The University Gallery
Located on our Callaghan campus, the University Gallery is renowned for ideas driven contemporary exhibitions from art practitioners and researchers – locally, nationally, internationally and from our own University community. For over 25 years it has been a site for cross-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange that champions creative thinking and engagement. It is a place for contemporary artists to develop and profile their practice, presenting compelling exhibitions that inspire.
Set in an award winning building designed by internationally renowned Alumnus, Peter Stutchbury, the University Gallery exhibits a wide range of artistic production from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, International exchanges, touring and collective shows, and solo artists. Throughout the year our calendar continues to present a dynamic series of innovative and diverse exhibitions and events, curated in support of our students, our researchers, our staff and our community.
Banner image: Dino Consalvo and Lottie Consalvo, From the Mudbrick House, 2019.
Caroline Zilinsky: Exquisite Cadaver
28 February - 20 April 2024
Caroline Zilinsky belongs in a time other than now; her erudite artistic bluntness somehow belongs in the great feasting halls of Nordic mythology rather than the white-walled boxes of the contemporary art world. Zilinsky is the incarnation of a Seeress – a woman gifted in the dark arts who can decipher the present and foretell the future. The artist’s gift is awareness and the courage to paint the uncomfortable.
Throughout her career, she has challenged societal indoctrination and stupidity with an obsessive observation of humanity and the media. Her fortress bedroom studio – is a bastion of artistic truth. The paintings emanating from a place of darkness lead us to the light through her uniquely beautiful, skewed realism. The mirror she places in front of us is a powerful reminder that art is much more than just about liking things.
About the Exhibition
Interdisciplinary artist Daz Chandler writes - “Exquisite Cadaver is the title given to her latest show. Named after the surrealist multiplayer game, Exquisite Corpse where each participant takes turns writing or drawing on a sheet of paper, folding it to conceal their contribution, before passing it on to the next player."
The exhibition is a coming together of over thirty of her paintings, the first time she’s had all her work in one place.
"The most precious thing we have in our lives is time and our ability to think. For me, these paintings mark a passing of time. A commitment I've made to documentation. So seeing them together, all in the same space, will be quite emotional for me." Caroline Zilinsky
Read more about Caroline Here
Read the Caroline Zilinsky essay by Daz Chandler Here
Coming Soon...
Simon Munro: Philosophies of the Anaiwan
1 May - 28 June
Launching 18 May
Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations boast a rich history of creative expressions that serve to preserve identities through storytelling, painting, song, dance, wood and rock carving. To keep traditional and contemporary storylines continuously alive, practicing culture remains true to this day.
Aboriginal ways of knowing and transmitting knowledge are encoded in creative cultural expressions. Munro’s work surveys the intricate philosophy embedded in Aboriginal cultural practice and mark-making.
Philosophies of the Anaiwan draws from Munro’s heritage, the Anaiwan nation of the New England Tablelands. Munro invites viewers to consider mark-making in all forms in this exhibition as the living voices of his ancestors and extends a warm welcome to consider these works as an invitation into his family’s timeline.
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The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.