Fiona Lowry

Fiona Lowry

For our second work to be presented in the evolving online exhibition On Stillness with Newcastle Art Gallery, we have chosen NAS alumna Fiona Lowry’s ‘Gliding over all’. Lowry is known for her sensual and dreamy renderings of people and place, and for her contemporary approach to life-sized figure painting.

The title of Lowry’s work is taken from Walt Whitman’s poem Gliding O’er All, from Leaves of Grass (1855). A naked figure is either floating or falling in water or space. Lowry references the Pre-Raphaelite figure of Ophelia but instead of placing her horizontally, she subverts Ophelia’s sense of repose by placing her on a vertical axis, thus creating a sense of an awakening. We are also reminded of Christ on the cross – with arms held up and with a body hanging stiff and straight with closed eyes. This has a disquieting effect – the painting is full of vulnerability, suspense, gothic haze and romance.

‘Gliding o’er all, through all, through Nature, Time, and Space’. The figure is perfectly still, she rests in silence, suspended in a brief moment of time.

Image: Fiona Lowry, Gliding over all, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 183 x 123 cm, National Art School Collection, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Alex Orellana, 2018 © the artist

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Thank you to everyone who attended the opening night of ‘Queer Contemporary: Chaosophy’ 
‘Chaosophy’ is now open until Saturday 8 March
11am – 5pm Monday to Saturday
Building 25 Project Space
Free admission, all welcome 
Learn more about the exhibition at the link in bio.
NAS Library is proud to launch their 2025 Library Stairwell Gallery programming with this years LSG show for Queer Contemporary, ‘Subtexts’, opening this Thursday 13 February.  ‘Subtexts’ unites four artists whose work demonstrates the complexities of queer identity, each considering their own personal relationship with queerness. The show offers alternative narratives and styles that challenge notions of queer uniformity, opting to explore the undertones and implications of queerness as a dislocated front.  ‘Subtexts’ asks of the ambiguous term; Are we united by virtue of our difference, or rather the unique positions it presents us?  Featuring works by
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We’re looking for an Exhibitions Project Officer!  The role has a focus on major Indigenous exhibition projects currently in development for the National Art School as well as touring programs. The role assists with the delivery and coordination of Gallery programs, talks, and other events in the gallery spaces.  You have a background in visual art, art history, curatorship and gallery experience. You have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, along with strong organisational and project management experience.  Note this is an Identified Role and is open to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants only, in accordance with Section 14(D) of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act, 1977 NSW.  Application deadline extended to Sunday 9 February.  Apply at the link in bio.
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Ronan Pirozzi, 'Serpentine', 2023; 'Trajectory', 2023; 'Desolate', 2023; installation view, undo the day, NAS Gallery, Sydney, 2024, oil on welded steel, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Zan Wimberley
The National Art School has today announced respected Australian academic, writer and curator Dr Kristen Sharp as the next Director and Chief Executive Officer.  Kristen joins the National Art School with extensive experience in the fields of contemporary art and tertiary education having spent six years as Associate Dean Discipline, Art in the School of Art at RMIT University, and previously 9 years as Academic Lead Art History and Theory at RMIT. She will commence her new role at the National Art School on 24th February 2025.  Read the full media release at the link in bio.
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