Art Guide Australia

Our top 5 exhibitions to see this week: 'Sky, Earth, Water' at Bundanon, Illaroo, New South Wales. @bundanontrust @glendanicholls Image: Glenda Nicholls, 'I see Country' (detail), 2026. Sky, Earth, Water, 2026, Bundanon. Photo: Zan Wimberley. Leo Bagus Purnomo 'Alas-alasan' at Incinerator Gallery, Moonee Ponds, Victoria. @incinerator_gallery @drawmelikeoneofyourasiangirls Image: Leo Bagus Purmono, 'Alas-alasan' (detail), 2025, dye on silk-satin. 'Of This Earth: Transforming Culture and Country Through First Nations Ceramics' at Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns City, Queensland. @cairnsartgallery #RonaPanangkaRubuntja Image: Rona Panangka Rubuntja, Western Arrarnta People, Ray Mudjandi, Mirarr/Western Arrarnta Peoples, 'Black Speed', 2024, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2025 © Rona Panangka Rubuntja and Ray Mudjandi/Copyright Agency 2026. Sally Mumford 'Thirty-six views of Mparntwe' at Araluen Arts Centre, Mparntwe, Northern Territory. @araluenartscentre @sally_mumford Image: Sally Mumford, 'Ankerre Ankerre', graphite on paper, 112 x 152cm. 'Time Moves Through These Walls: 40 years of Linden New Art' at Linden New Art, St Kilda, Victoria. @linden_new_art #mathieuvendeville Image: Linden New Art / Mathieu Vendeville.

This weekend the Art Guide Bookstore @artguideau.bookstore will present a range of small press, artist books, monographs, exhibition catalogues, and more at the Melbourne Art Book Fair. Come and say hello at our stall. Visit artbookfair.melbourne to view the full program. Melbourne Art Book Fair Friday 15 May–Sunday 17 May 10am–5pm @NGVMelbourne #MelbourneArtBookFair #NGV #artguidebookstore

In a world increasingly tethered to velocity—to feeds, follows and the flick of the thumb—a quieter current is gathering force. Across three distinct painting practices, Mythra Schwartz, Kate Wallace and Tessa MacKay are returning to something slower, softer and more searching. Each begins with the image-saturated conditions of contemporary life; each interrupts them. In different ways, their works are subverting the scroll. Two of the trio present new bodies of work come mid-2026: Schwartz’s ‘I just bought a caviar spoon’ at Melbourne’s FUTURES, and Wallace’s ‘Between Trees’ at LON Gallery, also in Melbourne. MacKay’s recent solo show ‘Social Realism’ at Sydney’s LAILA continues to resonate through conversations around how images are made, shared and valued. Together, these practices suggest a renewed appetite for intimacy, ambiguity and slower, more nuanced reflection. It’s less retreat and more recalibration: a way we can process the present at a more human pace. Read the full article by Camilla Wagstaff via the link in our bio. Mythra Schwartz’s ‘I just bought a caviar spoon’ is on display at FUTURES Gallery in Melbourne until 6 June, Kate Wallace’s ‘Between Trees’ at LON Gallery in Melbourne until 23 May and Tessa MacKay’s work will be on display alongside Ben Reid and Anthea Duffy at LAILA in Sydney from 3—25 July. @mythraschwartz @futures_gallery @kate_ewallace @longallery @tessamackayart @laila__sydney @camilla_wagstuff Images: 1. Tessa McKay, 'Deep Chats', oil and sakura paint marker on pet fur sized loomstate, 122 x 213cm, 2026. Image credit: Lucida Studio. 2. Mythra Schwartz, 'Small Plates', 2026, oil on canvas, 137 x 92 cm. Courtesy the artist and FUTURES. 3. Kate Wallace, 'On Water', 2024, oil on linen, 25 x 20cm.

Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) displays significant pieces by ten Kimberley-based artists, for 'All That Country Holds'. The exhibition includes paintings, drawing, photography, ceramics and mixed media. Presented by Kimberley Aboriginal Art and Culture (KAAC), representing the six leading art centres of the Kimberley (Warmun Art Centre, Warlayirti Artists, Waringarri Aboriginal Arts, Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Cultural Centre, Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency and Kira Kiro Artists), the works explore the enduring strength of First Peoples of the Kimberley and their connection to Country. View the full suite of images via the link in our bio. ‘All That Country Holds’ is at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) until 14 June. @pica_perth @john.prince.siddon #BenWard #EvelynMalgil #LeahRinjeewalaUmbagai #PerthInstituteofContemporaryArt @warmunart @warlayirti_artists @waringarri_arts @mowanjum_arts @mangkajaarts Images: 1. John Prince Siddon, 'Families Party By The Pool' 2025. Image courtesy of the artist and Mangakaja Arts Centre. 2. Ben Ward, 'Jimoordboord', 2022. Photo courtesy of the artist and Waringarri Arts Centre. 3. Evelyn Malgil, 'Winuba', 2024. Photo courtesy of the artist. 4. Leah Rinjeewala Umbagai, 'Wodoi & Djingun (spotted nightjar & owlet nightjar)'. Photo courtesy of the artist and Mowanjum Arts Centre.

The only way Clara Brack could write about her parents—the famous Australian artists John Brack and Helen Maudsley—was not through biography or art history but by imagining their psyche. It results in an improbable scenario: what would these deeply discreet artists divulge to their psychologist? Brack’s recent book, ‘The Secret Landscapes: On Not Pleasing Your Mother’, reflects on her parents through biography, artist interviews, Brack’s memories, and speculative fiction. Grounded in factual events, it’s determined to overturn Maudsley’s dictum “private is private”. As Brack expands in an interview with Art Guide Australia, “I had two voices in my head: Dad’s voice saying, ‘What do you know? You know nothing.’ And Mum’s voice saying, ‘The private life is out of bounds.’” Weighing both secrecy and inheritance, Brack first interrogates the question of whether her book should even exist. Read the full article by Tiarney Miekus via the link in our bio. ‘The Secret Landscapes: On Not Pleasing Your Mother’ is out now via Upswell Publishing. clara1949 @tiarneym #JohnBrack #HelenMaudsley #ClaraBrack @upswellpublishingau Images: 1. John Brack, 'Collins St, 5p.m', 1955, oil on canvas, 114.8 x 162.8 cm. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Purchased, 1956 © National Gallery of Victoria. (cropped detail) 3. Clara Brack, 'The Secret Landscapes', cover image. 5. Helen Maudsley, 'How do we get permission for our innermost Selves?', 2019, oil on canvas, 42.5 x 33 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Niagara Galleries, Melbourne. Photography is by Mark Ashkanasy, Melbourne. 7. John Brack, 'First daughter', 1954, drypoint, 24.8 x 17.4 cm (plate), 32.5 x 26.2 cm (sheet). National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Purchased, 1954 © Helen Brack.

'Cane' draws on the history of 60,000 South Sea Islanders brought to Queensland between 1863–1904, at times against their will, to work in the developing sugar cane industry. Poetic explorations by artists—local, national and international—describe its contemporary impacts. Curated by Llewellyn Millhouse with Keely Eggmolesse, and co-commissioned by Hervey Bay Regional Gallery (HBRG) and Rockhampton Museum of Art, HBRG director Sarah Thomson told Art Guide Australia that the exhibition involved local communities, acknowledging and celebrating their ancestors. “The exhibition rebukes the (still common) claim that slavery never happened in Australia,” she said. “It was a dark history. Some 30 per cent of South Sea Islander labourers died during their contract.” Read the full article by Louise Martin-Chew via the link in our bio. ‘Cane’ can be seen at the Rockhampton Museum of Art until 21 June. @rockhamptonmuseumofart @sancintya @dylanmooney__ @shari_odwyer @llewellyn_millhouse #KeelyEggmolesse @artwords_126 Images: 1. Sancintya Mohini Simpson, 'Dhūwã̄ 2021/24' (still), Video projection 4:3 single channel sound, and scent 4 min 45 sec. Courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane. This project was supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, and by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory. 2. Dylan Mooney, 'Eden', 2024 watercolour and digital print. Installation view, Cane at Hervey Bay Regional Gallery 2024 Photo: Lewellyn Millhouse. 3. Shari O'Dwyer, 'It hangs over my head, it lurks in the shadows', 2023, hand knotted sisal twine, private collection, and How it moves in me 2023, oil on voile. Installation view, Cane at Hervey Bay Regional Gallery 2024 Photo: Lewellyn Millhouse.

