The 'Inner Worlds' of Together In Art Kids

Barbara Morgan, 'Children dancing by the lake', 1940. Art Gallery of New South Wales, gift of Patsy Asch 2005 © Estate of Barbara Morgan

Remember joy?

We all need a little joy right now. So how about some images of the situations, the feelings, the bodily sensations to remind us how it’s done.

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Stanley Whitney, 'Just like Ornette', 2010. John Kaldor Family Collection, © Stanley Whitney

Music for the eyes, because who, right now, doesn’t want to see a painting that sings?

This work by Stanley Whitney was meant to be hung on our walls three weeks ago, as part of the exhibition  'Some mysterious process: 50 years of collecting international art'. Happily, it  has  been hung today, in preparation for the Gallery’s eventual reopening. In the meantime, in a week when #TogetherInArt is putting the emphasis on optimism, let’s take pleasure in its beautifully pitched and cadenced colours, which feel as fresh as if they'd just been painted. Whitney calls his painting  'Just like Ornette'  after the free jazz improviser Ornette Coleman, and his brushstrokes convey a related feeling of pleasure in the act of live creation. Choose your own favourite moment, but here at the Gallery we’re loving that tall block of sky-blue, which opens inwards like a vista before your eyes travel on through pink, orange, yellow and soulful indigo...

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Sun, sand and social responsibility

As the threat of COVID-19 locks down our beaches, one of the most recognised paintings in the Gallery’s collection has taken on urgent new meanings which add to the perplexing ones of its past.

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Mary Webb, 'Joie de vivre', 1958. Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased 2011 © Estate of Mary Webb

With its exuberant light and carefree colour, this work lives up to its title – 'Joie de vivre’.

Painted by Australian abstract artist Mary Webb in 1958, it represents, for us, the spirit of joy and optimism that can spring from even the darkest times. For four decades after Webb's untimely death, this work lived in storage in Paris with its vivid spirit locked away. Upon its rediscovery in 2011, it was acquired by the Gallery and hung in our 20th-century Australian galleries, to the delight of a 21st-century audience. Though the doors to the Gallery are currently closed, we're so glad to be able to continue sharing works such as this in the digital space. They are reminders to ourselves to celebrate joy and beauty whenever we find it, and to keep creating and nurturing art so that others may celebrate far into the future.

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Kaleidoscopic vision

In lieu of going dancing ourselves, let’s delve into the eye-popping artistry of Busby Berkeley. Featured in this 15-minute film festival are human waterfalls, waltzing grand pianos and a Technicolor underwater ballet.

Douglas Fry, 'My best friend', 1910. Art Gallery of New South Wales, gift of Howard Hinton 1915

Working from home: a dog's perspective

This Together In Art Pocket Exhibition offers a dog’s perspective on what it’s like when your humans start working from home.

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Henri Matisse ‘Jazz’

Explore a story of imagination in a time of isolation, with this special behind-the-scenes look at Henri Matisse’s ‘Jazz’.

In a visit to the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ secret art storage facility, head curator of international art Justin Paton shows how the great artist found new ways, in adversity, to express joy, courage, risk and hope.

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Dr Norman Swan

The Art Gallery of NSW is teaming up with health expert Dr Norman Swan, and the ABC, to invite kids to take part in an online art exhibition for #TogetherInArtKids!

Check out Dr Swan’s message here, and then head to www.togetherinart.org/kids to find more info on how to send us your artwork by 30 April 2020.

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Unknown Artist, 'Lotus-clad Radha and Krishna', circa 1700-1710. Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased 2007

Lotus

This Together In Art Pocket Exhibition explores the lotus, a symbol of purity, transformation and new beginnings.

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Sarah Belkner & Sarah Belkner

Be drawn into a dialogue between music and art, as singer Sarah Belkner steps through the looking glass to perform inside ‘Shadow catchers’, an exhibition created on Gadigal Country at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The exhibition investigates the way shadows, body doubles and mirrors haunt our understanding of photography and the moving image. Sarah’s extraordinary vocal improvisation reflects these themes of echoes and split selves in a performance with herself, set against the layers of language and light in Eugenia Raskopoulos’ ‘Diglossia’ series.

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How to solve a problem with Nell

A lot of amazing art comes from problems. In this #TogetherInArtMaking video from her home in Derawun (Potts Point), Gadigal Country, artist Nell shows how she solves problems: by visualising the problem with diagrams, she explores different versions of the problem, and uses them to open up new possibilities for creativity and artmaking.

You can create a diagram like Nell and explore your problem from every angle, transforming it from something that stops you, into a set of jumping-off points for your imagination.

What would your problem look like, if it was turned into an artwork?

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Art interrupted

From staff at the Art Gallery of NSW, a guide to some of our favourite 'ghost exhibitions' - displays that the COVID-19 pandemic rudely interrupted.