Visual Art
For his first exhibition after winning the prestigious Venice Biennale Golden Lion earlier this year, Bigambul/Kamilaroi artist Archie Moore is inviting Adelaide into his childhood home.
Visual Art
Emerging artist Lauren Downton’s ceramic forms feature casts of objects ranging from branches and antlers to plastic bottles, inviting visitors to Port Adelaide’s POP Gallery to reconsider the relationship between humans and the natural world.
Work by 50 trailblazing and ‘dangerously modern’ Australian women artists – many of whom were misunderstood or neglected in art history – will feature in a major show revealed as the centrepiece of the Art Gallery of SA’s 2025 exhibition program.
Visitors are encouraged not just to look but also to listen to and even touch some of the artworks Bridget Currie has created in response to the historic house and grounds at Carrick Hill, including a ‘portable painting’ that serves as a picnic rug.
In a bustling Kent Town studio – surrounded by colourful stuffed toys and an eclectic collection of materials and artworks – Truc Truong reveals how art became her saviour during a dark time, and her excitement at the opportunity offered by a mentorship that will add new skills to her practice.
An intensive collaboration between Adelaide Botanic Garden and artist Dale Chihuly has created a series of striking glass installations – including two brand new works – that are curated to live in rhythm with the flora and fauna around them.
Justine Youssef’s Somewhat Eternal might appear rosy but it’s an act of generosity to enable deeper understanding of nuanced multicultural lives.
Books & Poetry
The paintings may be often serene and beautiful but Impressionism was born in a time of war and upheaval – and it’s a fascinating story.
Visual Art
While a series of large glass-art sculptures by Dale Chihuly will soon draw thousands of visitors to the Adelaide Botanic Garden, a much smaller yet equally striking work by the artist is turning heads in the Art Gallery of South Australia.
The Adelaide Botanic Garden is being transformed like never before with the colourful, large-scale glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly. John Neylon looks at why Chihuly is considered one of the most important artists of the 21st century and what visitors can expect from his first major outdoor exhibition in Australia.
A group of young artists have turned the idea of ‘something you can hold’ into a display of works ranging from evocative paintings and photographs, to installations intertwining traditional craft methods with contemporary art.
Yasemin Sabuncu offers a striking exploration of contemporary digital culture through the lens of self-portraiture photography with a collection of ‘selfie’ images all taken on a smartphone.
PHOTO GALLERY: David Dahlenburg’s images capturing the ‘grotesque beauty’ of tailing dams in SA have won the portfolio prize in the 2024 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year Competition, while Scott Portelli was named overall winner for a drone image showing two humpback whales bubble-net feeding.
Books & Poetry
Sally Heinrich’s bold lino prints feature the images and stories of groundbreaking South Australians – from Don Dunstan and Julia Gillard, to Mary MacKillop and Paul Kelly. Now they’ve been brought together in a new art book titled Local Icons.
Visual Art
The answer can be found in a SALA show where a large group of artists have given their imaginations and creativity free rein to create works spanning painting, sculpture, sound, textiles, jewellery and more.
SALA’s Slide Night provides artists with the platform to share a snapshot of their artistic practices, bodies of work, advice… and just about anything else.
The last-ever exhibition in Paul Greenaway’s GAGPROJECTS features work by Deborah Paauwe – also one of the first artists to exhibit in the gallery. John Neylon takes a look at the SALA show and the gallery’s impact on the contemporary arts landscape.
Spearheaded by Adnyamathanha artists, the Mulka Yata/The Knowledge of Place exhibition illuminates the ancient landscapes of the Ikara-Flinders Ranges and the culture that continues to thrive there.
South Australia’s underwater world can be viewed in a different light through a new series of photos by Narelle Autio that were captured beneath jetties along the coastline and present the ocean as a place of transformation and allure.
Festivals
A record 700-plus exhibitions will be presented across Adelaide and regional South Australia during the 2024 SALA Festival. We’ve selected eight shows to whet your appetite for the month-long smorgasbord of visual art.
Visual Art
SALA’s 2024 feature artist Julia Robinson reaps what she sews with an immersive exhibition drawing on a lifelong fascination with folk horror imagery and textile creation.
After singing for crowds outside AGSA, Henry VIII is now taking up a more regal position inside the gallery. Tansy Curtin sheds light on the portrait and an incident involving the king that may have changed the course of English history .
Ellie Buttrose, curator of First Nations artist Archie Moore’s Golden Lion-winning installation at the 2024 Venice Biennale, has been named as the curator of the 2026 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art.
Deeply personal, Brent Harris’s Surrender and Catch at the Art Gallery of South Australia is a moving retrospective of the artist’s 40-year career with works that often explore difficult ideas yet also incorporate humour and the absurd.
Taking inspiration from a popular Filipino dessert, Alyssa Powell-Ascura’s Halo-halo multi-sensory exhibition at The Mill explores the layered traditions and memories that connect diasporic communities.
Long-term collectors Diana and Philippe Jaquillard are passionate about offering meaningful support for artists. Here, Diana shares what inspires her love for the arts, and how collecting works can transform the careers of aspiring creatives.
A new exhibition in Adelaide tackles the notion of ageism in the arts, exploring what it means to be judged on your age – whether young or old.
A striking portrait recently unveiled at the Art Gallery of SA shines light on both a distinguished 19th-century female painter and the lavish fashions of the time.
