Abundant Inspiration In AGSA's 2024 Exhibition Program: Adelaide Biennial, Brent Harris, Reimagining The Renaissance, And Radical Textiles

The Adelaide Biennial, Brent Harris: Surrender & Catch, Reimagining the Renaissance, and Radical Textiles are highlights of the Art Gallery of South Australia's 2024 exhibition. The exhibitions present a rich tapestry of timeless classics that will transport you back in time alongside contemporary and creative voices of artists today.

Rhana Devenport ONZM, Director, AGSA, says, ‘breathtaking works of art, and unique collaborations, AGSA's 2024 exhibition program draws deeply from our own collection – a rare and enriching resource that can inspire and transport us'.

The Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Inner Sanctum, 1 March to 2 June offers an intimate encounter with artists, poets and makers interested in the human condition. The Biennial unfolds across the exhibition, performances and events that explore our engagement with the world and each other. Here the idea of an inner sanctum illustrates the private or sacred spaces we create and the faculty of imagination that allows us to see culture and society differently.

Curated by José Da Silva, the 2024 Adelaide Biennial offers a snapshot of contemporary Australia that is reflective and hopeful. It provides a setting where art and poetry enliven the social imagination and help us understand the complexities of the human experience.

Minister for Arts Andrea Michaels MP says, Minister for Arts Andrea Michaels MP says, ‘The Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art remains the pre-eminent and longest-running survey of contemporary Australian art. As a vital component and highlight of the Adelaide Festival since 1990, the Adelaide Biennial this year builds on its reputation and commitment to supporting and celebrating innovative and ambitious practices.'

The work of Aotearoa-born Australian artist Brent Harris will feature in the survey exhibition Surrender & Catch: The Art of Brent Harris, where it will open at TarraWarra Museum of Art in December this year before opening in expanded form at AGSA 6 July – 20 October.

Surrender & Catch showcases AGSA's significant collection of Harris's work, including the important gift of works by James Mollison AO and Vincent Langford alongside loans from public and private collections. The exhibition charts a journey of experimentation and self-discovery, revealing the cross-pollination of imagery and the development of forms in his printmaking, drawing and painting practice.

Devenport says, ‘Brent Harris is an artist unafraid of revealing human fallibility – and the process of ‘becoming' through art – as he maps psychological space through his experimentations with painting and a wealth of virtuosic printmaking techniques'.

One of the year's major exhibitions will transport you to different lands and back through time. Reimagining the Renaissance 14 July 2024 – 13 April 2025 draws from AGSA's important collection of painting, sculpture, works on paper and decorative arts, alongside key loans from public and private collections. This exhibition will explore Northern and English Renaissance art together with that of the celebrated Italian masters to recontextualise these works within a broader art historical tradition and their continuing significance today.

From William Morris to Sonia Delaunay, Radical Textiles celebrates the cutting- edge innovations, enduring traditions and bodies of shared knowledge that have been folded into fabric and cloth over the past 150 years. Showcasing the work of more than100 makers, artists, designers and activists, this major exhibition draws on AGSA's international, Australian and First Nations collections of textiles and fashion, augmented by sculpture, painting, photography and the moving image.

Devenport says, ‘The tantalising exhibition Radical Textiles 20 November – March 2025  unpicks social and political threads of revolution and innovation, protest and hope, interlaced in international and Australian fashion, textiles and experimental art practice over 150 years.'

Minister for Arts Andrea Michaels MP says, ‘AGSA's annual exhibition programming demonstrates why AGSA is leading the way in amplifying the voices of artists on an international platform. AGSA is one of our state's most loved and visited destinations and its eclectic program of exhibitions is a key to Adelaide's growing reputation as ‘the coolest city in the world'.

Continuing exhibitions include Tarnanthi the largest contemporary festival of art from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists which includes the first survey exhibition of wry portraitist Vincent Namatjira: Australia in Colour. Don't miss Vincents exhibition at AGSA which closes on 21 January before it tours to the National Gallery of Australia.

Misty Mountain, Shining Moon explores Japanese landscapes in exquisite works of art from the sixteenth century to the present day and closes on 1 April.

In August to celebrate the South Australian Living Artist Festival, AGSA celebrates Adelaide artist Julia Robinson. As the SALA focus artist for 2024, Robinson draws on European folklore, mythology and gothic ritual, often focusing on the macabre or taboo elements of these histories in her inspired manipulations of textiles and sculptural form.

Guildhouse Fellow Tom Phillips will present a selection of new works as part of the annual Guildhouse Fellowship.  Through the support of the James & Diana Ramsay Foundation, Phillips figurative paintings highlight issues of social justice, evoking the tension between power and powerlessness by capturing everyday human struggles of loneliness, alienation, vulnerability and hardship.

Flagship public programs continue:

First Fridays Now in its ninth year offers a vibrant and ever-changing curated program of live music, performances, talks and tours, with extended opening hours to 9pm on the first Friday of every month. Each First Fridays program is designed in response to AGSA's exhibitions and displays, the collection and events happening across the city. These free, all-ages programs include twilight tours, artist and curator talks, film screenings, live music performances, theatre, food and drinks.

The Studio is AGSA's free, hands-on activities space that has engaged art lovers of all ages for more than ten years. With a range of creative and art-focused activities on offer, each iteration of The Studio is themed to current exhibitions or curated by of-the-moment artists. Visitors can draw, paint, weave, sculpt and be creative in diverse ways in this dynamic and inspiring space. The Studio is presented by the James & Diana Ramsay Foundation.

Presented by The Balnaves Foundation, Neo is a free after-hours event for teens aged 13–17. Held six times a year, Neo offers young audiences their own social and creative space and exclusive access to the Gallery, music, refreshments and art-led activities. Since its inception in 2016, Neo has welcomed more than 13,000 teens to AGSA, with the programming developed by a dedicated Neo Ambassador Committee to foster teen engagement and involvement with the arts.

Start at the Gallery has inspired young families with children aged 3–12 for the past fourteen years. The program offers an exciting introduction to visual arts for children and families through engaging and experiential art activities, tours, live music and entertainment. Start is held at AGSA on the first Sunday of every month and is free, thanks to the James & Diana Ramsay Foundation.

For full program details visit agsa.sa.gov.au

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