Art doesn’t always have to be about dead old white dudes from centuries ago. I mean, we love Michelangelo’s sublime Sistine Chapel, Van Gogh’s gorgeously glowing ‘Sunflowers’ and drifting into a daze with Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’, but here at Time Out towers, there are few scenarios that excite us more than the exhilarating shock of the new.
Nowhere is the MCA’s dedicated focus on the exciting artists of today made clearer than their annual Primavera showcase, which platforms up-and-comers 35 years and under. The longest-running contemporary art exhibition in Australia is the brainchild of philanthropists Cynthia and Ted Jackson, who wanted to honour the memory of their gifted jeweller daughter Belinda. Spring was her favourite time of year, hence the show borrowing the Italian term for the season that sees Sydney showered in petals from blossoming Jacarandas.
This year’s flourishing artists include local fast-rising star Julia Gutman, who breathes new life into found textiles from op shops, mates’ donations, and literally discovered scattered on the streets, to create tapestries thrumming with modern life, with a particular focus on femininity. We loved her recent work ‘Once More, With Feeling’, depicting her and her housemates lounging on a sofa, watching the classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode during lockdown.
Townsville-born, Melbourne-based artist Amrita Hepi is a gifted dancer who has twice taken home the People’s Choice Award during the Keir Choreographic Competition. She uses her exciting physical language to create cool video works that have displayed from Hong Kong to Berlin, and are just as likely to pop up in the Sydney Opera House as they are in a club.
Canberra-born, Sydney-based choreographer Angela Goh also brings dance into gallery space, performing in places like the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the National Gallery of Victoria, expanding the idea of what these halls are for. You can currently see her in motion, projected on the sails of the Opera House in Light Years, part of their 50th anniversary celebration.
Yindjibarndi woman Katie West, based on Whadjuk Noongar Country, Boorloo (Perth) uses found materials and self-dyed textiles using plant materials to create both installations, and performance art happenings that are all about connecting her practice to place and through swirling soundscapes.
Sundari Carmody deals in the seen and unseen. Born on Bundjalung Country, Murwillumbah, NSW, raised in Bali and now calling Kaurna Country (Adelaide) home, she works with tangible materials like brass and more ephemeral experiences like scent, or light caught in mist, to create sculptural works that also hint at worlds just beyond our perception.
Sydney enjoys a proud history of spoken word performance that has been immeasurably enriched by the contributions of Wiradjuri poet and artist Jazz Money. Honouring thousands of years’ worth of storytelling on sovereign Gadigal land, Money draws in elements of film and print work to her decolonising installations.
Primavera 2022’s guest curator is Micheal Do, who currently works across the contemporary art collection at the Opera House and on projects for the Auckland Art Fair in New Zealand. Do is also an exhibiting artist, with work inclduing the recent inflatable sculpture show Soft Core at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre.
Challenging what we expect from art and who gets to present it, MCA’s Primavera is one of the hottest tickets of the year. And better yet, it’s free.
