Tacita Dean premiere presented by Biennale of Sydney and Carriageworks

The 19th Biennale of Sydney and Carriageworks co-present the world premiere of Event for a Stage, a new performance work by Tacita Dean running from 1 until 4 May 2014.  The work, which is part of the middle program of the Biennale, represents the first time the artist has created a live performance piece and is a development of her practice. 

Centred on the filming of a portrait of an actor on stage, played by acclaimed British actor Stephen Dillane, the performance will explore the role of the actor as well as exposing Tacita Dean's way of filming to the audience. This one-act theatrical presentation is made in association with ABC RN, who will produce and broadcast a radiographic version of the performance. 

Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize announces 2014 artist list

Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize today announced 19 established and 19 emerging Australian artists who have been selected to create new work for the 2014 exhibition at the National Art School Gallery, presented from 11 April until 15 May. This will be the 18th annual Prize and has been this year curated by artist Tim Johnson.

The respected annual prize, which offers a $36,000 prize pool, has a unique model that seeks to foster mentoring relationships between different generations of visual artists.  The artist list includes Judy Watson, Simryn Gill, Susan Norrie, Reg Mombassa, Locust Jones, Guan Wei, Tim Maguire, Elisabeth Cummings, Tom Polo, Khaled Sabsabi and Tully Arnot (whose work is pictured here).

International street artists come to Sydney

.M Contemporary’s first exhibition for 2014 - From the Streets - unveils a cutting-edge collection of internationally renowned street artists from across the globe. The exhibition runs in the Woollahra-based gallery from 22 March until 27 April 2014.

From the Streets is made of entirely new works by leading street artists from America, Europe, Australasia and Africa, highlighting the diversity of genres and practices. Featured artists include: Mademoiselle Maurice (Paris); Chris Uphues (New York); Morley (LA); Jeff Aerosol (Nantes, France); Kilmany Jo Liversage (Cape Town); and Ever Jaz (Argentina), as well as locally renowned street artists Australian Collective.

The Australian Collective will be creating an outdoor installation as part of a live street art showcase on Saturday 2 March. The installation will be auctioned off later that evening to raise money for the charity Operation Smiles.

Tino Sehgal's encounter at the Art Gallery of NSW

For its 29th art project, Kaldor Public Art Projects presents a live encounter at The Art Gallery of NSW by internationally acclaimed Anglo-German artist Tino Sehgal from 6 February until 23 February 2014.

John Kaldor (director of Kaldor Public Art Projects) commented on the encounter: “Sehgal’s works open our eyes to a radical new way to engage with art and that must be experienced to be fully understood… This is so contemporary is one of my favourite works. It’s joyous and spontaneous, involving and engaging the audience directly”

Tate Modern curator Jessica Morgan is giving a free public lecture on the work of Tino Sehgal at 1pm, Monday 10 February at The Art Gallery of NSW.

Anna Schwartz Gallery presents Erwin Wurm

Anna Schwartz Gallery will present a solo exhibition by renowned Austrian artist Erwin Wurm at Carriageworks, Eveleigh from 22 February until 10 May 2014.

The exhibition, entitled ‘Crap Head’, will feature a selection of Wurm’s photographs, sculptures and video works. Wurm’s career spans three decades; he is internationally renowned for his humourous works that are underpinned by a fierce critique of contemporary culture.

“I am interested in the everyday life. All the materials that surrounded me could be useful, as well as the objects, topics involved in contemporary society. My work speaks about the whole entity of a human being: the physical, the spiritual, the psychological and the political.” (The Artist Who Swallowed the World by Hatje Cantz, 2006).

Carriageworks doubles artistic projects, size and attendances

Tehching Hsieh's 'Ticking Clock Piece' performance

Carriageworks Director Lisa Havilah has unveiled the 2014 program for the growing cultural arts precinct based in Redfern in Sydney's inner west, along with an announcement of a doubling of artist projects to be presented during the coming year. This follows recent announcements of a doubling in the physical footprint of Carriageworks and fourfold increase in attendances over the past two years. The full program is now live on the Carriageworks website, with highlights including a major installation by French artist Christian Boltanski; the 19th Biennale of Sydney; a performance art work by Tehching Hsieh entitled 'Ticking Clock Piece'; and the Australian premiere of a contemporary dance work called Shanghai Bolero Triptych.

The 19th Biennale of Sydney: You Imagine What You Desire

Douglas Gordon, Phantom, 2011 (video still) Copyright © Studio lost but found; Rufus Wainwright; and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn (2013)

Juliana Engberg, Artistic Director of the 19th Biennale of Sydney: You Imagine What You Desire has unveiled details of the exhibition at an event at the Sydney Opera House today.  The event will be presented at four major venues across Sydney from 21 March – 9 June 2014 and features more than 100 artists and 200 artworks. The major venues for 2014 are the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Art Gallery of NSW, Cockatoo Island and the newly expanded spaces at Carriageworks. In addition to those major venues, in the 19th Biennale of Sydney will present works at Artspace and several performance projects throughout Sydney’s CBD.