Heading interstate for the holidays and short of ideas to pass the time? Galleries can get busy this time of year, but the upshot is airconditioning, must-see summer blockbuster exhibitions, and family friendly programs. Here's our guide to what's on around the country.
Regional Victoria
Maticevski: Dark Wonderland
Bendigo Art Gallery
Until January 15
bendigoartgallery.com.au
Commodity Gown, 2015. Photo: Supplied
This showcase of renowned Australian designer Toni Maticevski has been extended into January, and is well worth catching in its last days if you're driving through. It's quirky, glamorous, audacious and masterly, writes critic Penny Webb.
Tricking the Eye: Contemporary Trompe L'oeil
Geelong Gallery
Until February 12
geelonggallery.org.au
Detail from Anne Zahalka's Jack Rabbits, from Geelong Gallery's Tricking The Eye: Contemporary Trompe L'oeil. Photo: Anne Zahalka
French for "trick the eye", the ability to trompe l'oeil was a prized artistic feat during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Here we see 12 contemporary Australian artists toying with image and illusion, including through virtual reality. It's a lot of fun.
The Sculpture of Bronwyn Oliver
Tarrawarra Museum of Art
Until February 5
twma.com.au
Bronwyn Oliver's Two Rings, 2006. Photo: Private collection.
With more than 50 sculptures on display, this is the first comprehensive survey of Bronwyn Oliver's work since her death a decade ago. Oliver forged her own path with sculptures that reflected the geometry of nature.
Birds: Flight Paths in Australian Art
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
Until February 12
mprg.mornpen.vic.gov.au
Stu James' Magpie With Food Can, 2016. Photo: Australian Galleries/Stu James
Twitchers gather round, this one's you. From the anatomical to the surreal, this exhibition showcases more than 50 artists – from Albert Tucker to Ben Quilty – and their interpretations of our feathered friends. You can even buy artist Kenny Pittock's specially made birdy colouring book.
Human/Animal/Artist: Art Inspired by Animals
McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery, Langwarrin
Until February 19
mcclellandgallery.com
Detail from Jason deCaires Taylor's Vicissitudes, 2001. Photo: Jason deCaires Taylor
Could animals be considered artists? Art historian Janine Burke thinks so. Following the publication of her book Nest: The Art of Birds, Burke, who calls herself an "animist", has curated the works of 25 artists inspired by the artistry of non-human animals.
Hobart
On the Origin of Art
Museum of Old and New Art
Until April 17
mona.net.au
Yayoi Kusama's Dots Obsession, 2016. Photo: MONARemi Chauvin
MONA's current exhibition explores four biological theories on the origin of art, from the Darwinian to the decorative, spanning four separate galleries. It's a thought-provoking experience that "flips the finger to decades of academic theory", writes John Bailey. Also on offer is MONA's annual Festival of Music and Art, January 18 to 22, and a New Year's Day concert.
Sydney
Nude: Art from the Tate
Art Gallery of NSW
Until February 5
www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
Detail from Auguste Rodin's The Kiss, 1901-04. Tate, London, 2016.
Leave the kids behind, or treat them to an impromptu, one-of-a-kind anatomy lesson at the Art Gallery of NSW. What better way to ponder the human form than through various art movements, with Auguste Rodin's famous sculpture The Kiss through to works from Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Lucian Freud and more.
Vile Bodies
White Rabbit Gallery
Until February 5
www.whiterabbitcollection.org
Disturbing: Zhang Dali's Chinese Offspring, 2005. Courtesy Zhang Dali/White Rabbit Collection.
Specialising in contemporary Chinese works, art critic John McDonald calls White Rabbit Gallery in Chippendale "a permanent must-see". A nice segue from the Tate show, current exhibition Vile Bodies explores a sense of beauty in the grotesque, with glorious monsters, doctored figures and a dose of black humour.
Tatsuo Miyajima: Connect With Everything
Museum of Contemporary Art
Until March 5
www.mca.com.au
A piece from Tatsuo Miyajima's Sydney retrospective. Photo: Jacquie Manning
The Museum of Contemporary Art has bagged Japanese artist Tatsuo Miyajima's first major show in the Southern Hemisphere. The retrospective explores the concept of time and its passing, through room-size installations with sculptures, lighting, video performance and his signature digital counting devices.
Canberra
Versailles: Treasures From the Palace
National Gallery of Australia
Until April 17
nga.gov.au
The star of the show, Latona and her children, 1668-70, on display at the NGA. On loan from the Palace of Versailles.
Spectacular statues and flush furnishings plucked straight from the Palace of Versailles – some for the first time ever – have travelled all the way to Canberra for this summer blockbuster. Get a taste of the life of Marie Antoinette in the royal palace. There a garden, a kids' space, music from the period, and even specially designed perfume wafting through the air to get you in the mood.
