tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801Tue, 22 Sep 2026 11:52:46 +0000AGNSWpaintingMCAArtAGSNWEl GrecoGoyaPhotographyVideoArchibald PrizeBiennale of SydneyDanceEdgar DegasJean-Francois MilletJohn BrackNGVSam LeachSydney Theatre CompanydrawingAlbrecht DurerAndrei TarkovskyAndy WarholArcimboldoBill HensonBill ViolaDagmar CyrullaDale FrankDarren Knight GalleryEric FischlHenri MatisseInstallationLaith McGregorLeonardo da VinciLouise BourgeoisMan RayMax BeckmannPatricia PiccininiPatrick HartiganPaul CezannePicassoPiero Della FrancescaPrintmakingRembrandtRenaissanceReviewSullivan + StrumpfSydney FestivalWilliam Kentridge4ADA Streetcar Named DesireACCAACOAboriginalAbstract ExpressioninsmAbstractionAkram KhanAlan MooreAlbert LebourgAlex PittendrighAlfred StieglitzAmedeo ModiglianiAndrea MantegnaAndrew BrowneAndré BretonAngela CarterAnish KapoorAnne EdmondsAnne Landa AwardAnnie ClarkAnthony GormleyAraya RasdjarmrearnsookArthur BoydArthur MillerAsia-PacificAudenAustralian Centre for PhotographyAustralian GalleriesBalthusBanksyBarcelonaBell ShakespeareBenevenuto CelliniBenjamin BrittenBonnardBret Easton ElisBruegelBrueghelCai Guo-QiangCamille ClaudelCao FeiCaravaggioCaspar David FriedrichCensorshipCentre PompidouChris MarkerChristopher WheeldonCimabueClassClifford Possum TjapaltjarriCoBrAConstantCorneilleCressida CampbellCristinaCriticismDadaDamien HirstDaniel CrooksDanteDavid HockneyDavid MametDavid MarrDimitri ShostakovichDobell PrizeDonald JuddDuchampDutchE.T.Edge of ElsewhereEdouard ManetEdward CalvertEdward SaidEisensteinElevator Repair ServiceEmile NoldeEtchingEugene DelacroixExit Through the Gift ShopF.Scott FitzgeraldFiona FoleyFiona LowryFiona TanFra AngelicoFragonardFrancis BaconFrank AuerbachFrank StellaFranz MarcFred WilliamsFrida KahloGatzGauginGavin BryarsGeorge Bernard ShawGeorge GroszGeorges SeuratGeorgia O'KeefeGeorgia O'KeeffeGericualtGerman ArtGiacomettiGiles AlexanderGillian WearingGiorgio MorandiGiorgio de ChiricoGiottoGodwin BradbeerGrziwotzGuy MaestriHanif KureshiHarold PinterHeinrich-Maria DavinghausenHenri LehmannHenri Rousseau NGVHenri Toulouse-LautrecHenry FuseliHolbeinHonoré DaumierHoward ArkleyI Walk The LineJMW TurnerJacques-Louis DavidJames Abbot McNeill WhistlerJames EnsorJames GleasonJames GleesonJames Makin GalleryJames MoneyJames MorrisonJames PowditchJan WagemakerJan van EyckJean-Auguste-Dominique-IngresJeff KoonsJess McNeilJianweiJoe OrtonJohn CageJohn OlsenJon CattapanJorge Luis BorgesJoseph CornellJulie FragarJuliette BinocheJustin O'BrienKaliman GalleryKarel AppelKate MurphyKatie NoonanKhaled SabsabiKhue NguyenKåthe KollwitzLast SupperLisa ReihanaLouise HearmanLouvreLovis CorinthLucebertLucian FreudMagritteMalevichMantegnaMarc De JongMarcel DzamaMargaret PrestonMaria KontisMaria SpeyerMarina WarnerMark HislopMarry MeMary CassattMary ScottMasaccioMatisseMerce CunninghamMichael HamburgerMichelangelo AntonioniMick JaggerMilan KunderaMiroMorphosesMr BrainwashNGANancy SperoNational Art School GalleryNebuchadnezzarNigel MilsomNitin SawnheyOcean Without A ShoreOdilon RedonOla KolehmainenOlafur EliassonOscar MuñozOtto DixPablo PicassoPapunyaPaul GauginPaul JacksonPaul RyanPaula RegoPeter DoigPeter GreenawayPeter MarshallPhil CollinsPierre BonnardPieter BruegelPieter VasksPolixeni PapapetrouRainer Werner FassbinderRaphaeRaymond CarverRiberaRichard BellRichard LewerRichard OnnRick AmorRicky SwallowRina FranzRising TideRobert DelaunayRobert HannafordRobert RauschenbergRobyn MayoRodney GrahamRodney PopleRomanticismRon MueckRosalie GascoigneRosly Oxley9RothkoRubensRuna IslamRussell MaliphantS H Ervin GallerySalvador DaliShaun GladwellShepard faireySherman Contemporary Art FoundationShouting Men's ChoirSigmund FreudSt VincentStelarcStephen BushStephen HallStravinskySusan NorrieSydney NolanSylvie BlocherSylvie GuillemTV MooreTacita DeanTed HughesTennessee WilliamsThe AlchemistThe CrucbleThe Great GatsbyThe Henson CaseThe Homely GirlThe Last PoetsThe SmithsTheodore GericaultTim JohnsonTim OlsenTiresiasTitianTony AmeneiroVelazquezVernon Ah KeeVickyWangWassily KandinskyWatchmenWatercolourWerner HerzogWillem de KooningWilliam BlakeWoody AllenYang FudongYasmina RezaYayoi KusamaYinka ShonibareZurbaranballetjohn Martingpop musicpost-modernArt critic reviews galleries and exhibitions in Australiahttp://artkritique.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)Blogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-3090257270821100910Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:00:00 +00002012-02-09T22:14:56.715+11:00 There is a picture that's more or less the last thing you see in the Art Gallery of New South Wales's Picasso exhibition. It's a gentle watercolour self portrait of the youngartist, painted as an old man. It reminds you of Van Gogh's sketchy self-portraits that, in turn,remind you of the black dotted eyes of Rembrandt. It seems not much more than an amusing doodle but in it we see echoesof a http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-picasso-agnsw.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-890599994172150664Sun, 25 Sep 2011 01:16:00 +00002011-09-29T15:14:48.794+10:00AGNSWDadaGeorge GroszGerman ArtHeinrich-Maria DavinghausenKåthe KollwitzMax BeckmannOtto DixI think it's fair to say that AGNSW's show of inter-war German art, 'The Mad Square' is not a bundle of laughs. Covering the period from 1910 to 1937 was never going to yield anything bucolic or uplifting but the sheer cumulative claustrophobic effect of jagged asymmetry and post-mortem colours is quite draining. When my other half and I left toward the exit she wondered aloud if we had time http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2011/09/on-mad-square-agnsw.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-6549034304414611598Fri, 16 Sep 2011 03:37:00 +00002011-09-16T14:20:50.171+10:00I can trace it all back to a moment, when writing ArtKritique became too heavy and so vapid as not to matter. We were at the Australian Centre for Photography, which was decked as an Alice-like warren for a retrospective of Polixeni Papapetrou photographs. I reviewed the show, moved by the way it vibrated deep through culture and psyche, but I couldn't bring myself to write about the most http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2011/08/on-life-and-art.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-9209956450554396215Wed, 23 Mar 2011 23:28:00 +00002011-03-30T21:34:05.349+11:00ArcimboldodrawingGiorgio MorandiJames GleesonMan RayPrintmakingTony Ameneiro<!--StartFragment--> The Gymea lily, deep scarlet and fleshy atop a defiant spear of stem, has the mark of the Australian bush as fetid hothouse. It pierces the sky as it grows upwards, often twice the height of a grown man, it’s bloody flowers signaling an ancient and untamed biology. Australian artist Tony Ameneiro has been caught in the spell of this singular plant and produced a body of http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2011/03/on-tony-ameneiro-sturt-gallery.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-8270379809465934052Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:07:00 +00002011-08-19T04:11:46.090+10:00Angela CarterAustralian Centre for PhotographyMarina WarnerPaula RegoPhotographyPolixeni Papapetrou There is one truly beautiful and fascinating photography show in Sydney right now, and it isn't Annie Liebovitz. The Australian Centre for Photography on Oxford Street is home to 'Tales from Elsewhere' a gorgeously hung, vivid and provocative retrospective of works by Polixeni Papapetrou. Like the fairy tales she plays with (the dominant and recurring theme in her work) Papapetrou presents http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2011/02/polixeni-papapetrou-tales-from.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-5701171020233745527Fri, 14 Jan 2011 01:12:00 +00002011-01-27T07:01:03.435+11:00AGNSWAmedeo ModiglianiBalthusCimabueEl GrecoGiottoHenri MatisseJustin O'BrienpaintingPaul CezannePiero Della FrancescaI've found the AGNSW's summer exhibition of the work of painter Justin O'Brien, subtitled 'the Sacred Music of Colour' curiously difficult to write about. It's a show I should love, a modern painter working with the iconography of the early (and pre) renaissance attempting to find relevance in traditional religious set-pieces and yet it there is something oddly unsatisfying . There is much to http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2011/01/justin-obrien-agnsw.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-1524166141714988726Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:54:00 +00002010-12-25T06:04:42.908+11:00Andrea MantegnaCaravaggioFra AngelicoLeonardo da VinciLouvrepaintingRenaissanceGreat public galleries have a tendency to overwhelm in an a curious and inbuilt tension that pulls at odds against their purpose. The scale of the space and stone is formidable and all those cold panes of glass between paint and person or the shin high cordons that forbid us from the space around a work suggest us that, at best, we're unwelcome at worst a threat to the object itself. The tension http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/12/on-men-and-gods-la-louvre.