18th Biennale of Sydney unveils program

Fujiko Nakaya 'Cloud Parking'

The 18th Biennale of Sydney unveiled highlights of the upcoming artistic program yesterday to be presented from 27 June until 16 September 2012.

Titled all our relations, Australia's largest contemporary art exhibition will present works by more than 100 artists hailing from Australia, New Zealand, Asia Pacific, the Americas, Europe, South Africa and the Middle East. Nearly half of the artists will travel to Sydney to install and create new works specifically for the exhibition, including an installation of fog and mist that Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya will create on Cockatoo Island.

Thomas Demand: The Dailies

Thomas Demand Daily #7, 2008, (c) Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn/Viscopy

Internationally renowned German artist Thomas Demand is set to transform an entire floor of the iconic Harry Seidler-designed MLC building in Sydney’s Martin Place for a new project entitled The Dailies.  Demand is installing his new series of photographic works inside 15 identical hotel rooms of the historic Commercial Travellers’ Association. 

Presented by Kaldor Public Art Projects and running from 23 March until 22 April 2012, The Daillies allows rare public access to the unusual mushroom-shaped building.  The photographic works recreate small fragments from the architecture and interiors of daily life – poetic details Demand describes as ‘The Dailies’ like rushes from films or daily newspapers.

A fresh take on anarchy

Artist Marco Fusinato wanders across his giant bespoke rug

Melbourne based artist Marco Fusinato has created a giant fine-wool rug as part of his first solo exhibition at Anna Schwartz Gallery at Sydney's Carriageworks. Inscribed with the words 'There is no authority but yourself', the phrase is sourced from the stage backdrop used by radical 1970s English punk band Crass. Watch this online video for further background on the artist and exhibition which runs until 17 March 2012.

Art Month Sydney returns...

Boasting 300 artists, 200 events and 100 galleries, the 2012 Art Month Sydney program is now live on the new website. It includes late night gallery openings, art bars, art workshops, tours on foot and by bicycle, family activities and a range of discussions and talks by artists and art experts. Topics include 'My three year old could do that' and 'Uncollectable Art'.  Not to be missed and running from 1 - 25 March across greater Sydney.

Beijing's punk music scene bursts into Sydney

The one-night only Sound Kapital event brings the energy of Beijing's underground music scene to Sydney's Carriageworks as part of the City of Sydney's 2012 Chinese New Year Festivities.

Featuring live performances by three of Beijing's most explosive underground cult bands, AV Okubo, Xiao He and PK14, Sound Kapital offers a taste of the 'innovative orgy gripping Beijing's music underground'.

Works by photographer Matthew Niederhauser will be projected onto the walls and ceiling at the event, sourced from his acclaimed book Sound Kapital that documents the emerging contemporary Chinese punk scene.

Angela de la Cruz

Angela de la Cruz, Compressed (red), 2011

Turner Prize nominee Angela de la Cruz will present her first solo exhibition in Australia since 2005 at Anna Schwartz Gallery in Melbourne from 2 February until 3 March 2012.

De la Cruz's work defies categorisation, corrupting the distinction between painting and sculpture, with works that are at once objects and images. The Spanish born artist moved to London in 1987 where she currently resides.  The exhibition includes deconstructed canvases, found furniture and aluminium forms whose proportions allude to the human figure.

Sydney Festival celebrates Australia's black capital

Brook Andrew's 'Travelling Colony' - part of the Sydney Festival's Black Capital

The Sydney Festival 2012 is in full swing at Carriageworks where Black Capital is running from 8 until 29 January. Referencing Carriagework's home in Redfern, Black Capital is a major celebration of urban Aboriginal arts comprised of a series of performances, seminars and exhibitions reflecting the diversity of contemporary Aboriginal practice and Carriageworks’ Redfern base.

A highlight of the program is Travelling Colony, a major site-specific multi-media work by contemporary Aboriginal artist Brook Andrew. Inspired by the circus, pop culture, and his Wiradjuri heritage, Andrew has created a cavalcade of seven hand-painted caravans currently parked in the foyer of Carriageworks and whose interiors tell the stories of Redfern personalities.