Nine leading Australian and international artists have been selected to create a series of newly commissioned public artworks as part of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ (AGNSW) Sydney Modern Project that will transform the iconic art gallery into a state-of-the-art institution bringing the landscape, architectural design, and public art together in spectacular form.
Lee Mingwei. Photograph: Barbara Donaubauer. Courtesy the artist, Museum Villa Stuck, Germany and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
The commissioned artists include Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Karla Dickens, Simryn Gill, Jonathan Jones, Yayoi Kusama, Richard Lewer, Lee Mingwei, Lisa Reihana and Francis Upritchard, a group of exceptionally talented creators working across a diverse range of artistic practices and mediums.
They are each currently in the process of making their site-specific and multi-sensory artworks – in their studios and workshops and with foundries in Australia and around the world in readiness for completion and delivery later this year. Some artists will be unveiling ambitious works made on a scale never-before-possible at AGNSW.
Karla Dickens. Photograph: Natalie Grono. Courtesy the artist and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
“These exceptional artists are creating bold and compelling works for our completely reimagined Art Gallery. They offer humour and challenge; they confront, prod and delight, powerfully heralding new art histories. Artists address where we are now and are acutely aware of the paths we have taken to get here. They remind us what it is to be human today as many of the Sydney Modern Project commissions intertwine with urgent social issues,” says Maud Page, AGNSW deputy director and director of collections.
New commissions will be announced soon. Visit the AGNSW website for additional information about the Sydney Modern Project and to read more about the artists involved.
