Sydney Contemporary Launches Eighth Edition & Announces MA Art Prize Winner Alfred Lowe

Sydney Contemporary, in partnership with Principal Partner MA Financial Group, has launched its eighth edition, and announced the winner of the acquisitive $10,000 MA Art Prize as emerging First Nations artist Alfred Lowe. 

Presented at Presenting Partner Carriageworks from 5 – 8 September 2024, Sydney Contemporary showcases over 85 galleries and more than 400 artists from Australia and around the world, alongside a dynamic program of installations, performances and talks.

Since its foundation in 2013, Sydney Contemporary has established itself as Australasia’s premier art fair, regularly attracting over 25,000 visitors at each edition and recording over $121 million in art sales since its launch. The Fair is the pre-eminent meeting place for the art world, and critical to the growth of the art market in Australia. 

Highlights this year include a giant 20m wide Skywalker Gibbon installation by renowned contemporary artist Lisa Roet on the roof of Carriageworks for Installation Contemporary; a dynamic Talk Contemporary program headlined by a conversation with Mona’s Kirsha Kaechele; a vibrant immersive performance by multidisciplinary artist HOSSEI for Performance Contemporary; and artist Lara Merrett leading Kid Contemporary. 

“We are excited to throw open the doors to this year’s Sydney Contemporary, which features an incredible lineup of galleries and artists from Australia and around the world,” said Sydney Contemporary Fair Director, Zoe Paulsen.

“Each year Sydney Contemporary offers artwork of exceptional quality by artists at diverse stages in their careers working across a range of mediums. We aim to provide entry points for all our visitors to the Fair, whether they’re buying their first artwork or seeking to diversify their collections, and we can’t wait for them to experience this year’s program, filling the iconic Carriageworks space with joy, curiosity and ideas in a major celebration of contemporary art.” 

MA ART PRIZE

The winner of the MA Art Prize has been announced today as emerging First Nations artist Alfred Lowe, who is showing at Sydney Contemporary with Sabbia Gallery. The acquisitive prize valued at $10,000 has been established to celebrate and support emerging and early career artists in Australia. 

Lowe is an Arrernte person from Snake Well in the Central Desert, north of Alice Springs, who now lives and works in  Adelaide, practising at APY Studio. 

The artist uses clay and ceramics to explore themes of Country  using organic forms and textures informed by his intimate  knowledge of the central desert landscape. His winning work, All dressed up I, 2024, sees a large-scale vessel created using hand  built stoneware with sgraffito and raffia. 

Lowe is deeply influenced by his lived experience growing up in Central Australia, fuelling an interest in politics and racial justice, and in particular how culture and identity are navigated and  manifested in modern times. 

Lowe was selected by a judging panel comprising Andrew Martin, MA Financial Group, Janna Robertson, MA Financial Group, Amelia Hill, MA Financial Group, Jarrod Rawlins, Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), and Sue Cato, Cato & Clive. 

“Alfred’s work is an impressive stand amongst a high-quality group of finalists,” said Andrew Martin, Head of Asset Management at MA Financial and member of the judging panel for the MA Art Prize winner.

“He is a worthy recipient of the MA Art Prize. Alfred’s bold and confident use of colour, form and texture draws on his intimate knowledge of the central desert landscape north of Alice Springs. We are hopeful that the MA Art Prize will help Alfred, as an early career artist, realise his full potential.” 

“I am thrilled to be the recipient of the 2024 MA Art Prize,” artist Alfred Lowe commented.

“Sydney Contemporary is a gathering of the country’s best artists and galleries and I look forward to this event every year, so to be recognised here is very special. My work, ‘All dressed up I’ is a joyful celebration of love, defiance and what it means to present yourself to the world. The work holds space unapologetically and dares you to try to ignore it”.

SYDNEY CONTEMPORARY GALLERY HIGHLIGHTS

Six leading galleries join the expanded WORKS ON PAPER section of the Fair for the first time. Curated by Akky van Ogtrop, President of Print Council of Australia, the sector showcases the best of national and international contemporary printmaking, watercolour, drawing, artists’ books, photographs, and zines.

These include Ames Yavuz, Australian Print Workshop, Nanda\Hobbs, N.Smith Gallery, Utopia Art Sydney and Vermilion Art, presenting works by leading artists including Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Chuck Close, Abdul Abdullah, Zico Albaiquni, Cybele Cox, Sarah Drinan, Solomon Kammer, Tom Polo, Caroline Rothwell, Manit Sriwanichpoom, David Fairbairn, Ah Xian, Fang Lijun, Chen Wenling and Geng Xue.

