Things are a little up in the air right now, but appreciating art outdoors remains a safe bet. Which is why we’ve been loving Sydney’s first open-air art fair for emerging artists, which has popped up in Martin Place this week. Unlike most galleries or museums, I Came to See is open 24/7. You can pop along, check out cool work and then scan a QR code on any piece that takes your fancy and buy it online right there and then.
Supported by City of Sydney and Transport for NSW, the exhibition acknowledges the significant role art and creativity has played in keeping us all sane during the wild ride of the last year. It’s also all about re-energising the CBD, which lay dormant for so long. While May 7 is the last day to check out the Martin Place contingent – including artists like Amelia Skelton, Emma Rani and Zane Edwards – if you don't have time to visit, you have not missed out.
The next wave will take over Customs House Square from May 8-18. Emerging curator Sebastian Henry-Jones has overseen this second pop-up outdoor gallery, fielding the likes of Bryan Foong, Sofiyah Ruqayah and Yiorgo Yiannopoulos, artists who revel in textural, intimate detail.
“Our understanding of a place reflects the distances through which we experience it,” he says. “The exhibition hopes to evoke such a quietness in those that pass through it, as a means to extend our understanding of intimacy beyond romantic partnership, close friends and family. At a time when we have experienced an unnatural distance from each another, it is pertinent to ask what is natural. There are entire territories of human experience yet to be set in motion by such an understanding of intimacy, that might bring surprising and significant meaning to our lives.”
And last but not least, Barangaroo will take up the baton, hosting the final crop of I Came to See creatives at Exchange Square from May 19-30, with details yet to be released. You can find out more by jumping in the site here.
