Skulls and cross bones

Australian artist Danie Mellor and winner of the 2009 Telstra Indigenous Art Award has unveiled an exhibition of new works in Sydney in advance of his presentation at the Melbourne Art Fair 2010 from 4-8 August.

Mellor incorporates the ultimate symbol of mortality - the skull and crossbones - into his paintings, balanced with images of children suggesting the innocence of life. 

His detailed paintings incorporate Swarovski crystal and glitter and are presented in elaborate frames, also include references to early colonial settlement and inter-racial tension of the time.

Catch a sneak preview of the works at Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay until 28 July or view them online.

Young Sydney artists collaborate at Melbourne Art Fair 2010

Expect to be surprised by the special Project Room at the Melbourne Art Fair which will be taken over by six young Sydney artists as they present an experimental new work from 4-8 August that has been commissioned by Campbelltown Arts Centre.


The Centre is the only Sydney-based arts institution to have been invited by the Melbourne Art Fair 2010 to present work in one of its special Project Rooms. Director Lisa Havilah has commissioned a new work by asking artists Agatha Gothe-Snape and Tom Polo (pictured) to work collaboratively with artist collective Brown Council.

Together the six Sydney-based artists – all aged 30 years and under – will transform the Project Room into an active space that examines the contemporary state of play of artistic production and reception. The work is expected to push the boundaries of interdisciplinary practice, spanning performance, installation and other mediums. Watch this space.

A new era for Object

Sydney's Object: Centre for Craft & Design is shaking things up this Spring with a new program of 14 experimental exhibitions, community projects and events.


The ten-week Spring Series 2010 program takes design beyond the gallery walls and into Sydney’s broader community.  Object have teamed up with over 60 creative collaborators to develop the programs which run from late July until early October.


Check out the Spring Series Website for details of the events which seek to form unexpected connections between creative disciplines, ideas and people.

Art work on the move... from Opera House to Island

Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa has spent the June long weekend rebuilding his art installation 'Hubble Bubble' in an old warehouse on Cockatoo Island.

The artist, who is presented as part of the 17th Biennale of Sydney, had initially installed the work between the sails of the Sydney Opera House but was forced to relocate after the wild winds and weather experienced recently across the city.

Jeong Hwa has recreated the work on Cockatoo Island in a different formation and has chosen to create a 'forest' of hanging garlands created entirely from fluorescent green kitchen colanders. He expects to have the work finished this week with the help of a team of volunteers.

The work can be viewed on Cockatoo Island as part of the Biennale of Sydney until 1 August 2010.

Isaac Julien Opening Night

The opening night of Isaac Julien's TEN THOUSAND WAVES exhibition attracted a mixed crowd of artists, collectors and the business world. For a run down of what happened at the opening read Andrew Taylor's article which featured in the culture pages of the Sun Herald.

New Isaac Julien works arrive at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery

Crates arrived today at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Paddington, Sydney featuring a series of large-scale photographs and lightboxes by acclaimed British artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien.

The works are linked to a 9 screen video installation currently showing as part of the 17th Biennale of Sydney on Cockatoo Island in the Convict's Precinct. The series of work is titled TEN THOUSAND WAVES and is being premiered in Sydney before being shown in Shanghai and then at London's Hayward Museum in October 2010.

View install shots here of the works installed at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery.

ABC Art Nation special report on Biennale of Sydney

ABC TV's Fenella Kernebone and Andrew Frost host a special feature segment on everything you need to know about the 2010 Biennale of Sydney. Watch the video here.