News
We are thrilled to share that Richard Lewer has been announced as a finalist in the Archibald Art Prize with his portrait of Pitjantjatjara Elder and artist Iluwanti Ken. We also celebrate the inclusion of Marrnyula Munuŋgurr, Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu, and Carol Puruntatameri as finalists in the Wynne Art Prize.'
Richard Lewer, Iluwanti Ken, 2026, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 198 x 198 cm, photography by Christian Capurro
About his work Richard shares: “In person, Iluwanti is a small woman, but she carries immense, quiet authority. I painted her life size, so her presence meets the viewer directly. The yellow ochre background holds the intensity of the heat and light we were working in. She loves bright clothing, which feels inseparable from her spirit, and the traces of paint on her arm acknowledge her as a working artist, as if she has just stepped out of the studio.”
Marrnyula Munuŋgurr, Dhawurr, 2025, natural pigment on bark, 194 x 87 cm
Marrnyula Munuŋgurr and Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu’s finalist artworks were exhibited at Hugo Michell Gallery as part of the 2025 Tarnanthi Festival in the exhibition ‘Wäŋa as Muse’, which featured works by a group of artists from Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, each with a unique way of depicting the identity of the land which inspires them.
Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu, Buymarr homeland, 2025, natural pigment on bark, 107 x 80 cm, photography by Sam Roberts
We look forward to presenting a solo exhibition by Carol Puruntatameri at Hugo Michell Gallery from 12 November - 10 December 2026.
Carol Puruntatameri, Yipali and Purrukupali, 2025, natural pigment on bark, 166.5 x 90 x 30 cm, courtesy of Munupi Arts
An exhibition of finalist artworks will be presented from 9 May to 16 August 2026 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in the Naala Nura building.
___
SERA WATERS
Collared & Cuffed
___
SALLY BOURKE
I’m a ghost, I’m gone
_____
Hugo Michell Gallery are proud to partner with Bird in Hand Winery for this opening event.
We are delighted that Kate Just’s works ‘An Armour of Hope’ and ‘The Arms of Mother’ will be presented in the forthcoming exhibition ‘MOTHER: Stories from the NGV Collection’ at the National Gallery of Victoria at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, which will be launched on 27th March.
About these deeply personal pieces, that have been recently acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria, were produced during her PhD project exploring the relationship between textiles, skin, and touch, Kate shares: “Making their NGV debut are two of my works, which explore knitting’s metaphoric equivalency to skin. ‘An Armour of Hope’, 2012, took the form of a hand knitted chain-mail armour for our then recently adopted child Harper; while ‘The Arms of Mother’, 2012, were arm-length gloves for my own body embroidered with scars. The works materialised my own and Harper’s past familial losses, and our resilience and hope for the future.”
Curated by Sophie Gerhard and Katharina Prugger with assistance from Eva Christoff, the exhibition ‘MOTHER’ will be presented at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia from 27 March to 12 July 2026.
Pictured: Kate Just, An Armour of Hope, 2012, hand-knitted metal and silk, 104 x 45 x 4 cm; The Arms of Mother, 2012, hand-knitted and hand embroidered rayon and cotton, 92 x 32 x 2 cm. Images courtesy of the artist
Please join us for an Finissage for 'The Felling Place' and 'Land marks, with an artist talk by Julia Robinson on Saturday 11th April, 1pm-3pm.
Artist Talk from 1:30pm
Julia Robinson’s ‘The Felling Place’, currently showing at Hugo Michell Gallery, is a foray into eco-horror and plant horror: sub-genres that arise from our fractured relationship with the natural world and might be characterised by narratives where nature is not only sentient but malevolent. In these narratives, plant life may strike back at humans and horror comes from our terrifying encounter with ‘monstrous’ vegetation.
This will also be the final day to experience Bridie Gillman's solo exhibition 'Land marks', an exhibition developed in Yogyakarta, Indonesia (affectionately – Jogja). Each piece has been made in response to a patchwork of everyday observations – a fleeting moment while on a motorbike or a slower studied observation while waiting for a meal. Translated through colour, these seen things and places become landmarks through which the artist navigates around town.
Hugo Michell Gallery are proud to partner with Bird in Hand Winery for this finissage event.
Hugo Michell Gallery acknowledges the Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the Adelaide region, and that their cultural and heritage beliefs are still as important to the living Kaurna people today.
