Ames Yavuz is thrilled to present a dynamic line-up for Sydney Contemporary 2024, running from 5 – 8 September at Carriageworks. The presentation is headlined by a solo exhibition by leading Australian contemporary artist Brook Andrew, alongside a duo presentation of new works by Australian artists and brothers Abdul Abdullah and Abdul-Rahman Abdullah.
With a substantial presence across the Fair, we will also showcase a major hang of gallery artists in the expanded WORKS ON PAPER sector for the first time, as well as large-scale works by artists Cybele Cox and Yeo Kaa as part of the curated Installation Contemporary sector.
Marking the gallery’s first solo presentation with Brook Andrew, considered one of Australia’s most important artists and a leading voice in advocating for First Nations ways of knowing, Ames Yavuz will present an immersive series of new and historic works for Sydney Contemporary. These works reflect two decades of practice investigating the legacies of colonial history through archival materials, vernacular objects and image reproduction honouring untold stories.
Andrew has created five new wall sculptures crafted from materials implicated in colonial histories, including sapele and ebony, and featuring patterns inspired by Wiradjuri practices of wood carving. Each work holds small archival postcards and photographs that recontextualise staged studio portraits of First Nations people directed to perform constructed ideas of Aboriginality.
These works also include embedded analogue and digital devices, creating a playful dialogue with Western perceptions of time that have captured Indigenous identities in a mythical prehistory. wula (a call) incorporates a working record player with an historical photograph of an Ainu man (circa 1940s), Indigenous to the northern region of the Japanese archipelago, reflecting on an experience of colonialism that was not confined to Australia. Together with iconic historic works, Andrew’s new sculptures speak to complex Indigenous knowledge systems of Country, kinship, time and cultural practice.
Ames Yavuz will also display a duo presentation of new works by brothers Abdul Abdullah and Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, exploring animal archetypes and deconstructing contemporary quests for knowledge and identity. This includes Abdul-Rahman Abdullah’s new hand-carved sculptures of birds perched on top of scholarly books titled with descriptions of the bird’s call, exploring how attempts to capture the truth of things is often elusive. This is presented alongside new paintings by Abdul Abdullah, including his first ever use of LED light, illuminating and questioning the literary tradition of using animals as placeholders and repositories for human characteristics.
An additional section of the main booth will be dedicated to a dynamic presentation featuring works by artists; Christopher Bassi, George Cooley, André Hemer, Julian Meagher, Stanislava Pinchuk, Tom Polo, Caroline Rothwell and Grace Wright.
Celebrating Ames Yavuz’s notable stable of artists, their presentation in the WORKS ON PAPER sector at Sydney Contemporary will feature leading artists including:Abdul Abdullah, Zico Albaiquni, Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Brook Andrew, Harriette Bryant, Cybele Cox, Sarah Drinan, Rochelle Haley, André Hemer, Mehwish Iqbal, Solomon Kammer, Vincent Namatjira, Stanislava Pinchuk, Tom Polo, Kien Situ, Hadieh Shafie, Manit Sriwanichpoom and Caroline Rothwell. The diverse selection of works on paper will encompass photography, printmaking, drawing, embroidery and painting.
Artists Cybele Cox and Yeo Kaa will present major large-scale works as part of Installation Contemporary at the Fair. One of the leading young artists in Southeast Asia, Yeo Kaa will showcase a life-sized avatar, titled Takits — Tagalog slang for “See you later!” — continuing her playful yet unsettling exploration of social constructs and taboos. Cox will present a constellation of hand-built ceramics that draw on rich histories of the feminist and fantastical, reimagining ancient occult mysticism through hybrid characters that combine human and cosmic worlds.