2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art Curator, Nick Mitzevich has announced the names of over 25 of Australia’s leading contemporary artists for next years’ Adelaide Biennial, Dark Heart.
Delivering their brave new visions in mediums including photography, painting, sculpture, installation and the moving image will be artists Brook Andrew, Del Kathryn Barton, Martin Bell, Ian Burns, eX de Medici, Julia deVille, Dale Frank, Tony Garifalakis, Fiona Hall, Bill Henson, Brendan Huntley, Kulata Project – Tjala Arts, Richard Lewer, Dani Marti, Trent Parke, Ben Quilty, Caroline Rothwell, Alexander Seton, Sally Smart, Ian Strange, Warwick Thornton, Lynette Wallworth and Martumili artists and Ah Xian.
Patricia Piccinini’s Skywhale will also make an appearance in Adelaide over the opening weekend and the work of Adelaide based sculptor and installation artist Julia Robinson will reshape The Studio activity space.
The issues and ideas explored by the Dark Heart artists include intercultural relationships, our ecological fate, gender, history and political power. Mitzevich elaborates: “My focus has been on assembling an exhibition that connects with the viewer and provides a moving experience. I am after an inherently emotional and immersive exhibition, one that explores the underbelly of contemporary culture.”
The theme of difficult conversations runs throughout the biennial. This will be presented in the exhibition publication, which will feature an essay by Australia’s most controversial expatriate, Germaine Greer.
Known for its risk taking, expansive vision and desire to educate and inform the general public about contemporary Australian art, the Adelaide Biennial is longest running survey of contemporary Australian art in the country. Established in 1990 it was initiated by Daniel Thomas, then Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia, as an antipodean version of the Whitney Biennial in New York.
2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Dark Heart
1 March to 11 May, 2014
Tony Garifalakis, Mob Rule (detail), 2013, enamel on offset print, 27 x 19.5cm, courtesy the artist and Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide
Sally Smart, Choreographing Collage (detail), 2013, installation view, mixed media, 332 x 1150cm, courtesy the artist and BREENSPACE, Sydney and Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
