom Hunter in memory of Elizabeth through the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 2019, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
AGSA
Known for her soft capturing of tonal shifts and poignant moments, painter Clarice Beckett’s legacy was almost lost to time and decay. Now her work is being celebrated in a major exhibition.
Ben Quilty, Australia, born 1973. Margaret Olley 2011. Oil on linen / 170.0 x 150.0 cm.
Collection of the artist. Courtesy the artist. Photograph: Mim Stirling
Margaret Olley was known not only for her paintings, but her generosity. An exhibition of her work is currently on in Brisbane, alongside a survey of the work of Ben Quilty, her mentee and friend.
Leigh Melrose as Brett Whiteley in Opera Australia’s 2019 production of Whiteley at the Sydney Opera House. The opera focuses on the artist’s addictions and his relationship with his wife.
Prudence Upton
A new opera focuses more on the personal life of artist Brett Whiteley than his artistic creations. As the opera reveals, a life like Whiteley’s does not offer a clear moral message.
Mella Jaarsma, The landscaper 2013, costume: wood, paint, iron and leather, single-channel video: 3:40 minutes, colour, sound.
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Purchased 2018. Photo by Mie Cornoedus
The exhibition Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia has many wonderful works. But it is an exception - despite our close proximity, there are few opportunities for Australians to engage with Indonesian art.
Photographs of tattooed Japanese women in the exhibition Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World.
Ben Healley
An exhibition at Melbourne’s Immigration Museum explores tattoo traditions from Samoa, Japan and Melbourne, telling stories of culture, tradition and migration.
Zahra Newman in Wake in Fright. A new adaptation of Kenneth Cook’s novel retells the story of a man’s descent into violent masculinity with a female voice, accompanied by visual and aural spectacle.
Pia Johnson
Mona’s new subterranean extension adds a compelling dimension to the art of Dark Mofo 2019. Upstairs, a series of interactive sculptures contemplates our automated future.
Steven Oliver’s Bigger and Blacker, which premiered at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, calls for more engagement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Claudio Raschella
Steven Oliver’s new cabaret show is an exhilarating journey through hard-hitting stories about success, love, depression and racism.
Dallas Dellaforce, Queer Central, Imperial Hotel, Erskineville, 2018. ‘Queerdom’ presents an archive of queer and trans life in Sydney.
Queerdom/James Eades
Queerdom, an exhibition of photography and poetry, presents a history of queer and trans performance in Sydney that challenges recent narratives about queer life in Australia.
A new exhibition pairs China’s famed Terracotta Warriors with contemporary works of inspiring ethereality. The contrasts here are many: life and death, harmony and chaos, energy and control, art and politics.
Sheridan Harbridge as Tessa in Prima Facie, a new play about a lawyer who becomes a victim of the legal system after she is sexually assaulted.
Brett Boardman
Written by a former lawyer, a new play presents a forceful critique of the Australian legal system’s treatment of sexual assault.
Juan de Dios Mateos as Cavalier Belfiore and Ruth Iniesta as Corinna in Opera Australia’s 2019 production of Il Viaggio a Reims at Arts Centre Melbourne.
Jeff Busby
Gioachino Rossini’s opera was originally meant as a satire of royalist France. A new production updates the work for a modern audience, setting the drama in a museum where the paintings come to life.
One of the most powerful images at this year’s Venice Biennale is Christoph Büchel’s.
Barca Nostra, 2018-2019,
Shipwreck 18th of April 2015.
La Biennale di Venezia
Often called the ‘Olympic Games of art’, the Venice Biennale’s national pavilions are an outlier in a globalised world. This year’s strongest works explore global issues like refugees and climate change.
Igor Sas in Water. The play deals with the issues of ‘illegal’ immigration and environmental crisis in three narratives.
Daniel J Grant
A new production of Cloudstreet - the play adapted from Tim Winton’s literary epic - is visually arresting. But despite a diverse cast, Indigenous characters remain spectral and peripheral.
Garry Sibosado, Aalingoon (Rainbow Serpent), 2018, ochre pigment on engraved pearl shell, detail.
Courtesy the artist
Indigenous artists and arts centres from the Kimberley region were invited to help curate this new exhibition, presented as part of the Perth Festival 2019.
Ian Wilkes in Kwongkan, an artistic collaboration between Australia and India.
Daniel Grant
Deer Woman, written, directed, designed, composed, stage managed and performed by First Nations artists from Canada, is anchored by a solo performance of fierce skill, focus and precision.
Tony Albert Girramay/Yidinji/Kuku Yalanji peoples. Australia Qld/NSW b.1981.
Mid Century Modern (series) 2016
Pigment prints | 24 works: 100 x 100cm (each)
Collection: The artist. Courtesy: Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney
Honorary (Senior Fellow) School of Culture and Communication University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, The University of Melbourne