Sydney Art Gallery

By Royston Sim

31 August 2000

Media artists now have a place to display their artworks. The Sydney Art Gallery in Ultimo features one of Australia's first media art galleries.

"When I say media artist, I mean illustrators and cartoonists," explains Simon Symond, founder and curator of the gallery. Symond feels that there is a lack of understanding of media art and hopes that opening a venue where a broader range of media artworks can be viewed will increase public awareness.

Apart from being the first and only commercial art museum in Australia, the Sydney Art Gallery is also the only museum that devotes itself to showcasing works by Australian artists. It boasts the largest display of original Australian artwork in the country. Symond says: "The Gallery of NSW might have one to 200 pieces; we would exhibit over 1,000 pieces at any one time."

"The backbone and intention here is to broaden access to our Australian artists and their works. This is unique in that this is a commercial art museum where all works are displayed in a museum environment and they are all for sale. We have the largest selection of Australian contemporary artwork on display and we represent over 350 Australian artists, painters, sculptors and we exhibit over 100 artists at any one time."

In the lead up to the Olympics the gallery is being promoted both nationally and internationally as the premier Australian Art Expo. Its feature artists include Gloria Petyarre, winner of the 1999 Wynne Prize, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa and Clifford Possum.

Symond wants the gallery to combat elitism and make art more accessible to all. "It's for the average person that is looking for a nice piece of small artwork for their flat or their house and they can only afford $200 or $400, right through to the collector that can afford to spend thousands of dollars."

The Australian Art Expo continues up to and during the Olympics in September and the Paralympics in October. However Symond is uncertain about the future of the Sydney Art Gallery after the Olympics and says it depends on the NSW Government's plans. "We may be here for the next 10 years or we may not be. It will just depend on the whole redevelopment of this site."

Royston Sim