悉尼当代数字艺术博览会

Most art lovers are spending the close of 2021 relishing in the delight ofgallery-going, but for those who wish to stay in the virtual world a little longer, Sydney Contemporary may provide some reprieve. This November, Explore Sydney Contemporary—Australasia’s largest digital art fair—continues its support of First Nations and emerginglocal artists, exhibiting their works online for any member of the public to peruse, or purchase.Ten days, 1700 artworks and 500 artists—Explore Sydney Contemporary is a gargantuan effort to celebrate the Australian creatives most affected by the pandemic, and its repercussions. The result is an immersive experience for anyone who visits. As Sydney Contemporary fair director, Barry Keldoulis, tells us, onlookers are welcomed to the site with a commissioned animation by David Booth, before “diving in to discover the wider suite of works on offer. Digital flâneurs will also be able to observe Sydney Contemporary’s ‘Untold’—a series of video portraits dedicated to exploring the artistic practice of its First Nations participants.There are artists aplenty exhibiting with the fair, but Keldoulis tells us that this year’s showcase places a distinct focus on industry newcomers, giving them an international platform to further establish their careers. “[They were] probably the most hard-done-by over these difficult two years,” he says. Artists including Reko Rennie, ​​Sally Smart, Renee So, David Noonan, Isabella Maria Foster and Michael Zavros feature as program highlights, but new works will also be released midway through the fair, on November 17.In a confluence of over a thousand works, what should a visitor of Explore Sydney Contemporary note as a must-see piece? ”It’s always difficult to pick a short list when there are so many amazing works on show,” Keldoulis admits, “so this year, I decided to limit selection by making the criterion that the artist should be using unusual materials in an interesting way.”Below, Keldoulis reveals his top ten, must-see artworks from Explore Sydney Contemporary.Sign up to theVogue Living newsletterFraser Anderson,Limescale. Sponge Carpet(2021)“Using sea-sponge, sawdust, pigment, acrylic dye, thermo plastic, polyurethane resin & aluminium, Anderson creates so rich in texture and undercurrents of meaning that you want to touch them and listen to them speak. The familiar becomes new again as he rebuilds the elements into a completely new home.”Anna Eggert,Desert Bloom(2021)“Anna Eggert uses electrical components and copper tubing to create ‘floral’ arrangements of unexpected, delicate whimsical beauty.”Evan Woodruffe,Summer(2021)“For a magazine that’s no stranger to fashion, I couldn’t resist the only work to include a painting mannequin in a tailored two-piece suit, with mixed media and ornaments! A round of applause for Evan Woodruffe’sSummer. Let’s hope he’s right.”Jenna Lee,White Grass Tree 1(2021)“Jenna Lee is a Gulumerridjin (Larrakia), Wardaman and KarraJarri Saltwater woman with mixed Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and Anglo Australia ancestry. Her Grass Trees are woven out of shredded “completely useless” reference books, in this case ‘dictionaries’ of pleasant-sounding Aboriginal words suggested as names for houses, children and boats. Jenna notes, in the Untold video on the Explore site, that ‘land, children and water were the first things taken from us, as well as language’.”Juz Kitson,A shared sensitivity; sculpting the memory(2021)“Adding black butt timber and marine ply to her porcelain, enamel, resin, and steel sculptures somehow make Juz Kitson’s new work even more darkly sensual, adding to the fetishistic, animistic allure.”Mel O’Callaghan,Ore of Cyprus(2021)“Using just acrylic paint and pigment on glass, Mel O’Callaghan’s Ore of Cyprus achieves the qualities of both substance and ethereality, mimicking the duality of human existence, us being both physically and psychologically driven creatures.”Michael Gittings,Small Cabinet(2021)“Stainless steel may not be the most unusual material for furniture (nor the most common), but Michael Gittings capacity to imbue it with a living, organic sensibility, albeit cool, is extraordinary. His Small Cabinet could have been cast from a now overgrown long abandoned temple city (or Hollywood backlot).”Joshua Yeldham,Smiths Creek(2021)“At the time of COP26, it’s perhaps appropriate to end with an artist known for his reverence for the environment, in particular the beautiful rivers and national parks that surround Sydney. Joshua Yeldham’s Smith Creek works acrylic and cane on hand-carved board into his unmistakable visual language of the love and lore of nature.”Noel McKenna,Bondi 1800(2021)“Ok, Noel McKenna shouldn’t be on this list, as oil on canvas is not an unusual medium, but as a resident of Bondi, I couldn’t resist the gentle humour and whimsy of his ‘naïve’ depiction of the beach and bay, complete with shark!”Patrizia Biondi,It’s a Long Road but I Have Good Feet(2021)“Re-using salvaged cardboard (treated to be archival) Biondi makes architectural parables that could be warning of the seduction of consumer culture or celebrations of ingenuity, or both!”Explore Sydney Contemporary runs from November 11 to 21. For more information about Explore Sydney Contemporary, visit their website,here.Want moreVogue Living?Sign up to theVogue Livingnewsletterfor your weekly dose of design news and interiors inspiration.Subscribe to Vogue Living and you will become a member of our Vogue VIP subscriber-only loyalty program and be rewarded with exclusive event invitations, special insider access, must-have product offers, gifts from our luxury partners and so much more.Subscribe today.