Skip to content

17th Biennale of Sydney
The beauty of distance: songs of survival in a precarious age

Wang Qingsong Competition 2004, c-type print, 170 × 300 cm, courtesy the artist

Due to building renovations, the Art Gallery of NSW will participate as a supporting venue in the 17th Biennale of Sydney, directed by David Elliott, entitled The beauty of distance: songs of survival in a precarious age.

In a country that has traditionally regarded distance as a disadvantage, this Biennale will celebrate distance by bringing together art from around the world.

At the Gallery, Japanese artist Hisashi Tenmyouya will present a triptych showing Kannon, the god of compassion, and two guardians, painted in a traditional 13th-century style but with an aggressively contemporary twist. And Chinese artist Wang Qingsong will exhibit a large photographic tableaux, providing a window into Chinese-style capitalism at a time of both boom and bust.

These will be joined by works from Makoto Aida, Liu Jianhua, Raqib Shaw, Jennifer Wen Ma and Akira Yamaguchi.

12 May – 1 Aug 2010

Free admission

Location:
Naala Nura, ground level, Kaldor Hall