Five New Art Exhibitions Shaking Up June

Back in 1975, photographer Hugh Holland had an inkling a group of teenage skateboarders were going to make it big. It was the group who’d spawn the legendary Dogtown and Z-Boys, and this month, Holland’s documentation of them goes on display at Blender Gallery. Full of tanned bodies and bleached hair, Holland’s images document the group as they carve up drainage ditches and seize empty suburban swimming pools for skate bowls.

At Firstdraft this month, Natalya Hughes is importing the decor of sleaze into her practice. Girls Girls Girls, taking its cue from the neon strip club slogan, presents the unlikely union of seedy nightclubs and geometric abstraction. Hughes’ works are often multilayered and almost kaleidoscopic. She disrupts binaries, such as clean and dirty or pure and impure. And once again, sexuality seems to be the current bubbling underneath these colourful and not-so-innocent works.

Another show from Mike Parr will be unveiled in June at Anna Schwartz Gallery. This batch of mixed media works on canvas will stir up something that has been repressed. The title ‘Deep North’ has been intentionally left open, but Parr hopes to inspire thinking about Australia’s relationship — or arrangement — with Nauru and Manus Island. Does our political consciousness end at our borders? Does compassion carry across international waters?

What is the difference between video art and a short film? Is there one? Sydney Contemporary has teamed up with Sydney Film Festival to put on an epic showcase of video art. In between cinema sittings, you can stop by the Festival Hub at Lower Town Hall for a taste of Heath Franco, Deborah Kelly, Jess MacNeil, Baden Pailthorpe and many more. The show features plenty of home-grown talent and a sprinkling of international artists.

Throughout history, art and politics have been connected in so many ways. At times their relationship is hostile and tumultuous, at other times, it is unexpectedly fruitful. Curated by Macushla Robinson, this show draws on a vast array of artists who have something to say. Featuring the likes of the Guerilla Girls and Redback Graphix, See You at the Barricades also exhibits work from 19th-century artists and activists.