Graffiti – Art, Crime or Heritage Mural?

With news breaking that Banksy, the world’s most celebrated graffiti artist, has opened Dismaland, a dystopian take on Disneyland in the UK, it seems an appropriate day to ponder the nature of street art in Sydney. Is graffiti a way of democratising art and bringing beauty onto the street or, as many disgruntled local residents argue, a simple act of vandalism?

The Pioneers of GIF Art

GIFs, the moving pictures that loop endlessly on social media sites such as Tumblr, Reddit and imgur, have generally been confined to comedy, eliciting the same reaction in the viewer as the punchline of a joke. But a growing community of artists and illustrators are now emerging on the Net, aiming to turn GIFs into contemplative works of art.

Live Blog – A Guided Tour of the Archibald Prize

2.35pm  OK, so we all know Nigel Milsom won Australia’s most prestigious portrait prize, the Archibald, this year, but a) the prize was announced the week before I started my blog and b) no-one invited me to the award ceremony. So I’ve decided to live blog my guided tour of the “Also Rans” and decide which portrait I will vote for in the People’s Choice Award, presented at the end of the Archibald Prize exhibition (at the Art Gallery of NSW until 27 September 2015.)

Grayson Perry’s “Pretty Little Art Career”

Photo: Pal Hanson

The biggest buzz on the Sydney art scene right now is the news that Grayson Perry, one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary artists and winner of the 2003 Turner Prize, is coming to town at the end of the year. The Museum of Contemporary Art will stage My Pretty Little Art Career, Perry’s first major exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere.  

Singing About Architecture

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The Sydney Opera House turned 60 yesterday – and the event was feted in style on its famous steps with artistic director Lyndon Terracini joined by 60 opera singers in full costume for champagne, pink cup cakes and a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

David Bowie Is…. In Melbourne

David Bowie Is, a touring exhibition curated by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, has attracted blockbuster queues all the way from Paris to Chicago. And no wonder! This is the first international retrospective of David Bowie’s career spanning five extraordinary decades and including unprecedented access to Bowie’s own extensive archive. The exhibition, currently showing at the Australia Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne, includes over 300 objects featuring everything from original costumes, photography and set designs to handwritten lyrics, album artwork, baby photos and Bowie’s carefully preserved cocaine spoon.

Sound & Vision at the National Gallery of Australia

Within without 2010. Skyspace: lighting installation, concrete and basalt stupa, water, earth, landscaping. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

© James Turrell

American Artist James Turrell created his Skyspace at the National Gallery of Australia to change the way visitors perceive the sky. But now Australian sound artist Robert Curgenven has come along and added a whole new dimension to Turrell’s subterranean viewing chamber.

Orry-Kelly: The Hollywood Designer Australia Forgot

Australian costume designer Orry-Kelly was a Hollywood legend who dressed the world’s most iconic actresses including Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis and Marilyn Monroe. And yet, as Gillian Armstrong discovered when she set out to make her new documentary Women He’s Undressed, Orry’s name barely rated a mention in Australian film history.

“She Sheds” – The Next Big Thing in Backyard Design

Credit: Katie Rivers

For years, we’ve had the “man cave”, which Webster’s Dictionary defines as “a room or space designed according to the taste of the man of the house to be used as his personal area for hobbies and leisure activities.” But what happens when “the woman of the house” muscles in first and designates the backyard cabana as a “she shed”?

Tracey Emin’s Bird Sculptures Coming to Sydney

Up until now, provocative British artist Tracey Emin was perhaps best known for exhibiting My Bed – a work which, as its title bluntly stated, involved the artist exhibiting her own unmade bed, strewn with empty booze bottles, cigarette butts and condoms, at the Turner Prize in London.