Utopia Art Sydney
Sydney Contemporary 2015

Reflecting its unique place in the Australian art world, Utopia Art Sydney has assembled a museum quality show for Sydney Contemporary; The Best at their Best. Continuing the gallery's singular vision of Australian art, the show will present indigenous and non-indigenous artists side by side.

Rare paintings by Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Ronnie Tjampitjimpa; large-scale, previously unseen, paintings by George Tjungurrayi and Helen Eager; exceptional work from John R Walker and Angus Nivison; and photography by Simryn Gill form the shows’ base.

A mini exhibition of ceramics features Glenn Barkley, Donna Green, Kati Watson, Eloise Rankine and Brett Stone; each artist reshaping contemporary ceramics with their work.

“Utopia Art Sydney’s stand mirrors our driving vision over almost thirty years,” gallery founder and director Christopher Hodges said today. “Our marque artists’ ambition and quality demand attention.”

“Emily, the Queen of Australian painting, headlines the show with a stunning signature painting. The painting carries a high six-figure price tag. It has featured in all the major museum retrospectives,” says Hodges, “and we have it available for the first time after two decades in private hands.” Hodges, an artist himself, has represented Emily since the founding of his gallery in 1988, playing a crucial role in the development of her career.

John R Walker, 2015 Wynne prize runner up, subject of a mid-career survey at Drill Hall Gallery, shows a commanding contemporary Australian landscape. Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, subject of a major retrospective currently at the Art Gallery of NSW, presents an alternate landscape, a powerful abstraction shaped by the central desert.

George Tjungurrayi dazzles. His new work is a pulsing, geometric field. Helen Eager’s vibrant angular forms define contemporary abstraction. Eager also features in the Fairs Installation Contemporary, with a site-specific work, and Eager’s major solo show at Utopia Art Sydney opens the week before the Fair.

“Utopia artists follow their own vision,” Hodges noted. “We know their work stands up over time and always sustains critical attention.”

“We look forward to meeting collectors at the Fair” Hodges concluded, “Utopia’s Best of the Best present the artists any collection of Australian art should contain. There will be something for everyone from the starting out buyer, to the established collector or the museum."