A Year in Between

The end of the year means Summer—heading out of this weird blurry year and striding happily into our biggest issue yet.

First launched in May 2020, it started as an initiative to help us communicate with our community of friends, artists, collectors, and fellow art world colleagues, a mere 31 pages long. It has become a good way to stay in touch, a way to connect in times when face-to-face interactions have not been possible, whether we have been locked down or travelling the world.

Staying in touch, and indeed, the very sense of touch is something that we need and crave as humans, and has, in many cases, been difficult to achieve lately. We have mused over this idea recently as our relationship with touch has radically transformed.

This has not been lost on Tim Silver, our cover boy, whose November show can be seen as a meditation on such Inbetween Days as these. Amongst new works, Tim has created a series of sculptures that memorialise the intimate and modest moments shared between people; a pair of feet intertwined, a hand caressing another under the covers. Julie Ewington’s essay on the exhibition articulates the work so beautifully, ‘Touch is everywhere here. And that touches me’.

Michael Zavros’ current exhibition Z Garden receives in-depth investigation though the lens of British writer, Harriet Flavel. She steers us through understanding how this artist combines a deep regard for his ancestral history, and the Classical period, with a tongue in cheek irreverence.

Joanna Lamb has produced her saturated paintings of everyday Australian urbanscapes and gardens, scenes from pre-lockdown travels to Adelaide and others from her local Perth environs. In her November exhibition One long moment, scenes of suburbia, give detail to the mundane and Joanna is asking us to participate in a conscious action of looking.

Barbara Cleveland marked the opening of their incredible Museums and Galleries NSW (MGNSW) touring exhibition Thinking Business online at Penrith Regional Art Gallery in October. A survey, in many ways, of the last ten years of the collective’s practice complemented here by Tara McDowell’s musings on the historical danger of female powerhouse relationships.

Moving forward to next year, we look at our line-up for Singapore Art Week in late January, which includes a major solo exhibition by Kanchana Gupta, and not one, but two art fairs—S.E.A Focus, and the inaugural Art SG—crossing fingers that we might actually get to attend!

We celebrate Naminapu Maymuru-White, whose debut exhibition with us kicks-off 2022 in February. This brief overview is a mere introduction to her history, and we are looking forward to the NGV’s Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala opening 22 December which presents their extraordinary collection of work by Yolngu women artists from the Buku Larrngay Mulka Centre (Buku), in Northeast Arnhem Land.

We meet the newest artist to the gallery, Julia Gutman, also debuting in 2022—and we delve a little deeper into her fascinating practice which draws from her deep connection to textiles. We hear from Alex Seton, as he readies himself for his March solo exhibition. Alex tells us about his favourite material, marble, and why it might just save the world (!). We also take a look at just some of the year’s many highlights for S+S artists, including the landmark National Gallery of Australia commission for Lindy Lee, a truly historic moment. The last word goes to Barry Keldoulis and Sarah Hetherington of Sydney Contemporary—online for the second year in a row, as they reminisce about art fairs past and look forward to art fairs to come.

So, settle back and enjoy the magazine, enjoy the summer, enjoy some freedoms, happy Christmas, Hanuka, Festive Season and Happy New Year!

Jo & Urs