Eight Blockbuster Art Exhibitions to See Across Australia This Summer

While it was touch and go for a few months in Melbourne, the NGV Triennial has been given the green light to go ahead, to the relief of art lovers across the country. And it has never been more essential to delve into contemporary art discourse as we reflect on a completely new world.

The Triennial 2020 brings contemporary art, design and architecture into the gallery, posing thought-provoking views of the world during unprecedented times. The exhibition follows the themes of four key ideologies of today’s world — illumination, reflection, conservation and speculation — with new commissions and recent works from international, local, established and emerging artists.

Expect giant mirrored sculptures by Jeff Koons, a pavilion made from trees that died during the Millennium Drought and a multi-sensory walkway. You can check out our five must-see artworks at the exhibition over here.

Image: Cerith Wyn Evans, The Illuminating Gas at Pirelli HangerBiocca, Milan, 2019. Photo by Agostino Osio.

Lindy Lee’s Moon in a Dew Drop at the Museum of Contemporary Art is a must-see when you are in Sydney. As you walk around the exhibition, you’re invited to reflect on the 40-year career from Lee, her meditative practice and her dedication to Zen Buddhism.

Take your time in the gallery to really consider the impact of art history on Lee’s work in The Silence of Painters, or immerse yourself in the Moonlight Deities installation, which invites the universe into the gallery. However, it’s once you leave the gallery that you are greeted by Secret World of a Starlight Ember and realise the weight of Lee’s career. Each work reveals her take on identity, family, spirituality and belonging and how this fits into an Australian context.

Want to know more? Lee walks us through six must-see artworks over here.

Image: Lindy Lee, ‘Secret World of a Starlight Ember’ (2020), installation view, image courtesy of the artist and Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney. Photograph: Anna Kucera.

We don’t need to tell you about the famous art prizes held at the Art Gallery of NSW every year, but this year, the gallery has extended the Archibald into Archie Plus. The gallery is working with NSW-based artists, performers and community collaborators to pose alternatives to portraiture in different media.

Celebrating people, portraits and the power of community, this free program includes installations from Angela Tiatia — the largest ever made by the artist — Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran and Studio A. Art in the gallery is joined by music, performance, spoken word and dance that considers a year of challenge and change, paying tribute to acts of care throughout.

Image: ‘The Golden Hour’ by Angela Tiatia, © the artist.

When the National Gallery of Australia realised its art collection and exhibition roster was heavily dominated by male artists, its collection and curatorial team set out to change it with Know My Name, dedicating an entire year of programming towards fixing these inequalities. A silver lining of COVID-19 is that exhibition now spills into a second year. With over 350 works on show, Know My Name features immersive installations from Tjanpi Desert Weavers, wallpaper from colour artist Gemma Smith and diverse performances that retell history through the eyes of women artists. Set yourself a challenge to remember five women artists’ names before going — and triple it by the time you leave.

Image: Roma Butler and Yangi Yangi Fox, from Irrunytju in Western Australia, with their sculptures, 2017, photo: Rhett Hammerton.

Following months (and months) of lockdown, the Immigration Museum is finally able to exhibit the work of South Sudanese-born, Melbourne-based artist Atong Atem. Running through January 31, 2021, Atong Atem: To be real showcases the photographer’s work as part of the Photo 2021 International Festival of Photography.

Revealing a new series of large-scale photographic works, Atem captures moments that verge on the surreal and hyper-real. The artist uses bright tones and textural outfits to explore themes of mythology and fantasy — as well as examine her own identity and sense of belonging in contemporary Australian life.

Image: Bigoa with Fan (2020) by Atong Atem

Running until January 31, 2021, the annual Tarnanthi program brings together the best of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art from around the country and showcases it across multiple Adelaide venues — with the largest exhibition taking centre stage at the Art Gallery of South Australia. The guiding theme for this year’s edition is Open Hands, which pays tribute to the role of senior artists who share cultural knowledge with the younger generations; it also calls attention to the unseen cultural work of women in Indigenous communities.

Including works from 87 artists, the exhibition features mother-daughter collaborations, grand installations, talks and tours — all of which aim to fully immerse visitors in the rich culture of Australia. Online art sales and other AGSA activations are on the docket, too.

The first large-scale exhibition of famed Queensland artist Gordon Bennett since 2007, Unfinished Business includes familiar works alongside several never-before-displayed pieces. It has taken over the Queensland Art Gary and Gallery of Modern Art from until March 21, 2021.

Considered to be one of the most significant figures in contemporary Aboriginal art, Bennett has a body of work spanning the 1980s up until his death in 2014. His artwork explores his identity, as well as racial stereotypes and Australian society. In the exhibition, visitors will experience nearly 200 artworks, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, video installations and ceramics.

Threads of Jackson Pollock and Jean-Michel Basquiat can also be seen within Bennett’s work. In turn, Bennett has influenced heaps of contemporary and emerging artists.

Top image: Gordon Bennett, ‘Abstraction (Migrant)’

Bendigo Art Gallery launched a brand new exhibition in 2020, and it invites visitors into the world of First Nations fashion and textile design. Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion runs until January 17, 2021 and reveals the depth and diversity of cultures across Australia.

The title of the exhibition, Piinpi, is an expression from the Kanichi Thampanyu people (East Coast Cape York Peninsula) that reflects ‘seasonal changes’ and regeneration of Country. The gallery’s curator, Kaantju woman Shonae Hobson, has commissioned works from some of the country’s top designers. Those include hand-printed designs (using ancient techniques) by Gunnai, Wiradjuri, Gunditjmara and Yorta Yorta woman Lyn-Al Young, Teagan Cowlishaw’s sparkly Deadly Kween jumpsuit (made from upcycled materials) and sculptural wearable art pieces by Grace Lillian Lee.

Image: Elisa Jan Carmichael, CIAF 2017 Saltwater Footprints Collection; Photo: Tim Ashton