Featuring the work of eight artists aged 35 years and under from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, Primavera 2018: Young Australian Artists, opens at Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney on 9 November 2018.
Primavera 2018 asks why is identity important today? The participating artists consider, explore and re-examine the politics of identity, visibility and representation. Working across a range of media, they highlight and counter the complex social, political and cultural frameworks that underpin the construction and interpretation of personal and collective identity.
Curated by Megan Robson, the 27th annual exhibition brings together artists working with archival materials, installation, painting, performance, photography, sculpture and video. The Primavera 2018 artists are: Hoda Afshar (VIC), Caroline Garcia (NSW), Hayley Millar-Baker (VIC), Spence Messih (NSW), Phuong Ngo (VIC), Jason Phu (NSW), Ryan Presley (QLD), and Andrew Tenison (ACT).
“The artists in this year’s Primavera exhibition employ a range of different methodologies including abstraction, collection, fiction, humour and performativity, amongst others, to explore and engage in wider discussions around culture, media, history and politics,” says Robson.
“Drawing on personal experiences, invisible histories, postcolonial and queer theory, and technology, the participating artists’ consider identity as a concept that is complex, shifting, manifold and self-reflective.”
Megan Robson is Assistant Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Recent curatorial projects include Installation Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary (with Rachel Kent) (2017); Primavera at 25 (2016–17; touring nationally in 2017–18); Martu Art from the Far Western Desert (with Anna Davis) (2014) and New Acquisitions in Context (with Anna Davis) (2013).
She has worked across a range of notable exhibitions including solo projects with Aleks Danko, Runa Islam, Anish Kapoor, Christian Marclay, Tatsuo Miyajima, Annette Messager and Sun Xun; as well as large-scale presentations such as New Romance: art and the posthuman, string theory: Focus on contemporary Australian art and Marking Time. Previously she worked with contemporary art organisations such as the Barbican Centre, London and the Biennale of Sydney.
“Primavera provides an important platform for young artists to share their voices and ideas, while introducing MCA audiences to the most exciting artists working in Australia now,” said MCA Director, Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE. “Primavera 2018 is a timely and thought-provoking exhibition, showcasing eight artists, many of whom will be presenting new works.”
Primavera 2018 will take place in the MCA’s Level 1 South Gallery and is free to the public. Public Programs including curator and artist talks, performance events and tours will accompany the exhibition. For more information, www.mca.com.au for details.
Image: Caroline Garcia, Tropical Hypeisms, 2016, performance, PACT Centre for Emerging Artists, 2016, Sydney, image courtesy and © the artist – photo by Dexter Cornelius