The Popular Pet Show
National Portrait Gallery
Until March 13
www.portrait.gov.au
Detail from Ken Done's Spotty and I walking around the rocks I, 1992. Photo: PhotoStudio
Kids and those who love animals will get a kick out of this portraiture exhibition with a difference. It features paintings, drawings and sculptures of cats, dogs, sheep, chickens, horses, and native animals. Nicholas Harding has painted celebrities with their pets, and Robyn Sweaney Mullumbimby residents out walking their dogs, while Ken Done pays homage to his own dog, Spotty.
A History of the World in 100 Objects
National Museum of Australia
Until January 29
www.nma.gov.au
One of 100 objects that tell the story of human civilisation. Photo: National Museum of Australia
This exhibition began its life in 2010 as a book and British Museum exhibition, drawn from its collection of more than 8 million items. The Australian version, which has already toured Perth, is largely the same but with a few local substitutions. It's "wonderfully even-handed" and every object has a great back-story, says John McDonald.
Brisbane
GOMA Turns 10
Gallery of Modern Art
Until April 17
www.qagoma.qld.gov.au
Tactile artwork Nervescape V. Photo: Natasha Harth
Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art celebrates its 10th birthday with a big, bold, arty party – free of charge. You'll find a Pip & Pop artwork in the foyer; the dizzying contemporary art exhibition Sugar Spin; Lucent, featuring Indigenous and Pacific Islander works; and more. Also check out the Summer Festival, January 18 to 22, with free and ticketed workshops and night-time concerts.
Adelaide
Curious Beasts: Animal prints from Durer to Goya
The famous porcupine, a late-17th century engraving by Frederick Hendrik Van Hove (1628-1698). Photo: SA Museum
South Australian Museum
Until February 5
samuseum.sa.gov.au
The delightful Curious Beasts – made up of old prints borrowed from the British Museum, with some additions from the South Australian Museum – is sure to please the whole family. It may also tie in nicely with a trip to the cinema to see the latest Harry Potter instalment, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Perth
When Happiness Ruled
Perth Institute of Contemporary Art
Until December 24
pica.org.au
Pip & Pop's When Happiness Ruled at Perth Institute of Contemporary Art. Photo: Tanya Schulz/PICA
You'll have to get in quick for this one because it ends on Christmas Eve. WA artist Pip & Pop, aka Tanya Schulz, has created a fantastically bright fairy-floss world made out of sugar. Saturated with colour and sprinkled with glitter, the joyous installation invokes fairytales and children's cartoons.
Dissenting Voices
Until January 8
Art Gallery of Western Australia
www.artgallery.wa.gov.au
Tony Jones' Race Relations is in the Dissenting Voices exhibition. Photo: State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia
Also closing soon is the Art Gallery of Western Australia's exploration of protest art, Dissenting Voices. It features contemporary installations, photography, sculptures, videos and paintings. Among them are new commissions, Goya's depictions of the Napoleonic war, and a strong contingent of Indigenous works from the Museum's State Collection.
Darwin
David Collins: From the Street
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Until January 29
www.magnt.net.au
David Collins mural-in-progress, From the Street, at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Photo: MAGNT
David Collins has taken over Darwin's major gallery with an indoor mural. Collins is hosting street art workshops over the course of the month, with the results incorporated into the changing mural. Other exhibitions at MAGNT include the Australian landscapes of Country & Western, until March 19; and Tom Roberts, Brett Whiteley, John Brack and more exploring the topic Hot!, until August 13.
Melbourne
David Hockney: Current
NGV International
Until March 13
www.ngv.vic.gov.au
Courtesy David Hockney/National Gallery of Victoria.
The septuagenarian artist has refreshed his repertoire with new tools: the iPad and iPhone. Older works mix it up with digital ones, and you can watch the artist at work as the iPad plays back each pen stroke. The exhibition has been well received by critics, with historian and curator Sasha Grishin saying: "The 'wow' factor in this exhibition is overwhelming."
Viktor&Rolf;: Fashion Artists
NGV International
Until February 26
www.ngv.vic.gov.au
A miniature mannequin traverses the runway at the NGV. Photo: Wayne Taylor
Fashion and art melt together in this showcase of the Dutch duo's elaborate outfits. There are the requisite creepy doll mannequins; that fabulous babushka-inspired "Russian Doll" with layer upon layer of couture clothing; dresses hacked with chainsaws; and an atelier where kids can craft their own outfits.
The You Beaut Country
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Until February 12
www.ngv.vic.gov.au
Detail from Where the bee sucks, there suck I by John Olsen Photo: John Olsen/National Gallery of Victoria
Arguably Australia's most famous living painter – and still painting at the impressive age of 88 – this extensive retrospective spanning seven decades includes some of Olsen's most famous pieces, as well as works painted as recently as a few months ago. There are paintings, ceramics, tapestries, drawings, prints and notebooks. "In a word, it is brilliant," says Grishin.
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