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-3669927590447331118Sun, 19 Dec 2010 14:49:00 +00002010-12-21T09:44:45.633+11:00Centre PompidouFrancis BaconLouise BourgeoisNancy SperoRobert RauschenbergYou can come to the work of Nancy Spero, shown here at Paris's Centre Pompidou in a posthumous retrospective with all sorts of biographical and ideological preconceptions. It's an enormous credit to an artist so easily identified with the pop-art, feminism, ant-war protest and all sorts of counter cultural reference that the visual and physical presence of Spero's work can stand outside and http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/12/on-nancy-spero-centre-pompidou.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-644044744301757346Fri, 10 Dec 2010 02:49:00 +00002010-12-12T07:19:03.550+11:00There can be something unintentionally hilarious about a retrospective show. The museum or gallery bestows its aura upon an artist whose body of work is brought together with hushed thematic reverence. But then, when we see it all together the volume and repetition poke us in the ribs and remind us that it isn't very good at all. Actually, it's a bit ridiculous. Well this is what's happening http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/12/on-annie-leibovitz-photographers-life.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-7899845627853299546Fri, 12 Nov 2010 20:22:00 +00002010-11-13T07:58:11.049+11:00Bret Easton ElisDagmar CyrullaEdgar DegasEric FischlJames Makin GallerypaintingPierre BonnardRaymond CarverDagmar Cyrulla’s paintings, showing at Melbourne's James Makin Gallery, seem to bear witness to humanity at its most characteristically vulnerable. It’s entirely fitting that, when we look at her quiet suburban narratives we wonder: about what has occurred; what might be about to happen; what we should feel for the protagonists. She captures that most essential element of the human condition.http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/11/dagmar-cyrulla-james-makin-gallery.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-7604095873237230399Thu, 21 Oct 2010 09:20:00 +00002010-10-27T09:36:29.307+11:00AGNSWAlbert LebourgdrawingEugene DelacroixGeorges SeuratHenri LehmannJacques-Louis DavidJean-Auguste-Dominique-IngresJean-Francois MilletTheodore GericaultDrawing is the genesis, the connective tissue and the human hand most clearly present in art. The naked line and the smear of graphite link us most closely to out prehistoric cave marking ancestors. Drawing is like song, it is primal and familiar even when it is sophisticated or novel. It's no wonder that we react so strongly to it. It is an expression of pure being, the visual manifestation http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/10/on-david-to-cezanne-agnsw.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-1877897951831351390Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:46:00 +00002010-10-19T21:47:35.372+11:00Oh, what to do? Since starting ArtKritique I've wrestled with what to do when I come across truly bad art, should one just ignore it like a one would a bratty and attention seeking child? After all the characteristics are often the same so surely the logic follows that, properly ignored, it ought to go away. But of course it never goes away, some perverse family circle encourages it ever more,http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/10/on-joan-ross-gallery-barry-keldoulis_19.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-738863411986690963Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:16:00 +00002010-09-27T20:19:31.268+10:00Caspar David FriedrichEmile NoldeFranz MarcHenri Rousseau NGVJames EnsorLovis CorinthMax BeckmannOdilon RedonI normally try to avoid comment on how exhibitions are branded or what they're called. In the case of 'European Masters' the NGV's show of works from Frankfurt's Stådel Museum. The problem might be that the catch all title doesn't quite capture what's going on here. The lead image of a Renoir lunch suggests an impressionist blockbuster awaits inside. Instead the NGV houses a path through the http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/09/european-masters-ngv.