Above: Nora Wompi – Kunawarritji Ngurra
1 | The Photograph and Australia
Migrants arriving in Australia, 1966 (detail)
What: An exhibition that investigates the role that photography has played in shaping our view of the world, ourselves and each other. The Photograph and Australia shows the evolution of the medium and its many uses from the 1840s until today, and is sourced from more than 35 private and public collections across Australia, New Zealand and England.
Where: Art Gallery of New South Wales
When: 21 Mar – 8 Jun 2015
Cost: $15 adult; $12 concession; $10 member; $8 child (5-17 years); $38 family (2 adults, up to 3 kids); Free for children under 5
2 | Desert Ink by Jonathan May
What: Part of the Head on Photo Festival, Desert Ink is a photographic exhibition that documents the lives of eight Mexican tattoo artists in Indio, California, who have left a life of drugs, gangs and violence to form a new community based around art and their determination to earn a decent living.
Where: Gaffa Gallery, Sydney
When: 1 May – 11 May 2015
Cost: FREE
3 | Go East: The Gene & Brian Sherman Contemporary Asian Art Collection
Above: Ai Weiwei Overcoat 2009 (detail). Found coat and two digital prints. Coat 165 x 129.5 cm (framed). Digital prints 43 x 43 (framed). Image courtesy: The Gene & Brian Sherman Collection, and Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney. Photo: Jenni Carter, AGNSW
What: Presented by Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation and the Art Gallery of NSW, Go East: The Gene & Brian Sherman Contemporary Asian Art Collection is an exhibition from Gene and Brian Sherman’s private collection of contemporary Asian art – rare opportunity to have such broad access to the Sherman’s collection.
The show spans two sites and includes two major installations (Chinese Bible (2009) by Yang Zhichao at SCAF and Public Notice 2 (2007) by Jitish Kallat at AGNSW), among numerous other works from some 20 artists. This includes a new commission from Ai Weiwei.
Where: Art Gallery of New South Wales
When: 14 May – 26 July 2015
Cost: FREE
4 | Botanical Inquiry by Daniel Shipp
What: A solo exhibition of hauntingly beautiful photographs that reference reality but also fiction. The works embody the idea of ‘re-noticing’ plants, seeing them grow from the most urban and gritty environments.
Where: Saint Cloche
When: 25 April – 3 May 2015
Cost: FREE
5 | surrealism by Simon Kennedy
What: A collection of charcoal drawings that seek “to personally understand what lies behind the image that was created in a time before” the artist was born. In the process of drawing from a photograph, based on a historical image, the Kennedy explores ideas of presence and absence as well as “the relationship between history and death.”
Where: Gallery 9
When: 8 April – 2 May 2015
Cost: FREE
6 | Together as One
Nora Wompi – Kunawarritji Ngurra
What: A body of new work from the Martu people of the remote Western Desert entitled ‘Together as One’. It is the first show in a fantastic new project, The Gallery Shop, which
Every month, this eclectic, corner gallery, will host a new meticulously curated exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal art.
Where: The Gallery Shop, Potts Point
When: 1 May – 29 May 2015
Cost: FREE
Tess Ritchie