• The Renshaws presents a solo exhibition by sculptor Jamie North created specifically for the Fair. These major new works comprised of concrete, stainless steel and bronze, are each planted with flora native to the local Eora nation, creating a dynamic interplay between the industrial and the organic that echoes the resilience of nature. 
• Sullivan+Strumpf has curated a presentation of new works by renowned contemporary female artists, including senior Yolŋu artists from North East Arnhem Land Dhopiya Yunupiŋu and Naminapu Maymuru-White, and Lindy Lee. This is Maymuru-White’s first presentation since the 2024 Venice Biennale exhibition, marking the first time bark paintings have been included in the main exhibition of the world’s oldest contemporary art event of its kind. 
• Ames Yavuz presents their first solo presentation with celebrated Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal artist Brook Andrew, with a selection of works centred on music, poetry and the archive. The gallery also presents new works by artists and brothers Abdul Abdullah and Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, exploring animal archetypes and deconstructing contemporary quests for knowledge and identity. 
• MARS Gallery showcases major new works by Atong Atem and Daniel Agdag, as well as select works by Emil Cañita, in their debut at Sydney Contemporary. With Atem’s hand-printed textiles, Agdag’s hand-carved sculptures and Cañita’s handwritten stories, MARS celebrates the artist’s hand as a reminder to slow down and notice the creator in their practice. 
• Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery presents a curated booth of works from the gallery’s 42-year archive alongside new works. Highlights include never before seen works from Nyapanyapa Yunupingu’s estate, a pair of unseen photographs from one of Bill Henson’s most highly sought-after series the ‘Paris Opera Project‘ (1990-1991), new works by leading Indigenous Australian artist Daniel Boyd, early works by Imants Tillers (1987) and Linda Marrinon (1998), and photographs from Isaac Julien’s iconic series Looking for Langston (1989). 
• CASSANDRA BIRD spotlights a captivating series of artworks by The Tennant Creek Brio, an artist collective working on Warumungu country that includes contemporary artists from both Northern Central Australia and Melbourne. The collective blends Aboriginal cultural heritage, the ruggedness of the mining industry, and a mix of regional and global artistic influences. The booth features a sculptural installation by Clifford Thompson Japaljarri, collaborative paintings by Fabian Brown Japaljarri and Rupert Betheras, paintings by Marcus Camphoo and Arthur Dixon and a series of ceremonial motifs painted on mining maps by Joseph Williams and Lindsay Nelson Jakamarra. 
• COMA presents a suite of new work by Australian artists living and working abroad, as well as a number of highly regarded international practitioners, continuing their mission to ensure Australian artists are contextualised on a broader international stage. Artists include Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Justin Williams, Nick Modrzewski, Mia Middleton, Madeline Peckenpaugh, Renée Estée, Tala Worrell, Fabian Ramirez, Kansas Smeaton, Jose Davila, Mikey Yates, Punni Brown Nungurrayi, and Shan Turner-Carroll. 

INSTALLATION CONTEMPORARY

Curated by Talia Linz, Senior Curator at Artspace, Installation Contemporary showcases works that extend beyond the traditional booth presentation, providing an opportunity to experience innovative, site-specific, and interactive installations within the unique architecture of Carriageworks. 

Highlight installations include: 

• A major 9m high and 20m wide installation of a Skywalker Gibbon by leading contemporary artist Lisa Roet, represented by Gow Langsford Gallery, appears on the roof of Carriagework, marking the first time the work has been presented in Australia. Made of solar-sensitive inflatable material, the work has been hand painted to depict a Skywalker gibbon, an endangered primate discovered in 2017, highlighting the impact of humans on the planet and mass extinction of animal species. 
• Senior men and women from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands present the latest in their Kulata Tjuta (many spears) project, which shares the skills of spear making across generations. Consisting of 200 traditional Anangu tools and weaponry suspended from the Carriageworks ceiling, Tjara, Wana, Miru is a major new installation rooted in age-old traditions. Presented by APY Art Centre Collective. 
• A large new wall-based work by artist Stephen Bird titled Continent of Exiles, features his renowned ceramic plates and sculptures. Investigating the interrelationship of surface, form, colour, line and mark-making, Bird draws attention to our emotional connection with objects that have been made by hand. Presented by OLSEN.
•  Large-scale text works by artist, designer and activist David McDiarmid, who died from an AIDS-related illness in 1995 when he was just 42. With pithy, often ironic, political and poignant observations, McDiarmid’s Rainbow Aphorisms reframe and appropriate cultural discourses of the time. The colour spectrum works were created in Sydney in the final years of the artist’s life and their insightful play with the power of words and the concept of truth remains relevant today. Presented by Neon Parc. 

