25 Jul 2024

Sydney Contemporary announces details for Installation, Talk, Performance and Kid Contemporary programs, alongside gallery presentation highlights

Sydney, Australia: Sydney Contemporary, in partnership with Principal Partner MA Financial Group, today announces details for its dynamic curated programs and a selection of presentation highlights from the more than 85 participating galleries across the Fair. Eleven major artworks will be presented for Installation Contemporary, the leading voices across art and design will join this year’s Talk Contemporary, including a conversation with Mona’s Kirsha Kaechele, a new performance work honouring recently passed artist Sēini 'SistaNative' Taumoepeau will be presented as part of Performance Contemporary, and artist Lara Merrett will lead Kid Contemporary. Sydney Contemporary will be presented from 5 – 8 September 2024 at Presenting Partner Carriageworks.

INSTALLATION CONTEMPORARY

Curated by Talia Linz, Senior Curator at Artspace, Installation Contemporary is designed to showcase works that extend beyond the traditional booth presentation, providing an opportunity to experience innovative, site-specific, and interactive installations within the unique architecture of Carriageworks. Participating artists and installations include:

• Senior men and women from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands will present the latest in their Kulata Tjuta (many spears) project, which shares the skills of spear making across generations. Consisting of 200 traditional Anangu tools and weaponry suspended from the Carriageworks ceiling, Tjara, Wana, Miru is a major new installation rooted in age-old traditions. Presented by APY Art Centre Collective.
   
• An installation by Perth-based artist Rebecca Baumann comprising more than 100 acrylic panels that invite audiences into an ever-changing space, responding to shifting light and movement. The work explores the relationships between colour, time, space and materiality, and the emotive potential that exists in their convergence. Presented by MOORE CONTEMPORARY.
   
• Artist Cybele Cox will create a constellation of hand-built ceramics - hybrids of the human, animal and natural worlds. Drawing on rich histories of the feminist and fantastical, the installation aligns with the artist’s exploration and reimagining of occult mysticism. Presented by Ames Yavuz.
   
• A narrative film by Shanghai-born multimedia artist Lu Yang titled DOKU the Self, which originally premiered at the Venice Biennale. Lu Yang belongs to a young art scene in China inspired by science fiction, manga, gaming and techno culture that works with hypermodern technologies to explore ideas of the posthuman. The video introduces six virtual reincarnations of Lu Yang, exploring the limits of the human in the context of Buddhist and Hindu cosmologies. Presented by COMA.
   
• A large new wall-based work by artist Stephen Bird titled Continent of Exiles, featuring his renowned ceramic plates and sculptures. Investigating the interrelationship of surface, form, colour, line and mark-making, Bird draws attention to our emotional connection with objects that have been made by hand. Presented by OLSEN.
   
• A meticulously constructed cardboard sculpture by Melbourne-based artist and filmmaker Daniel Agdag from his series, Sets for a film I’ll Never Make. His works blend architectural nostalgia with film sets and fantasy in delightfully intricate pieces that Agdag describes as 'sketching with cardboard’. Presented by MARS Gallery.
   
• A life-sized avatar by one of the leading young artists in Southeast Asia, Yeo Kaa. Titled Takits - Tagalog slang for “See you later!” - the work continues their playful yet unsettling exploration of social constructs and taboos. Presented by Ames Yavuz.
   
• An installation by Australian artist of Burmese descent Shan Turner-Carroll, spanning moving images, sculpture and assemblage developed during an artist residency in the regional Icelandic town of Seydisfjordur. Titled Bodies On A Rock, the work plays with ideas of nature, the body, perception, as well as existing colonial visions of land. Presented by COMA.
   
• The latest iteration of Mai Nguyễn-Long’s ongoing Vomit Girl Project, encompassing a selection of idiosyncratic clay characters inspired by Vietnamese rural aesthetics known as mộc mạc. The work collides cultural artefacts and personal histories to represent diasporic narratives, family history and belonging. Presented by Michael Reid Sydney + Berlin.
   
• Darren Sylvester’s sleek, steel archway, Transformer, is housed with forty metres of blue neon lights that coolly flicker as audiences pass through the work. Emblematic of Sylvester’s sardonic approach, Transformer appears as a trans-dimensional gateway stolen from the set of a science fiction film epic, perhaps promising transformation, yet it is a portal to nowhere. Presented by Neon Parc.
   
• Large-scale text works by artist, designer and activist David McDiarmid, who died from an AIDS-related illness in 1995 when he was just 42. With pithy, often ironic, political and poignant observations, McDiarmid’s Rainbow Aphorisms reframe and appropriate cultural discourses of the time. The colour spectrum works were created in Sydney in the final years of the artist’s life and their insightful play with the power of words and the concept of truth remains relevant today. Presented by Neon Parc.

