What Does Contemporary Australian Painting Look Like Right Now?

It would seem that rumours about the death of Australian painting have been greatly exaggerated.

“Notwithstanding the many premature pronouncements of the death or demise of painting over the past century, and further back to the invention of photography in the nineteenth century, painting is firmly on the Australian and international agenda,” says curator Max Delany.

As the Artistic Director of the Australian Centre of Contemporary Art in Melbourne, he’s qualified to comment. His statement forms the premise of Painting. More Painting, ACCA’s first major exhibition of contemporary Australian painting in over a decade.

Presented over two chapters across ACCA’s four exhibition galleries, the show takes stock of contemporary Australian painting, examining the enduring relevance of the medium in all its forms.

“This exhibition will examine the ways artists continue to reinvent painting, and how they respond to new perceptual conditions brought about by the advent of the digital and virtual realms,” Delany explains.

Opening tomorrow, the show will put a spotlight on 14 Australian artists making waves right now—Abdul Abdullah, Ry David Bradley, Angela Brennan, Vivienne Binns, Stephen Bram, Mitch Cairns, Matthys Gerber, Diena Georgetti, Helen Johnson, David Jolly, Lisa Radford, Teresa Baker, Karl Wiebke and Nyapanyapa Yunupingu.

Over sixty other local artists at various stages in their careers will also be featured, displayed upon and framed by 90 metre-long mural by Sam Songailo.

Chapter One of Painting. More Painting opens on July 30 and runs until August 28 at ACCA. Chapter Two will open on September 2 and continue until September 28. You can find out more about the show here.

Related:

Painting Cover-Ups, Exposed! | Conservation Lab

Large Scale Prints Blur the Lines Between Painting and Photography

Our Favourite Australian Photo Books of 2015