TALK CONTEMPORARY

Talk Contemporary features a dynamic lineup of industry leaders exploring current trends and topics at the intersection of art, design and architecture. The first strand of talks, curated by Micheal Do, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Sydney Opera House, examines art today, while the second strand, curated by Stephen Todd, Design Editor of Australian Financial Review, is focused on the latest trends in design and architecture. 

The program is headlined by an In Conversation with Kirsha Kaechele, the artist and curator known for her project The Ladies Lounge at Mona (Museum of Old and New Art), speaking with arts advocate Pippa Dickson, on Thursday 5 September, 6pm. 

Highlight talks include: 

• Weave and Weft: Art and Fashion | Thurs 5 Sept, 1:30pm 
  • Moderated by Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, panelists Lisa Havilah (CEO, Powerhouse Museum), Kaylene Milner (WAH-WAH AUSTRALIA), and artists Atong Atem and Darren Sylvester, discuss fashion as a cultural artefact capable of communicating identity, history and storytelling. Industry leaders take a closer look into boundary blurring collaborations defining our cultural moment.
• Poetics, Politics and the Personal: A Method | Sat 7 Sept, 3pm 
  • A look into how art can navigate and influence the turbulent times in which we live, moderated by leading First Nations journalist and writer Daniel Browning, with Filipina-Australian artist Marikit Santiago and Wiradjuri poet and artist Jazz Money. Panelists address socially and politically engaged art that provides a platform for healing, resistance, and solidarity, and what tangible effects it can have on current global conflicts and their local impacts.
• The New Taste Makers on the Future of Collecting | Thurs 5 Sept, 3pm 
  • Gallerist Cassandra Bird (CASSANDRA BIRD), secondary-market expert Jesse-Jack de Deyne (A Secondary Eye), and cross-disciplinary creative Jordan Gogos delve into the vision driving some of the newest leaders on the art scene and discuss their advice for collectors entering the market and those wanting to update their approach. Moderated by Stephen Todd.
• How To Curate An Eye-Catching Interior | Sat 7 Sept, 1.30pm 
  • Three masters of contemporary architecture and design, interior designer Blainey North (Blainey North & Associates), architect Nick Tobias (Founding Principal, Tobias Partners) and interior designer Yasmine Ghoniem (YSG Studio) share their tips for conjuring up artful interiors. Moderated by Stephen Todd. 

PERFORMANCE CONTEMPORARY

The dynamic Performance Contemporary program brings the space to life, curated by Sam Watson-Wood, Director of Friends with Strangers. Performances include: 

• Two performances of the major work ESSSENSSSE by HOSSEI, a multidisciplinary artist with Persian, Turkish, and Russian ancestry. The performance, featuring ten performers and a vibrant installation, is about letting go and being one with the spirit and embracing its purity and vulnerability. ESSSENSSSE is an aquatic ecosystem that explores the tenacity of the human spirit, stripping away corporeal human qualities and revealing what’s underneath. ESSSENSSSE is the next morning, the BODY, MIND, SPIRIT after a big night, looking at the sea for new beginnings.

• A dedication to the late artist, song woman and orator Séini Sista Native Taumoepeau, titled GRIEF DIGEST sees two Sydney based artists, Sereima Adimate and Kilia Pahulu, working with cultural concepts and their contemporary practices in a collaborative exploration of grief, death, and the process of digesting them. This performance invites their audience to process their own constipated grief and allow them permission to dissolve grief into joy.

KID CONTEMPORARY

Artist Lara Merrett presents an immersive installation titled The Blue Room, inviting participants to create their own artworks using the cyanotype process. Inspired by her own artistic practice within the expanded field of painting on both an intimate and monumental scale, Merret asks audiences to bring their own pocket size natural object and transform it into a print using coated Cyanotype paper and UV light boxes. Participants can take a print home and leave another to become part of the evolving large-scale blue installation artwork at Sydney Contemporary. 

Sydney Contemporary is supported proudly by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. 

Purchase tickets to Sydney Contemporary: sydneycontemporary.com.au/tickets