KEY POINTS:
If you're a committed culture-vulture who likes to combine art and travel, you won't have any trouble filling out an itinerary in Sydney.
The options are so overwhelming it's difficult to know where to start, especially if you're not familiar with the local scene and don't trust tourist brochures.
We've narrowed it down to eight which could still keep you busy for days.
Museum of Contemporary Art
Chances are you'll pass the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) while in Sydney, so it's as good a place as any to begin. Walking under the Harbour Bridge from the Rocks, you'll find it in prime waterfront position, looking across Circular Quay to the Opera House.
The first major solo exhibition from respected Aboriginal artist, Paddy Bedford, a senior elder from the Warmun region of the north-east Kimberly, is on until April 15. Bedford has always painted for ceremonial purposes and began producing work on canvas for exhibition in 1998. Since then he has been prolific and innovative and has pieces in many public collections.
The MCA is also host to a touring four-decade retrospective of video art from the collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris (until February 25). The Pompidou began collecting video works in 1977, earlier than most institutions. The artists in this selection include Nam June Paik, Bill Viola, Pierre Huyghe and Jean-Luc Godard.
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Take in some fresh air with a stroll from the Opera House through the Botanic Gardens to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which has an impressive permanent collection of Aboriginal, Australian and Asian art, as well as work from further afield. It also hosts temporary exhibitions, both contemporary and traditional.
The gallery also has shows of contemporary Aboriginal work and plenty of video. Gifted: Contemporary Aboriginal Art (until April 15) highlights the generosity of benefactor Mollie Gowing, who has provided the gallery with hundreds of indigenous works. Compulsory viewing for fans of Japanese animation is Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga (February 23 to April 29), which showcases the work of Japan's most significant artist, responsible for Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion.
Also opening in February is Struck by Michele Barker and Anna Munster (February 8 to March 22) which uses multi-channel video and sound to surround the viewer with image, text and soundtracks in an installation that explores the complexities of neurological disease.
China Heights
To find the grassroots of local contemporary talent, you need to sniff out one of Sydney's many independent galleries, usually run by students or emerging artists and known as artist-run initiatives (ARIs). Run on the smell of an oily rag, these organisations generate meagre publicity which is hardly going to dent the consciousness of the average Sydney-sider. Even locals in the know have trouble keeping up with where they are. This is where a specialist tour-guide would come in handy as most ARIs have the lifespan of a gnat - by the time you've heard of a new one, it has probably closed. It is hard enough to find one with a working website, let alone find their low-rent, back-alley addresses or visit during their odd opening hours.
The volunteers staffing them are friendlier than their desk-bound contemporaries at the commercial galleries, and are a good source of directions to other ARIs, as well as tips on what else is worth seeing in Sydney.
Established in 2004, China Heights is a survivor, and is one of the most centrally located, in Surry Hills.
Object Gallery
On nearby Bourke St, it is hard to miss the funky, rounded architecture of Object Gallery. Self-described as the Australian centre of craft and design, this converted 1955 hospital chapel is also home to Object magazine. For readers who can't resist shiny, wearable things, Baubles, Bangles and Beads (until February 25) offers a tantalising survey of Australian contemporary jewellery. Featuring 90 pieces, this show is distinctive because the works belong to private collections, not only demonstrating a range of craftsmanship, but also the intimate relationship owners have with these objects.
Sherman Galleries
You'll be spoilt for choice in Sydney's 100-plus commercial dealer galleries. They are mostly scattered around the city fringes, and concentrated in Paddington to the east of the city, where you will find Sherman Galleries and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery.
Although it began in 1981 as Irving Sculpture Gallery, Sherman Galleries is celebrating its 20th anniversary. It represents some of Australia's best-known contemporary artists, as well as many international ones. Alongside Aussie heavyweights such as Imants Tillers and performance artists such as Mike Parr and Stelarc, are Kiwi artists such as Shane Cotton, Shigeyuki Kihara and Steve Carr.
Sherman starts the year with Voiceless: I Feel Therefore I Am (February 22 to March 10), a group show that looks at the ways humans interact with other species and the cruelty that often arises. The exhibition is the latest in an international series of events associated with Voiceless, an organisation that promotes respect for animals and awareness of their conditions.
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery
The other compulsory gallery stop in Paddington is Roslyn Oxley9, but make sure you take a map or get directions before you venture into the maze of dead-end lanes that the gallery is hidden in. Established in 1982, Roslyn Oxley9 represents familiar names like Hany Armanious, Destiny Deacon, Dale Frank, Rosalie Gascoigne, Bill Henson, Yayoi Kusama and Tracey Moffatt, as well as New Zealanders Bill Culbert, Jacqueline Fraser and Michael Parekowhai. Visitors in February will find the familiar quirky paint constructions of popular emerging New Zealand artist Rohan Wealleans. Tatunka (February 1-24) is his first offshore solo show and was first shown at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery last year.
Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum
A trip to the Blue Mountains a few hours' drive west of Sydney is a popular and worthwhile day trip. Artist, sculptor and author Norman Lindsay bought a property there in 1912 and named it Springwood. He died in 1969, after which the estate was opened to the public. Aside from a collection of his work, the lavish grounds have fountains, urns, rose-covered pergolas, and bathing pools, all of which provided an ideal setting for his paintings of frolicking, nubile nymphs, featured in the 1994 movie Sirens, starring Hugh Grant and Elle MacPherson.
Campbelltown Arts Centre
New South Wales has a good network of regional galleries. The newest of these is the $10 million Campbelltown Arts Centre, which opened in 2005. As well as hosting exhibitions and providing community facilities, Campbelltown Arts Centre puts on some much-needed entertainment for the outer suburbs. By train, Campbelltown is about an hour southwest of Sydney centre at the end of the line.
* Andrew Clifford flew to Sydney with Qantas and stayed at the Sheraton Four Points, courtesy of Tourism New South Wales.
