In the air, on the ground ( and water too). Sydney is undergoing an unprecedented interest in public art. Artists, curators, academics, contemporary art spaces, museums. commercial galleries, architects, urban designers, town planners, local government, arts councils and ministries - all are involved in varying degrees in making, discussing, supporting or promoting public art. Major fold out of William Yang's photographs.
Joan Kerr rewrites Australian art history to gain a better understanding of the present. Her ambitious projects question who wrote what, how and about whom. Discussion of 'Heritage: The National Women's Art Book'. Photograph of Joan Kerr in the article.
Sydney thinks of itself as the centre of the country, the only part that matters, but in the lucrative art market, Sydney is subsidiary to the old moneyed city of the south -- Melbourne.
For 20 years Daniel Thomas lived and worked in Sydney. In the 2 decades since he has left he has remained a frequent visitor, but he still sees Sydney from afar.
Exhibition review Q. Would you recognise a Virtual Paradise? and other paintings
Suzanne Treister
Contemporary Art Centre
South Australia
29 March - 24 April 1994
Editorial by guest editor Joanna Mendelssohn. What after all is different about Sydney? I have tried to give some idea of the debates which are not always expressed in writing - the incestuous nature of the mighty arts organisations; the way that words influence or corrupt understandings of art; and the limits on public debate because of fear of the consequences.