After this summer’s immersive exhibition ‘Air’ (26 November 2022 – 23 April 2023) takes audiences on a journey through the invisible and vital life-giving element, we look forward to presenting our suite of 2023 exhibitions.
We’re excited to announce that our 2023 program will include the exclusive blockbuster exhibition ‘Fairy Tales’ (2 December 2023 – 28 April 2024), celebrating the timeless genre of storytelling in art, film, costume and design; and major solo exhibitions of work by contemporary Australian artists Michael Zavros and eX de Medici (24 June – 2 October 2023). A single ticket will cover the two exhibitions: ‘Michael Zavros: The Favourite’ featuring more than 90 works of painting, sculpture, video, photography and performance by the Queensland artist, and the retrospective ‘eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness’, the most extensive exhibition to date of the practice of the Canberra-based artist and tattooist.
2023 program
Air | Tickets on sale now
GOMA, 26 November 2022 – 23 April 2023
‘Air’ showcases immersive and large-scale works by leading international and Australian artists exploring the cultural, ecological and political dimensions of air. Presented across the entire ground floor of GOMA, the exhibition will be a journey through this invisible, ethereal and vital element, reflecting on awareness of our shared atmosphere as life-giving, potentially dangerous and rapidly warming.
A Third Language
QAG, 11 February – 17 September 2023
Whenever we translate from one tongue to another, we arrive at a third form of speech that sits somewhere between the two. ‘A Third Language‘ suggests that we all live and speak through a third language: a hybrid mode borne of the translations and generative mistranslations between words, cultures, and histories.
North by North-West
QAG, 11 February 2023 – 2 March 2025
‘North by North-West‘ traverses the country mapping unique pockets of Indigenous Australian artistic practice, geographically from the north to north-west of South East Queensland and reaching across the continent to the top end of Western Australia.
Lies, Magicians and Blind Faith
QAG, 4 March – 30 July 2023
‘Lies, Magicians and Blind Faith‘ reflects the dynamic exchange between Australian and Filipino artists throughout the 1990s and 2000s. The exhibition is centred around the bold and confronting installation by Australian artist David Griggs — a painted carnival tent that addresses the fine line of exploitation and survival in Manila city.
Looking Out, Looking In: Exploring the Self-Portrait
QAG, 11 March – 6 August 2023
Contemporary society has become increasingly attuned to the self-image through social media’s ‘selfie’ culture and reality TV, providing a fascinating backdrop in which to examine the self-portrait today. ‘Looking Out, Looking In‘ explores the genre of the self-portrait, a distinct form of portraiture in which subject and artist are one.
Creative Generation 2023: Excellence Awards in visual art
GOMA, 20 April – 6 August 2023
Gone Fishing
GOMA, 20 May 2023 – 21 January 2024
‘Gone Fishing‘ profiles Indigenous Australian works that relate to the cultural, social and recreational activity of ‘fishing’; an interest that transcends race and class. The exhibition will include exquisite fibre sculpture, paintings, prints and installation reflecting on freshwater and saltwater fishing practices and the politics, law and custom of traditional sea rights.
Michael Zavros: The Favourite | Joint tickets on sale early 2023
GOMA, 24 June – 2 October 2023
Known for his extraordinary technical prowess, Michael Zavros has captivated audiences with his sumptuous realist renderings and surreal juxtapositions. Frequently engrossed in notions of quality and luxury, fashion and appearance, Zavros’s idealised imagery has developed alongside Australia’s pronounced tum to conspicuous consumption and aspirational individualism.
A single ticket will cover two exhibitions: ‘Michael Zavros: The Favourite’ and ‘eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness’
eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness | Joint tickets on sale early 2023
GOMA, 24 June – 2 October 2023
‘Beautiful Wickedness‘ will be the most significant exhibition of work by celebrated Australian artist eX de Medici yet staged. The survey will examine the artist’s central concerns, including the fragility of life, global affairs, greed and commerce, and the universal themes of power, conflict, and death. Through these wide-ranging subjects, de Medici aims to seduce her viewers, and to shake them out of complacency.
A single ticket will cover two exhibitions: ‘eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness’ and ‘Michael Zavros: The Favourite’
I can spin skies
QAG, 5 August 2023 – 23 June 2024
‘I can spin skies’ spans historical and contemporary textiles and art influenced by textile practices from across Asia. The exhibition takes its title from fifteenth century Persian poet Rumi’s reflection on the humble silkworm’s ability to spin the thread that makes one of the most prized fabrics in the world.
Isaac Walter Jenner
QAG, 2 September 2023 – 28 January 2024
‘Isaac Walter Jenner‘ explores the evocative paintings of the English born artist, a self-taught marine and landscape painter. Jenner (1836-1902) spent eighteen years in Brisbane until his death and was a major force in the city’s burgeoning cultural life. Following his arrival in Brisbane in 1883, Jenner worked diligently to raise the public’s awareness of art, and also lobbied consistently for the establishment of the Queensland National Art Gallery in 1895 — now known at QAGOMA.
