America: painting a nation

Until 9 Feb 2014
This is the most expansive survey of American painting ever presented in Australia. With over 80 works, ranging from 1750 to 1966, the exhibition covers more than 200 years of American art, history and experience. Stunning works by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Georgia O’Keeffe, James McNeil Whistler, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper and John Singer Sargent are included.

Open daily 10am – 5pm
Tickets available at the Gallery or online

Art After Hours
Wednesdays until 10pm from 8 Jan

Enjoy an unbeatable fusion of art, talks, performances, live music, pop-up bar, food and films.

Highlight night 29 Jan – Good old-fashioned American fun with 2 for 1 exhibition tickets. Pull on your cowboy boots for a night of boot scootin’, country music, dude food and the chance to perfect your American twang. And the Gallery restaurant is open in the guise of an American diner.

Full program

Epic America film series
Until 9 Feb – free

Screening in conjunction with the exhibition America: painting a nation, this series presents a cinematic journey through America’s history, from slavery to the ‘wild west’, the Civil War, mass immigration, the Great Depression and the postwar era.

Full program

Family fun

Check out the kid’s zone for interactive family fun, pick up a free activity trail or hire an audio guide especially for kids. Enjoy an exciting range of holiday programs for children and adults, including workshops, tours and free performances

Full program

Yirrkala drawings

Until 23 Feb – free
In 1947, senior ceremonial leaders at Yirrkala in north-east Arnhem Land produced hundreds of vibrant crayon drawings on paper for the anthropologists Ronald and Catherine Berndt, which are now held at the Berndt Museum of Anthropology at the University of Western Australia. This exhibition presents 81 drawings and is the first time that a significant selection of the Yirrkala drawings collection has been displayed. In an unexpected palette of brilliant red, blue, yellow, green and black, they depict in exquisite detail the complexities of Yolngu life and cultural inheritance.

Illuminate

Until 27 Jan – free
This immersive installation in the form of a mission home, created with paper, light and sound, explores stories and ideas of home and housing, culture and community. An initiative of the Goomeroi people from Toomelah and Boggabilla in northwest NSW, Illuminate draws on their history, experiences and intergenerational relationships.

Still life

Until 19 Jan – free
Featuring some of Australia’s most famous and popular artists, this exhibition of 25 works from the Gallery’s collection charts the continuous development of the still life in Australian art.

Ian Milliss and Lucas Ihlein: The Yeomans Project

Until 27 Jan – free
This contemporary project looks at art as an entirely utilitarian enterprise – one that proposes new, creative and sustainable ways of working with the land. Milliss and Ihlein have collected together writings, images, documentary films and educational videos and will host a series of conversations in the exhibition to illustrate Yeomans’ philosophy and design innovations.

Joy before the object

Until 2 Feb – free
This exhibition displays works that capture the history and complexity of object photography. It explores the nature of the object and the variety of ways in which artists have rendered things photographically and shaped our perception of the material world.

Soul of simplicity: seven centuries of Korean ceramics

Until 21 April – free
This display focuses on the two major periods in the development of Korean ceramics: the Goryeo (918-1392) and Joseon (1392-1897) dynasties. The 38 objects reflect a uniquely Korean aesthetic sensibility from the 12th to the 19th centuries.

Brett Whiteley: nature

Until 18 May – free
At the Brett Whiteley Studio in Surry Hills, which re-opens 2 Jan
Whiteley redefined the way we see the Australian landscape, becoming one of our most celebrated 20th-century painters with his interpretations and moods of the countryside. This new exhibition showcases 47 of Whiteley’s landscapes.

Opening hours

Art Gallery of NSW
Open daily (except Christmas Day) 10am – 5pm. Wednesdays until 10 pm from 8 Jan 2014.

Brett Whiteley Studio
Open to the public Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays 10am – 4pm from 2 Jan 2014. Open to booked education groups Wednesdays and Thursdays.