TALK CONTEMPORARY

Talk Contemporary features a dynamic lineup of industry leaders exploring current trends and topics at the intersection of art, design and architecture. The first strand of talks, curated by Micheal Do, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Sydney Opera House, draws on culture movers and thought shapers across Australia for a series of conversations that examine art today through the lenses of fashion, theatre, community building, collecting and current affairs. The program will include an In Conversation with Kirsha Kaechele, the artist and curator known for her project The Ladies Lounge at Mona (Museum of Old and New Art) on Thursday 5 September, 6pm.

Art talks include:

• Weave and Weft: Art and Fashion | Thurs 5 Sept, 1:30pm Moderated by Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, panelists Lisa Havilah (CEO, Powerhouse Museum), Kaylene Milner (WAH-WAH AUSTRALIA), and artists Atong Atem and Darren Sylvester, discuss fashion as a cultural artefact capable of communicating identity, history and storytelling. Industry leaders take a closer look into boundary blurring collaborations defining our cultural moment.
   
• My Favourite Things: Collecting, Here and Now | Fri 6 Sept, 1:30pm With the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history underway, new guards of collectors and philanthropists are emerging with interests that challenge the status quo. These collectors are socially aware, data-driven, and passionately local in their thinking. Moderator Micheal Do and young collectors Naomi Tosic, Billy Maynard, Tom Crago and Nikita Le Messurier discuss how the boundaries of collecting are being redrawn.
   
• Poetics, Politics and the Personal: A Method | Sat 7 Sept, 3pm A look into how art can navigate and influence the turbulent times in which we live, moderated by leading First Nations journalist and writer Daniel Browning, with Filipina-Australian artist Marikit Santiago and Wiradjuri poet and artist Jazz Money. Panelists address socially and politically engaged art that provides a platform for healing, resistance, and solidarity, and what tangible effects it can have on current global conflicts and their local impacts.
   
• Performing Parallels: Moving Bodies in Art | Sun 8 Sept, 12pm Leading Australian performance artists Angela Goh and Lauren Brincat join David Hallberg, Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, to explore how directors, choreographers, and visual artists are experimenting with the expressive power of the body, reshaping traditions and breaking down boundaries across theatre, dance, and performance art.

The second strand, curated by Stephen Todd, Design Editor of Australian Financial Review, is focused on the latest trends in design, including: 

• The New Taste Makers on the Future of Collecting | Thurs 5 Sept, 3pm Gallerist Cassandra Bird (CASSANDRA BIRD), secondary-market expert Jesse-Jack de Deyne (A Secondary Eye), and cross-disciplinary creative Jordan Gogos delve into the vision driving some of the newest leaders on the art scene and discuss their advice for collectors entering the market and those wanting to update their approach. Moderated by Stephen Todd.
   
• New Frontiers in Interiors and Design | Fri 6 Sept, 3pm Entrepreneurial surfer Hayden Cox (Haydenshapes), an automotive designer Nahum Escobedo (Polestar), artist Emily Medbury (Anemoia Studio) and interior designer Fiona Lynch (Fiona Lynch Interior Design Office) explore the many ways in which material innovations – from carpet made from recycled fishing nets to algaederived plastics and furniture grown from fungus – are changing our lifestyles and our interiors. Moderated by Stephen Todd.
   
• How To Curate An Eye-Catching Interior | Sat 7 Sept, 1.30pm Three masters of contemporary architecture and design, interior designer Blainey North (Blainey North & Associates), architect Nick Tobias (Founding Principal, Tobias Partners) and interior designer Yasmine Ghoniem (YSG Studio) share their tips for conjuring up artful interiors. Moderated by Stephen Todd.

PERFORMANCE CONTEMPORARY

For the Fair’s opening celebration Art Night on Thursday 5 September, the Performance Contemporary program will bring the space to life, curated by Sam Watson-Wood, Director of Friends with Strangers. Performances include:

• GRIEF DIGEST A dedication to the late artist, song woman and orator Séini Sista Native Taumoepeau. "After 100 days of mourning we arrive at a different stage of our grief.” Working with cultural concepts and their contemporary practices, two Sydney based artists Sereima Adimate and Kilia Pahulu collaborate to explore themes of grief, death, and the process of digesting them. This performance invites their audience to process their own constipated grief and allow them permission to dissolve grief into joy. 
   
