Almanac: The Gift of Ann Lewis AO

Almanac is an exhibition that provides an extraordinary road map of Australian art practice over the last 50 years, shaped by the vision of one of Australia’s best regarded collectors and arts supporters, Ann Lewis AO. Ann Lewis worked tirelessly throughout her lifetime to raise the profile of Australian artists abroad, and to bring international artists to local audiences. Her roles as collector, philanthropist and gallerist led to the development of a collection built at the forefront of cultural production and mirrors the deeply personal relationships Ann Lewis enjoyed with a diverse array of artists. Tracing changes in taste, influence, styles and ideas, Almanac reflects a collection with depth and currency. Veering across time and location, it is comprised of paintings, photographs sculptures, ceramics and prints including several works which are on public display for the first time.

Artists featured in the exhibition were: Hany Armanious, Ralph Balson, Curley Barduguba, Ian Burns, Robert Ambrose Cole, Timothy Cook, Richard Dunn, Mikala Dwyer, John Firth-Smith, Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori, Rosalie Gascoigne, Callum Innes, Kitty Kantilla, Robert Klippel, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Ildiko Kovacs, Rosemary Laing, Jon Lewis, Marrirra Marawili, George Milwulurrurr, Rosella Namok, Dorothy Napangardi, Jimmy Ngalakurn, Bobby Barrdjaray Nganmirra, Robert Owen, Gloria Petyarre, Robert Rauschenberg, Neil Roberts, Lola Ryan, Ricky Swallow, Walala Tjapaltjarri, Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula, Wukun Gathinikpa Wanambi, Judy Watson, Louise Weaver, Timothy Wulanjbirr and Anne Zahalka.

The exhibition was supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government Program supporting touring exhibitions by providing funding assistance for the development and touring of cultural material across Australia.

Simryn Gill: Gathering

The work of Simryn Gill considers questions of place and history, and how they might intersect with personal and collective experience. Using objects, language, and photographs, her work conveys a deep interest in material culture, and in the ways that meaning can transform and translate into different contexts. Through the reinterpretation or alteration of existing objects, the photographing of specific locations, and the forming of collections, Gill contemplates how ideas and meanings are communicated between, people, objects, and sites.

Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art
7 August – 30 October 2009

Heide Museum of Modern Art
19 April – 19 July 2010

Queensland Art Gallery/GoMA
27 August – 11 October 2010

Artspace Mackay
5 November 2010 – 9 January 2011

Yinka Shonibare

British-born Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE (b.1962) works across diverse artistic media to explore ideas about African contemporary identity and the legacy of European colonialism in the present. Shonibare’s art considers social class and aesthetics, and is characterised by the use of recurring visual symbols such as ‘Dutch wax’ fabric since the mid 1990s. Yinka Shonibare MBE presented twelve years of the artist’s career, encompassing painting, sculpture, large-scale mixed media installations, photography and film.

Auckland Art Gallery
28 February – 1 June 2009

Brooklyn Museum
26 June – 20 September 2009

The Smithsonian, National Museum of African Art
11 November 2009 – 7 March 2010