Every year, the National Art School’s Grad and Postgrad Shows buzz with excitement as crowds come to discover the next wave of Australia’s best-emerging artists.
The NAS Postgrad Show 2023 (Friday 3 – Sunday 12 November) and NAS Grad Show 2023 (Friday 1 – Sunday 10 December) showcase graduating student works across ceramics, drawing, painting, photo media, printmaking and sculpture, exhibited throughout the NAS campus.
NAS is proud to present the outstanding art practices of their 2023 graduates from the undergraduate Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA), postgraduate Master of Fine Art (MFA) and Graduate Diploma of Fine Art (GDFA) courses.
After years of artistic exploration, inspiration and dedicated hard work behind the sandstone walls of the heritage-listed former Darlinghurst Gaol, this accomplished cohort is ready to leave their art school studios to head out and start their professional careers.
The success of NAS’s emerging artists was on show recently at the 2023 Sydney Contemporary art fair at Carriageworks, where NAS exhibited the work of eight recent NAS graduates.
Every artist sold works, in some cases selling out and attracting the interest of a number of commercial galleries and established art collectors. This is one of the many practical ways NAS supports our graduates.
“We are so proud to celebrate the achievements of our BFA, GDFA and MFA graduating students for 2023,” said NAS Director and CEO Steven Alderton. “As the high standard of their work shows, they are ready to join the celebrated ranks of NAS alumni, who are among Australia’s most esteemed and accomplished artists of the past and present.
“At the NAS Grad Shows, you can see the future of Australian contemporary art, and support these talented artists by purchasing an original artwork – it’s the perfect way to start an art collection or add a fresh perspective,” said Mr Alderton.
In 2022, NAS celebrated an important double centenary, marking 100 years since the art school moved to the site of the former Darlinghurst Gaol in 1922, and 200 years since building started on the Gaol’s convict-hewn sandstone walls in 1822.
The NAS Grad Shows are always a highlight on the Sydney art calendar, attracting gallerists, collectors and visitors in their thousands to see the next generation of Australia’s best visual artists.
Each student’s practice has been nurtured and honed over the course of their degree, with NAS’s unique, studio-based intensive learning environment and dedicated teachers, all accomplished practicing artists themselves.
Since the School’s origins in 1843, its alumni have included many of Australia’s most outstanding and renowned artists, past and present, including Max Dupain, John Olsen, Margaret Olley, John Coburn, Guy Warren, Elisabeth Cummings, Cressida Campbell, Fiona Hall, Brett Whiteley, Karla Dickens, Guy Maestri, Fiona Foley, Mitch Cairns and Juz Kitson.
NAS Grad Shows 2023
National Art School (NAS), 156 Forbes Street, Darlinghurst (Sydney)
Postgrad Show: 3 – 12 November 2023
Grad Show: 1 – 10 December 2023
Information: www.nas.edu.au
Image: Installation View of the 2022 Grad Show at the NAS Gallery – photo by Peter Morgan