Sullivan+Strumpf have this morning announced their 2021 exhibition program comprising 14 in-Gallery solo shows, the continuation of their popular monthly “In Focus” digital exhibitions, and their planned return to the Australian and international art fair circuits.
Opening Thursday January 28, Sullivan+Strumpf launch into the year with Summer Annual 21: a group show featuring new and selected works from their impressive stable of 40+ Australian and international artists. A regular feature on the gallery’s calendar, this exciting showcase provides a unique preview of the year ahead and introduces the latest artists to come under Sullivan+Strumpf’s wings: Colombian multi-media artist Maria Fernanda Cadroso and Australian ceramic artists Kirsten Coehlo and Lynda Draper.
From February, a series of 14 solo shows begins with Love letters between the rain and the fire, an exhibition of new works from celebrated Australian-Chinese artist Lindy Lee. Following directly on from Moon in a Dewdrop – a major survey of her work, opening at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art in October 2020; this latest series from one of the country’s most respected contemporary artists, explores the place of the individual in the cosmos, in works on paper, paintings, bronzes and sculptures, to be presented across both floors of the gallery.
In their second major show of the year, Sullivan+Strumpf are thrilled to present the latest offerings from acclaimed Australian artist Tony Albert. Launching in March, A Conversation with Margaret Preston brings one of Australia’s most exciting young Indigenous artists together with one of our leading early 20th century modernists, for a metaphorical exchange; through which Albert explores Preston’s interest in studying and promoting the richness of Indigenous Australian iconography.
Additional major exhibitions to be staged in the coming year include shows from Maria Fernanda Cadroso – marking her Sullivan+Strumpf solo debut (in May), New York based Chinese artist Yang Yongliang (in June) and Australian sculptor Sam Jinks’– his first Australian solo exhibition for almost a decade (in August).
Whilst a diverse program of smaller-scale shows interspersed throughout 2021 highlight the latest gems from: Sydney-based experimental and conceptual sculptor Sanné Mestrom and ceramic artist Glenn Barkley, in April; Conceptual artist Michael Lindeman and ceramic artist Lynda Draper, in July; Adelaide-based ceramic artist Kirsten Coehlo and LA-based Australian multimedia artist Jemima Wyman, in September; Sri Lankan-born Sydney-based artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran and Perth-based painter/printmaker Joanna Lamb, in October; Sydney multidisciplinary artist Tim Silver in November.
Born of 2020’s Covid pandemic, Sullivan+Stumpf’s online “In Focus” exhibitions proved an instant hit, making the gallery experience accessible to a broad Australian and international audience.
These carefully curated monthly digital shows – both solo and group exhibitions, effectively double the gallery’s offering, providing ongoing opportunities for up-close on-screen engagement with more of the leading artists, artist collectives and artist estates they represent, from across the Asia-Pacific and East Asia.
The gallery is thrilled to announce that “In Focus” will continue in 2021, with the program to be announced quarterly.
With the new year ahead, the question on everyone’s lips is what of the future of Australia’s and the world’s Art Fairs. Pending the lifting of government restrictions affecting public gatherings and travel, Sullivan+Strumpf look forward to re-joining the international arts community. Fingers crossed you will be seeing them very soon at SEA Focus (Singapore) Art Basel HK, Taipei Dangdai, Sydney Contemporary and SG Contemporary (Singapore).
“In 2021, we’re looking forward to launching new artists, celebrating fresh ideas, welcoming back old friends and making new ones. The occasional trip in a plane might be nice too. As soon as we can, we will be back in full swing,” say co-directors Ursula Sullivan and Joanna Strumpf.
Sullivan+Strumpf is one of Asia-Pacific’s leading contemporary art galleries, founded by Ursula Sullivan and Joanna Strumpf in 2005. The gallery is located at 799 Elizabeth Street, Zetland. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm.
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Featured image : Tony Albert, A Conversation with Margaret Preston (Waratah), 2020, acrylic and appropriated Aboriginal fabric on Arches paper, 77 x 58 cm. Image courtesy Sullivan+Strumpf and the artist.
