Anna Zahalka is one of Australia’s most highly regarded photo-media artists who has exhibited extensively in Australia and overseas for over 40 years.
Zahalka’s work has often explored cultural and environmental points of tension, interrogating them with humour and a critical perspective.
Her practice has centred around deconstructing familiar scenes and representing them to allow for alternative narratives that reflect on cultural diversity and difference within Australian society, often representing those omitted from the cultural record. More recently, Zahalka’s practice has reflected upon the ecological impact of the global climate crisis.
This major exhibition brings together key bodies of her work that span her practice, presented alongside collected treasures from her archive that inform and inspire her.
The exhibition is curated around six cultural themes – memory, gesture, people, places, nature and archive- ZAHALKAWORLD : AN ARTIST’S ARCHIVE encompasses material that is personal and professional, intellectual and physical. These archive components have also been incorporated into a recreation of her house studio within the gallery space.
Imaginative, immersive and playful, the exhibition invites audiences into the artist’s working life and her creative process to explore the worlds for which she is renowned.
The exhibition is accompanied by a publication that traces the impact and legacy of some of Zahalka’s most iconic images and includes documentation of material from her extensive archive and texts by Angela Connor, Anne Howell, Stella Loftus-Hills, Gael Newton, Anouska Phizacklea and contributions from Vanessa Berry, David Ellison, Marie Hartley, Jasmine Proust and Donna West Brett.
This free exhibition is on view at the National Art School (NAS) until the 19th October. This exhibition is something special. Go see!
Test and photos (of photos) by Ben Apfelbaum