• Two performances of the major work ESSSENSSSE by HOSSEI, a multidisciplinary artist with Persian, Turkish, and Russian ancestry. The performance, featuring ten performers and a vibrant installation, is about letting go and being one with the spirit and embracing its purity and vulnerability. ESSSENSSSE is an aquatic ecosystem that explores the tenacity of the human spirit, stripping away corporeal human qualities and revealing what’s underneath. ESSSENSSSE is the next morning, the BODY, MIND, SPIRIT after a big night, looking at the sea for new beginnings.

KID CONTEMPORARY

Artist Lara Merrett presents an immersive installation titled The Blue Room, inviting participants to create their own artworks using the cyanotype process. Inspired by her own artistic practice within the expanded field of painting on both an intimate and monumental scale, Merret asks audiences to bring their own pocket size natural object and transform it into a print using coated Cyanotype paper and UV light boxes. Participants can take a print home and leave another to become part of the evolving large-scale blue installation artwork at Sydney Contemporary.

GALLERY HIGHLIGHTS

• Sullivan+Strumpf has curated a presentation of new works by renowned contemporary female artists, including senior Yolŋu artists from North East Arnhem Land Dhopiya Yunupiŋu and Naminapu Maymuru-White, and Lindy Lee. The Fair is Maymuru-White’s first presentation since her work was unveiled in the Venice Biennale exhibition Foreigners Everywhere in April, marking the first time bark paintings have been included in the main exhibition of the world’s oldest contemporary art event of its kind.
   
• Ames Yavuz will present their first solo presentation with celebrated Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal artist Brook Andrew, with a selection of works centred on music, poetry and the archive. The gallery will also present a secondary presentation, with new works by artists and brothers Abdul Abdullah and Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, exploring animal archetypes and deconstructing contemporary quests for knowledge and identity.
   
• The Renshaws will present a solo exhibition by sculptor Jamie North created specifically for the Fair. These major new works comprised of concrete, stainless steel and bronze, are each planted with flora native to the local Eora nation, creating a dynamic interplay between the industrial and the organic that echoes the resilience of nature. • MARS Gallery will showcase major new works by Atong Atem and Daniel Agdag, as well as select works by Emil Cañita, who will make their debut at Sydney Contemporary in 2024. From Atem’s hand-printed textiles, Agdag’s hand-carved sculptures and Cañita’s handwritten stories, MARS celebrates the artist's hand as a reminder to slow down and see the creator in their practice.
   
• Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery will present a curated booth of works from the galleries 42-year archive alongside new works. Highlights include never before seen works from Nyapanyapa Yunupingu’s estate, a pair of unseen photographs from one of Bill Henson's most highly sought-after series the 'Paris Opera Project' (1990-1991), new works by leading Indigenous Australian artist Daniel Boyd, early works by Imants Tillers (1987) and Linda Marrinon (1998), and photographs from Isaac Julien's iconic series Looking for Langston (1989).
   
• Artereal Gallery presents a solo exhibition by artist and psychotherapist Noula Diamantopoulos. The artist will present her performance work QUEST, an interactive and collaborative social project focused on community involvement and engagement, alongside a new video work and a series of text-based neon works. Visitors will be invited to engage in a silent, handwritten conversation of questions only, calling participants to be curious, to think outside of the box, and consider if the answers we seek can actually be revealed in the questions we ask.
   
• CASSANDRA BIRD spotlights a captivating series of artworks by The Tennant Creek Brio, an artist collective who work on Warumungu country that includes contemporary artists from both Northern Central Australia and Melbourne. The collective blends Aboriginal cultural heritage, the ruggedness of the mining industry, and a mix of regional and global artistic influences. The booth will feature a sculptural installation by Clifford Thompson Japaljarri, collaborative paintings by Fabian Brown Japaljarri and Rupert Betheras, paintings by Marcus Camphoo and Arthur Dixon and a series of ceremonial motifs painted on mining maps by Joseph Williams and Lindsay Nelson Jakamarra.
   
• COMA will present a suite of new work by both Australian artists living and working abroad, as well as a number of highly regarded international practitioners, continuing their mission to ensure Australian artists are contextualised on a broader international stage. Artists include Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Justin Williams, Nick Modrzewski, Mia Middleton, Madeline Peckenpaugh, Renée Estée, Tala Worrell, Fabian Ramirez, Kansas Smeaton, Jose Davila, Mikey Yates, Punni Brown Nungurrayi, and Shan Turner-Carroll.
   
• Neon Parc brings a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Darren Sylvester to the Fair. The presentation combines Sylvester’s meticulously staged, hyper-real large-scale photographs which encapsulate the feeling of being in a pop-music video, with his ongoing series of multi-coloured, hand-blown glass heads, embellished with cast bronze features. Sylvester’s work questions the tension between authenticity and desire within high-gloss consumer culture, by incorporating pop-cultural references that are hinted to, but just out of reach.
   
