Australian Season at the British Museum...

 

 

 I was lucky enough to visit the British Museum lately, on a day where the weather was actually fairly Australian! My main reason for dropping by was to check out the Out of Autralia print exhibition in particular, but on arrival I did enjoy the cheerful contribution out front thanks to Kew Gardens.

 

 

It did feel rather like Australia had landed in London!

The exhibition itself did not disappoint in the slightest. In the usual temporary exhibition spot were 125 works by 60 Australian artists, in what the museum claims to be "the first exhibition of Australian works on paper of this scale and ambition to be held outside Australia".

I always think their free exhibitions are really great, and found a lot of the work to be really inspiring and visually eye-catching and interesting. Here are some of my favourite works on display:

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"200 Years: Willy Willy" (1988)

Ann Newmarch

I love the use of different media in a collage style, I think this piece is really eye catching. Newmarch is a renowned printmaker, feminist and activist.

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The family tree stops here darling (1994)

David McDiarmid

McDiarmid is a leading gay activist famous for his witty, ironic art confronting attitudes to AIDS and anti-gay legislation. Some of his works were made famous after being used for safe sex posters in Sydney. A few are on display from this series entitled 'Rainbow Aphorism', inspired by the AIDS-related death of artist and one-time partner Peter Tully in 1994.
This was the one that I thought was probably the most stark statement in particular.

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Untitled (Jelly fish drawing VIII) (1999)

Peter S. Graham

Peter S. Graham was reportedly somewhat reclusive in his student days, but was invited to have his first solo show at the age of 20, at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) by its Director in 1990, still only in his second year. His work often uses the natural world, or themes of geography and exploration, with an ethereal quality.

The exhibition runs until 11th September so you have a few weeks to catch it. Don't miss it though, it is my favourite free temporary exhibition in a while.