Arts / Culture

Art in May: Your guide to the Australian exhibitions taking place this month

australian art may 2023

There's more to Australian art than the Archibald Prize, but you best believe it's kicking off this month. As for what else is on the art smorgasbord this month? We've compiled a list to get you started. Max Berry returns for a solo show at China Heights, Carriageworks is putting on its annual CUT N POLISH artist car boot sale, a Catherine Opie retrospective is on at Heide and The Other Art Fair is almost here. For the rest of the exhibitions and shows to catch across Australia in May 2023, keep scrolling.

 

NSW

 

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Chalk Horse

Wild at Heart

Mechelle Bounpraseuth, Dean Brown, Catherine Clayton-Smith, Harley Ives, Jasper Knight, Harry McAlpine, Danny Morse, Kate Mitchell, Jason Phu, Alexandra Standen and Oliver Watts.

Until May 13, 2023.

Sucked into my Vortex

Sara Birns

18 May – 10 June 2023

 

Campbelltown Arts Centre

The National 4: Australian Art Now

Isabel & Alfredo Aquilizan with the Fruitjuice Factori Studio, Brook Andrew, Christopher Bassi, Lynda Draper, Jumaadi, Shivanjani Lal, Julian Martin and Yabini Kickett artist project with Sharyn Egan and Ilona McGuire.

Until June 25, 2023.

 

STATION Gallery

lfp mottled and green: looking for a cleric sib

Clare Milledge

Until May 27, 2023.

 

Maitland Regional Art Gallery

Kungka Kuṉpu (Strong Women)

Until May 21, 2023.

 

China Heights

IMAGES + ARTIFACTS

Max Berry

Opens June 13, 2023.

 

Ngununggula

Belonging/Tjoritjarinja

Iltja Ntjarra artists and Albert Namatjira

Until May 21, 2023.

 

The Lock-Up

Loud Sky

Lottie Consalvo, Peter Gardiner, Fiona Lee, Damien Linnane and Clare Weeks.

Until May 21, 2023.

 

Bundanon Art Museum

Fantastic Forms

Stephen Benwell, Nabilah Nordin and Rubyrose Bancroft

Until June 18, 2023.

 

Carriageworks

The National 4: Australian Art Now

Susan Balbunga, Frances Barrett, Elizabeth Day, Nicole Foreshew, Heather Koowootha, Jo Lloyd, Naminapu Maymuru-White, Jason Phu, Teho Ropeyarn, Erika Scott, and Katie West.

Until June 25, 2023.

CUT N POLISH: Artist Car Boot Sale

11am-4pm, Sunday, May 7

 

Seven Marks

Vault

Chick Butcher

Until May 25, 2023.

 

N.Smith Gallery

We're Marching

Kyra Mancktelow

5 – 27 May 2023

 

Mosman Art Gallery

Thom Roberts and Simon Wheeldon

Until May 28, 2023.

 

Passage Gallery

(Don't) Be An Artist

Kay Abude

Until June 4, 2023.

 

ACMI

Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion

Until October 1, 2023.

 

Powerhouse Museum

Unpopular

Drawing on the archives of music promoter, record company founder and entrepreneur Stephen ‘Pav’ Pavlovic, the exhibit will take audiences behind-the-scenes of the alternative music scene in the 1990s.

Until June 3, 2023.

Zampatti Powerhouse

Until June 11, 2023.

 

Penrith Regional Gallery

A House Full of Paintings: the art and life of Margo Lewers (1908 – 1978)

Until May 14, 2023.

 

Curatorial + Co.

Fathoms

Susie Dureau

3–20 May 2023

Explore the newly opened gallery at its new address: 80 William St, Woolloomooloo

 

Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf

Native Deities

Bruce Slorach

3–28 May 2023

 

Yavuz Gallery

Past & Present Tense

Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan

Until June 24, 2023.

 

Michael Reid

Somewhere to Begin

Isca Greenfield-Sanders

Until May 27, 2023.

 

National Art School

Dobell Drawing Prize

Until June 10, 2023.

 

Bathurst Regional Art Gallery

Afterglow

Danelle Bergstrom

Until June 11, 2023.

