Queer Contemporary 15 February – 2 March

Queer Contemporary 15 February – 2 March

Please see below for the opening hours of the exhibitions: Queer as Folk Lore, Refracted Lives and Other(ed) Bodies. 

The National Art School’s iconic site is a part of the queer past and the queer future, from the infamous Wall to the huge success of the Museum of Love and Protest in 2018 and now the presentation of Queer Contemporary – The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Visual Arts Program. Queer Contemporary includes exhibitions, conversations, workshops, kids and family activities and the boutique Moonlite pop up bar named in honour of a former inmate – Bush Ranger Captain Moonlite and his lover James Nesbitt.

EXHIBITIONS:

Queer as Folk Lore: art works from the collections of Dr Dick Quan of Holdsworth House Medical Practice

LOCATION: Rayner Hoff Project Space
EXHIBITION DATES: 15 February – 2 March 2019
OPENING NIGHT:  Friday 15 February from 6pm

Queer as Folk Lore explores an expanded idea of queerness beyond the parameters of sexuality and champions queerness as an alternative worldview. Featuring the work of queer and non-queer artists, the exhibition questions traditional hierarchies of value and re-imagines typical modes of collecting and display. All drawn from the private collection of Dr Dick Quan, the works in Queer as Folk Lore reveal a unique perspective of contemporary culture.

Artists: 

Adel Abdessemed, Abdul Abdullah, Tony Albert, AES+F, Del Kathryn Barton, Nick Cave, Jake and Dinos Chapman X Louis Vuitton, Juan Davila, Christine Dean, Elmgreen & Dragset, David Griggs, Uji Handoko Eko Saputro (aka Hahan), Deborah Kelly, Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama X Louis Vuitton, Fiona Lowry, Tracey Moffatt, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Eko Nugroho, João Penalva, Sterling Ruby X Raf Simons, Phil Soliman, Dr. Christian Thompson AO, Kehinde Wiley.

Opening Hours:

Thursday 21 February: 11am-10pm
Friday 22 February: 111am-10pm
Saturday 23 February: 11am-5pm
Thursday 28 February: 11am-10pm
Friday 1 March: 11am-10pm
Saturday 2 March: 11am-5pm

AES+F Collector's Print from Allegoria Sacra

Refracted Lives

LOCATION: Building 11 Seminar Room
EXHIBITION DATES: 15 February – 2 March 2019
OPENING NIGHT:  Friday 15 February from 6pm

Refracted Lives is the inaugural exhibition of the finalists of the InsideOut Art Prize – India’s first national competition for LGBTQ artists. Just as light is refracted, so the lives of LGBTQ people bend to the rules of society and the expectations of family and friends. Often, we respond to the forces of religion, family, and the law by bending or subjugating our own needs, desires, and goals. We may appear to be what we are not, or even become what we do not want to be. Curator Stevie Clayton OAM.

Artists:

Aamir Rabbani, Anon Mumbai, Anwesh Sahoo, Adil Kalim, Aditya Raj, Apurv Yadav, Arjun Singh, Baishali Chetia, Dimple Chaudhary, Ashish Verma, Eeshaan Kashyap, Avneesh Kumar, Nishant Khoiya, Geeta Sharma,  Hiyaichenba Pangambam,

Nishant Mishra, Prateek Draik, Khup S Hangsing, Saba Tarannum, Raj Veer, Saanjh, Pulkit Mogha, Renu Dhiman, Priya Dali, Valay Gada, Sumit Mehndiratta, Tarun Soni, Satadru Sovan Banduri, Sahil Singh, Suvajit Mandal, Sawan Kumar and Vrinda Singh

Opening Hours:

Thursday 21 February: 11am-10pm
Friday 22 February: 111am-10pm
Saturday 23 February: 11am-5pm
Thursday 28 February: 11am-10pm
Friday 1 March: 11am-10pm
Saturday 2 March: 11am-5pm

Other(ed) Bodies

LOCATION: Library Stairwell Gallery
EXHIBITION DATES: 11 –  28 February 2019
OPENING NIGHT:  Friday 15 February from 6pm

The focus of the exhibition is the Queer body. The work is a response to a relationship with the body. This could be a personal relationship and/or a broader relationship including how the body relates to others, and how the body positions the individual in relation to society.

Curators: Anoushka J. Solomon and Fergus Berney-Gibson
Artists: Shani Gosh, Kaitlin Allanah, James Edwards, Daniel Hull, Allie Weichert Robertson, Isaac Spigelman, Fergus Berney-Gibson and Anoushka J. Solomon.

Opening Hours:

Monday 11 February: 10am-4pm
Tuesday 12 February: 11am-5pm
Wednesday 13 February: 10am-4pm
Thursday 14 February: 10am-4pm
Friday 15 February: 10am-4pm
Monday 18 February: 10am-4pm
Tuesday 19 February: 10am-4pm
Wednesday 20 February: 10am-4pm
Thursday 21 February: 10am-4pm
Friday 22 February: 10am-4pm
Monday 25 February: 10am-4pm
Tuesday 26 February: 10am-4pm
Wednesday 27 February: 10am-4pm
Thursday 28 February: 10am-4pm

EVENTS

MOONLITE BAR

A pop up bar named in honour of an infamous  inmate of the former Darlinghurst Gaol (now the National Art School) Bushranger Captain Moonlite and his lover James Nesbitt

LOCATION: adjacent Building 11 – enter via door in the Wall on Darlinghurst Road
DATES AND PROGRAM: 

Thursday 21 February: 5-10pm
Friday 22 February: 5-10pm DJ Arron Manhattan 
Thursday 28 February: 5 -10pm
Friday 1 March: 5 -10pm DJ Del Lumanta

Moonlite Tour

LOCATION: Begins in the Rayner Hoff Project Space
DATE: Friday 1 March, 6pm
TICKETS: $15pp Available here

Join NAS Alumnus and artist Todd Fuller on an unforgettable tour that explores the relationship between the notorious prisoner Captain Moonlite and his lover James Nesbitt. On this tour of the National Art School, attendees will be given unparalleled access to the historic gaol and artefacts rarely seen by the public. Come to encounter a new found history beyond the stone walls that reveals an untold story of intimacy, imprisonment, love, and ultimately loss.