• OLSEN will present new works by four young female artists, Leila Jeffreys, Eliza Gosse, Dani McKenzie, Holly Greenwood, alongside senior Gija artist Shirley Purdie’s new collection of work depicting both urban and regional landscapes.

Sydney Contemporary Fair Director Zoe Paulsen said: “Sydney Contemporary’s dynamic program is always highly anticipated and contributes to shaping public perception and one's understanding of art. By highlighting the relevance and diversity of contemporary artistic practices, Sydney Contemporary is an opportunity for artists and the wider creative community to push boundaries, challenge conventional ideas and engage in critical discourse - enriching the overall art fair experience.”

Tickets to Sydney Contemporary are available to purchase online: https://sydneycontemporary.com.au/tickets/

Sydney Contemporary is supported proudly by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.

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IMAGES: Here 

MEDIA CONTACTS:

To request interviews, further information or imagery please contact:

• Jasmine Hersee jasmine@articulatepr.com.au, 0451 087 196
• Siân Davies sian@articulatepr.com.au 0402 728 462
• Kym Elphinstone, kym@articulatepr.com.au, 0421 106 139

EVENT DETAILS: Sydney Contemporary will take place from 5 – 8 September 2024 at Carriageworks located at 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh NSW. The invitation-only Collector Preview will be held on Wednesday, 4 September. The Fair will remain open in the evening for Art Night on Thursday, 5 September, 5.30 - 9pm, and until 8pm on Friday 6 September.

IMAGE CAPTIONS (L to R): Kirsha Kaechele; APY Art Centre Collective Collaborative, Kulata Tjuta Tarnanthi, 2017, installation at Art Gallery of SA, 2017; Kid Contemporary artist Lara Merrett; Stephen Bird, Continent of Exiles, 2024, Courtesy of the artist and OLSEN; Yasmine Ghoniem, Photo Tess Kelly; David McDiarmid, All I Want Is A Little More Than I'll Ever Get, 1994. Courtesy of the David McDiarmid artistic legacy and Neon Parc.

ABOUT SYDNEY CONTEMPORARY:

Sydney Contemporary, Australasia's premier contemporary art fair, returns from 5 – 8 September 2024 with the country's largest and most diverse gathering of local and international galleries. Staged at Carriageworks, one of Australia’s largest creative industry hubs, the Fair welcomes over 85 leading galleries.

Defined by the vibrancy of its host city, Sydney Contemporary provides collectors, industry professionals and the art loving public access to cutting-edge art from some of the world's most respected artists and galleries as well as the opportunity to discover new, emerging talent.

Alongside the galleries are curated sectors for Installation and Performance as well as an ambitious program that includes engaging panel discussions, guided tours, educational workshops and an extensive VIP Program. The Fair is also home to restaurants, cafes and bespoke bars making it an all-encompassing art and dining experience. Billed as one of the most celebrated events on Australia’s cultural calendar, Sydney Contemporary has firmly established itself as a must-attend art event and the perfect place to discover and collect modern and contemporary art.

Sydney Contemporary was founded in 2013 by Tim Etchells of SME London Ltd. Etchells also co-founded Art Central (Hong Kong), Taipei Dangdai, ART SG, and was co-founder of ART HK, now Art Basel Hong Kong.

https://sydneycontemporary.com.au

ABOUT MA FINANCIAL GROUP: MA Financial Group is a global alternative asset manager specialising in private credit, real estate and hospitality. We lend to property, corporate and specialty finance sectors and provide corporate advice.

Our investment teams have diverse skill sets and experience across a range of strategies and market conditions and are focused on delivering long-term growth. Our conviction runs deep and as testament to this we co-invest in many of our strategies alongside our clients, aligning our interests with theirs.

We invest and manage $9.6 billion on behalf of our clients, have over $112 billion in managed loans and have advised on over $120 billion in advisory and equity capital market transactions. W

e have a team of over 600 professionals across locations in Australia, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States.

Website: https://mafinancial.com/ | LinkedIn: @MAFinancial Group | Instagram: @mafinancial__

ABOUT CARRIAGEWORKS:

Carriageworks is one of Australia’s most significant creative industry hubs, renowned for its dynamic cultural events, performances, and exhibitions. Housed in a historic railway workshop in Sydney, Carriageworks offers a vibrant platform for contemporary art, theatre, music, dance and more, collaborating with leading local and international artists to foster innovation and creativity in its distinctive industrial setting. Visit carriageworks.com.au or follow Carriageworks on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news and updates