Destination Sydney: natural world – Mosman

1 exhibition I 3 galleries I 9 contemporary women artists I 90 works

Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Mosman Art Gallery and S. H. Ervin Gallery have collaborated again to showcase about 90 key works by nine important Australian women artists to celebrate the spirit of Sydney’s natural environment in a new exhibition Destination Sydney: The natural world. The exhibition runs as part of the 2022 Sydney Festival from 4 January – 20 March, 2022.

All the artists have lived and worked in Sydney. Bronwyn Oliver also lived in Sydney but sadly died in 2006. While many of the artworks depict Sydney’s natural environment, some of the works are inspired by Sydney. The artists are Joan Ross, Fiona Lowry, Merran Esson (Manly Art Gallery & Museum), Janet Laurence, Caroline Rothwell, Robyn Stacey (Mosman Art Gallery), and Bronwyn Oliver, Juz Kitson and Jennifer Keeler-Milne (S.H. Ervin Gallery). Caroline Rothwell, Joan Ross, Fiona Lowry, Jennifer Keeler-Milne and Juz Kitson will create new works for this exhibition.

The three galleries have collaborated again to stage Destination Sydney: The natural world due to the success of the 2015-16 collaboration called Destination Sydney and the 2018-19 Destination Sydney: Reimagined exhibition which attracted record attendances.

This exhibition has been curated by Katherine Roberts (Manly Art Gallery & Museum); Kelly McDonald and Katrina Cashman (Mosman Art Gallery) and Jane Watters (National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery) who have chosen the works. The strap line of the exhibition, The natural world, clearly identifies the intention to show artists whose interests are again landscape and landforms, but with the added analytical appreciation and understanding of the environment.

Sydney is a city blessed with an extraordinary natural environment – a beauty that has been defined and refined by the male gaze of artists drawn to this place since the early 19th century. From Martens, Streeton and Roberts, to Rees, Whiteley and Olsen, male artists have successfully driven the process of interpreting and reinterpreting the harbour city while the work of female artists has been comparatively ignored or recognized only in the genres of interiors or still lifes. The new exhibition is an exploration of the work of women artists in defining the art of Sydney in the 21st century – Destination Sydney: The natural world is a response to this call.

This third exhibition showcases a broader range of media to include painting, photography, sculpture and ceramics. All but one of the artists is living and in a nod to contemporary curatorial thinking and practice, all of the artists and their associated essayists are female. Each of the artists has created works that are becoming synonymous with the Sydney landscape, in new and innovative ways.

The Destination Sydney series has always worked to a model of featuring three significant artists in each of the galleries, and this third exhibition completes the trinity of exhibitions.

By featuring three artists in each of the three locations, it encourages people to visit more than one gallery exhibition.

Jane Watters, Director, S.H. Ervin Gallery said we are pleased to work together as partners in realising exhibitions greater in scope and impact than our institutions’ normal capabilities and in delivering outstanding art experiences to inspire audiences and to promote the extraordinary work of women artists.

Kelly McDonald, Senior Curator Mosman Art Gallery said Destination Sydney: The natural world engages with a tradition in Sydney of art institutions collaborating to develop exhibitions that are more ambitious than any one gallery could stage on its own.

Katherine Roberts, Senior Curator, Manly Art Gallery & Museum said Sydney has long been a mecca for artists and an enduring subject in the history of Australian art. We are thrilled to be collaborating again with S H Ervin and the Mosman Art Gallery to present an exhibition of some of Australia’s most important women artists.

Destination Sydney: The natural world offers people the opportunity to walk around, look at and immerse themselves in art that is inspired by Sydney.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a diverse Public Program of free and ticketed events and a catalogue which features the works and essays on each of the 9 artists. The catalogue is available at Manly, Mosman & S.H. Ervin Galleries for $25.

/Public Release. View in full here.