 

Art Gallery of New South Wales

Art Express

Until May 7, 2023.

Archibald, Wynne & Sulman Prizes

Finalists announced and opening on May 6

The National 4: Australian Art Now

Abdul Abdullah, Brenda L Croft, Robert Fielding, Madeleine Kelly, Glen Mackie Kei Kelak, Pierre Mukeba, Nabilah Nordin, Thea Anamara Perkins, Reko Rennie, David Sequeira, Esther Stewart, Heather B Swann, Natasha Walsh at the Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry Hills, and Gerry Wedd.

Until July 23, 2023.

Dreamhome: Stories of Art and Shelter

Until late 2023

The End of Imagination

Adrián Villar Rojas

Until mid 2023

 

Museum of Contemporary Art

The National 4: Australian Art Now

Hoda Afshar, Daniel Boyd, Eugene Carchesio, Allison Chhorn, Léuli Eshrāghi, Diena Georgetti, Simryn Gill, Ivi, Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association, Mia Salsjö, Kieren Seymour, Nicholas Smith, Isabelle Sully, Amanda Williams and Rudi Williams.

Until July 2023.

 

Bondi Pavilion Gallery

Rainbow, Mermaid, Fireworks

Rosie Deacon and Emily Crockford of Studio A

Until May 14, 2023.

 

Sullivan + Strumpf

A tree more ancient than the forest it stands in

Lindy Lee

4 – 27 May 2023

Sphexishness

James Lemon

11 May – 3 June 2023

 

The Other Art Fair

The Cutaway, Barangaroo

11 – 14 May 2023

 

The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre

 Mervyn Bishop: celebrating one of Australia’s most prolific photographers

Until June 3, 2023.

 

Rainbow Studios

BLOOM TALL

Kubi Vasak

18 May – 1 June 2023

 

Arthouse Gallery

Paper & Clay

4 – 20 May 2023

 

VIC

 

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James Makin Gallery

Jeff Makin: 80 Years

4 – 21 May 2023

 

At The Above

JUNGLES JUNGLES PRESENTS KEITH HARING

5 – 14 May 2023

 

TarraWarra Museum of Art

TarraWarra Biennial 2023: ua usiusi faʻavaʻasavili

Until July 16, 2023.

 

Buxton Contemporary

nightshifts

Shaun Gladwell, Tracey Moffatt, Callum Morton, Mike Parr, Mikala Dwyer, Teelah George, Marco Fusinato, Mabel Juli, Louise Weaver and Peter Booth.

26 May – 29 October 2023

 

Brunswick Street Gallery

HER

Elena Strohfeldt

11 – 28 May 2023

 

Art Gallery of Ballarat

Reimaging Our Cultural Landscapes

Lisa Gervasoni

11 May – 25 June 2023

 

Koorie Heritage Trust

Second Skin – Essence of Country

Until July 9, 2023.

 

STATION Gallery

Deep Fakes

Paul Yore

Until May 13, 2023.

 

Caves Gallery

Performance

Beth Arnold, Deanne Butterworth, Chaco Kato, Lichen Kelp & Dylan Martorell and Geoffrey Watson.

12 – 27 May 2023

 

Anna Schwartz Gallery

Wall Works

Kathy Temin

Until May 27, 2023.

 

CRAFT

Jugs

Alfred Lowe, Andrei Davidoff, Ara Dolatian, Claybia (Cassandra Chilton & Molly O’Shaughnessy), Danielle Thiris, Glenn Barkley, Isadora Vaughan, Janet Fieldhouse, Juz Kitson, Kate Jones, Leon Zhan, Megafauna Studio, Minaal Lawn, Nicolette Johnson, Rona Rubuntja (Hermannsburg Potters), Vipoo Srivilasa, Virginia Leonard, Yoko Ozawa and Yuro Cuchor.

6 May – 27 June 2023

 

MARS Gallery

Vampires of the Earth

Diego Ramirez

Until May 20, 2023.

 

National Gallery of Victoria

Melbourne Now

Until August 20, 2023.