_____
BRIDIE GILLMAN
Land marks
_____
JULIA ROBINSON
The Felling Place
_____
Hugo Michell Gallery are proud to partner with Bird in Hand Winery for this opening event.
We’re excited to share that William Mackinnon’s solo exhibition ‘Pheonix’ will be presented at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, opening this Saturday 21st February.
This exhibition reflects the artist’s experiences living and working with Aboriginal communities in the Western Desert and Kimberley regions. As a field officer with Papunya Tula Artists in 2008-2009, Mackinnon witnessed both the extraordinary beauty of Aboriginal Country and the complex realities of remote community life, where isolation and hardship are balanced with cultural vitality and humour.
Presented with permission from Papunya Tula Artists, these paintings represent the artist’s reckoning with his experiences of that time, an empathetic meditation on beauty and survival.
‘Pheonix’ will be on display the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory from 21 February to 24 May 2026.
Pictured: William Mackinnon, Crossroads, 2019, synthetic polymer paint, oil, automotive enamel, glitter on linen, 200 x 300 cm, National Gallery of Australia Collection
KATE JUST
A Sign of the Times
'A Sign of the Times', is new series of complex hand knitted homages to potent text-based, political, public signs by other artists that continue to resonate in our current political and social climate. The series expands upon her approach in past works such as Feminist Fan and Protest Signs, in which the artist deployed knitting to re-materialise and pay homage to significant historical queer/feminist artworks and protest texts, and affirm their position in the canon of art history.
_____
JUSTINE VARGA
Somerville Suite
Photography emerged from centuries of scientific inquiry into optics, chemistry, and mechanics. Yet typically, the material components essential to this process—light, chemicals, film, paper—dissolve into invisibility, subsumed within the constructed pictures they produce.
...Somerville Suite (2023-25) reverses this disappearance by reclaiming photography’s experimental origins. (Justine Varga's) prints lay bare an unfamiliar, elemental vision of the medium, gesturing not only outward towards representation of external realities but also inward, revealing layered practices shaped by human touch, skilled labour, and intimate dialogue with history. At first glance, the three prints dazzle with brightly coloured geometric forms in cyan, magenta, and yellow. Looking more closely reveals the artist’s mastery of craft and playful exploration of photography’s hidden processes. - (excerpt from text accompaniment by Erin Pauwels)
Hugo Michell Gallery are proud to partner with Bird in Hand Winery for this opening event.
We’re delighted to present ‘Summer in the Stockroom’, an exhibition of new works from the Hugo Michell Gallery stockroom.
Featuring pieces by Clara Adolphs, David Booth [Ghostpatrol], James Dodd, Bridie Gillman, Sam Gold, Lucas Grogan, Richard Lewer, and Sera Waters, the exhibition highlights the artists’ ongoing material interests and the continuity of their ideas.
This year’s ‘Summer in the Stockroom’ invites visitors to a chance to see thoughtful, curated presentation of works that have been waiting for the right moment to be seen.
This exhibition will be on display from 5 December 2025 to 29 January 2026.
Hugo Michell Gallery is open Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm and Saturdays 11am-4pm until Friday 19th December 2025 after which the gallery will be open by appointment.
Enquiries to mail@hugomichellgallery.com
Pictured: Selected works by Clara Adolphs, David Booth [Ghostpatrol], James Dodd, Bridie Gillman, Sam Gold, Lucas Grogan, Richard Lewer, and Sera Waters at Hugo Michell Gallery, 2025. Photography by Sam Roberts
Congratulations to Sam Gold who has announced as the WINNER of the Wollongong Art Prize 2025!
Judged by Dr Kristen Sharp, Gold's winning work explores care, fluidity, and resilient storytelling. The large-scale hand-built stoneware sculpture, finished with enamel, uses coiling and layering to resist fixed edges, carrying collective stories and asserting presence.
Wollongong Art Prize is an acquisitive national prize, open to all Australian artists. Now reimagined for a new generation, the competition invites submissions from artists working across all mediums. With a strong emphasis on accessibility, inclusivity, and community engagement, the prize seeks to showcase the breadth and vitality of contemporary art practice.
The finalist works will be on display at Wollongong Art Gallery from today until Sunday 1 March 2026.
Once again we congratulate Sam and all the other finalists!
Sam Gold, Lungs swollen with warmth from the mouths of exploding stars, 2024-25, stoneware and enamel, 150 x 190 x 18 cm. Photography by Connor Patterson
Showing: 11-20 of 331