After Jan van Eyck

Ursula Sullivan+Joanna Strumpf

Our love for Lindy Lee began at university (early nineties, there we’ve said it!) She was one of the few contemporary Australian artists that actually made it into the curriculum, who so strongly represented what was happening in the world, she sat easily and beautifully among the starstudded roll call of international artists that is de rigueur of contemporary art lectures. It was hero worship from day one.

This month, we celebrate Lindy Lee, in the lead up to her major survey exhibition, Moon in a Dew Drop, set to open at the Museum of Contemporary Art 2 October, a little delayed by Covid – but better late than never. It is a very big moment for Lindy, for any artist to see their life’s work, that great journey laid out in one place. In Elizabeth Ann Macgregor’s interview with Lindy, we learn how that journey began - via an encounter with a book on northern Renaissance artist, Jan van Eyck and a humble photocopier.

This month also sees our first exhibition for Natalya Hughes – an artist who has been on our radar since we started the gallery in 2005. The brilliant Julie Ewington discusses Hughes’ latest body of work The Landscape is in the Woman and we learn about how and why Hughes, from her quiet studio in Brisbane, is bravely delving into Willem de Kooning’s iconic and problematic series “Woman” from the 1950s. “Natalya Hughes knowingly enters an arena fraught with familiar contradictions: beauty/distortion, attraction/repulsion, goddess/gorgon, aesthetic ideal/tawdry pin-up. Huge stakes.” And who could forget that it’s Archibald season? To celebrate, we look a bit closer at long-time Archibald hopeful, and Sulman prize winner, Michael Lindeman. He covers everything from pulling apart the canon of art to the duties of a Sizzler dishwasher attendant, and the complex role of humour in the intimidating contemporary art world.

But wait, there’s more.

Richard Lewer brings to life threatened and vulnerable bird species from Australia and New Zealand. We go home with Michael Zavros and discover that his true strength lies in egg-based cuisine and find out why he would like to have Lisa Simpson to dinner. We talk with legendary Indonesian artist FX Harsono about his new space in Yogyakarta which is so much more than just a studio. We hear from curator and art consultant Fiona McIntosh whose passion for art was also sparked by a van Eyck encounter at uni and is as strong today as it was back then. Tim Silver looks back at his works from the 2012 Adelaide Biennial and final word goes to Paul Becker, Art Money Founder, who reminds us that if you are passionate enough about it – anything is possible. Let’s all keep that in mind.

Please enjoy.

– Jo and Urs