Art Gallery of New South Wales Art Wales South Gallery New of ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES 2015 2015 ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES 2015 2 Art Gallery of New South Wales 2015 Art Gallery of New South Wales 2015 3 Our year in review 4 Art Gallery of New South Wales 2015 Art Gallery of New South Wales 2015 5 We dedicate this inaugural Art Gallery of New South Wales annual review publication to the Australian artists represented in the Gallery’s collection who have passed away during the year. 8 OUR VISION 9 FROM THE PRESIDENT Guido Belgiorno-Nettis 10 FROM THE DIRECTOR Michael Brand 12 YEAR AT A GLANCE 14 SYDNEY MODERN PROJECT 23 ART 42 IDEAS 50 AUDIENCE 60 PARTNERSHIPS 74 EXECUTIVE 75 CONTACTS 80 2016 PREVIEW Our vision From its base in Sydney, the Art Gallery of New South Wales is dedicated to serving the widest possible audience as a centre of excellence for the collection, preservation, documentation, interpretation and display of Australian and international art, and a forum for scholarship, art education and the exchange of ideas. Our goal is that by the time of our As Australia’s premier art museum, 150th anniversary in 2021, the Gallery we must reflect the continuing evolution will be recognised, both nationally of the visual arts in the 21st century and internationally, for the quality of alongside the development of new our collection, our facilities, our staff, channels of global communication that our scholarship and the innovative increasingly transcend national ways in which we engage with our boundaries. While we live in an era of various audiences. overall financial constraint, we are also blessed with high levels of new thinking It is essential the Gallery continues to and ever-increasing expectations. build on our reputation as Australia’s leading art museum in the fields of contemporary art, while maintaining our significant commitment to historical Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island, Australian, Asian and European art. 8 Art Gallery of New South Wales 2015 GUIDO BELGIORNO-NETTIS AM PRESIDENT ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES TRUST 2014–15 FROM THE PRESIDENT This is the inaugural Art Gallery Through our strategic partner, In May, the Gallery appointed Tokyo- of New South Wales year in Destination NSW, the Gallery was able based architectural and design firm review publication which celebrates to bring The Greats: masterpieces SANAA to design the Sydney Modern our key achievements for 2015. from the National Galleries of Scotland Project after they won an international to Sydney as part of the Sydney design competition, whose jury was I would like to formally acknowledge International Art Series. EY, our chaired by the Gallery’s director, the significant support of the NSW leadership partner, also made a highly Michael Brand. The Gallery has since Government this year, through the valued contribution to this exhibition. been working closely with SANAA Hon Mike Baird MP, Premier of New Our other leadership partner, ANZ, to refine the design for the Sydney South Wales, and the Hon Troy Grant allowed us again to present the Modern Project in consultation with MP, Deputy Premier and Minister for Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes. key stakeholders. the Arts. The government’s support Our principal sponsors – Herbert has allowed us to serve our current This has been my final year on the Smith Freehills, J.P. Morgan, audiences and, with funding for the Board of Trustees, having served the Macquarie Capital, State Street and planning phase of the Sydney Modern maximum three consecutive three- UBS – provided significant support Project, to further develop our strategy year terms, and I leave the Gallery in to numerous Gallery programs. for the future. a strong position under the leadership In addition, we entered the second year of new president, David Gonski AC, When our 2014–15 Annual Report was of the ten-year $10-million philanthropic with a committed and generous Board tabled in Parliament in November, we commitment to the Gallery from of Trustees as well as our exceptional were pleased to announce that Gallery Crown Resorts Foundation through director, executive team and Gallery visitation had increased by 13% to their Sydney Arts Fund. Crown Resorts staff. It has been an honour and a 1.3 million. This included a 12% Foundation and the Packer Family privilege serving the Gallery as trustee increase in visitor numbers to our Foundation are also providing $100 000 and president. building in The Domain, a 5% increase per year for two years to deliver Art to the Brett Whiteley Studio and a 14% Pathways, an impactful social inclusion increase in touring exhibition visitation. program for students in Western Sydney. As it has since 1983, the Gallery continued to provide significant support for art acquisitions. Valued at over $20 million in total, two major new bequests for art acquisitions to the Foundation in 2015 will be the two largest bequests