News

We are thrilled to share that Sera Waters has been selected for the 2022 Busan Biennale: We, on the Rising Wave.

The Biennale’s title symbolizes the constant inflow and outflow of immigrants from other port cities around the world, suggesting global interconnectedness. It is also a metaphor for dissemination in an environment of technological change, as well as a description of Busan’s rolling landscape of seaside hills.

The Busan Biennale artistic director Haeju Kim shares: “The exhibition will put forward a viewpoint that narrates the stories of backstreets in Busan, and how they are intersected and connected to that of other major cities, in an attempt to explore ways adapting to the ever-changing world as we ride the waves ahead of us.”

Presented by the Museum of Contemporary Art Busan, the exhibition – an exploration of collective memory and a reflection on movement and history – will spread to Pier 1 of Busan Port and a house in Choryang from 3 September to 6 November 2022

Hugo Michell Gallery welcomes the addition of Min Wong to our represented artists!

Min Wong’s sculpture and installation practice examines metaphysical and cultural esoterica of 1970’s countercultures, ‘New Age’ spirituality and recent renewed interest towards self-help and therapeutic culture. Her installations use strategies of appropriation, corporate branding techniques and nomadic meanings that are contingent and subject to the contemporary dilemma of spirituality.

Her practice explores utopias and esoteric practices to reimagine a renewal of connection between nature, community, and spirituality in coexistence. By looking back to past and present spiritual movements, Min’s installations investigate illusory hopes, desire, failure and seeks to remodel speculative worlds as possible futures within the contemporary dystopic.

Min Wong has exhibited widely across Australia and was recently included in the 2022 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Free/State. Min has undertaken numerous international residencies including in Spain, China and Los Angeles. She has been a finalist in prizes such as Churchie Emerging Art Prize, the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize and in 2019 was the awarded the Sculpture prize for the Ghost Fisher Art Award. Her works are held in the collections of Artbank, Housemuseum, Charles Darwin University and the City of Adelaide.

We congratulate Min on her achievements thus far and look forward to working together in the future!

Min Wong's 'Born to Give not to Get' at Hugo Michell Gallery, 2022

We are thrilled to share that Clara Adolphs and Fiona McMonagle have been shortlisted for the 2022 Geelong Contemporary Art Prize.

The 2022 Geelong Contemporary Art Prize is a signature event that showcases the diversity and excellence of Australian contemporary painting practice. Through these prizes, staged since 1938, the Gallery has amassed an exceptional representation of Australian paintings whilst supporting contemporary practitioners. Showcasing the best of contemporary Australian painting practice, this $30,000 acquisitive award and biennial exhibition will feature 28 works by leading and emerging Australian artists. Collectively, the stylistic approaches and thematic range of these works reflect the currency and relevance of painting today.

The 2022 Geelong Contemporary Art Prize finalist exhibition will be on show at Geelong Gallery in Victoria from 25 June to 11 September 2022, with the recipient of the $30,000 acquisitive 2022 Geelong Contemporary Art Prize to be announced on Friday 15 July at 6pm.

The 2022 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Art Prize finalists have been announced! 

Richard Lewer  has been announced as a finalist for the Archibald Prize; and Clara Adolphs is a finalist in the Wynne Prize. Congratulations to Richard and Clara!

Presented by Art Gallery of New South Wales, the exhibition will run from 14 May – 28 August 2022.

The Archibald Prize, first awarded in 1921, is Australia’s favourite art award, and one of its most prestigious. Awarded to the best portrait painting, a who’s who of Australian culture – from politicians to celebrities, sporting heroes to artists.

This is the fourth time that Richard Lewer has been represented in the Archibald Prize with a portrait of Elizabeth Laverty. “And I will keep painting her for as long as she’ll let me, or until we win!” says Lewer, whose practice has long explored the endurance, consistency and discipline that is required as an artist.

Laverty and her late husband, Sydney pathologist Colin Laverty, built one of Australia’s most significant collections of contemporary art, while supporting the Indigenous communities they visited.

“Liz is not just involved in the arts; she has many facets to her life. It is an honour to deepen my understanding of her past, present and future with each passing year. Nowadays, Liz is more vulnerable in many ways than when I first met her, yet she remains vibrant and open. She is well-informed on contemporary issues, socially adept and outward-looking. Liz continues to give back,” says Lewer.

“I have painted her daily morning ritual, sitting at the breakfast table surrounded by newspapers, planning her day in her heavily inscribed diary.”

As part of a major commissioning program to celebrate the opening of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ new building in late 2022, Lewer has created portraits of the many people involved in the construction of the Sydney Modern Project.

About this work Clara Adolphs shares: “I began painting clouds as a kind of backdrop for my figurative works, although they soon revealed themselves as the centrepiece. They are figurative beings, towering and monumental. Their formations are in a state of constant flux. The painting is one moment in their time of continuous change.

This particular cloud, a Cumulus congestus, was painted from a formation accumulating on the afternoon of Christmas Day, 2021. These clouds bring rain and unsettled weather, but from afar it was a perfect day.”

The exhibition will run from 14 May – 28 August 2022 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.