Overview
Summer might be over, but the New South Wales art world is already looking forward to the next, following the announcement of two major exhibitions to launch this October as part of the 2018–19 Sydney International Art Series.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia will host an extensive retrospective by renowned South African photographer David Goldblatt, while the Art Gallery of New South Wales will feature artworks from Russia's State Hermitage Museum — considered to have one of the world's most important collections of modernist European paintings.
Running until March 2019, David Goldblatt will dive deep into the life and work of one of recent history's most legendary photographers, covering a career of more than sixty years. Goldblatt is best known for his portrayal of South Africa's tumultuous history, especially surrounding apartheid.
As the photographer's first major retrospective in the southern hemisphere, the exhibition will feature Goldblatt's most famous photo series, along with early vintage prints, never-before-seen footage from his personal collection and a new feature-length documentary.
As MCA Director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE explained, "visitors will discover an extraordinary artist whose documentary eye has not strayed from the complexities of his country of birth, but resonates with other global histories (including Australia's own) through narratives of race and racism, and industry and the land."
David Goldblatt will run at the MCA from October 19, 2018, until March 3, 2019. Modern masters from the Hermitage is at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from October 13, 2018, until March 3, 2019.
Image: David Goldblatt, A plot-holder, his wife and their eldest son at lunch, Wheatlands, Randfontein. September 1962 (3_4907), 1962. Image courtesy the artist and Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg © the artist.