in its history. This will make the Foundation one of the largest art acquisition funds in the country. Art Gallery of New South Wales 2015 9 MICHAEL BRAND DIRECTOR ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES FROM THE DIRECTOR While we celebrate a highly from head curator of international art, Ildiko Kovacs won the $80 000 Bulgari successful year at the Gallery in 2015, Justin Paton, won the Art Association of Art Award for Onda 2015. She is we are also planning assiduously Australia and New Zealand Best Large the fourth recipient of the annual for the future as the Gallery Catalogue award for 2015 in recognition award, launched by Bulgari in 2012 approaches its 150th anniversary of its original contribution to scholarship. in collaboration with the Gallery. in 2021. Our focus is on how best The Balnaves Foundation support for Sourced from more than thirty-five to expand our art collection, to the Edmund Capon Fellowship this private and public collections nationally develop inspiring exhibitions and year enabled Matt Cox, assistant and internationally, The photograph to broaden our audience, including curator, Asian art, to travel to and build and Australia made an original in the digital sphere. stronger relationships with partner contribution to the history of Australian institutions in Malaysia, the Philippines For the 2015 calendar year, the Gallery art and to our understanding of how and Singapore. acquired a total of 440 new works photography helped shape our national (185 purchases and 255 gifts and identity. Go east: the Gene & Brian 2015 witnessed both the 20th bequests) worth over $10 million. Sherman Contemporary Asian Art anniversary of the Brett Whiteley Studio Acquisition highlights include works Collection included Jitish Kalat’s Public and the transfer of its ownership to by Godfrey Miller, Sue Ford, Shaun notice 2 2007 and Yang Zhichao’s the Gallery. A generous donation of Gladwell, Charles Kerry, Samuel Chinese Bible 2009, both of which were $2 million by Wendy Whiteley has Namunjdja, Mark Bradford, Anish gifted to the Gallery by the Shermans. extended opening hours and enabled Kapoor, Martha Rosler, Andrew Nicholl extra programming and further Nigel Milsom won the annual Archibald and Michael Parekowhai. curatorial and research support. Prize for his portrait of Charles Funded by the Beryl Whiteley Estate, The public enjoyed a wide variety of Waterstreet, while Natasha Bieniek won the value of the Brett Whiteley significant exhibitions at the Gallery in the Wynne Prize with Biophilia and Travelling Art Scholarship has been 2015, which continued to showcase Jason Phu won the Sulman Prize with increased from $25 000 to $30 000. our scholarship and professional I was at yum cha when in rolled the expertise as well as our strong national three severed heads of Buddha: Fear, Twenty-one of our paintings were and international connections. Almost Malice and Death. The Gallery also included in the National Gallery of 124 000 people viewed our 2014–15 held the Young Archie competition for Australia’s Tom Roberts retrospective summer exhibition, Pop to popism. artists between the ages of five and in Canberra, highlighting both the Its catalogue, edited by head curator eighteen. The winners were Daniel calibre of our collection and our of Australian art, Wayne Tunnicliffe, and Harford (age seven), Marium El-Hajj commitment to ensuring it is viewed assistant curator of contemporary art, (age twelve), Ellie Arnott (age fifteen) by a wide audience in a variety Anneke Jaspers, with contributions and Harriet Mitchell (age eighteen). of contexts. 10 Art Gallery of New South Wales 2015 In 2015 the Gallery continued to ‘ showcase our scholarship and professional expertise as well as our strong national and international connections. ’ After extensive consultation with our Embracing new ways of communicating In May, Anne Flanagan, deputy director partners, we launched a Regional NSW with and expanding our audience, in of the Gallery and one of Australia’s and Western Sydney Engagement Plan addition to the Gallery’s Instagram most respected art museum leaders, as well as the Art Pathways program account (#artgalleryofnsw), I also post announced her retirement after twenty- for Western Sydney schools; the latter photos of art and life in Sydney and three years. Suhanya Raffel, our director with funding generously provided by further afield on @michaelbrandsydney. of collections, took on the additional the Crown Resorts Foundation and the role of deputy director at this time. Packer Family Foundation. Lastly, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis AM, We also completed six exhibition who has made so many significant and collection policies to reflect our contributions to the Gallery since commitment to best practice and to he joined the Board of Trustees in support the Gallery’s application for 2007 (and as president from 2014), and ongoing compliance with Approved completed his trusteeship at the end Borrowing Institution status under the of 2015.