Queer Contemporary: I want a future that lives up to my past
Curated to coincide with the 2022 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, this exhibition brings together a range of distinct LGBTQI voices from within the NAS community, including teaching staff and alumni. It presents works in dialogue about the nature of contemporary art and politics and possible personal, local and global futures through queer visual languages and points of view. I want a future that lives up to my past juxtaposes artists and works to make visible queer aesthetics that are not tied to obvious representations of identity and sexuality, but are materially grounded in the ways LGBTQI lived experience and creative practice demands a range of navigations and interventions in mainstream cultural forms and interpretations. Against the global backdrop of the climate crisis, our second pandemic, and the last decade’s conservative backlash against the human rights of those of us who live in the margins, the works included offer subtle and complex articulations of ideas, images and forms that bridge difficult pasts and possible futures.
Exhibition dates:
25 February – 12 March 2022
Rayner Hoff Project Space, Monday to Saturday, 11am–5pm
Curator:
Dr Liz Bradshaw
Artists:
Karla Dickens, Bridie Lunney, Justine Youssef, Nadia Odlum, Christine Dean, Luke Thurgate, Steven Cavanagh, Kurt Banks, Liz Bradshaw
PROGRAMS
NAS Short Course: Queer Contemporary Life Drawing Workshop
Thursday 3 and 10 March 2022, 6–8pm
with Luke Thurgate
Join us for an evening of Life Drawing inspired by the 2022 Queer Contemporary exhibition at the National Art School. Set within the Hoff Project Space, this workshop is part immersive tour and part traditional life drawing class. Exhibiting artist, alumnus and NAS lecturer Luke Thurgate demonstrates and guides you to draw the human figure in relation to works on display in the Queer Contemporary exhibition. You will learn from other artists in the exhibition who celebrate the queer community of the National Art School.
This workshop is designed for participants of all levels and is a LGBTQI+ friendly event.
BREAK OUT: Queer Contemporary Performances
Thursday 3 March 2022
NAS Campus
Solar Gold Dancers
6pm Cell Block Theatre
Pat the dyke dry Annaliese Constable
Annaliese Constable invites you into her LTR with her long-suffering partner Emily. This hotbed of mental illness provides the basis for Constable’s exploration of class, ableism and the life as an Indigenous queer woman with a disability.
6.30–8pm The Chapel
Chapel Gareth Ernst
Gareth Ernst is creating a Shibari Tableau Drawing Performance work in the historic and sacred Chapel with three undraped models. One cis male, one cis female and one trans woman. Combining and roping them together with a Japanese roping art form called Shibari, he will be creating a tableau piece from the three joined figures, and will draw them on a large unstretched canvas prepared with ash. Come along and quietly watch the work unfold.
8.15pm Rayner Hoff Project Space
at one’s own pace Lou Harris
at one’s own pace (2021) begins with a small collection of besser blocks gathered on the floor. As the space is activated, the artist’s body rises up on the blocks. A set of parameters emerge; the body is constantly elevated from the ground by the foundations of the blocks, and each movement becomes a searching manoeuvre, reaching for ways to move through the site. Over the course of the performance, the artist physically shifts what holds their body in space – dropping, lifting and dragging these concrete blocks – continuously making accommodations for their needs and desires.
This performance explores ideas of precarious movement and navigation of structures in order to hold and support oneself. Intuitive thought processes are witnessed in real time; an open offer for intimate engagement.
This act of vulnerability articulates the limits and potentials of the artist’s body, marked by concessions made for various physical and emotional boundaries. Tension, stress and satisfaction become a communal experience.
9.50pm Cell Block Theatre
Last Walk Susann Taylor
Susann Taylor’s experiential site-specific performance of lament and defiance.
BREAK OUT: Queer Contemporary Moving Image
Thursday 3 March 2022, 6–10pm
Cell Block Theatre, featuring work by
Todd Fuller
1727: Pieter and Adriaan 2021
Single Channel HD video 6:06
Ladonna Rama (Tokyo)
Abazure 2020
Single Channel HD video 5:04
Claudia Nicholson
Alliance 2011
Single Channel HD video 2:00
Aaron McGarry
Charity/Death 2022
Single Channel HD video 6:36
Liz Bradshaw
1984 2022
Single Channel HD video 6:50
Now open: Art Club enrolments for students aged 15–17
Led by practicing artists, these weekly after-school workshops are designed to develop technical skills and foster a community of like-minded peers.