Living Pattern: Abstraction
QAG, 23 September 2023 – 4 February 2024
‘Living Pattern‘ presents Contemporary Australian artists who use abstraction as both a formal and a conceptual device for making new and renewed meaning, doing so through patterns, ornamentation and abstract forms that manifest in everyday life and across cultures. The exhibition explores experimentation and sculptural investigations, performative installations and immersive digital environments.
Fairy Tales | Tickets on sale mid-2023
GOMA, 2 December 2023 – 28 April 2024
‘Fairy Tales‘ the exhibition explores how fairy tales from across the world have held our fascination for centuries through art and culture by showcasing the way visual storytellers draw on these narratives to entrance, delight and disconcert audiences.
Bringing together artists, film makers and designers through painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, film and filmic elements, props, costumes, and fashion, the exhibition highlights the archetypal figures we know so well — wicked witches, stalwart princes and princesses, and magical animals, both fierce and friendly.
‘Fairy Tales’ explores prominent narrative themes; stories of children coming of age and ageing, the shifting role of gender and otherness, tales of bravery and justice, loyalty and humility, cunning and aspiration. In doing so it brings together well-known visual motifs of woods and trees, mirrors and blood, impossible shoes and clothing for royalty, castles and coaches, and at least one pumpkin.
Australian Cinémathèque, GOMA
The Australian Cinémathèque at GOMA provides an ongoing program of film and video that you’re unlikely to see elsewhere. Screenings take place Wednesday and Friday nights and Saturday and Sundays matinees.
Still Lives
until 12 March 2023
Presented in conjunction with the GOMA exhibition ‘Still Life Now’, ‘Still Lives’ explores themes relating to life, death, and transformation. From the macabre to the magnificent, the films included in this program delve into varying cinematic ruminations on life; its creation, preservation, and ultimate transfiguration.
Melting into Air
26 November 2022 – 23 April 2023
Presented in conjunction with GOMA’s blockbuster ‘Air’ exhibition, ‘Melting into Air’ explores cinematic representations of this essential element. From raging storms and toxic gases to outlandish flying machines and human respiration, the program illustrates the possibilities — and impossibility — of capturing air on screen.
City Symphony: A Live Music & Film Concert Series
Monthly, 4 February – 18 November 2023
Celebrating a vivid and frenetic mode of filmmaking which began in the 1920s to document the excitement and chaos of modernity and the global rise of the metropolis, ‘City Symphony’ brings together a selection of films that capture the rhythm and poetry of a city in flux. Presented as a 10-part series of films with live music accompaniment from experimental sound artists and post-rock bands.
Juliette Binoche
28 April – 18 June 2023
Juliette Binoche is one of the most sought-after and celebrated actors of her generation building her career on the foundation of fearless, authentic, and sensitive performances. Crafting a screen persona that embodies meaning throughout her projects, Binoche is a unique actor bringing strong authorship not only to the role she plays but the whole film.
Contemporary Art X Cinema
23 June – 26 July 2023
From fantastical stories of remarkable individuals, to confronting critiques of power, violence, and corruption, ‘Contemporary Art X Cinema’ showcases the films of contemporary artists who are using the cinematic medium to create dynamic visual spaces that encourage expanded conversations and new thinking.
Children’s Art Centre, GOMA
Visit the Children’s Art Centre at GOMA to experience exhibitions and activities created in collaboration with artists or take part in one of our programs especially for children.
Superpowered
Until 16 July 2023
‘Superpowered’ brings together four interactive projects by Indigenous Australian artists — Kaylene Whiskey (Yankunytjatjara people), Tony Albert (Girramay/Yidinyji/Kuku Yalanji peoples), Gordon Hookey (Waanyi people) and Vincent Namatjira (Western Aranda people).
Brian Robinson: Lag | Malu | Daparr (Land | Sea | Sky)
26 November 2022 – 23 April 2023
Australian artist Brian Robinson creates artworks inspired by his Torres Strait Islander heritage and the tropical marine environment surrounding Waiben (Thursday Island).
Touring exhibitions
QAGOMA works with Queensland’s network of regional galleries and community centres to deliver exhibitions, talks, workshops across the state.
Asia Pacific Contemporary: Three Decades of APT
Until 14 July 2024
Featuring works that have appeared in ‘The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT) since its debut in the 1990s, and across media from painting and sculpture to video, performance and works on paper, ‘Asia Pacific Contemporary’ showcases art from Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
Asia Pacific Video
Until 18 August 2024
Artists in the Asia-Pacific were quick to embrace the new possibilities of video art as it emerged as an art form, and the region is now home to some of the leading moving image artists in the world. By performing for the camera, recording collective actions and experimenting with technologies and theatrical scenarios, the artists deliver a range of critical, humorous and magical insights into their own artistic motivations and the contexts in which they live and work.
Featured image / ‘Air’ / Jemima Wyman, Pairrebeener people, Australia b.1977 / Plume 2021 / Hand-cut digital photographs / Courtesy: Jemima Wyman, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, and Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney / Photograph: E Mumford
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