MELBOURNE ART FAIR 2026|JOHN YOUNG
As part of the Melbourne Art Fair program, JOHN YOUNG will present an artist talk at the ARC ONE Gallery booth on 20 February,3:30-4pm.
Young will discuss his Polychrome painting series, exploring colour, perception, materiality and the ethical questions that underpin his practice. The talk will also reflect on his influential career as one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists and painting’s ongoing role as a critical and conceptual language.
To preview Young’s paintings for MAF, email [email protected]. @arconegallery@melbourneartfair
IMAGES:
1.JOHN YOUNG, Jodi (Small Vertical Version)/Roy(Medium Vertical Version)/ Alma(Small Vertical Version)1999,oil on canvas.
2. Silhouettes and Polychromes: John Young,1995,book cover.This book addresses 15 years of John Young’s early- career practice comprising of his distinctive Silhouette and Polychrome works.
Farewell Maudie Palmer. A woman of all qualities, a titan for culture, a friend, a mentor. You are singular amongst many generations- selfless and true in forging a maturation of culture in Australia. An era passes with you. Farewell good woman, you have led a great life. I shall miss you. Xxxx Photo: Jacqueline Mitelman .
Tickled pink that the Rosewood Hotel in Hong Kong has been awarded the top hotel in the world by the World’s Best 50 Hotels - quite a number of my multiples proudly and quietly sits in their private rooms!
VALE Ben Curnow. I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of dear Ben. Our time together as artists, intellectuals, and curators in Sydney, more than two decades ago, was defined by a profound sense of friendship, optimism, generosity, and care. Ben’s integrity, his incisive writings, and his thoughtful curatorial vision played a vital role in shaping an independent and original generation of artists in Sydney. His enduring influence is evident in the lives and practices of those artists who continue to pursue meaningful, engaged, and creative paths inspired by his example.
The exhibition ‘A trace is not a presence…’ curated by Shuxia Chen ends in a few days, after a one year showing at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, The University of Sydney- not to be missed! . To celebrate this wonderful exhibition and the recent publishing of John Young: The History Projects - there will be a panel discussion this Thursday 12-1 with historian Dr Sophie Lou-Wilson, curator Dr Shuxia Chen, editor of The History Projects Dr Olivier Krischer and myself at the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney. A vibrant discussion of history as medium.
Panel discussion: History as Medium
Why and how does art engage with contentious histories? Hear from artist John Young, joined by Shuxia Chen, Sophie Loy-Wilson and Olivier Krischer, as they discuss the distinct ways art can forge affective relationships to the past in the present.
The event coincides with the new Power publication @the_power_institute John Young: The History Projects (edited by Olivier Krischer) and the end of exhibition The trace is not a presence…(curated by Shuxia Chen) @ccwm_sydney
🗓️: Thu, 11 Sep 2025 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
📍: Nelson Meers Foundation Auditorium
Chau Chak Wing Museum, the University of Sydney
Book through: https://www.sydney.edu.au/museum/whats-on/talks-and-events/history-as-medium-panel.html
Image 1: John Young, Time’s Slow Passing #4, etching and lithography on archive rag paper, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Image: Australian Print Workshop.
Image 2: cover of John Young: The History Projects, Power Publications, 2025
Image 3: Installation view of exhibition The trace is not a presence…,Chau Chak Wing Museum, 2024-2025. Photograph by Jacquie Manning
#history #contemparyart #chineseaustralian #diaspora #thetraceisnotapresence #australianart #australianhistory
What a fabulous night of discussions and launch of the History Projects in Melbourne- with Dr. Olivier Krischer, JY, Genevieve Trail, Dr. Shuxia Chen, Prof Lisa Slade-Hugh Ramsey Chair of Australian Art History, the University of Melbourne and Prof. Mark Ledbury-Head of the Power Institute of Art and Visual Culture, The University of Sydney
Please join us for the Melbourne launch of our epic new publication "John Young: The History Projects, Edited by Olivier Krischer".
Link to register in bio!
Between 2005 and 2019, Hong Kong-born Australian artist John Young Zerunge created a body of work called "The History Projects", exploring diasporic memory, transcultural identity, and what Young has described as an ‘ethical responsibility’ towards the past.
This panel builds on themes from a major new publication discussing this cycle of works, John Young: The History Projects, edited by Olivier Krischer and published by the Power Institute.
John and Olivier will be joined by Professor Lisa Slade, the Hugh Ramsay Chair in Australian Art History at the University of Melbourne, and Shuxia Chen, a curator and writer based at the University of NSW. Together they will discuss how artists and curators today are tackling the medium of history as an ethical project, navigating contentious and contending histories, and how art can still foster new forms of subjectivity and community outside the stubbornly narrow narratives of Australia's settler colonial history.
Image: Installation of John Young, OPEN MONUMENT, 2015, Permanent architectural monument, Len T Fraser Reserve, Ballarat.
A very good in depth dialogue between John and writer Cher Tan in the latest Liminal magazine on the motivations behind The History Projects- enjoy!. /5-questions/john-young
John Young : History Projects, edited by Olivier Krischer and published by The Power Institute of Art and Visual Culture of the University of Sydney, welcomed by Wayne Tunnicliffe, Senior Curator Contemporary Art - launched by A/Prof. Donna Brett, Chair of Art History, Power Institute at The Art Gallery of NSW on Wednesday! A wonderful panel discussing the function of history in art making and the History Projects with Mikala Tai, Olivier Krischer, John, and Jenna Lee- a great night organized by Nicholas Croggon and Lachlan Thompson! #johnyounghistoryprojects, #johnyoungartist