Step in to see new and ambitious art that spans disciplines from fashion and jewellery, painting, sculpture, architecture and ceramics, including the Ton Tall – the larger iteration of the Ton lamp – which Volker Haug has collaborated on with Fiona Lynch.

 

Sullivan + Strumpf

GEN

Ry David Bradley

Until May 13, 2023.

 

Heide Museum of Modern Art

Binding Ties

Catherine Opie

Until July 9, 2023

 

Bendigo Art Gallery

Australiana: Designing A Nation

Until June 25, 2023.

 

Melbourne Museum

Sutr Santati: Then. Now. Next

13 May – 3 September 2023

 

WA

The Art Gallery of Western Australia

The West Australian Pulse 2023
Until August 20, 2023.

Farah Al Qasimi: Star Machine

Until July 30, 2023.

Yoshitomo Nara: Reach Out to The Moon, Even if we can't

Until June 25, 2023.

 

Goolugatup Heathcote

Liftlore (Folklore)

Tim Meakins

Until May 21, 2023.

 

Kolbusz Space

Water and Time

John Eden

Opens May 19, 2023.

Perth Institute of Contemporary Art

Hatched: National Graduate Show

13 May – 23 July 2023

 

Fremantle Arts Centre

Hidden Country

6 May – 23 July 2023

 

ACT

National Portrait Gallery

Portrait23: Identity

10 March – 18 June 2023

 

Canberra Museum & Gallery

Stronger Together: Artists’ perspectives on the ACT COVID-19 frontline health response

Until July 30, 2023.

Settled/Unsettled

Until June 24, 2023.

 

National Gallery of Australia

significant others

Rauschenberg & Johns:

Until May 14, 2023.

untitled (walam-wunga.galang)

Jonathan Jones

Until July 23, 2023.

 

National Film and Sound Archive

Australians & Hollywood: A Tale of Craft, Talent, and Ambition

Ongoing

 

Belconnen Arts Centre

35S: 149E  – Canberra Lived

Until May 14, 2023.

 

QLD

 

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Home of the Arts

Pop Masters: Art from the Mugrabi Collection, New York

Until June 4, 2023.

A barrow, a singsing

Yuriyal Eric Bridgeman

Until May 7, 2023.

 

Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art

Looking Out, Looking In

Until August 6, 2023.

 

Redland Art Gallery

Bluestitch

Sharon Jewell

Until May 9, 2023.

 

Museum of Brisbane

Clay: Collected Ceramics

13 May – 22 October 2023

 

Metro Arts

Precision: The Art of Cutting

6 May – 10 June 2023

 

SA

Adelaide Contemporary Experimental

Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition

Until May 6, 2023.

 

Felt Space

An Empty Exchange

Nicole Clift, Nicholas Hanisch, Charlotte Tatton, and Renèe Pastore.

Until May 13, 2023.

Divine mantras for earthly matters

Celia Dottore

Until May 13, 2023.

 

Art Gallery of South Australia

Andy Warhol & Photography: A Social Media

Until May 14, 2023.

Ramsay Art Prize

Winner announced May 26

27 May – 27 August 2023

 

NT

 

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Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory

Gumurr’manydji Manapanmirr Djäma

Open now

 

Araluen Arts Centre

Significant Others

Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns

Until May 14, 2023.

 

Laundry Gallery

Main Abija

Karen Rogers

Opens May 6, 2023.

 

TAS

 

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Museum of Old and New Art

Oceans of Air

Tomás Saraceno

Until July 24, 2023.

 

Contemporary Art Tasmania

This too shall pass

Ashe

Until May 27, 2023.

 

Salamanca Arts Centre

Everything is not oKAY

Rory Kay

Until May 28, 2023.


Looking to invest in art of your own? Here are some pieces the RUSSH editors have welcomed into their own spaces.

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Images:

One: Sara Birns Living Echo 1, 2023, oil pastel and coloured pencil on grey paper, 56 x 76cm

Two: Jason Phu, (4) EVERYTHING STINKS UNDER A STINKING HOT SUN, EVERYTHING GROWS UNDER A SEXY SEXY SUMMER SUN (after a pile of dead rats on a lovely flower bed in the rocks), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 213.5 x 198.3 cm