Book now for Term 1 🔗 in bio.
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Photos: Peter Morgan
Jan 19
SEARCHERS: Graffiti and Contemporary Art
17 January – 11 April 2026
Opening event: Thursday 22 January, 6–9pm
A major exhibition exploring the politics and poetics of spray
With Ben Aitken, Howard Arkley, BAGL, BREAK, Andrew Browne, Daniel Crooks, Adam Cullen, Mikala Dwyer, Dale Frank, Shaun Gladwell, Brendan Huntley, Rhys John Kaye, Luke Kennedy, LAZY, Mim Libro, Fiona Lowry, Eddie Martin, MACH, Tony McGillick, Paul McNeil, TV Moore, Callum Morton, Tresor Murace, Sidney Nolan, POWER, Ben Quilty, Scott Redford, Reko Rennie, RUM, Leslie Rice, Joan Ross, Khaled Sabsabi, Tim Silver, SNAIL, SPICE, Bridget Stehli, Maya Stocks, Latai Taumoepeau and TAVEN
Presented as part of @sydney_festival
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Photography: @zanwimberley
Jan 16
Final call! This is your last chance to apply for our BFA degree for 2026.
Applications close 29 January.
Apply now 🔗 in bio.
Jan 12
Join us from 6–9pm on Thursday 22 January for the opening of SEARCHERS: Graffiti and Contemporary Art.
Featuring Ben Aitken, Howard Arkley, BAGL, BREAK, Andrew Browne, Daniel Crooks, Adam Cullen, Mikala Dwyer, Dale Frank, Shaun Gladwell, Brendan Huntley, Rhys John Kaye, Luke Kennedy, LAZY, Mim Libro, Fiona Lowry, Eddie Martin, MACH, Tony McGillick, Paul McNeil, TV Moore, Callum Morton, Tresor Murace, Sidney Nolan, POWER, Ben Quilty, Scott Redford, Reko Rennie, RUM, Leslie Rice, Joan Ross, Khaled Sabsabi, Tim Silver, SNAIL, SPICE, Bridget Stehli, Maya Stocks, Latai Taumoepeau & TAVEN
RSVP 🔗 in bio.
Presented as part of @sydney_festival.
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Sidney Nolan, ‘Untitled’, 1983, spray can enamel on canvas, Nolan Collection, managed by Canberra Museum and Gallery on behalf of the Australian Government
Jan 9
Marking 20 years of the National Art School Gallery, we are thrilled to share this year`s program of ambitious group and solo exhibitions that foster critical appreciation and innovative art practice.
SEARCHERS: Graffiti and Contemporary Art
17 January – 11 April
Opening: Thurs 22 January, 6pm
Bringing together over thirty of Australia`s most dynamic artists united by one charged medium: spray paint, presented as part of @sydney_festival.
QUEER CONTEMPORARY
Liz Bradshaw: I didn`t expect to live this long
13 February – 7 March
Opening: Thurs 12 February, 6pm
Experience a large-scale sculpture and installation by NAS alum Liz Bradshaw as part of @sydneymardigras.
Mitch Cairns: Artist`s Mouth
1 May – 11 July
Opening: Thurs 30 April, 6pm
Presented with the @instituteofmodernart, the largest and most comprehensive exhibition by Sydney-based artist and NAS alum Mitch Cairns.
Margaret Olley: Australian Intimiste
31 July – 25 October
Opening: Thurs 30 July, 6pm
Celebrating the legacy of NAS alum and one of Australia`s most beloved painters, Margaret Olley AC.
The Postgrad Show
6–15 November
The Grad Show
4–13 December
Full program 🔗 in bio.
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Howard Arkley, `Triple fronted`, 1987, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Mollie and Jim Gowing Bequest Fund 2014 © The Estate of Howard Arkley, courtesy Kalli Rolfe Contemporary Art, image © Art Gallery of New South Wales
Jan 8
Step into the studios these school holidays with Art Club Intensive for ages 15–17.
Led by experienced artist-educators, these focused 3-day workshops provide a supportive space for students to develop their skills and gain an immersive introduction to the disciplines taught at NAS.
7–9 & 14–16 January
On campus
Book via 🔗 in bio
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Photos: Peter Morgan
Dec 23
