culture

Peter Drew’s posters can be seen on streets throughout Australia, throwing down a challenge to passers-by to consider our national identity. But far from being a strident activist, the artist is happy to question rather than lecture. “You’ve got to approach it with curiosity and the possibility that you might be wrong. There might be something you’re missing. You can’t forgo that possibility and bathe in the certainty of your convictions. You can’t be puritanical, because that is the worst thing of all.”

With art collectives on the rise, this mob – a group of young blak artists – put their work on display in two Melbourne gallery spaces in a bid to subvert the usual way artists interface with the public.

A visit to the studio of nonagenarian artist Guy Warren.

A visit to Arts Project, the studio of sketcher Adrian Lazzaro.

The largest survey of Shaun Gladwell’s work – on display at the MCA – not only showcases his trademark slow-motion video practice and his newer ventures into AR and VR, but also heightens a viewer’s consciousness of the ways bodies move.

Throughout her career, artist Julie Gough has shone light on Tasmania’s colonial history and the genocidal war against Aboriginal people, including her ancestors. With a major solo exhibition at TMAG, Tense Past, she speaks about her remarkable work. “Art is not only a visual outcome; making each artwork is my way of proceeding through the quagmire of the past.”

As mining interests continue to dominate Australia’s landscape, two exhibitions at UNSW Galleries consider humanity’s exploitation of the planet’s resources.

With his bold, sumptuous paintings, Michael Armitage is intent on challenging colonial assumptions about East Africa and revealing the region’s complexities. “Sex, poverty and dictators: if you are talking about this part of the world, you always come up against those stereotypes and that’s been very difficult … For me, it’s been important to use an exotic language but show that it is also a form of dumbing down.”

A walk along Merri Creek with multimedia artist Lucreccia Quintanilla.