Six-time Archibald prize finalist Richard Lewer had wanted to paint Pitjantjatjara Elder, artist and healer Iluwanti Ken for a long time, and the wait has paid off with his first win of the $100,000 portrait prize. “I was a very lucky man to paint Iluwanti,” said Lewer, motioning towards his subject, who had journeyed from the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands of South Australia to the Art Gallery of New South Wales to see the artist receive the 2026 honour. “It’s an absolute pleasure that you gave me your time [on] your Country and you let me paint you.” Ken sat quietly by the podium, honoured herself as a finalist artist in this year’s Wynne prize for a clay, wood, woven fibre and emu-feather sculpture collaboration with LeShaye Swan and Justine Anderson. This year, Yolngu artist Gaypalani Waṉambi won the $50,000 Wynne prize for her spray paint on etched steel work ‘The Waṉambi tree’ and Lucy Culliton, who lives in the Snowy Monaro region of NSW, won the $40,000 Sulman Prize for ‘Toolah, artist model’, her painting of one of her seven greyhounds. Read the full article by Steve Dow via the link in our bio. The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes are run by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. All winning and finalist works will be on display at the gallery between 9 May—16 August, before touring regionally to six venues. @artgalleryofnsw @richard_lewer #iluwantiken Images: 1. Winner: Archibald Prize 2026. Richard Lewer, Iluwanti Ken, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 198 x 198 cm. 3. Installation view of the ‘Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2026’ exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 9 May – 16 August 2026, artworks © the artists, image © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Jenni Carter.

Our top 5 exhibitions to see this week: 'Coded blooms' at the Museum of Australian Photography (MAPh), Wheelers Hill, Victoria. @maph_photography @patbrassington Image: Pat Brassington, 'Annunciation #2', 2025, 65 x 55 cm, pigment ink-jet print. Courtesy of the artist. 'Accursed Sharing' at Goolugatup Heathcote, Applecross, Western Australia. @goolugatupheathcote #ThomasBrown Image: Thomas Brown, 'Blessed Boy', 2025. 'Edge City' at Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong, New South Wales. @wollongongartgallery @elvis.richardson Image: Elvis Richardson, 'Settlement #8', 2025, modified found domestic gate, mild steel, pink blush powdercoat, 200 x 91 x 3 cm. Purchased 2025. 'Between Salt and Light' at Leighton Contemporary, Noosaville, Queensland. @leightoncontemporary @ming_nomchong Image: Ming Nomchong, Sands Of Time, 2025, Composite of 9 Toned Silver Gelatin Handprints, 76 x 61 cm. Jeanette Muirhead 'Witness' at Belco Arts, Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory. @belcoarts @jeanettemuirheadart Image: Jeanette Muirhead, 'On the Manta Trail.'

In an Australian artist first, Khaled Sabsabi simultaneously presents 'conference of one’s self' at the Australia Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia, and In Minor Keys by Koyo Kouoh at the Arsenale, titled 'khalil' in the International Exhibition. On the dual presentations, Sasabi says: “Although the two works are presented in different locations across the Biennale, they speak to one another and emerge from the same philosophical inquiry. They are one body with two limbs, and together they explore the relationship between inner and outer experience, inviting audiences to reflect on the shared human values of compassion and kindness that connect us.” Read the full announcement via the link in our bio. Khaled Sabsabi's 'conference of one’s self’, curated by Michael Dagostino is on display at the Australia Pavilion, located in the Giardini della Biennale, as a part of the Biennale Arte 2026, commissioned by Creative Australia until 22 November. Khaled Sabsabi’s ‘khalil' is presented within the International Exhibition In Minor Keys by Koyo Kouoh, in the Arsenale until 22 November. @ausatvenice @peacefender @milanigallery @madamekoyo #KhaledSabsabi @creative.australia Images: Khaled Sabsabi, 'conference of one’s self', 2026, Australia Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia. Photo: Andrea Rossetti. Courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery.

