Exhibitions

Step into the boxing ring, go on a choose-your-own virtual reality adventure, or consider the beauty of the landscape along Thunderbolts Way. There’s so much on offer in MRAG’s Autumn and Winter exhibition program.

Shadow Boxer

29 May – 8 Aug 2021

Richard Lewer, Northside Boxing Gym, 2013, charcoal on wall drawing, Fremantle Arts Centre

The boxing ring has long been a compelling site for artists, inspiring many books, songs, paintings and films. What is it about the fight that speaks to artists through the ages? Shadow Boxer highlights this cultural fascination, showcasing the work of contemporary Australian artists who explore race, gender, class, and the sheer physicality of boxing. Featuring work by Karla Dickens and Nigel Milsom, amongst others, as well as Les Darcy memorabilia from the MRAG Collection, Shadow Boxer brings to vivid life the grit of the contest.

This MRAG-curated exhibition is supported by the Dobell Exhibition Grant, funded by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation and managed by Museums & Galleries of NSW.

Made/Worn: Australian Contemporary Jewellery

13 Feb – 2 May 2021

Pennie Jagiello, What We Leave Behind: Heirlooms of the Anthropocene #4, 2019-2020. Image: Bewley Shaylor.

From intimate pieces to large scale works, Made/Worn showcases the practice of 20 contemporary Australian jewellery artists. The works on display are by turns playful, intricate, conceptual, personal and political, spanning a wide range of materials, techniques and meanings.

An Australian Design Centre (ADC On Tour) national touring exhibition.

Terminus | Jess Johnson & Simon Ward

20 Feb – 2 May 2021

Jess Johnson and Simon Ward, working drawing for Terminus, 2018. Image courtesy of the artists; Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney; Ivan Anthony Gallery, Auckland and Jack Hanley Gallery, New York

Inspired by sci-fi, comics and fantasy, this virtual reality (VR) installation transports the viewer into an imaginary landscape of colour and pattern. Johnson’s drawings are transformed from analogue into digital by Ward, then animated, creating a mysterious universe of alien architecture and humanoid clones.

A National Gallery of Australia touring exhibition.

An Unending Shadow: Works Exploring Dementia | Ann & Sophie Cape

20 Feb – 23 May 2021

Ann Cape, The Black Dog (detail), 2015, oil on canvas, 122 x 122cm

This exhibition by prominent Australian mother and daughter artists, Ann and Sophie Cape, examines the emotional and psychological ‘spaces’ that people with dementia – as well as their family, friends and loved ones – inhabit. The works include portraits and large abstract paintings.

A Mosman Art Gallery touring exhibition.

ARTEXPRESS

27 Feb – 30 May 2021

India Gaddes, Ascendance Charcoal, 2020, chalk pastels and eraser on paper, Warners Bay High School

An exhibition of 36 works created by high achieving Year 12 students for the 2020 HSC, from predominantly Hunter-Central Coast schools. Each ARTEXPRESS exhibition is unique, reflecting the students’ individual explorations of concepts such as culture and personal identity, presented in a wide variety of expressive forms.

ARTEXPRESS is a joint venture of the Department of Education and the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW.

Saturday: When Commercial Artists Go Rogue

13 Mar – 6 Jun 2021 {Art Factory}

Melissa So, Monday Mantras, 2020, gold ink on black paper, 21 x 29.7cm

Six young creatives respond to a noncommercial brief, each allocated a day of the week to explore. Andy Gallagher is Saturday, delving into digital technology to create an immersive virtual reality world. The Monday to Friday artists are Andy’s lab rats, creating individual responses to his work.

Just Not Australian

8 May – 1 Aug 2021

Liam Benson, Red Flag, 2017, glass beads, seed beads, sequins, cotton thread, cotton poplin, 30 x 59cm, courtesy of the artist and Artereal Gallery. Photo: Zan Wimberley.

Bringing together 20 artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, this exhibition examines contemporary Australian nationhood. With creative invention and fortitude, the artists explore the politics of images and language, addressing historic and contemporary mistruths and injustices.

Curated by Artspace and touring nationally with Museums & Galleries of NSW.

Impressions of a Journey: Landscapes Between Walcha and Paterson | Paula Jenkins

5 Jun – 29 Aug 2021

Paula Jenkins, The Descent I (into the gorge), 2020, Apsley Gorge, oil on canvas, 153x153cm

Paula Jenkins grew up near Paterson, a place of fond childhood memories. For the last 13 years she has called Walcha home, making many journeys along Thunderbolts Way between Walcha and Paterson, capturing the vast landscape in oil on canvas, and gouache on paper.

Barka: The Forgotten River | Justine Muller & Badger Bates

12 Jun – 5 Sep 2021 {Art Factory}

Justine Muller and the Wilcannia community, making footprints in river clay for installation River of Hope, 2018

This collaborative exhibition highlights the degradation of the Barka-Darling River and the determination of its people, the Barkandji, to fight for its survival. Works include carvings and linocut prints by Bates, portrait paintings on tin by Muller and an installation of footprints in river clay.

In Brief

Maitland International Salon of Photography

27 Feb – 30 May 2021

A selection of 50 images from the annual Maitland International Salon of Photography competition. For over 60 years the salon has attracted entries from photographers around the world, in the categories Colour, Monochrome, Nature, and Travel.

MRAGM Art Sale 2021

7 Aug – 12 Sep 2021

The Art Sale is back! This major biennial fundraising exhibition of paintings, prints and sculptures raises funds for the MRAG Members program to support accessible arts initiatives at the Gallery, such as Free Art Sunday.