Presence: Drawing Symposium 2021
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In this time of forced introversion and on-line communication, The National Centre for Drawing’s 2021 Drawing symposium delves into the question of what Drawing is and does now, how it connects us to the present and makes us present in the world.
Eight very different artists from all over the world will talk to you and each other about the role of drawing in their practice and the drawings that inspire them.
Hosted in the National Art School’s historic Cell Block Theatre, you are invited to attend either online or in person. If you are not in Sydney there will be online options for you to join the conversation.
Speakers
Gerry Davies (UK), Maria Kontis (VIC), Anita Fricek (Austria), Margaret Roberts (NSW), Peter Bonner (USA), Aida Tomescu (NSW), James Nguyen (VIC), Lucienne Rickard (TAS)
Background
We hope that the unusual events of 2020 will enable us to link more closely with artists across the globe and in this context, which generates a strange disjunction between physical presence and on-line connection, the symposium will consider what drawing has to offer the simple idea of being present.
Drawing is powerfully and particularly about presence. The symposium will consider ways that drawing can conjure, evoke, embody and restore this quality of actualisation in both material and non-material, real and virtual modes of being. Emerging from an increasing need to occupy digital environments, the symposium encourages conversations about what this means in the context of drawing.
Presence refers to the state of existence, while also suggesting what is not visible, but rather sensed. The symposium invites discussion on the various ways drawing can elicit presence; from the graphic mark as record/trace to durational, performative and spatial manifestations.
Given the theme and the climate, the symposium will navigate physical and on-line participation.
National Centre for Drawing
The National Centre for Drawing at the National Art School promotes and nurtures practice, research and scholarship in drawing in all of its manifestations. Positioned at the core of an educational institution and cultural precinct, it enables a range of audiences to engage more deeply with drawing. Through the practice of drawing, curatorial projects, exhibitions, publications, conferences, lectures and other special events, it nurtures a curiosity around drawing that is grounded in precedent but extends towards the unknown.
Program
9.30–9.45am
Introduction
9.45–10.45am
Anita Fricek and Margaret Roberts
10.45–11am
Questions
11–11.30am
Morning Tea
11.30am–12.30pm
Gerald Davies and Maria Kontis
12.30–12.45pm
Questions
12.45–1.30pm
Lunch
1.30–2.30pm
Peter Bonner and Aida Tomescu
2.30–2.45pm
Questions
2.45–3.15pm
Break
3.15–4.15pm
James Nguyen and Lucienne Rickard
4.15–4.30pm
Questions
4.30–4.45pm
Final remarks and close
4.45pm
Closing drinks
Now open in Building 25 Project Space — Liz Bradshaw `I didn`t expect to live this long`.
For this year`s Queer Contemporary, NAS alum Liz Bradshaw presents an exhibition of large-scale sculpture and installation works that offer a personal and political queering of time, space, materiality, and ideas. Integrating new works alongside a fragment of an artwork created at NAS in the 1990s, the installation folds together the artist`s personal experiences with the complex histories of the school`s site and the broader Darlinghurst area, which served as an epicentre of Australian queer history.
On view until 7 March. Monday to Saturday, 11am–5pm.
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Installation view: Zan Wimberley
Feb 13
Students: spaces are still available in Drawing Week 2026 workshops!
These free 4-day workshops run the week before classes commence and are exclusively for students entering their 2nd and 3rd year of the BFA at NAS.
Select from one of 12 distinct focus areas and start the year with a full immersion in the process of making, looking at and thinking about drawing.
Learn more 🔗 in bio.
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Photos: Peter Morgan
Feb 10
Featured in the @sydneymorningherald`s Spectrum — SEARCHERS: Graffiti and Contemporary Art.
Co-curator @fionalowry shares, “Graffiti doesn’t so much ‘lose value’ in the gallery as shift value. On the street, it holds power through risk, speed, territory and peer recognition. In the gallery, different things become visible: form, discipline, lineage and the deep relationship to authorship and mark-making. Part of what the exhibition tries to do is hold those two value systems in tension rather than pretend one replaces the other.”
SEARCHERS continues at the National Art School Gallery until April 11. Open Monday to Saturday, 11am–5pm.
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Installation views: Zan Wimberley
Feb 9
Work at the National Art School!
We`re recruiting a Head of Postgraduate Studies to lead and shape our postgraduate programs, including BFA (Hons), MFA and DFA.
Applications close Sunday 8 March 2026, 5pm.
Learn more 🔗 in bio.
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The Postgrad Show, 2025, photos: Peter Morgan
Feb 6
Opening 12 February — Queer Contemporary, as part of @sydneymardigras
This year`s edition presents `Liz Bradshaw: I didn`t expect to live this long` — an exhibition of large-scale sculpture and installation works that offer a personal and political queering of time, space, materiality, and idea — with student exhibitions organised by Jack Oliver Owen and nikita lelu.
Join us for the opening night on Thursday 12 February, from 6–9pm.
RSVP 🔗 in bio.
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Liz Bradshaw, `Two Pair`, 2023
Feb 1
The National Art School acknowledges that for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and for many other Australians, January 26 is a day of sorrow — marking deep loss, as well as survival.
Across Australia today, communities are coming together to reflect, connect and mark the day respectfully. The National Art School is committed to listening, learning and moving forward together.
For information about events visit antar.org.au and https://whatson.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/events/australia-day-sydney
Jan 26
