Past exhibitions

Celebrating people, portraiture and the power of community after a year of challenge and change

This summer the Art Gallery of NSW presents Archie Plus, a free program of art, music, performance and dance that marks a year of challenge and change and pays tribute to the acts of care, support and human resilience that have lifted, protected and inspired during 2020.

Enlarging on the portrait focus of the Archibald Prize,Archie Plus welcomes viewers to reflect and re-connect through portraits of many kinds – from exuberant ceramic sculptures by Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, to a spectacular mural created by Mathew Calandra, Emily Crockford, Annette Galstaun, Lauren Kerjan, Jaycee Kim, Catherine McGuiness and Meagan Pelham of Studio A, to newly commissioned portraits in dance, music and spoken word by artists including L-FRESH The LION and Nardean; and Sentient Portraits, a series of audio projects created with Aboriginal artists, offering an understanding of self as expressed through Country as well as culture.

Together these offerings create a vibrant trail of alternative and collective portraits in many mediums, flowing across the entire ground floor of the Gallery and the corridor next to the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2020 exhibition.

Emphasising the spirit, humour, energy and heart that make art welcome in difficult times, Archie Plus offers a portrait of the local artistic community in action, a portrait of a year, and a portrait of a city whose strength lies in its diversity.

Images: Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran Avatar Towers 2020 (detail), created for Archie Plus, 2020, photo: Mark Pokorny; Mathew Calandra, Emily Crockford, Annette Galstaun, Lauren Kerjan, Jaycee Kim, Catherine McGuiness and Meagan Pelham of Studio A Love owls and mermaids singing in the rainbow pop 2020 (detail), created for Archie Plus, 2020; Angela Tiatia The golden hour 2020 (detail), created for Archie Plus, 2020, realised with the generous support of Christopher Joyce and Barbara Wilby; L-FRESH The LION and Nardean Gold frames, gold chains 2020 (detail), created for Archie Plus, 2020, documentation by Matthew McGuigan, Hospital Hill; installation view of Grit and Grandeur in the grand courts as part of Archie Plus, 2020; Adrienne Doig What do we want? 2020 (detail), created for Archie Plus, 2020; Juliette Barton (Sydney Dance Company) rehearsing in the entrance court for the Archie Plus performance series. All works © the artists