Everyday Art

Australian Folk Art

Exhibition
25 Apr 1998 – 21 Jun 1998
a red hand embroidered quilt with Australian animals and a floral border motif.

Misses Hampson, The Westbury quilt, 1900-1903, purchased through the Australian Textiles Fund 1990

About

The National Gallery of Australia has included folk art in its acquisitions policy since the Gallery's inception. The Gallery's holdings constitute arguably the most important collection of folk art material in this country. It represents a cultural practice accessible to everyone and with something to offer those seeking to understand the human need to make objects. Folk art also offers a rich source for our sense of national identity as a people, a sense of our unabashedly Australian culture. Everyday art: Australian folk art celebrated the glories of everyday objects and provided audiences with the opportunity to view these treasures. The exhibition included a number of works from private collections and other institutions, showcasing Australian and Aboriginal art in furniture, textiles, ceramics, metalwork and domestic decorative objects

Following the display in Canberra at the Gallery, the exhibition toured to venues in Brisbane, Wollongong, Ballarat, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and Hobart. The exhibition was accompanied by a book which highlighted the importance and strength of the Gallery's collection of folk art. In addition, educational material was developed for primary and secondary students, to introduce children to the cultural value of this material and broaden the perception of art in everyday objects. The full national tour was made possible through the assistance of Visions of Australia, a Federal Government touring program.

Text sourced from: Logan, Jim. Everyday Art : Australian Folk Art. Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, 1998.

Related

Exhibition

Mud Men
Ramesh Nithiyendran

Past Exhibition
A ceramic sculpture of a vaguely humanoid figure atop a cement platform

3 Jun 2016 – 26 Feb 2017

Mud men is a new installation by Sydney-based artist Ramesh Nithiyendran featuring five large-scale ceramic sculptures.

Exhibition

FuturePlay
from the house of tomorrow

Past Exhibition
Model layout of exhibitions with hands adjusting the location of works of art

19 Mar 2005 – 29 May 2005

futurePlay transforms the Children’s Gallery into a playroom of the future, with an electronic world of digital animations and interactive artwork.

Exhibition

Silently Stirring

Past Exhibition
Two squirrels on a branch, one on all fours and another in an upright position with paws held up to mouth

21 Mar 2009 – 8 Jun 2009

Silently stirring explores the themes of movement, change and transformation through prints, drawings, photography and sculpture of animals.

Exhibition

Diane Arbus
American Portraits

Past Exhibition
A black and white photo of harried Christmas shoppers looking down at the photographer

3 Jun 2016 – 30 Oct 2016

The photographs of Diane Arbus (1923–1971) are powerful allegories of postwar America.

Exhibition

In the Spotlight
Anton Bruehl photographs 1920s–1950s

Past Exhibition
Picture of a young redheaded offering a bouquet of red roses to an unknown figure whose elderly hands are shown in the frame.

23 Oct 2010 – 6 Feb 2011

Australian-born photographer Anton Bruehl's work ranges across advertising, images of stars of stage, screen and socialites in places such as Vogue.

Exhibition

The Birth of the Modern Poster

Past Exhibition
Print of a green goblin holding a bottle of alcohol upon a black background. Yellow text underneath reads Maurin Quina

10 Feb – 13 May 2007

The Birth of the Modern Poster examined poster art and its evolution from the late 19th century to the early 20th century.

Exhibition

Robert Rauschenberg
1967–1978

Past Exhibition
Collage with two elephants in the centre, small clock face, pill and fingertip images

1 Sep 2007 – 27 Jan 2008

Rauschenberg worked beyond the restrictions imposed by media, style and convention, and adopted a unique experimental methodology.

Exhibition

Masterpieces from Paris
Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond

Past Exhibition
An oil painting study of a rocky shoreline at the base of the cliff

4 Dec 2009 – 5 Apr 2010

Masterpieces from Paris: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and beyond features 112 of the best-known works of modern art from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

Exhibition

Frank Stella
The Kenneth Tyler Print Collection

Past Exhibition
a bright screenprint with geometric patterns and shapes collaged together

19 Nov 2016 – 22 Oct 2017

A showcase of Frank Stella's adventurous and groundbreaking prints that helped shape the development of 20th century printmaking.

Exhibition

3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial: Defying Empire

Past Exhibition
A painting of many spears

26 May – 10 Sep 2017

The 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial brings together the works of 30 contemporary First Nations artists from across the country.