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-1305796664534482349Sun, 05 Sep 2010 05:41:00 +00002010-09-09T07:38:46.852+10:00Andrei TarkovskyAndy WarholMCAMichelangelo AntonioniRainer Werner FassbinderRuna IslamVideoThere's something comforting throughout the MCA's small but stunning Runa Islam retrospective, the analogue flicker of 16mm film, the gentle hum of spindle and the clatter of sprockets creates a welcoming soundtrack. The retro technology has a qualitative effect on all of the film pieces on show, there's a warmth and an intimacy in the medium that reflects much of the subject matter. The first http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/09/on-runa-islam-mca.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-5951922306264439111Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:25:00 +00002010-09-02T17:38:26.864+10:00BanksyExit Through the Gift ShopMr BrainwashShepard faireyI just can't help myself. The more I think about 'Exit Through The Gift Shop' a film by stencil artist Banksy the more I get the whiff of bad faith and it's not a smell I like. That's not to say it isn't smart, at times thoughtful and always entertaining - it's just that it looks and sounds like someone who's done really well out of a fairly modest situationist-lite pop-art derivative http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/08/on-exit-through-gift-shop.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-3107301925875878027Sun, 15 Aug 2010 02:48:00 +00002010-08-30T21:16:53.657+10:00AGNSWAlfred StieglitzBonnardCamille ClaudelFrida KahloGeorgia O'KeeffeMan RayPhotographyPerhaps nothing is so hard to look at and value as photography. The ubiquity of the photographic reproduction, the infinite possibilities of photoshop and the blur between art and advertising has meant that art photography is less and less compelling. That makes an exhibition such as Alfred Stieglitz: The Lake George Years (worth a click for the excellent video introduction) at Sydney's AGNSW http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/08/on-alfred-stieglitz-agnsw.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-2197122322286437531Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:27:00 +00002010-07-16T23:20:49.349+10:00AbstractionAGSNWEl GrecoHenri MatisseJames Abbot McNeill WhistlerPablo PicassoPaul CezannePaul GauginRobert DelaunayWassily KandinskyCurrently 'creativity' is a word rarely uttered in art word circles. The importance of the concept, the contradiction and the hones paradox is king, clothed or not, and the idea of an individual impulse to seek form and shape for an interior impulse is smiled at as being hopelessly romantic. In that post-modern art school context one might shy away from a portmanteau show about the phenomenon http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/07/on-path-to-abstraction-agnsw.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-867971842328652645Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:17:00 +00002010-06-17T18:08:50.152+10:00Biennale of SydneyCai Guo-QiangDale FrankDaniel CrooksOla KolehmainenShouting Men's ChoirWilliam KentridgeYang FudongThe Biennale of Sydney is confusing. A friend of mine recently described it as a "car crash mishmash" and she was right, sometimes the unexpected juxtapositions make for magical surprises, more often they leave you with a headache. The problem isn't the complexity of the pieces themselves, far from it, rather the way in which they've been bundled together with curatorial gaffer tape. The work http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/06/on-biennale-of-sydney-cockatoo-island.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-8642421460796206523Mon, 24 May 2010 04:33:00 +00002010-05-31T21:35:20.424+10:00Araya RasdjarmrearnsookBiennale of SydneyBill ViolaEdouard ManetJean-Francois MilletMasaccioRodney GrahamWerner HerzogAfter my first visit to any of the 2010 Biennale of Sydney I'm relieved that it's hard to dismiss what I've seen so far as just another example of curatorial toss wrapped up in theory and radical chic. The signs weren't good though, the daft subtitle of the event "The Beauty of Distance: Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age" sounds like the worst sort of artwank, the taster show at the MCA 'Wehttp://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/05/on-biennale-of-sydney-video-works-mca.