Experience the art of Cressida Campbell in National Gallery survey exhibition this September

‘Every artist has their language – any half-decent artist has their particular handwriting, as Margaret Olley used to say – and it’s showing people how to see your vision of the world.’– Cressida Campbell

This September, the National Gallery invites people on a journey into the imagination of artist Cressida Campbell. A renowned colourist whose work blends printmaking and painting, Campbell blurs the boundary between art and life as she translates the everyday into the extraordinary.

Exclusive tickets to Cressida Campbell, on show from 24 September 2022 until 19 February 2023, go on sale to National Gallery members today. New members receive one complimentary ticket to the exhibition upon joining. Tickets to the public are available from 30 June. More details here.

With many of Campbell’s sought after painted woodblocks and single-edition woodcut prints held in private collections, audiences will have a rare chance to see works that have been off public display for decades.

In its 40th anniversary year, the National Gallery’s survey exhibition, curated by Dr Sarina Noordhuis-Fairfax, Curator, Australian Prints and Drawings, highlights Campbell’s four-decade career.

It’s not the first time Campbell has marked milestones with the National Gallery. She was present when the Queen opened Australia’s national visual arts institution on 12 October 1982. In 1987, one of Campbell’s early woodcuts, Through the windscreen 1986, was acquired for the national collection.

Noordhuis-Fairfax said that in documenting her own life, Campbell’s art remains connected to the times in which she lives. ‘The personal nature of her pictures resonates with a wide audience and offers an overview of the last 40 years or so of her story,’ she said.

‘The domestic focus of many of her prints and paintings allows us to piece together a journey through her life from kitchen scraps and watering cans, cut flowers and washing up, postcard souvenirs to harbour views framed through windscreens.’

Natasha Bullock, the National Gallery’s Assistant Director, Artistic Programs, said: ‘This major survey of Campbell’s prodigious career is a natural fit for the National Gallery and our gender equity initiative Know My Name.’

‘We are excited to showcase a significant Australian artist as our major summer exhibition in our anniversary year.’

Cressida Campbell will feature more than 140 woodcut prints and painted woodblocks, spanning her earliest through to most recent works of art including new acquisitions, and key works from private and public collections. It includes childhood drawings and support materials from Campbell’s studio that give an understanding of her intricate technique.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an illustrated catalogue created in collaboration with the artist that will offer new insights into her life and work, featuring research and writing from a range of curators, artists, poets and other voices.

Cressida Campbell has been made possible through the continued generosity of Principal Patron: Margaret Olley Art Trust; Strategic Partners: VisitCanberra and Seven West Media; Major Partner: Qantas; Major Patrons: Brian Abel and Mark Manton, Philip Bacon AO, Michael Gannon and Helen Gannon; Exhibition Patrons: Julian Burt and Alexandra Burt through the Wright Burt Foundation; and Supporting Patrons: The Hon Ashley Dawson Damer AM, John Hindmarsh AM and Rosanna Hindmarsh OAM, Andrew Robertson, and Ray Wilson OAM.

KEY DATES
Media Preview | 22 September at 11am
Exhibition Season | 24 September 2022 to 19 February 2023

TICKETS
$22 Adults $17 Members $20 Concession $6 Child (5-16 years)
Season tickets available

MEMBER EVENT
Members' Preview Day – 23 September 2022
National Gallery Members are invited to celebrate the opening of Cressida Campbell. Join us for a garden party lunch including exhibition entry or visit the exhibition during the afternoon and evening previews (bookings and tickets required).

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Jessica Barnes | Communications Officer | +61 437 986 286

Media images are available here