"There are works where I appear multiple times, but there's works with my Mum, my Nan, and my Aunties. I've tried to give as many voices as possible, so it comes from a different perspective, a different narration, and a different experience," says Gunditjmara, Djabwurrung and Anglo-Indian artist Hayley Millar Baker, whose new exhibition 'Hayley Millar Baker: Selected Works' marks a decade of practice. The show centres female agency and narration and honours the strength of the female Aboriginal experience through a multigenerational lens. Read the full article by Jasmeet Kaur Sahi via the link in our bio. 'Hayley Millar Baker: Selected Works' shows until 14 June. @hayleymillarbaker @wyndhamculturalcentre @jasmeet_sahi #HayleyMillarBaker Images: 'Hayley Millar Baker Selected Works' at Wyndham Art Gallery installation image. Images courtesy of the artist and Vivien Anderson Gallery. Image Studio Franco. Images have been cropped for Instagram dimensions.

Rosalie Gascoigne wanted to capture the moment when we feel landscape, place and Country, but she also understood the harsh contradictions of the geographies we reside in. The acclaimed artist, who passed 27 years ago, created a body of work that speaks to the reckoning we are having now as many seek to understand what our relationship and responsibilities are to Country. Her work is described as sculptural assemblages, using found objects rummaged from her surrounds to capture its essence through the discordant materials that found their way here—road signs, soft drink bottles, crates, feathers and weathered wood. In doing so she evocatively balances the tenuous position between belonging and un-belonging that so many navigate in this continent. A deep love for the natural landscape and a curiosity with Western industry, a tension that reflects my own awe at the contradictory beauty that an abandoned farmhouse, well or skeletal remains of a corroded car carries in rural settings. While it’s uncertain what Gascoigne’s relationship with Aboriginal people was, her work acknowledges her positionality as someone foreign. Given these layers, it feels pertinent that her work continues to be celebrated in collaboration with Aboriginal women artists. Read the full article by Timmah Ball via the link in our bio. ‘Sky, Earth, Water’ can be seen at Bundanon Art Museum in Illaroo until 14 June. @bundanontrust @electric_zines #RosalieGascoigne Images: 1. Rosalie Gascoigne, 'Plenty' (detail), 1986, weathered and sawn painted wood (from soft‑drink boxes) on plywood. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Purchased 1987. 3. Rosalie Gascoigne, 'not titled [White wood study #1]', 1995 – 1997, assemblage of found wooden elements. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Gift of Hester, Martin and Toss Gascoigne 2015. 5. Rosalie Gascoigne, 'Wheat belt', 1989, painted and stencilled sawn or split wood from soft-drink boxes, on weathered plywood panels. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Gift of Pauline Hunter 2005. 7. Rosalie Gascoigne, 'Inland sea', 1986, weathered painted corrugated iron, wire. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Purchased 1993.

In the paintings of Yindjibarndi Elder Wendy Hubert, those memories reappear on canvas. “It’s come out of me, of my childhood,” she says of her paintings. “I’ll never forget the silhouettes… purple, red, green.” Now those fragments of Country and memory have travelled more than 5,000 kilometres, from the Pilbara to Western Sydney, for the first time. As part of the 25th Biennale of Sydney, Hubert and members of the Juluwarlu Art Group have transformed the gardens of Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery into 'Yindjibarndi Nyinyart at Wendy’s Garden', an exhibition that combines a series of Hubert’s paintings with an outdoor installation bringing the textures of the Pilbara to Dharug land. Read the full article by Rosamund Brennan via the link in our bio. ‘Wendy Hubert with Juluwarlu Art Group Collective: Yindjibarndi Nyinyart at Wendy’s Garden’ can be seen at Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery as part of the 25th Biennale of Sydney: Rememory until 14 June. @penrithregionalgallery #WendyHubert #PenrithRegionalGallery @biennalesydney @rosamundbrennan Images: Wendy Hubert (b. 1955 Australia), 'Yindjibarndi Nyinyart at Wendy’s Garden', 2025-2026; mixed media. Installation view in Rememory: 25th Biennale of Sydney at Lewers: Penrith Regional Gallery, 2026. Courtesy of the artist and Juluwarlu Art Group. Photography: Maja Baska.