Art exhibitions to see in Sydney this week

Kudjala and Gangalu artist Daniel Boyd is known for his signature style, which sits somewhere between traditional Aboriginal dot-painting and Impressionist pointilism. The dot motif has appeared in plenty of his work, from large-scale public art installations to smaller paintings. Now it will be exploded out into three immersive video installations at Carriageworks, as a dreamy cosmic journey through time immemorial. The Sydney Festival exhibition will also include a soundtrack by Boyd’s long-time collaborators, Crayons.

For the last two years, the Art Gallery of NSW has focussed on Europe in its big summer exhibitions: the Netherlands in Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age (2017-18), and Russia and France in Masters of Modern Art from the Hermitage (2018-19). But this summer is all about Japan with an epic exhibition of more than 200 artworks from artists past and present. Japan Supernatural is at the AGNSW until March 2020 and features work from the country's most influential artist, Katsushika Hokusai, and new and old pieces from superstar artist Takashi Murakami, who is showcasing a supernatural installation in the gallery. If you've never heard of Murakami, here's what you need to know: he's collaborated with Louis Vuitton, designed the covers for two Kanye West albums and directed one of his music videos, and in 2008 was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people.  The AGNSW exhibition is all about yōkai, the supernatural beings and spirits that are used to explain the inexplicable, so you can expect to leave feeling a little spooked. There are paintings, prints, Japanese cinema and animation and sculpture. There's work from Japan's past from Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and Kawanabe Kyosai, with contemporary work from Chiho Aoshima and Miwa Yanagi. Read our interview with Takashi Murakami about his work in the exhibition.

In 2016, Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones gained plenty of attention for a major public artwork as part of Kaldor Public Art Projects. Using 15,000 white ceramic shields, he traced the footprint of the Royal Botanic Garden’s 19th century Garden Palace, which was destroyed in a fire in 1882, taking with it a treasure trove of irreplacable Aboriginal artefacts. Now Jones is creating another major public work using a different kind of footprint. Untitled (maraong manaóuwi) uses red and white gravel from Wiradjuri country to represent two familiar symbols: the maraong manaóuwi (the Gadigal term for ‘emu footprint’) and the English broad arrow insignia (representing British colonialism). They’ll be installed across 2,500 square metres of the Hyde Park Barracks courtyard from February 21. For three weeks, visitors will be invited to walk across the artwork, as the red and white gravel merges and disintegrates.

Artexpress has now been running for 36 years, showing the best works submitted by high school art students for their HSC. And let's face it – it's pretty much every serious HSC art student's dream to make it into this exhibition and have their work shown at our city's biggest gallery. The artworks on display this year include sculpture, drawing, painting, graphic design and photo media. It always comes as a surprise as to just how high the standard is; the extraordinary technical skill of some of the students will make plenty of adults jealous. And while there mightn't always be a fully formed artistic vision, the works that make it into the exhibition are usually appropriately bold.

Ten leading contemporary artists from China and Australia are coming together for this free exhibition exploring Chinese mythology through a variety of forms. The exhibition is curated by Glenfield-based artist Guan Wei, who last year became the first Chinese-Australian artist to have a solo exhibition at the MCA, and Beijing-based performance artist Cang Xin. Traditional and contemporary forms come smashing together, with artists including Amy Fu, Gu Xiaoping, Jiang Zhe, Palla Jeroff, Yang Jinsong, Yang Xifa, Zhang Jin and Jin Sha.

The MCA's collection hang is where you go to get an overview of Australian contemporary art – and it's less daunting than it sounds. The last time they curated the hang was in 2012 (MCA Collection: Volume One), for the launch of the re-designed building, so there are a whola lotta new eye-candies to wrap your brain around.  Although several works in the first room of the exhibition do take 'time' as their theme (including Stuart Ringholt's giant clock) curator Natasha Bullock, who masterminded the new hang, says the theme is more broadly connected to the ways in which the works in the show connected to histories of different kinds.  Bullock deliberately messed with the Western linear notion of time in the exhibition's title, and explains that the indigenous concept of time would be better visualised in a circular pattern, in which present, future and past are connected. Artists in Today Tomorrow Yesterday include: Vernon Ah Kee, James Angus, Barbara Cleveland Institute (formerly Brown Council), John Barbour, Gordon Bennett, Daniel Boyd, Pat Brassington, Bob Burruwal, A.D.S Donaldson, Mikala Dwyer, Dale Frank, Marco Fusinato, Matthys Gerber, Kevin Gilbert, Julia Gorman, Fiona Hall, Robert Hunter, Robert MacPherson, Sanné Mestrom, Frank Malkorda, Linda Marrinon, Elizabeth Mipilanggurr, Callum Morton, Barayuwa Munungur, John Nixon, Kerrie Poliness, Stuart Ringholt, Joan Ross, Super Critical Mass, Gareth Sansom, Sally Smart, Ricky Swallow, Kathy Temin, Imants Tillers, Tjanpi D

Carriageworks has been home to its fair share of large-scale artworks in recent years, including Nick Cave's monumental 'Until' and Daniel Buren's playground of oversized kids' toys. But Rebecca Baumann's 'Radiant Flux' reaches even further, turning the Redfern arts wonderland into a giant kaleidoscope of colour. For the installation, she's covered every glass surface of the main Carriageworks foyer – including the skylights – in dichroic film, a material that reflects and refracts light in a range of different colours, which evolve as the viewer moves and the light changes. Altogether, there's be more than 100 metres of glass wrapped with the film. 'Radiant Flux' will be open from January 8 until June 14. It's one of four major artworks commissioned by Carriageworks opening for Sydney Festival, transforming the galleries and performance spaces, each of them engaging with the architecture or history of the site.

For two weeks every spring, hordes of Sydneysiders head to the beach for the annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition, which covers two kilometres of the city's most exquisite coastline, from Bondi to Tamarama. But the crowds can be pretty intense, and even if you're willing to brave them, most Sydneysiders are pretty busy – two weeks isn't really long enough for us to catch anything. For almost nine months, Casula Parklands is playing host to a new sculpture walk, featuring eight works from Sculpture by the Sea. Visitors will be able to follow the sculptures along the banks of the Georges River, starting at Casula Powerhouse. One of the key works you'll encounter on the walk is Southern Highlands sculptor David Ball's 'Celest', which stood proud on Tamarama Beach at this year's Sculpture by the Sea. The imposing corten steel sculpture will be installed in Casula for the duration of the sculpture walk.

In Pijin, the language spoken on the Solomon Islands, “wansolwara” translates loosely to “one ocean, one people”, explaining what draws the region together. So it’s an appropriate title for this ambitious exhibition project about the Pacific, which takes place at both UNSW Galleries and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Across video, installation, performance, and a range of other projects, a group of more than 20 artists are exploring the rich visual culture of the region. The artists involved include Sebastián Calfuqueo Aliste, Mitiana Arbon, asinnajaq, Mariquita ‘Micki’ Davis, Sarah Biscarra Dilley, Winnie Dunn, Léuli Eshraghi, Terry Faleono, Ruha Fifita, Troppo Galaktika, Amrita Hepi, Rebecca Ann Hobbs, Shivanjani Lal, Enoch Mailangi, Caroline Monnet, Faye Mullen, Paula Schaafhausen, Talia Smith, Shannon Te Ao, Angela Tiatia, Vaimaila Urale and Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu.