1. Exterior view of Art Gallery of NSW - Naala Badu (L) and Naala Nura (R)
    Photograph: AGNSW/Iwan Baan
  2. Aerial view of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ new SANAA - designed building,
    Photograph: AGNSW/Iwan Baan
  3. Art Gallery of New South Wales 2017 exterior daylight August feat Archibald Prize banners (C) AGNSW photographer credit Felicity Jenkins
    Photograph: Felicity Jenkins | Art Gallery of New South Wales
  4. Installation view of Lisa Reihana GROUNDLOOP 2022
    Photograph: AGNSW/Jenni Carter; installation view of Lisa Reihana's 'GROUNDLOOP' 2022
  5. Yayoi Kusama Flowers that Bloom in the Cosmos 2022
    Photograph: AGNSW/Zan Wimberley; Yayoi Kusama's 'Flowers that Bloom in the Cosmos' 2022
  6. Installation view of Adri á n Villar Rojas The End of Imagination 2022 in the Tank gallery
    Photograph: AGNSW/Jörg Baumann; Installation view of Adrián Villar Rojas' 'The End of Imagination' 2022
  7. Volume Festival at AGNSW
    Photograph: AGNSW/Daniel Boud | Sonya Holowell performs in The Tank during Volume 2023
  8. Sampa the Great performing at Volume Festival 2023 - AGNSW
    Photograph: AGNSW/Daniel Boud | Sampa the Great performing at Volume Festival 2023

Art Gallery of NSW

Comprised of two state-of-the-art buildings, the city's most significant art gallery is full of surprises
  • Art
  • Sydney
Alannah Sue
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Time Out says

Overlooking the Domain parklands and established in 1871, the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) is the state's leading museum of art, as well as one of Australia's foremost cultural institutions. The gallery incorporates two expansive buildings – the original sandstone structure to the south, and the sleek new modern building to the north.

Visited by more than one million people every year, it holds significant collections of Australian, European and Asian art, and regularly hosts blockbuster exhibitions featuring famous artists. AGNSW is the home of popular exhibitions like Australia's favourite portrait prize, The Archibald Prize, and also hosts parties and festivals throughout the year, including experimental music fest Volume.

What are the Art Gallery of NSW buildings called?

In April 2024, the Art Gallery announced new names for both buildings, drawn from the local Aboriginal language. The newer North Building has been given the Aboriginal name Naala Badu, which translates to "seeing waters" in the Sydney language, and the old South Building has been given the name Naala Nura, which means "seeing Country". 

The Art Gallery engaged extensively with key Aboriginal stakeholders and communities about receiving Aboriginal names for its buildings. "Naala Badu" references both the adjacent waters of Sydney Harbour and those that have always sustained communities throughout the state. Meanwhile, "Naala Nura" acknowledges both Indigenous Country in general and the golden sandstone of the Art Gallery’s original building, hewn from local Country. 

What is the Sydney Modern Project?

In December 2022, AGNSW officially opened the Sydney Modern Project, the centerpiece being the expansive new North Building, which resides right next to the original South Building. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA, the extension has been touted as the most significant cultural development to be established in the Harbour City since the Sydney Opera House, and was awarded Museum Opening of the Year by international art publication Apollo.

You can't fully comprehend the scale of this sleek new gallery until you descend down from the ground floor entrance, through the three limestone-clad art pavilions that gently step down towards the harbour, and wander out onto the 3,400-plus square metres of accessible roof ‘art terraces’ and courtyards. Around every corner, new spaces emerge, and reveal with them entirely new styles and arrangements of art. Four floors below ground you'll discover the coolest space in town: The Tank, a repurposed former Second World War fuel bunker, all 2,200-square-metres of which now host art installations, performances and gigs.

Rather than obstructing the sweeping views of the city, the architecture of the new building embraces the scenery. Sheer glass-panelled walls, a Wonka-esque glass elevator, and layers of escalators with glass railings all work to showcase the landscape as an artwork in its own right. Natural light plays a big role, and on a particularly sunny day the rays stream through those clear walls and the ripped cover to the entrance foyer to light up the indoor and outdoor artworks better than any specially rigged electric lights. 

Plan your visit | How to get to the Art Gallery of NSW 

The Gallery is open every day (except for Christmas Day and Easter Friday) from 10am to 5pm. On Wednesday nights it stays open late, and you've got until 10pm to explore. Most exhibitions are free to roam, and some blockbuster shows require a ticket.

Public transport: If you're catching the train, St James and Martin Place stations are both about ten-minutes' walk from the Gallery. Bus 441 departs from the York Street side of the Queen Victoria Building (Stand D) and drops off near the Art Gallery. There is also a drop-off and pick-up zone for cars on Art Gallery Road near the front of the Art Gallery.

Parking: You can find metered parking on Mrs Macquaries Road and other streets around the Art Gallery, and there are also several car parks nearby. The closest are the Domain Car Park and The Wharf, Woolloomooloo Car Park, both of which can be booked in advance online.

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Want more? Check out the best art galleries in Sydney.

Details

Address
Art Gallery Road, The Domain
Sydney
2000
Price:
Free entry (some exhibitions are ticketed)
Opening hours:
Daily 10am-5pm + Weds until 10pm. Closed Christmas Day and Good Friday.

What’s on

Mike Hewson: The Key’s Under the Mat

If you've ever wondered what would happen if a kid's drawing of their wildest dream utopia suddenly came off the page and into real life, you're in luck, because that's pretty much what's happening right now beneath the Art Gallery of NSW.  Artist and professional disruptor Mike Hewson has taken over the weird subterranean world of The Tank with his one-of-a-kind new exhibition, Mike Hewson: The Key's Under the Mat, where for the first time ever, all the main lights in the normally pitch-dark Tank will be switched on, revealing a weird wonderland of interactive art pieces and play equipment that have to be seen to be believed. We're talking: A steam room with stained glass windows that you can actually sit in, a functioning sauna with bespoke church pews, five actual operating public barbeques that you can cook on, rushing water to play in (seriously, bring your swimmers), a working laundry,  and a free-to-use recording studio, plus a whole plethora of bright and delightful surprises that are all about getting community together, to do cool stuff, for free. Basically, break your imagination and delete all adult expectations. This is unlike anything we've ever seen.  Kids who aren't afraid of some risk are also one of Hewson's big targets with this show (although parents, rest easy, the floor is specially made out of recycled soft rubber that's rated for use in public playgrounds), with the space also home to a wild children's playground. Intrepid kidlets can test their...
  • Exhibitions

Art After Hours

Every Wednesday evening, the Art Gallery of NSW welcomes you into its hallowed halls and throws the ultimate in absolutely free mid-week social and cultural events. Until 10pm, Art After Hours offers a regular program of live music, lectures and celebrity talks, drawing workshops, film screenings, gallery tours and other events – and, of course, nocturnal access to its latest exhibitions.  The program is usually themed around the exhibitions currently showing at the gallery, and you can join guided tours around the gallery at 5.30pm – it's free and no booking is required. Plus, a free courtesy bus runs every 20 minutes from 7pm until closing from the gallery to various city locations that are all close to public transport – so, no matter where you need to go, they have you covered.  Head to Art After Hours to jazz up your Wednesday night, and to inject a liberal splash of arty delight into your week, and your life.  Want more high culture? Check out our list of the best art exhibitions on across Sydney right now.
  • Paintings
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