Adelaide artist and 2024 Porter Street Commission recipient Lee Salomone’s first major exhibition in more than a decade is a culmination of 30 years of art-making and collecting found objects.
A new exhibition of prints and posters documents a radical and largely-overlooked movement from 1970s Adelaide which centred around progressive ideas that remain remarkably relevant today.
Visual Art
The natural wonder of bioluminescence is the inspiration for many of the recent works in a 20-year sculpture survey exhibition by Adelaide artist Marijana Tadic that shines light on the beauty around us.
Visual Art
Using fragile dress patterns of the 1940s and ’50s and her skills in charcoal, linocut and watercolour, Margaret Ambridge explores the embedded power in women’s lives.
Tea is more than mere social lubricant for Jingwei Bu, a multi-disciplinary artist whose work is influenced by Buddhist Chan philosophy and who was recently invited to stay at the Byron Bay studio of celebrated painter and sculptor Lindy Lee.
Archie Moore has become the first Australian to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale with his powerful work mixing politics and history with the poetry of internalised anxieties around belonging.
A thought-provoking exhibition of work by 75 finalists chosen for this year’s Waterhouse Natural Science Art prize highlights the wonders of the natural world, as well as the myriad human-made challenges it faces.
What do a 17th-century painting of a Belgian cathedral and an Australian contemporary sound work about queer love have in common? More than you’d think.
Whimsical creations by ceramicist Bruce Nuske displayed in an exhibition space designed by the late Khai Liew are being shown alongside a meditative presentation by visual artist Dana Awartani in this captivating showcase at Samstag Museum of Art.
Design
A damaged Khai Liew chair, a torn souvenir scarf from the 1956 Olympics, and a broken vase and perfume bottles owned by Paula Nagel are among a wonderful collection of repaired or transformed items on show in a new exhibition at JamFactory.
Visual Art
The relationship between image and text has long fascinated printmaker Olga Sankey, who has embraced the new opportunities created by digital technology.
Peace may seem elusive in some of the works in the 2024 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, writes John Neylon. Nonetheless, there is plenty to capture the interest and stir the emotions of a broad audience.
Former Adelaide High School student Fatiha Rashid’s vibrant mixed-media painting paying homage to her home country of Bangladesh is among dozens of artworks currently on display in the SACE 2024 Art Show at Light Square Gallery.
PHOTO GALLERY: From an oil painting capturing the landscape-altering impact of floodwaters to glass baubles inspired by the rare ‘ice age gum’, the 2024 Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize shortlist encompasses a diverse collection of works celebrating the intersection of art and science.
Discover the enduring impact of the Helpmann Academy’s Graduate Exhibition, as the organisation celebrates 30 years helping SA visual artists pursue successful careers.
Visual Art
The work of 20 mid-career South Australian artists is on display in a fascinating exhibition at Adelaide Railway Station that, in its second iteration, is positioning itself as an important part of the Adelaide Festival program.
Sponsored
There are 650,000 Stobie poles in South Australia, and over the past few years groups of local emerging artists have been making their mark on this local icon. Now, applications are open for the 2024 iteration of the project.
Twenty-four leading contemporary artists present their take on the concept of Inner Sanctum through works ranging from paintings and poetry to video installations and music in curator José Da Silva’s 2024 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art.
Multi-disciplinary artist Matcho Makata communicates the essential conflicts of diaspora life in this layered and affecting exhibition. ★★★★
From fascinating hybrid sculptures that blur the boundaries between natural and man-made forms, to a series of hanging prints of photos depicting life in the former Yugoslavia, the 2024 Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition offers plenty to explore.
Adelaide Fringe’s former director Greg Clarke is back in his home town for the 2024 festival season – this time as a visual artist showing his paintings in an exhibition on the Fleurieu Peninsula with long-time friend Louise Vadasz.
SA arts & culture news in brief: Take a deep dive into the Art Gallery of SA’s collection with a new book sharing the stories of 500 key works, meet Australian Dance Theatre’s newly appointed artistic associate, and discover the eclectic line-up of works-in-progress showing during this year’s inSPACE program.
Design
Lovely to look at – but not made to sit in – Marc Newson’s Cloisonné Blue Chair is part of a body of work the designer created using a centuries-old Chinese enamelling technique. It is on show in the Art Gallery of SA’s Metamorphosis display.
Visual Art
In search of recalibration and reconnection to nature, ex-cricketer turned artist and arts worker Oakey found herself on an amazing adventure that also ended up providing the subject matter for her upcoming exhibition: Deep Rest.
Installations commenting on single-use plastics and the dilemma of love and loss sit alongside impressive paintings, playful sculptures and an immersive bird-inspired presentation in Adelaide Central School of Art’s 2023 Graduate Exhibition.
Sonya Rankine has woven traditional techniques and a passion for truth telling and creativity into a multi-faceted contemporary arts practice and business. Her latest pieces are lighting up the historic phone booths at Adelaide Railway Station.
Kyoto-based artist Takaya Kōho animated the wild and often destructive forces of nature with his depiction of the Japanese gods of thunder and wind in a pair of late 19th-century six-panel screens on display in the Art Gallery of SA.
Industry icons Margo and Sam Hill-Smith have championed the careers of many South Australian artists. Here, Margo explains what inspires her passion for the arts, and why mentoring and gallery support are so important for emerging creatives.
