Previews
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Dean Bowen: Home is where the Heart is – Get to know the man behind the prints
As a prominent figure within the Melbourne art scene, veteran Australian artist Dean Bowen has been developing and refining his art practice for over 40 years, expanding on his ability to work within a range of different mediums.
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John Mawurndjul: I am the old and the new
‘I am the old and the new.’ What a marvellously biblical statement by the Western Arnhem Land artist, John Mawurndjul. He made it boldly in accepting this year’s male Red Ochre Award at the Sydney Opera House in May, and the once-shaggy bushman – who lives 50 kilometres from the...
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Fabien Giraud and Raphaël Siboni: The Unmanned, Part Two
Is it possible to tell the story of human cultural evolution in a way that is separate to the interests of the teller? What happens if we look at ourselves through the lens of history as artefacts, or products of technological evolution, rather than as human? These are the central...
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Amanda Marburg: Would you let me into your bed
In Amanda Marburg’s painting Death and the Goose Boy (2015), an oversized goose-figure walks across rocky terrain, set against a deep blue background. A single beady eye perched atop an angular orange beak stares out at the viewer as two human legs protrude from its neck – supplanting torso and...
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Kristian Laemmle-Ruff: Woomera
Over the past 70 years, many have heeded the warnings posted along the perimeters of the Woomera Prohibited Area (WPA), the largest and most technologically advanced weapons testing range in the world. However, with restriction comes curiosity. In ‘Woomera’, Kristian Laemmle-Ruff sheds light on this questionable and highly confidential place....
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Jason Phu & John Young Zerunge: The Burrangong Affray
‘The naming of the show was the hardest part,’ says 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (4A) Director Mikala Tai. How do you scrutinise one of Australia’s largest racial riots without shutting down conversation? How do you delve into a history so deep, so painful, in a way that is...
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My Monster: The Human Animal Hybrid
Our ontological status has, until recently, been securely ‘human’. Yet in an era predicated on biotechnological breakthroughs and the erosion of the ‘natural’, the Homo sapiens stands at the precipice of species change. Our strange horizon emanates a bright artificial light silhouetted by humanoid structures and hybrid creatures. This tenor...
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Raquel Ormella: I hope you get this
There is a poetic sadness to Raquel Ormella’s work that is politically charged, expressing deeply felt approaches to issues of labour, class, migration and nationalism.
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Samantha Everton: Indochine
Informed by her multicultural upbringing, Samantha Everton examines the intrusion of Western culture within Asian customs and the contemporary struggle for authenticity amid conflicting cultural pressures.
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Glenn Barkley: imayimightimust
‘It is quite obsessive, and I’m quite an obsessive person, so it’s almost like I’ve taken my obsession into my work and each pot is an obsessive object,’ confesses Glenn Barkley.
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Colony: Australia 1770-1861 / Frontier wars
The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), in a heroic attempt to cut this Gordian knot for its major colonial art exhibition, decided to stage a two-part presentation – ‘Colony Australia 1770-1861’ and ‘Colony: Frontier Wars’.
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S.A. Adair: Locus
The closed-up gallery space is filled with ultraviolet blue, making your eyes pop. All around you is a material drawing, glowing whitely: clustered, uneven lines webbing and creeping along the floor and up the walls.
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