SMH: The last hurrah of Colin Lanceley, peer of Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan

SMH: The last hurrah of Colin Lanceley, peer of Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan

Article: Elizabeth Fortescue
Photo: Kay Lanceley, at her home in Redfern, contributed valuable memories to the show.  Kate Geraghty 

Kay Lanceley is under no illusion. Her role as key advisor on a retrospective exhibition of work by Colin Lanceley, her late husband, comes with a burden of personal gravity.

“It’s my last hurrah – the last thing I can do for Colin,” Kay says.

At 84, she can certainly lay claim to unique qualifications for the job. She was with the artist “every day for 50 years”.

The National Art School in Darlinghurst will honour its alumnus and former teacher with Colin Lanceley: Earthly Delights which will run from June 24 until August 12 at the beautiful NAS Gallery.

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What's happening at the National Art School on 6 September? RSVP to our Open Day today to find out. (Link in bio)
Hear artist James Nguyen (@jamesnguyens) discuss the process of his artwork ‘Homeopathies_where new trees grow’ (2025), a site-specific installation created for The Neighbour at the Gate, now on at NAS Gallery.

In response to the exhibition, Nguyen created a large-scale suspended textile, dyed with introduced weeds and contaminated mud collected along the Duck River and Parramatta River in Sydney. These local sites, like many places in Vietnam, continue to be contaminated by Agent Orange, dioxins and toxic leachates that account for the industrial scale manufacturing of chemical weapons along Homebush Bay.

The Naarm/Melbourne-based, Vietnamese Australian artist positions his personal experiences and perspectives in dialogue with others in his interdisciplinary practice, moving between live and online performance, video, drawing and installations. This work was made in conjunction with Nguyen’s aunt, Nguyễn Thị Kim Nhung, and uncle, Nguyễn Công Chính, who you can hear in conversation with the artist in the Artist Talks archive on our website.

The Neighbour at the Gate is now on until Saturday 18 October 2025. 11am – 5pm, Monday to Sunday. Plan your visit at the link in bio.

The Neighbour at the Gate has been made possible with the generous support of the NSW Government through its Blockbusters Funding initiative.
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