Primavera 2014

Overview

Every year, the MCA showcases the best of Australia's next generation of creative talent in the Primavera exhibition. For the class of 2014, curator Mikala Dwyer has chosen 13 such young artists.

With over 30 years of experience in the field, Dwyer is most well known for her innovative installation and sculpture work, such as her the strangely weighty, strangely ethereal hanging forms of The Hollows in this year's Biennale. She's always been entranced with subjects like alchemy, magic and metamorphosis, and perhaps this influenced her choice of this year's talent, who explore everything from surrealism to robotics and queer fertility.

Madison Bycroft's, Ben Denham's, Caitlin Franzmann's and Lucienne Rickard's works are grounded in a deep-seated interested with our bodily relationships with our environment and each other. Sean Peoples, Veronica Kent, Hossein Ghaemi, Nick Dorey and Emily Hunt completely revise this premise by exploring the infinite possibilities of telepathy and the surreal. Indigenous painters Barayuwa Mununggurr and Alison Puruntatameri take inspiration from the land and their upbringing, while filmmaker Ishmael Marika's works are a product of her Indigenous cultural identity and heritage. Meanwhile, controversial artist Paul Yore and Marian Tubbs prove to be ever more relevant in today's world, providing a social commentary on gay politics and virtual reality respectively.

Image: Paul Yore