Biennial survey of contemporary Australian art
March 31–June 25, 2023
Artists from across Australia and beyond converge on Sydney to present new and ambitious works for The National 4: Australian Art Now, the fourth iteration of the free biennial survey of Australian contemporary art, open now at four leading cultural institutions across Greater Sydney.
A partnership between the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Art Gallery of NSW), Campbelltown Arts Centre (C-A-C), Carriageworks and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia), The National 4 brings together 48 new artist projects involving more than 80 artists from across Country, generations and communities.
The National 4 features bold, distinctive and experimental works that reflect the diversity and vitality of the art being made in Australia today. For many artists this is their first presentation at a major cultural institution in New South Wales.
The exhibition is curated by Beatrice Gralton at the Art Gallery of NSW; Emily Rolfe at C-A-C; Freja Carmichael (Quandamooka) and Aarna Fitzgerald Hanley at Carriageworks; and Jane Devery at the MCA Australia. This year marks the first presentation of The National at Campbelltown Arts Centre, extending the footprint of the exhibition across Greater Sydney.
The National 4: Australian Art Now is proudly supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.
Exhibition highlights
14 artists are presented at the Art Gallery of NSW, as well as an artist project at the Brett Whiteley Studio in Surry Hills, Sydney. Highlights include:
Robert Fielding’s immersive video installation Milpatjunanyi honouring the vital and enduring practice of drawing in the earth with a wire or stick.
Nabilah Nordin’s intensely colourful and richly sculptural textured installation Corinthian Clump.
Gerry Wedd’s 600-plus hand-formed tiles and vessels in Where Are We Now? (Where are we now?) which champion the role of ceramics as a tool for mass communication.
11 artists are presented at Campbelltown Arts Centre, including:
Shivanjani Lal’s Aise Aise Hai (how we remember) is a field of 87 plaster cast sugarcane stalks, referencing the number of boats that transported over 60,000 people from India to Fiji between 1879 and 1916 to work as indentured labourers; among them were Lal’s ancestors.
Brook Andrew’s video GABAN summons a number of interlinked stories concerning the mess of the colonial fall-out, performed by characters who personify cultural objects held in colonial collections and elements of the institutional power of the museum.
11 artists are presented at Carriageworks, including:
Senior Warrawarra artist Susan Balbunga weaves gunga (Pandanus spiralis) into bamugora, a traditional conical form that has metaphoric, cultural and functional significance.
FM Air is a new dance by Jo Lloyd, performed three times during The National 4. Three performers move in a continuous bind, oscillating in a transparent fabric bag.
In Wintinganhu (sister-in-law), Teho Ropeyarn tells his mother’s story through printmaking and sound, embodying his connection to the Injinoo community, Cape York.
The work of 13 artists and 2 collectives are presented at MCA Australia, including:
Allison Chhorn’s immersive video installation which meditates on the daily routines of her Cambodian–Australian family, addressing histories of migration and colonisation.
Simryn Gill has created a poetic evocation of her elderly Italian neighbour’s garden, raising questions of place and belonging.
A powerful video installation produced by artists from Jilamara Arts Centre filmed on Country in the remote Milikapiti community in the Tiwi Islands, and a project by the collective Ivi based between Queensland, Aotearoa New Zealand and Tonga which emphasises knowledge-sharing and social harmony through the production of ngatu (barkcloth).
Dates
The National 4: Australian Art Now is a free exhibition and is open now across four Sydney cultural institutions:
Art Gallery of New South Wales: Friday, March 24–Sunday, July 23, 2023
Campbelltown Arts Centre: Thursday, March 30–Sunday, June 25, 2023
Carriageworks: Thursday, March 30–Sunday, June 25, 2023
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia: Friday, March 31–July 9, 2023
