KEY POINTS:
Sydney's public art galleries are world-class, ranging from cutting-edge contemporary to a showcase of Australia's artistic history, along with art from international masters. And, if you can stand the heat, a walking tour of dealer galleries is an extra treat.
Museum of Contemporary Art
Circular Quay West
Conveniently situated right next to the city's transport hub, MCA has four floors of multi-media, from a showcase of new works by Australian art purchased over the past year (to March 1) to a floor devoted to leading Malay-Australian artist Simryn Gill (to March 22). Of special interest is the witty exhibition by self-described "postcolonial hybrid", Nigerian-British artist Yinka Shonibare, which ends at MCA on February 1, then opens at Auckland Art Gallery on February 28.
Shonibare's collection of headless mannequins dressed in elaborate pre- French Revolution aristocratic costumes are posed in tableaux, unaware they are heading for the chop as they play out their self-absorbed, decadent lives. Shinabare himself poses as a black Dorian Gray in a series of photos, while a sinister film shows actors dressed in the costumes performing a dance of death, accompanied by amplified rustles and a sinister beating heart.
mca.com.au
Art Gallery of New South Wales
I was lucky to catch the tail-end of the dazzling Monet & the Impressionists exhibition, which ended yesterday. With 29 Monets from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and a collection of works by fellow Impressionists such as Rousseau, Millet, Renoir and Sisley, the exhibition was packed with people of all ages including a good proportion of children.
The gallery also has a fine show devoted to Aboriginal art, Half Light: Portraits from Black Australia (to February 22), with the Archibald Prize portraiture exhibition running from March 7-May 31. Works from the American-Australian Scientific Exhibition to Arnhem Land 1948 run from March 31, while a collection of post-WWII Dutch art opens on June 5.
The gallery is also worth visiting for its collection of Australian art from the 18th and 19th centuries, with some vast, glorious landscapes, along with heart-stopping works by later leading lights Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan and many others.
artgallery.nsw.gov.au
Australian Museum
6 College St, central city
The museum is home right now to the touring Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008 exhibition (to March 8), established by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine. The images are extraordinary: a literally snow-covered Nepalese snow leopard staring at the camera; a head-on shot of a night griffon; bloody-mouthed chimps eating a small boar - these are rare insights.
The museum also has fascinating collections of skeletons of fish, snakes and birds; dinosaurs (I saw one walking through the foyer); and a tribute to Australia's indigenous people.
australiamuseum.net.au
Museum of Sydney
cnr Bridge & Phillip Sts
MoS has a charming exhibition, Telling Tales of Sydney's Pets & Their
Owners (to March 22), which gathers photos of the city's pets and their owners through times past to the present day, along with videos, pet paraphernalia and special events for kids. As it's mainly devoted to cats and dogs, it was bitterly ironic to visit in a week when a newspaper revealed Sydney's pounds had destroyed 30,000 dogs over the past year.
The museum, on the site of the first Government House, also houses a First Fleet exhibition and a multi-media Storylines facility which gives voice to Sydney's colonial characters.
hht.net.au; a website which also leads to other Historic Houses Trust destinations.
Sydney Art Tours
SAT manager Isobel Johnston, an artist and art teacher, is a warm companion if you want to discover some of Sydney's dealer galleries in the 'burbs. Unfortunately for both of us, she was too warm; the day we went walking around Paddington, Darlinghurst and King's Cross the temperature was a formidable 39 degrees without a hint of a breeze.
We gamely started at Martin Browne Gallery on Macleay St, a space which often features Kiwi artists such as John Pule and Karl Maughan, and continued for another two hours before common sense prevailed. But it's an interesting way to explore the back streets and architecture as well as acquire some knowledge about what's happening in Sydney's contemporary art scene.
Johnston also offers chauffeur-driven gallery tours, presumably with air-conditioning.
sydneyarttours.com.au
FURTHER INFORMATION:
The Sydney Festival runs until Saturday; the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth Hotel on Phillip St is offering special accommodation packages for the 2010 festival; see sofitelcom