FACE PAINTING!

LOCATION: National Art School
DATE: Saturday 2 March, from 3pm
FREE! 

Prepare yourself for a fabulous and love-filled Mardi Gras parade at the National Art School! Let our artists doll you up with all kinds of glittery goodness to strut your stuff down Oxford Street. Get ready with your friends and family as you celebrate outon the town – we will have you freshly painted and flawless in no time!

TALKS

Queer as Folklore – Artist Talks 
Join artists from Queer as Folklore for an insight into their practices.

LOCATION: Rayner Hoff Project Space
DATE: Thursday 21 February, 6.30pm, FREE

 

Queer Collecting | Collecting Queer
Join us for a conversation with Guest Curator of Queer as Folk Lore Dr Dick Quan
LOCATION:
 Rayner Hoff Project Space
DATE: Thursday 28 February, 6.30pm, FREE

WORKSHOPS 

Costume jewellery workshop for young people and families

LOCATION: National Art School
DATE: Saturday 16 February 10am–12.30pm and 1.30–4pm
TICKETS: $40pp Available here

Inspired by the upcoming Sydney Mardi Gras Festival, spend the morning creating accessories to bring some colour and glam to your wardrobe!

 

CONSTRUCTED COLLAGES (for High School students)

LOCATION: National Art School
DATE: Saturday 2 March 10am–3pm
TICKETS: $80pp Available here

As part of the 2019 Sydney Design Festival, learn how to repurpose images from discarded magazines and books to create new artworks and narratives. This collage workshop seeks to build your understanding of how and why images and artworks are made. By exploring shape, colour, repetition, text and line in artworks, learn how to construct, deconstruct and analyse the elements that make images interesting, unique and effective. This program is designed for students who are interested in learning how to think creatively about composition in artworks to produce a small series of images or books in the process.

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Art Club is our high school student program for 15-17 year olds, designed to enhance and extend students’ technical, conceptual, and intellectual skills, through intensive practical study in the disciplines offered at NAS as well as engaging in an experience of our studios and campus, under the expert direction of experienced artists.

Set your child on a creative path with Art Club. 

Learn more at the link in bio.
Thank you to everyone who attended the opening night of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize and congratulations again to the prize winner NAS alumna Rosemary Lee.

The 24th Dobell Drawing Prize is now open until Saturday 21 June 2025
11am – 5pm Monday to Saturday 
NAS Gallery 
Free admission, all welcome

Learn more about the exhibition at the link in bio.
We are delighted to announce NAS alumna Rosemary Lee as the winner of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, Australia’s leading prize for drawing, worth $30,000.

Selected from 56 nationwide finalists, and 965 entries, Rosemary’s work will become part of the National Art School’s significant collection, built over the past 120 years. Rosemary, in her winning work 24-1 (2024), observes tonal and compositional profundity in everyday life.

The judging panel comprising acclaimed First Nations artist Vernon Ah Kee, Paula Latos-Valier AM, Trustee and Art Director of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, and Dr Yolunda Hickman, Head of Postgraduate Studies, National Art School, commented of Rosemary’s work: “The decision to award the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize to Rosemary Lee for the work ‘24-1’ was unanimous. We were most impressed by the level of visual intensity the artist has achieved in this work both through its vibrant colour and in the extraordinary detail of the composition. The artwork’s exploration of the urban landscape and gentrification of the Sydney suburbs of Ashfield and Summer Hill, has produced an image capturing a broader sense of transience and the omnipresence of construction sites in our cities today. It questions the cultural and historical value of place, through the lens of the artist’s personal connection.” 

See Lee’s work alongside the work of the other finalists in the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, 11 April – 21 June 2025, NAS Gallery
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Left to right: NAS Director and CEO, Dr Kristen Sharp with artist Rosemary Lee, featuring winning artwork 24–1, 2024, pencil on paper, image courtesy the artist and National Art School Gallery © the artist, photograph: Peter Morgan
Introducing the National Art School Short Courses Program from July–December 2025

Whether you’re a beginner, rediscovering a past passion, refining your skills, or considering our Fine Arts degree, the short courses offer a stimulating and rewarding experience for all levels.

Our 2025 program begins in July with Winter School, followed by Term Three, Spring Weekend Workshops in September, and Term Four in October.

Learn more and enrol at the link in bio.
Making Sound is a performance event featuring four artists who make devices that make sound, including Gary Warner, Pia van Gelder, Ben Denham and Sean O’Connell, presented following Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025, Saturday 12 April 5-6pm. 

Gary Warner creates an improvised soundfield with his ‘aleatoric ensemble’ autonomous sound machines, a collection of modified turntables that spin ad-hoc bric-a-brac assemblages.

Pia van Gelder (pictured) amplifies an electronic circuit as it is built in real-time. Under the moniker of “PvG sans PCB,” in these performances, van Gelder works on a breadboard with electronic components and additional found objects to demonstrate the electronic variabilities produced in the material world.

Ben Denham and Sean O’Connell perform together with handmade synthesizer systems that sense and sonify barometric pressure and the flow of electrons through matter.

Purchase your tickets to the symposium at the link in bio.
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Pia van Gelder, 'sans PCB', 2021, performance, Collings Creative, image courtesy and © the artist
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