Wednesday 2 June
1–2pm
Cell Block Theatre 

Richard Bell (b. 1953) lives and works in Brisbane, Australia. He works across a variety of media including painting, installation, performance and video. One of Australia’s most significant artists, Bell’s work explores the complex artistic and political problems of Western, colonial and Indigenous art production. He grew out of a generation of Aboriginal activists and has remained committed to the politics of Aboriginal emancipation and self-determination. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Telstra National Aboriginal Art Award, establishing him as an important Australian artistic figure. Bell is represented in most major National and State collections and has exhibited in a number of solo exhibitions at important institutions in Australia and America.

Bell has been a finalist in the Archibald Prize, included in group and solo exhibitions at the National Gallery of Canada, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Performa 15 (New York City), the 16th Jakarta Biennale, 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, (Brisbane), Stedelijk Museum SMBA, Amsterdam, the 20th Biennale of Sydney and the Dutch Art Institute in Arnhem, Netherlands.

In 2017, Bell exhibited in The National: New Australian Art, a comprehensive survey of contemporary Australian art presented by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Carriageworks, Sydney. In 2018, he presented his solo exhibition Dredging up the Past at Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne. In 2019, Bell took his Embassy project to the Venice Biennale as a collateral event and presented work at Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea Milan. In 2021 Bell has a major solo exhibition at the MCA Sydney. In 2022 Bell will be presenting Embassy at the Tate Modern.

Image: Richard Bell, Bell’s Theorem, 2002, synthetic polymer paint on canvas boards, 173 x 127cm. Courtesy of the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane.

Wednesday 9 June
1–2pm
Cell Block Theatre 

Shireen Taweel is a multimedia installation artist whose work broaches issues of the construction of cultural heritage, knowledge and identity through language and the constantly shifting public space of the social, political and religious axiom. Her artistic practice draws from the personal experiences of being Lebanese Australian living between cultures, and how the physical spaces within her community reflect a complex cultural landscape of transformation expressed through hybridity and plurality. The project development of Shireen’s works are often site-specific, weaving local narratives and research with a focus on experimentation in material and sound through site.

Shireen’s constant acquisition of traditional coppersmith artisan skills is a research vessel for community focused conceptual development. Through a progressive application of the collected artisan techniques and a manipulation of the acts of making her works lead to possibilities of cross-cultural discourse, opening dialogues of shared histories and fluid community identities. Her recent solo shows include Holding Patterns at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, 2020 and Switching Codes at Fairfield City Museum and Gallery, 2020.

Image: Courtesy the artist

John Olsen: Goya’s Dog Artists x Artists
NAS Gallery
$10 + booking fee | Limited spaces available

BOOK HERE

Drawing on the central importance of critical dialogue, friendship and inspiration shared between fellow artists our John Olsen: Goya’s Dog Artists x Artists talk series brings leading Australian artists into the NAS Gallery to talk about their interpretations, experiences and interactions with the work of Dr John Olsen AO OBE.

Each speaker presents a very different perspective on, and has a different relationship with, Dr John Olsen AO OBE and his work making for an exciting and varied program.

Steven Alderton x John Olsen 

Steven Alderton is the curator of the John Olsen: Goya’s Dog exhibition, an exhibition born out of an ongoing conversation and correspondence between the late William ‘Bill’ Wright and John Olsen. Steven is currently the Director and CEO of the National Art School with over 25 years’ experience in the visual arts and education as an artist, curator and director.

Steven Alderton has curated exhibitions by Ricky Swallow, Patricia Piccinini, Ian Fairweather, Margaret Olley, Nicholas Harding, Janet Laurence and Tracey Moffatt. Previous roles include curator and gallery director roles with many regional art galleries, including Director of Programs, Exhibitions and Cultural Collections at the Australian Museum; Director Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre; Director Lismore Regional Gallery; Manager Bundaberg Arts Centre; Director Redland Art Gallery; Curator Wagga Wagga City Art Gallery and Events Manager at the Institute of Modern Art. Steven established an artist run initiative and artist studios just after leaving Art College and is committed to developing and fostering emerging artists and sustaining mid to late career artists’ practice. Steven was recently a finalist in the 2021 Glover Prize for contemporary landscape painting of Tasmania.

Image: John Olsen, Reflections on Goya’s dog I, 2021, acrylic on Belgian linen, 140 x 150 cm, collection of the artist. Courtesy of Olsen Gallery

Wednesday 16 June
1–2pm
Cell Block Theatre 

Justine Youssef’s practice is site-responsive, interested in what is warped through displacement, and focuses on moments and places that reconfigure authoritative realities. They are currently based across Dharug and Gadigal lands and are an artist in residence at the Parramatta Artist Studios.

Youssef holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from the National Art School, Sydney, Australia. They were awarded The Copyright Agency’s John Fries Award in 2019 for their work ‘Under the table I learn how to feed you’ and held their first solo exhibition ‘All Blessings, All Curses’ at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney, in 2018. They have participated in group exhibitions at UNSW Galleries, Sydney; Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney; Salamanca Arts Center, Hobart; and ReadingRoom, Melbourne. Their scent-based work has been performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney; Airspace Projects, Sydney; and Blindside Gallery, Melbourne.

Image: Justine Youssef, Lovesick Puppy, 2021, single channel video for Utp’s Dream Sequence

John Olsen: Goya’s Dog Artists x Artists
NAS Gallery
$10 + booking fee | Limited spaces available

BOOK HERE

Drawing on the central importance of critical dialogue, friendship and inspiration shared between fellow artists our John Olsen: Goya’s Dog Artists x Artists talk series brings leading Australian artists into the NAS Gallery to talk about their interpretations, experiences and interactions with the work of Dr John Olsen AO OBE.

Each speaker presents a very different perspective on, and has a different relationship with, Dr John Olsen AO OBE and his work making for an exciting and varied program.

Janet Lawrence x John Olsen

Janet Laurence is a leading Sydney-based artist who exhibits nationally and internationally. Her practice examines our physical, cultural and conflicted relationship with the natural world. Working across painting, sculpture, installation, photography and video she creates immersive environments that navigate the interconnections between organic elements and systems of nature. Within the recognised threat of climate change, she explores what it might mean to heal the natural environment, fusing this with a sense of communal loss and searching for connection with powerful life forces.

Her work is included in museum, university, corporate and private collections as well as within architectural and landscaped public places. In 2019 she had a major solo survey exhibition at the MCA and in 2020 at the Yu Hsui Museum of Art in Taiwan. She is the 2021 Recipient of the Antarctic Fellowship awaiting her residency there.

Image: John Olsen, Spanish encounter, 1960, oil on hardboard (triptych), 183 x 366 cm, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Purchased 1960