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-8736253210984062635Mon, 26 Apr 2010 06:51:00 +00002010-05-01T20:15:27.899+10:00AGNSWArchibald PrizeArcimboldoGiles AlexanderHolbeinJames MoneyJohn BrackKhue NguyenMarc De JongNigel MilsompaintingRodney PopleSam LeachStelarcTitian<!--StartFragment--> I tend to take a ‘death and taxes’ view of the Archibald Prize, currently on at Sydney’s AGNSW. Complaining about it seems futile, it’s as inevitable as the tides. As with those other two unfortunate afflictions far better to simply offer advice and succour in an attempt to ameliorate the pain it causes.This time it feels pretty grim, the trends toward giganticism, http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/04/on-2010-archibald-prize-agnsw.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-735294439333865406Wed, 24 Mar 2010 07:16:00 +00002010-04-02T16:59:48.352+11:00Edward SaidFiona TanJorge Luis BorgesNational Art School GallerySherman Contemporary Art FoundationVideoI'm still thinking about 'Coming Home', Fiona Tan's show of two video works spread between Paddington's admirable Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation and the charming gallery of the National Art School (where you can also take in a spot of Norman McLaren if you fancy). I imagine I'll feel like this for some time these twin meditations on Orientalism, history and our subconscious take such a http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/03/on-fiona-tan-sherman-contemporary-art.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-5174941156966526991Sun, 14 Mar 2010 07:29:00 +00002010-03-19T22:28:45.178+11:00AGSNWAlex PittendrighAndrew BrowneFiona LowryGoyaHoward ArkleyJames MorrisonJulie FragarLouise HearmanMagritteMary ScottpaintingRiberaStephen BushZurbaranFor all of the galleries that cluster in particular Sydney neighbourhoods, amidst posh terraces or polished concrete warehouse conversions, there is precious little evidence of contemporary artists, in particular painters, at work in our few public galleries. It's a great shame. No matter what their best intentions the showrooms, and that is what they are, of commercial galleries are scary http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/03/wilderness-agnsw.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-3979851680465076012Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:51:00 +00002010-03-07T20:11:32.209+11:00Gillian WearingMCASylvie BlocherThe Last PoetsVideoSydney's MCA is a having a good 2010. Almost overlooked on the fourth floor, a detour away from the excellent Olafur Eliason show, is Sylvie Blocher's 'Living Pictures' a group of simple large scale video works that you must see if you care about art and people. The show has, in the late summer cacophony of festivals and events, been very quietly promoted, which made its discovery all the morehttp://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/03/on-sylvie-blocher-mca.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-725196819209006374Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:29:00 +00002010-02-20T17:01:03.604+11:00Dale FrankJames GleasonJohn OlsenLucian FreudpaintingRosly Oxley9RubensDale Frank's show 'Ice Age' at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery pushes my buttons and tries my patience. There's no doubt that his luminously varnished canvasses are often beautiful, their sumptuous whirls and maws of paint preserved in suspended animation, are beautiful. However he also manages to invoke my innate suspicion about works with titles that read like protracted statements or bad situationist http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/02/on-dale-frank-roslyn-oxley9-gallery.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3656212276125134801.post-1098383504219408284Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +00002010-01-25T08:06:37.647+11:00Asia-PacificEdge of ElsewhereJianweiKhaled SabsabiLisa ReihanaRichard BellSydney FestivalWangTo enter 'The Edge of Elsewhere' you need to walk through Khaled Sabsabi's hypnotic video installation '99', it sets the bar very high for what will be (unless we're incredibly lucky) one of the best shows in Sydney this year. Three weeks in that's a big claim but the immediacy, depth and moral fibre of some of the work here at the Campbelltown Arts Centre make it an extraordinarily powerful http://artkritique.blogspot.com/2010/01/on-edge-of-elsewhere-campbelltown-arts.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John Matthews)0