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
Final weeks to visit The Neighbour at the Gate, closing Saturday 18 October.
Across various mediums and perspectives, The Neighbour at the Gate charts the entangled legacies of exclusion and resilience, drawing vital parallels between the past and present, memory and nationhood.
Learn more about the exhibition and plan your visit at the link in bio.
Please note: the gallery is closed for Labour Day Monday 6 October
Oct 3
Enjoy 20% off a Summer School Short Course with code FLASHSALE20
Don’t miss this exclusive 20% off flash sale on the National Art School Summer School Short Courses (link in bio). Flash Sale starts right now and ends midnight Monday 6 October.*
*Offer begins midday Friday 3 October and ends midnight Monday 6 October. Terms and conditions apply.
Oct 3
We are pleased to share the exciting news that we are introducing a new BFA (Hons) degree at the National Art School in 2026.
The Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) is an intensive one-year program designed for graduates of the BFA who are ready to deepen their studio practice and expand their academic and professional capabilities. This course is ideal for emerging artists who want to refine their practice, build industry connections, and prepare for postgraduate study or professional opportunities in the creative sector.
New scholarships will be available to students entering the BFA (Hons), with further details to be shared later this year. For more information and key dates, visit futurestudents.nas.edu.au (link in bio).
Oct 2
Join us for free 18+ concert `Afterglow` – The Neighbour at the Gate exhibition closing party.
Headlined by Miss Kaninna, the event features performances by HYLANDER, Rocky Stallone, BRINA, Kuya Hennessy, and DJ Court Jester. RSVP today as tickets are going fast!
Afterglow
Thursday 16 October
Doors: 4.30pm
Concert starts: 7.00pm
Cell Block Theatre, National Art School
Please note: if the Cell Block reaches capacity, you’re welcome to enjoy the concert from the courtyard until space opens up inside. Food trucks and pop up bar.
FREE ADMISSION, RSVP is essential due to limited capacity (link in bio)
Oct 1
We are pleased to welcome three distinguished individuals to our Board of Directors. Each of our new board members brings a wealth of expertise, insight, and passion for the arts. Their diverse backgrounds and commitment to creative excellence will play a pivotal role in guiding NAS into its next chapter.
Please join us in warmly welcoming: Emilya Colliver, Helen Lochhead AO and Lucy Keeler.
Photo credit: Jacqui Manning (Emilya Colliver); John Nguyen Photography (Helen Lochhead AO); Paul McMillan (Lucy Keeler)
Sep 30
Congratulations to NAS Short Courses Painting Lecturer Michelle Hiscock (@michellelouisemariehiscock) for winning the 2025 Portia Geach Memorial Award with her work, `The Weather Watcher after Zurbarán`.
The Portia Geach Memorial Award is the pre-eminent portraiture prize for women in Australia, established by Florence Kate Geach in memory of her sister in 1965.
An exhibition of all finalists’ works is open for public viewing at the S.H. Ervin Gallery (@shervingallery) in The Rocks, Sydney, from Friday 19 September until Sunday 2 November.
Visit shop.nas.edu.au (link in bio) to book now for Term 4 Short Courses. Summer School Short Courses in January 2026 will open for booking from Friday 3 October.
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Michelle Hiscock, `The Weather Watcher after Zurbarán`, 2025, oil on linen, 50 x 40 cm, courtesy of the artist and the S.H. Ervin Gallery (The Rocks, Sydney)
Sep 28
