Sydney Contemporary Art Fair
Sydney Contemporary 2019 will take over Carriageworks in Eveleigh from 12th-15th September with artworks, performances and talks with some of Australia's, and international, key art figures.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson
Sydney Contemporary Art Fair 2019, spread out over four days, is set to kick off this week at Carriageworks and we couldn’t be more excited.
This year’s fair will become a place to experience art in experimental approaches, thanks to Performance Contemporary. Curated by Jeff Khan and Katie Winten from Performance Space, they share the artworks are surprising and intimate; with moments of tenderness to allow for contemplation.
Khan adds, "some works – like Marcus Whale & Athena Thebus' Lucifer – are spectacular and arresting but come from a highly personal place." Yet, "other works, like Rainbow Chan's A Kingdom of Flowers For My Mother: Part II engages one audience member at a time to tell a very personal story drawn from Rainbow's family history."
Flatten Layer, 2019 by Pamela Stretton.
Static, 2019 by Isabelle de Kleine.
Dancing Bride by Lisa Reihana.
Pink/Blue by Kate Banazi. Photo - Fiona Susanto
Dr Mikala Tai, the director of 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, is curating Installation Contemporary, which highlights the nuances of thought-provoking artworks in grand scale. Tai reflects, "sometimes art is packaged for us neatly on white walls, and Installation Contemporary is really about breaking away from that and encouraging artists to think big."
Australian artist Hannah Quinlivan creating a salt drawing.
Installation highlights include Joan Ross' first venture into VR work, with Did you ask the river? Imagine brightly coloured works in neon that blend colonial paintings with graffiti. And, the Tower of Power from Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro, introducing a climbable neo-medieval tower to the site, and perplexingly allows the audience to charge their phones. Tai shares that the art fair allows for "advocating and encouragement for the development of new work that challenges artists to push that little bit more."
“Performance can trigger empathy and powerful, embodied responses that invite us to see ourselves in a new way.”
Broken Model, 2016 by Darren Sylvester. Courtesy of the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf.
After Midnight by Michael Muir. Courtesy of Martin Browne Contemporary.
The Way It Goes by Troy Emery. Courtesy of Martin Browne Contemporary.
“There’s a big aspect of play in this year’s Installation Contemporary. Artists are stretching and testing their practices, and the result is expanded ideas of painting, architecture and form.”
In addition to the curated talks, installations, and performances at Carriageworks, Sydney Contemporary will introduce immersive art installations to the suites at Sofitel Darling Harbour with month-long exhibitions from artists, Tony Albert, Sarah Contos, Nadia Hernández and Michael Zavros.
And, as an affordable take-home for art fair visitors, live T-shirt screen printing from Jess Johnson, Jason Phu and Darren Sylvester; presented in collaboration with Alpha60 and Ailse6ix.
The Sisters by Jacqui Stockdale.
Landscape As Self Portrait by William Mackinnon.
The Gathers by Gregory Hodge. Courtesy of the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf.