Current exhibitions
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Seventy years of a photographic tradition
21 December 2012 – 23 June 2013 | Photography Gallery
From the first decade of the twentieth century, improved plate sensitivity to low light conditions and shorter exposure times made it easier for photographers to take to the streets. The modern city has presented photographers with endless possibilities. In particular, America’s distinctive symbols of consumer culture—bill boards, advertising signs and highways—have been a well-explored subject in American photography since the 1930s.
Ernst Haas Albuquerque, New Mexico 1969 (detail) dye-transfer colour photograph National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased 2000
Art of Vanuatu
8 February 2013 – 16 June 2013 | Orde Poynton Gallery
Vanuatu is very different from other Pacific nations. Traditional practices better known as Kastom remain strong even after a century of dual colonial religious influences. Kastom: Art of Vanuatu presents for the first time the unique collection of arts from this area held by the National Gallery of Australia. In the early 1970s the Gallery contracted an agent to field collect in Vanuatu resulting in the acquisition of nearly two hundred works, a selection of which will be accompanied by other important works from the NGA's Vanuatu collection.
Kavankanamuel 'Anglautaki' Vanuatu, Malampa Province, Malakula Island, Kamanliver Village c.1970 Purchased by J-M Charpentier on behalf of the CAAB wood, clay, ochre, fibre National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
The prints of Jessie Traill
16 February 2013 – 23 June 2013 | Project Gallery
This exhibition celebrates one of Australia’s most important
printmakers of the early 20th century, Jessie Traill. Embracing the medium of etching in the early 1900s, Traill forged a radical path for printmaking in Australia through the duality of her vision. From sublime aquatints of the natural landscape to her major series documenting the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the prints of Jessie Traill combine poetic sensitivity with an unerring eye for line and form. Her large, bold and dramatic compositions are recognised as vital to the evolution of postwar modernism.
Jessie Traill The little wood 1912 (detail) etching and aquatint National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2000
Creating worlds
23 February 2013 – 4 August 2013 | Childrens Gallery
An exhibition exploring artists’ responses to issues of sustainability, the natural environment and the interconnectedness of ecological systems.
Creating worlds will present a diverse selection of Australian and Indigenous art from the national collection including sculpture and mixed media, paintings, prints and photographic works. It aims to inspire audiences of all ages to take positive action for a sustainable future, and to excite and educate visitors about the creative possibilities for looking after and interacting with our environment.
Arthur Wicks Alchemist Dreaming: River = Water 2009 digital print National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, gift of the artist 2010
The Making of a Master
1 June 2013 – 8 September 2013 | Temporary Exhibitions Gallery
J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) is one of Britain’s greatest artists and a key figure of the Romantic generation. He is celebrated as a highly modern painter, his work much admired for its experimental character.
Turner from the Tate includes many of the artist’s most famous paintings. It provides a comprehensive overview of Turner’s monumental landscapes and atmospheric, light-filled seascapes, while offering extraordinary insights into his working life and practices.
J.M.W. Turner Peace – Burial at Sea exhibited 1842 (detail)
Photo: © Tate, 2013